CG7 Does Not Seem to Know that Reconciliation of the Fullness of Times is Not Yet

Children's Choir in Victoria, B.C.

Salvation Will, in the Future, Be Offered to All Who Ever Lived

In the latest (March 2008) edition of CG7’s Bible Advocate magazine, the lead article by Jason Overman states:

The good news is that in Christ, righteousness and peace have finally kissed and relationship with God is restored. But this reconciliation is not confined to you and me as individuals. Now all things are reconciled (Ephesians 1:10) — not just to God but to each other, and to ourselves as well…

It is not just that “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” but that He “has given us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18, 21). As ambassadors of Christ (to our amazement), “we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God” (v. 20).

But reconciliation is not simple or sentimental; it is not cheap.

While I agree that reconciliation is not sentimental or cheap, does Ephesians 1:10 show that all things are NOW reconciled?

No is does not.

Look at what the Apostle Paul actually wrote:

10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth–in Him (Ephesians 1:10).

This particular reconciliation in the “fullness of the times” is for later as all things have not yet been gathered together in Christ.

Even the Protestant Wycliffe Bible Commentary realizes that this is for a future period (any bolding in source):

Ephesians 1:10…
That in the dispensation of the fulness of times. The word dispensation means “stewardship.” It is used in the NT to refer to the different administrations of God’s blessings. Evidently the dispensation of the fulness of times is the final stewardship committed to men, which will bring the purposes of God to fruition in human history. The purpose that has been referred to is summed up in the expression, He might gather together in one all things in Christ. This is a literary remark (Robertson)-“that he might head up everything in Christ” (cf. Col 1:18). All thingsincludes the whole creation. Since Christ is pre-eminent in God’s purpose in the universe and in the Church, the individual who does not have Christ preeminent in his life is entirely out of harmony with the purpose of the Father.
(from The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1962 by Moody Press)

Notice what else the Apostle Paul wrote:

25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written (Romans 11:25-26).

The time for all Israel to be saved has not come yet.

Sadly, the Church of God (Seventh day)-Denver seems to have a lot of misunderstandings about God’s plan of salvation.

Part of the ministry of the reconciliation for this age is to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God to explain to human beings how living the way of the world separates us from God and that when Jesus returns to establish His kingdom, He will show humans how they should have lived.

Furthermore, after the second resurrection, all will see how God’s way of life as shown during the millennium will change this planet from the disaster that humans will continue to bring upon it and thus when most who ever lived see this, they will chose to be reconciled with God. And that will be the fullness of the times when all things will be gathered to Christ.

Sadly, the Church of God (Seventh day)-Denver seems to continue to fulfill the prophecies made to the Sardis Church era and is losing much of the truth it had.

However, you do not need to.

Several articles of related interest may include:

Universal Offer of Salvation: There Are Hundreds of Verses in the Bible Supporting the Doctrine of True Apocatastasis Do you believe what the Bible actually teaches on this? Will all good things be restored? Does God’s plan of salvation take rebellion and spiritual blindness into account?
Hope of Salvation: How the Living Church of God differ from most Protestants How the Living Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants, is perhaps the question I am asked most by those without a Church of God background.
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God was the Emphasis of Jesus and the Early Church Did you know that? Do you even know what the gospel of the kingdom is all about? True religion should be based upon the true gospel.
Did The Early Church Teach Millenarianism and a 6000 Year Plan? Was a 6,000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth (often called the millennium) taught by the early Christians? Is this time near?
Church of God, Seventh Day: History and Teachings Nearly all COG’s I am aware of trace their history through this group. Whaid Rose is the president of the largest CG7 group (Denver). Do you know much about them?