Daniel 2:17-30, 46-47; Ephesians 1:8b-10
The Summing Up of All Things
The apostle Paul is leading us all to fulfill the plan of the ages by blessing God for the glorious blessings which He has richly bestowed upon us. God has ordained everything that comes to pass from eternity to eternity to reach the consummate goal of everything in creation to break forth in praise of God's glorious grace. We have been created with the intent that we would find our highest enjoyment in God and therefore glorify His name forever. Because God has already bestowed the rich blessings of our future heavenly inheritance upon us now in Jesus Christ then we already begin what we will be doing for all eternity; we are joining our voices with the whole mystical body of Christ in praise and adoration of the God who has planned our redemption from before the foundation of the earth and has wonderfully executed that plan to purchase us as His children in love with the all-sufficient cleansing power of the blood of Jesus Christ. From beginning to end our salvation is all of grace and God has taken great pleasure in predestinating us as "sons of God" by uniting us to our "kinsman redeemer" who has liberated slaves who were under the bondage of the law so that now according to the kind intention of His will we have become the adopted sons of God upon whom He has lavished His grace upon us in the Beloved Son in whom He is well pleased.
The plan which originated in eternity has been gloriously accomplished in Jesus Christ and His Spirit has taken all that belongs to Him in heaven and has graciously applied it to our lives. Heaven, and all its rich blessings, is now our life in Christ. We are no longer slaves under the heavy burden of a legal covenant in which our relationship with God was based upon our keeping the law perfectly. But now because Jesus is our perfect law-keeper our relationship with God is forevermore based upon grace and in Jesus Christ we have been transformed from unworthy slaves in bondage under the elemental things of this world to become fellow-heirs with Jesus Christ into whom our God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"
As we continue to read through Paul's thanksgiving to God we are completely aware of the fact that Paul is struggling to use the language of this world to describe the blessings of the world to come that has already fallen upon us. A simple word of blessings will not do. Paul has to pile phrase upon phrase, word upon word to try and describe what God has graciously given to us in Christ. When we think we cannot possibly be blessed to any greater degree, we are pleasantly jolted by yet another aspect of our heavenly blessings in Jesus Christ. But remember that Paul has said that God did not simply grace us in Christ, but rather He had to lavish the riches of His grace upon us. Your salvation was no little matter; it was no afterthought in which God simply came to upon seeing your awful condition before Him. Rather, He took you as "children of wrath" and "sons of disobedience" and He gave you everything in His possession to make you His own children in eternal love.
But now, in vv. 8b-10, Paul goes even further in describing the radiance and brilliance of God's riches which He has lavished upon you. Paul tells us that "in all wisdom and insight God has made known to us the mystery of His will." God is making known the mystery of His will and the content of that mystery is God's summing up all things in Christ. The language of a "mystery" would have been well-known to the Gentiles within the congregation. The term "mystery" would have been used by many ancient pagan cults and would have been found in incipient forms of Gnosticism, especially by the Jewish Gnostics that Paul had to confront in Colossians. According to these pagan "mystery" religions, a "mystery" was some esoteric secret knowledge of salvation which was gained only by an enlightened few and therefore unavailable to the masses. The mystery of this secret knowledge into the divine was something that was out of reach for majority of people and was received only after strict, rigorous ascetic practices and usually through mystical dreams and visions. However, Paul's usage of the term "mystery" may have stronger connections with its usage in the Old Testament prophets, especially by Daniel who used it to refer to God's cosmic plan of the ages to be revealed eschatologically only at the end of history (Dan. 2:18-19, 27-30, 47). Paul uses the term to point out that the mystery spoken of by Daniel is now being revealed to the church upon whom the fullness of the age has come. In Paul's eschatology, the church is living in the last days or the end of history, the fullness of times. This present age or creation is now coming to an end because Jesus Christ has inaugurated the new creation in His body. Therefore, that which has been previously shrouded in types and shadows in the Old Testament is now revealed to us by God. The curtains have now been drawn upon that which has been previously hidden within redemptive history and God has chosen us to be the ones who are able to look upon the glorious culmination of His ordained plan before the foundation of the earth. In 1 Cor. 2, Paul uses the term to refer to God's salvation of us through the cross of Jesus Christ. This is the one supreme mystery that has been revealed to us by His Spirit (Eph. 1:3).
However, it is clear in Paul's writings that there are many aspects to this one mystery. In Colossians this mystery refers to the fulfillment of God's plan of salvation in Christ which is characterized by the riches of God's wealth that has been lavished upon us and the glory of God into which we now share in Christ (Col. 1:26-27; 2:2; 4:3). Also, Paul will use the term "mystery" for the incorporation of the Gentiles into the body of Christ, who along with the Jews, are being saved by God (Eph. 3:3, 4, 9; 5:32; 6:19). It is this mystery that is being made known to us so that we might join in with the chorus of praise to God. This revelation of the mystery of the ages is not something that is given only to a few who through rigorous self-discipline of their fleshly bodies can invade the heavenlies and through human effort pull down knowledge of the divine plan. Nor is this revelation of the mystery of God given only to a small band of esoteric philosophers. Rather, the mystery has been revealed to us by grace and proclaimed throughout the whole world through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 2:1, 7; 4:1; Eph. 3:8-9; 6:19). It is through the preaching of the gospel that God has made known His eternal plan of the ages to graciously bless His people with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ.
This revelation of the mystery of His will was given "according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him." As stated in v. 5, God took the highest pleasure and delight in revealing this mystery to you. And He purposed to do so "in Christ." Everything that God is doing from eternity to eternity to make known to you this mystery has its focus in Christ.
Paul adds "in all wisdom and insight" (v. 8). There has been some disagreement as to whether this expression is connected with what precedes or what follows. In the former case, "all wisdom and insight" would be seen as part of God's gifts that He has lavished upon us. In the latter case, "all wisdom and insight" would describe God's own wisdom and insight in making known His will. Either connection would be both syntactically and theologically correct. However, Paul will go on to pray that God will give us "wisdom and knowledge" (1:17) so that we might be able to comprehend the love of Christ which has been revealed to us (3:18; Col. 1:9). It was not enough for God to lavish His grace upon us by redeeming us through the blood of Christ, but along with that grace He supplies us all necessary wisdom and insight so that we might understand His saving purposes for us in Christ.
It is in v. 10 that we now come to the content of the mystery that has been revealed to us: "to sum up all things in Christ, things in heaven and on earth." Paul's usage of "to sum up" means "to bring something to its main point" or "to gives its summary." Think of the closing of an essay in which the author brings all the multiple threads to their main conclusion, bringing everything into the summation of his thesis. Paul uses this same term in Rom. 13:9 where he demonstrates that the second half of the Ten Commandments have been brought to their main point or conclusion [it fullness; Rom. 10:5] in the commandment of Christ to "love your neighbor" (cf. Matt. 22:39-40; John 13:34; 15:12; Gal. 5:6, 13-14; 6:2; 1 John 3:23). In some way, God is taking everything in creation and bringing it together in and under Christ. Notice again, that the focus of God's work is "in Christ" or "in Him." Also, Paul specifically uses the term "Christ" or "Messiah" to refer to God's Son. It is in the Messiah that God is bringing the entire universe into its main conclusion. The Messiah is not simply the means by which God is accomplishing this, but the Messiah is the sphere or entity into which the entire cosmos has its summation.
What Daniel saw as taking place in the last days, at the end of history is now being realized in the person and work of Jesus Christ. God is ordering and administrating the entire universe toward His intended purpose or goal. And now that creation has reached the fullness of times or time has now been filled up, God now reveals how the entire creation finds its conclusion in Christ. All the different strands and various periods of history are being crowned and completed according to God's perfect plan which is achieved in Christ.
In Colossians Paul uses this same kind of language to refer to God's reconciling the whole created order to Christ (Col. 1:20-22; cf. Rom. 8:18-23). The picture before us is of a world that through the fall has become splintered and dislocated and therefore is on the verge of rupture. God is taking this disintegrated world and reintegrating it, restoring it to harmony and order in Jesus Christ. God's purpose of reconciliation is all-inclusive. It is not limited only to us, but includes the whole cosmos so that everything is brought together in Christ and nothing is left out from under His absolute authority (Matt. 28:18; Eph. 1:20-23) that could possibly thwart God's eternal plan. Rather, God is summing up and bringing together all the fragmented and alienated elements of the universe into Christ to its complete focal point. You have been caught up into this cosmic redemption which is centered and restored in Christ.
Paul amplifies "all things" with the parallel statement "things in the heavens and things on the earth." Though this phrase can be used to simply refer to everything in the universe, Paul is distinguishing between these two spheres or domains which will become central themes throughout the letter. Paul has some very distinctive things to say about "the heavenlies" (1:3, 10, 20; 2:6; 3:10; 6:12; cf. 3:15; 4:10; 6:9) and things to say about "the earth" (1:10; 3:15; 4:9; 6:3). To illustrate how God has summed up all things in the heavens and the earth, Paul will choose a representative conflict within each realm and show how God has brought them together under Christ. To represent "the heavens" Paul will show how the spiritual powers of this age in rebellion against God have been brought under the feet of Christ (1:20-22). To represent "the earth" Paul will demonstrate how the Jews and Gentiles have been united together into one new man (2:11-12) and together reconciled to God Himself (2:16). By looking at these two illustrations we can begin to understand how God has brought the entire universe to its culmination and conclusion in Christ.
This cosmic summation of all things in Christ is a present reality. The fullness of time is upon us and the new creation has already begun. When Jesus Christ was exalted at God's right hand, God placed everything under Christ's feet and has already made Him the head over all things (1:22) so that Christ fills all things (1:23; 4:10). But the world cannot see the true King of kings and Lord of lords. They continue to walk in darkness and the futility of this passing age. But to you who are in Christ God has revealed His plan of the ages with great delight so that you might know with all wisdom and insight the glorious revelation of the history of redemption which is summed up in Jesus Christ who has been made to sit in heavenly places far above all rule and authority and power and dominion not only in this age but also in the age to come.
Amen! SDG
