“To that man [Paul] the great issue of all things was this very thing – the recovery of a lost Divine order in this universe. He has stated that. Here is one fragment of that great statement: “…unto a dispensation (an order, an economy, a government, a rule) of the fulness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things upon the earth” (Ephesians 1:10). Here we are faced with a tremendous statement. There is a word here which is almost an unspeakable word in our language. In the Greek it requires no less than nineteen letters! It is a compound which is translated “to sum up”, but in its original meaning is this: “to bring back and centre in One, all things”. To bring back, to recover, and to centre in One, all things. To gather up all that which has been lost and focus it, embody it, in Christ. First of all, the implication is that there was an order once obtaining in God’s universe – a perfect order. Secondly, that that order has been lost; a great disruption has taken place in the universe. And thirdly, the re-gathering, the recovery, the restoring of that lost order in Christ. That is what Paul saw to be the significance of Christ. What a range! What an interpretation of everything! What a word! To gather up all the fragments of this shattered vessel, all the parts of this disrupted and confused universe, to repair the damage and make of it all one beautiful expression of Heavenly order! That is the work of the Person of Christ in redemption.” (From Chap. 2)
Related pages:
Christ the Center – Part 4: “Unlocking God’s Eternal Purpose”
Christ the Center – Part 5: “Unlocking God’s Eternal Purpose – (Cont.)”
Christ the Center – Part 6: “The Process of the Purpose”
To “Divine Order – in Christ” – online
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