I wanted to post an article by a lady named Jo Gravell that is special to me. It was one of her articles that helped me understand how all-encompassing and universal Christ's finished work really is!
The Conclusion of Love (by Jo Gravell)
…the conclusion of Love
His conclusion
Our Inclusion
‘I dare you to take love to its ultimate conclusion.’
Phil 1:10 The Mirror Translation
Oneness with God
…that God may be all in all, everything to everyone.
This is a lengthy update, just to warn you. I cannot speak about such glorious truths in a few paragraphs and communicate effectively what I am seeing these days; I have been so redefined, so transformed these past few years. We have been gathering monthly for over a year now, but only started to share these truths publicly the past month or two really, and your response is so encouraging. It is obvious to me that we are connected together and as I share my heart the resounding agreement in yours assures me that we are family on a wonderfully exciting journey at this point in time.
Many have asked if I could attempt to put into writing what have begun to share publicly. Obviously the Gospel doesn’t keep changing, but our understanding of it and our ability to receive its glory does, we are ever being transformed by the renewing of our minds, but in reality we have as much glory, innocence and God likeness right now as we ever have or ever will have. The revelation of the gospel opens our eyes to see who we really are, in Him, of Him, as Him, on earth as it is in Heaven, and its this seeing that makes all the difference to the quality of life we experience right now.
So here goes…
Union with God
We are at one with God, we really are. This basic but revolutionary truth is enough to live on for eternity! A global move of God has been gaining momentum for many years now, solely around this one profound reality. We have been enjoying our union with God for over twenty years. Our whole lives are wrapped up in this one truth, and our lives on earth are all about discovering this union with God which is at the heart of who we are, where we came from, why we exist and what will become of us.
Its conclusion is the most exciting aspect to me these days. I adore the fact that this is a concrete conclusion. God’s conclusion concerning humanity is our guaranteed inclusion in His plan in the salvation of mankind. Jesus Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. He is the way, the truth and the life, and it is He and He alone, together with the Father and the Holy Ghost came to a wonderful and guaranteed conclusion concerning our destiny, our purpose and worth. His value of us is what matters most.
One man died for all
One man died for all, Jesus Christ died humanity’s death. His resurrection was the re-creation of the entire human race. This is a conclusion of gigantic proportions. Only God could make such a calculation as this. Paul says in 2 Corinth 5:14-17 that because of this fact, he could see no man excluded. All men died together with Christ. This was the passion behind his ministry. This was the love of God for mankind that constrained him to give his life to preaching the Gospel.
…the value of one
The lost coin did not lose its value just because it was lost, the Owner searched the house until it was found. The value to the Shepherd of the one lost sheep was worth leaving the ninety-nine to rescue the one. The value of one is what the Gospel is all about. Without this belief at the centre of our theology we can easily drift far from the heart of God. Intimacy with God is at the centre of humanity.
It is living in this intimate conversation with Him that I have discovered another aspect to this glorious Gospel, the inclusion of all in His purposes.
Allin, Thomas, in Christ Triumphant wrote:
The essence of Christianity perishes in the virtual denial of any true Fatherhood of our race on God’s part. Follow out this thought, for it is of primary importance. We lose sight of the value of the individual soul, when dealing with the countless millions who have peopled this earth and passed away. What is one among so many? [But] each soul IS of infinite value, as if it stood alone in the eyes of God its Father. And more than this, we are altogether apt to forget whose the loss is, if any one soul perishes. It is God’s loss: it is the Father who loses His child. The straying sheep of the parable is the great Shepherd’s loss: the missing coin is the Owner’s loss. In this very fact lies the pledge that He will seek on and on till He find it.
So there is an assurance, a blessed hope I have stumbled upon that includes all mankind. It is wrapped around the thoughts above and has caused me to question all that I have been taught for myself. I love studying, meditating upon the Word, this is a great pleasure to me, and these days I am coming into a deep and thorough understanding of the salvation of mankind by a loving Father who has paid in full the price that guarantees total success and complete satisfaction concerning us.
But as with any new thought, new idea there comes a time of meditation, wrestling and establishing of that truth. We have been going through such a time, but feel a sense of coming out now the other side with clarity and a confidence that inspires and extends to others naturally supernaturally. We have been sharing stories with one another at the gatherings and many of us are on the same page in our experience, often not yet having a paradigm to our ‘new path’. It’s so exciting to know we are not islands alone with God, however much fun that would be LOL, but we are connected together in a very real way. We have been experiencing this connection manifest in a more tangible way.
We are also seeing this connection manifest in everyday life, wherever we may be placed, for me it has involved colleagues in work coming alive to God in the most natural way (I haven’t seen such response in 15 years at the college where I work). In our families, we have preached and prophesied this ‘Glory in our homes’ for so many years, but now we are beginning to see a manifestation of those desires. I have seen family members join in our work in the Philippines for instance, in the most loving and organic way, and it is such a joy!! I believe we will see this gain momentum as we grow in boldness and confidence concerning these truths.
Those who know me personally will know that for many years I have seen an intimate connection between the Gospel and the move of God’s Spirit. I read a quote from someone this week, which read:
Every true progress in church history is conditioned by a new and deeper study of the Scriptures.
I have never understood the tension that seems to exist between the moving’s of God’s Spirit and the truth of the Word of God. For me, they have always been intimately related. Understanding the Scriptures and God’s heart intoxicates me like nothing else; drinking from His Word is a pleasure and a lifestyle for me.
The Gospel is the power of God. As we discover the fountain of truth, the well of our salvation, the drink of His Spirit never ends. There is no moving on from His ‘drunken Glory’, even though we grow and mature in it all (thank God you may say!!).
We are evolving continuously and we are learning to believe God and create with Him a life of ease on earth, a life of being a blessing, the kind of life that overflows naturally to all we meet. It is a divine life, and a very human life at the same time, and its organic and natural, while being supernaturally divine. A life of ease and rest, trusting in His success!
We are partakers of a DIVINE nature
We are discovering that our nature is not originally a sinful one, but a God one. We originate in God and we share His DNA. We really are His offspring. There is a whole theological debate around that one simple statement, but for me it has become a foundation stone to everything else. If humanity is His offspring, which Paul clearly stated in Acts 17 when he spoke to the Heathen men at Athens on Mars Hill, then we have value that cannot be erased by sin.
Adam transmitted a condition to mankind that was a fallen one, a false image of who we were. We were ignorant of our value and true nature, outside of the revelation of the Gospel, and so live according to our inferior mindset. We lived powerless, out of sink with one another and ourselves. We were not aware of our union with God but worse than that, lived as His enemies. Love pursues us and will continue to pursue us until that final day when He will be all in all. God will be everything to everyone; the Moffat Translation puts that verse in
1Corinth 15:27.
Our lost condition didn’t alter God’s view and thoughts about us. His mind was made up before time began. We existed in God before time was. This little thought changes everything. We can view the Gospel in a new light just from getting a glimpse of this beautiful truth about us. Our concept and understanding of sin changes, instead of seeing it as our birth, our origin, as if there was something wrong with us by design, we see our origin in God. Also, even more profound to us ‘believers’ is that if this is true about us, then it is also true about every other human being who ever walked this planet.
Restoring the ALL of the Gospel
Two years ago, the Holy Spirit whispered to my heart that He was restoring the ALL of the Gospel. Now I understand what he was trying to convey to me at that time. It has taken a few years, but hey, that’s the exciting journey of living in this awareness of union with God, He talks, He guides, He leads, He transforms. It’s a life of effortless conversation, effortlessly falling deeper in love with Him and others. Life is rich and blessed when you understand humanity is loved, pursued and taken care of in Christ Jesus.
Where had the all disappeared to then, if God himself wants to restore this aspect of Him to us again? If we consider the way we present the Gospel in traditional evangelical Christianity, for example, we can see that the all has certainly been clouded at best, and disappeared at worst! All the emphasis has been on ‘saved’, ‘unsaved’, on them and us mentality, walls of division and hostility etc.
Let’s review the ‘accepted’ gospel message it sounds something like this:
We were all born into sin, sin we inherited from Adam and the wages of sin is death, a death we deserve because we all sinned (there is no mention of our divine nature, our divine connection before time began, that part of the story was left out), Jesus Christ came into the world to take the penalty that we deserve, to bear the burden of sin. Death was our lot and that was why Jesus Christ came and died a vile death on a criminals cross so that we can go free. If we believe and bow the knee to Him we are delivered from our sins and will go to heaven when we die, if not, we will burn in Hell for an eternity when we die and hundreds of versions in between.
So our divine origin has been forgotten. This is a truth worth restoring, worth meditating on for a while. The more you dwell on this, the more you realize that what is true about me is equally true about everyone. All are included in divine origin. ‘I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb’ writes Jeremiah.
All are His offspring
All share His DNA. However clouded that may be, however marred and distorted this has become, nonetheless this is the truth. The truth will set you free. There is power in declaring the truth. Remember the Gospel is the power of God. The simple declaration of the Gospel involves not just a simple change of mind, but a power encounter where one actually gets reconnected again to LIFE.
Romans 1:16
If all are His offspring, then all are His children in a very real sense. Why on earth would a loving God, the one Father of all, destine the majority (so far at least), of His offspring to burn in Hell forever? Where is the parallel here with the lost coin for instance and the ninety-nine sheep? These questions are allowed, you know you are free to ask the questions.
There is a 100% conclusion in the heart of the Father towards planet earth, 99% success rate is not Heaven’s style, all were included and all are included. This is the essence of the Gospel; this is the power of God. By diluting it to mean some, not all, we are demeaning the Good News! By insisting that this is conditional on a person’s response then we are reducing the power of God from an entire ocean to a dripping tap. This world right now needs the power of God to manifest more than ever, but it is only the pure Gospel that is inherent with His power.
I realize full well that this kicks up a lot of theological questions and dust, in light of where we have come from in evangelical thought concerning our message, and how we have understood the Gospel thus far. But hey, this has always been our experience of walking with Him; He seems to enjoy revealing these things to ‘babes’. We are not proclaiming ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord. I cannot accept this traditional version of Christianity, I have completely ceased from it, it does not resound within me, and it causes me to cry out JOY TO THE WORLD THE LORD HAS COME.
A divine universal Fatherhood
Even if a child rebels, a good mother or father will not give up on their own flesh and blood? They would go to any length to rescue them and to help them get back on track and would not disown them...
Allin Thomas, Christ Triumphant stated:
We are told that God is not the Father of all men; He is only their Creator! What a total misapprehension these words imply. What do we mean by paternity and the obligations it brings? The idea rests essentially on the communication of life to the child by the parent. Paternity is for us largely blind and instinctive; but creation is Love acting freely, divinely; knowing all the consequences, assuming all the responsibility involved in the very act of creating a reasonable immortal spirit. It seems, then, very strange to seek to escape the consequences of the lesser obligation, by admitting one still greater; to seek, in a word, to evade the results of a divine universal fatherhood, by pleading that God is only the Creator.
How can the concept of an eternal Hell be within this scope of understanding the character and nature of a loving Creator and Father of all?
I have stumbled upon much biblical evidence to back a different view to an eternal Hell. I have also found numerous texts, that when interpreted correctly unwraps the deadlock of this idea of an eternal Hell that we have been taught.
I would like to share a few of them here. I have begun to write more regularly and will enjoy sharing my findings with you from time to time. But I wanted to share a little right now, as so many of you have asked for something to be put in writing concerning these things. This is no way a complete article on the subject, as it is an extremely important one.
…I dare you to take love to its ultimate conclusion Phil 1:10...
Even though our focus has never been to predict what happens to everyone after death, but one that brings Life to everyone right now on earth through the preaching of the Gospel. Nonetheless, this concept of an eternal Hell does cloud God’s Character with a veil, which certainly does not exist. Most people have in their sub conscious an idea of this doctrine, even if they have never stepped a foot inside a church building and it is not a good impression of such a loving Father....
To what does the Bible mean then when the word Hell is used?
In his book ‘All in all’, A.E. Knoch states…
“Hell” is a most confusing and misleading theological term…
In our current versions the word “hell” is used to render three Greek words, Hades, (Sheol in Hebrew), Gehenna and Tartarus; and since it is axiomatic that the meaning of words is established by their usage, we examine the occurrences of each word in turn.
Concerning the literal meaning of hades there can be no doubt. It comes from the Greek a(i)des. The a is a prefix which is equivalent to our un- and the stem –id means perceive. Thus we have UN-PERCEIVE or imperceptible; the unseen…
The ancient Hebrew, like the ancient Greek, was a much simpler language than its modern representatives. Repeated editing has injected much of faulty human learning…
Gehenna is the vale of Hinnom, near Jerusalem, which was used as an incinerator of the city refuse even in this century. Its fires will burn during the coming Kingdom. Comparatively few criminals will be cast into it. It is not imperceptible. It is as unlike Hades as can be…
The lake of fire is still another concept. It is never called “hell” in the Bible, for those who come out of Hades are cast into it. It should never be confounded wit Gehenna, or with the unseen. The word “hell” has become so corrupted by human error that it no longer has any claim to a place in the divine vocabulary.
[Note - If there are only a few words sometimes rendered as 'hell' in some Bible translations, and none of those original Hebrew or Greek words actually means 'hell', then 'hell' disappears from the Bible! That means there is no hell!]
May the Holy Ghost teach us His truth…the truth will set you free.
Some more facts that I shared found in this article ‘The hell Test’ see
• If Hell is real and describes a real place, why does the English word “Hell” come from a pagan source instead of the ancient Hebrew writings of the Bible? Why is the word “Hell” not found in the Jew’s Bible which is the Christian’s Old Testament? Furthermore, the word “Hell” has completely disappeared from the Old Testament Scriptures in most leading Bibles. Why? Because the best scholarship demands it. (The word “Hell” comes from the Teutonic “Hele” goddess of the underworld “Hell” of northern Europe . The description of this ancient mythological place has very little resemblance anymore to the modern Christian image of Hell. See any Encyclopedia or dictionary for the origin of the word.) Seeing that the Bible is supposed to be “Holy,” why have pagan religious words been added to our modern English Bibles? Please understand, the English word “Hell” and its concepts are NOT in the Hebrew nor Greek. They come into the English through Northern European mythologies, NOT from the roots of Christianity.
• If Hell as a place of everlasting tortures was the real fate of all mankind unless they did something here on earth to prevent it, why didn’t God make that warning plain right at the beginning of the Bible? God said the penalty for eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was DEATH. He did NOT define death as eternal life being forever tortured in burning fire and brimstone.
• If Hell was real why didn’t Moses warn about this fate in the Ten Commandments or the Mosaic Covenant consisting of over 600 laws, ordinances, and warnings? The Mosaic Law simply stated blessings and cursings IN THIS LIFETIME for failure to keep the Mosaic Law.
• If Hell is real and it is a place of eternally being separated from God, why does David say in the King James Bible, “Though I make my bed in Hell (Sheol) lo, Thou art there? (Again please note, most Christian Bibles NO LONGER have the word “Hell” in the Old Testament. The KJV written over 350 years ago is an exception. The Jews do NOT put the word “Hell” in their English translations of the Hebrew Scriptures, that is, the Old Testament and the leading English Christian Bibles have removed it because it is NOT in the originals. Most Christian scholars now acknowledge it should never have been placed there in the first place.)
• If Hell is real and if good people go to heaven and bad people go to Hell, why does EVERYONE, good or bad, go to the same place in the Old Testament? They ALL go to Sheol which the King James Version translated “Hell” thirty-0ne times, “grave” thirty-one times and “pit” three times? Are we all destined to go to Hell or did the King’s translators make some gross translation errors?
• If Hell is real, why don’t the Jews, many who know the Old Testament better than most Christians, not believe in the modern Christian concept of Hell? They say they don’t believe it because it is not in their Scriptures. Most scholars today cannot find Hell in the Old Testament. Most leading Bible translations no longer contain the word Hell in the entire Old Testament. (Genesis through Malachi.)
Even though these few thoughts do not answer every question you may have, it is a good place to start. I have so much more to share. Allowing the Holy Ghost to teach us in His time we can open our hearts and minds afresh and wait on Him patiently to reveal all in all, while we enjoy life abundant right now. I encourage a peaceful, restful searching into these truths, instead of an angry debating attitude, which is what is often the way people react when you begin to share these things on Facebook for instance, that’s why our gatherings have grown into a precious time together as we are all evolving as family.
He gives grace to the humble. Stay drunk and in love.
Phil 2:15 The Mirror translation
Your entire life is a love poem; any undercurrent murmuring or argumentative debating would be completely out of place! Do not let such issues disrupt the rhythm of your conversation....
He wants family. We are family. He is able and willing that all be saved. The finished work of Christ is central to my thinking and my understanding of Scriptures and the basis of all blessing. The purpose of God determines human history not human sin.
‘God was in Christ hugging the cosmos to Himself.’ 2 Corinth 5:19
We share a reconciled humanity. Just because we do not always experience the manifestation of a reconciled humanity right now, doesn’t give us the right to adjust and chop off bits of the Gospel to suit our experience. We need to learn to see as He sees.
If your eye is single then your whole body is full of light explained Jesus. This refers to seeing again, a simple, conclusive, unconditional seeing.
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick. Desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” Proverbs
I cannot accept that His heart will be sick at any point in this age or the age/ages to come because His hope that all be saved was not fulfilled. He is the fulfillment of all He has promised. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He is the Resurrection and the Life. We are all wrapped up in Him.
I am convinced that as we open up our hearts to the all of the Gospel, we will not only receive understanding, but also will see His transforming power accompany us as we co-create with Him on earth, at home, in work and wherever our happy feet take us.
Meditate on these wonderful Scriptures that promise the universal salvation of all…
Matt. 18:14 John 12:32
Luke 3:6 John 12:47
John 3:16,17 John15: 16
Romans 8:38-39 1Tim 2:3,4; 4:9,10
Having said all that, the main cause of my ecstasy lies in these following verses:
And now, Christ has risen out of the dead-He became the first-fruits of those sleeping, for since through man [is] the death, also through man [is] the rising again of the dead, for even as in Adam all die, so also in the Christ all shall be made alive, and each in his proper order, a first-fruit Christ, afterwards those who are the Christ’s, in His presence, then – the end, when He may deliver up the reign to God, even the Father, when He may have all rule useless, and all authority and power – for it is necessary for Him to reign till He may have put all the enemies under His feet – the last enemy is done away – death;
For He did put all things under His feet, and, when one may say that all things have been subjected, [it is] evident that He who did subject the all things to Him is excepted, and when, all things may be subjected to Him, then the Son also Himself shall be subject to Him, who did subject to Him the all things, that GOD MAY BE THE ALL IN ALL.
1 Corinth 15: 20-28
This is a beautiful conclusion for all of humanity; it may take ages (eons) to be fully manifested, but according to these verses it will happen for sure, there is no ambiguity here in these Scriptures, the message is clear, the full manifestation of an abolished death. If death is abolished, then only LIFE remains.
…it was all for love
Could this be what Jesus Christ was referring to when He cried ‘it is finished’, the price has been paid, humanity restored to its original glory, intimate union with Trinity restored. Peace on earth as it is in Heaven. All men restored to the bosom of their Father. These words are producing great joy and ecstasy in my own heart, as I understand it was all for love, nothing we do or don’t do can add to our worth in God’s eyes. It is by grace we are saved; it is a gift from our Father. God was in Christ reconciling the cosmos to Himself. So the cosmos is reconciled. We are free to come to this conclusion. What is our message if it is not this?
Do we see all manifest right now? No we don’t, but we see Jesus, the author and finisher of faith. He is the beginning and the end. Glory, so much glory on Him…. we are His first fruits. Christ is the Firstborn from the dead. What a Gospel, what a God!
There is so much to say, so many directions to take with this passage, as there has been so much darkness concerning these things. Men and women have been burned, imprisoned, murdered and hung for sharing these truths throughout church history, but when sight has come, what can one do? It is nothing new really; the first four hundred years of Christianity this was the prevailing view.
Do we live in fear of being called a heretic? Do we bow to the pressure of traditional beliefs? Do we remain silent for fear of losing friends and family? Do we remain stagnant just because we have too many questions?
How can we remain as we are when the river of God’s truth is ever flowing and taking us new heights of Glory and Grace. The Holy Spirit is always counseling our hearts to believe, to see afresh His Glory and to step out with Him into new spheres of LIFE.
Let’s keep on exploring together, casting fear to the wind and staying drunk on our intimate union with God and mankind...
This truth glorifies Him like no other, in Him we live and move and have our being and one day, all will bow the knee in adoration and God will be All in all, everything to everyone.
Jo Gravell