From him, through him, for him, to him… Bradley Jersak

From him, through him, for him, and to him are all things, including all people.

In my previous post, “Panta, all things and all people,” I pointed out that when Paul writes that all things

  • will be “summed up in Christ” (Ephesians 1:10), and
  • are “from him, through him, and to him” (Romans 11:36), and
  • “have been created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:16),

… the Greek word panta (all) is an adjective that stands on its own, doubling as noun. That is, the word ‘things’ doesn’t appear in the Greek text but is understood within the word ‘all.’ I went on to explain that all things necessarily and even primarily includes all people. All things refers both to the whole cosmos and everyone in it. Remembering that fact highlights just how radical Paul’s inclusive vision can be.

Prepositions

By way of follow-up, that series of prepositions—from him, through him, for him and to him—amplifies the point. While the human pilgrimage is no doubt treacherous, Paul claims that we all begin and end with God.

When Paul speaks of all things and all people coming from, through, for, and to him, the ‘him’ in question may signify God (Paul’s placeholder for the Father) or specify Jesus Christ. Each of these prepositions contributes something essential to the story.

From him

FROM HIM speaks of the creation of all things and all people, making it clear that God the Father is ultimately our Source and Creator. It is correct to say God fashioned us all (i) out of nothing, (ii) out of himself, and (iii) out of love. From him also means he is our home (as in the parable of the prodigals).

Through him

THROUGH HIM refers to HOW God created us—i.e., through his Son. The Apostle John reminds us that “all things came into being through the Word, and without him not one thing came into being” (John 1:3). Thus, the Father and Son are co-creators.

But the Genesis account also includes the agency of the Holy Spirit, there from the beginning (Genesis 1:2), the Breath of the Word who creates all things. “Then the Lord God formed the human from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath [Spirit] of life, and the human became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). For this reason, the Trisagion prayer names the Spirit “the Lord and Life-giver.”

So the words FROM and THROUGH speak of our beginning, our origin story. Then the prepositions FOR and TO describe our end or telos—God is both our Source and our Destination—and also Way home.

For him

FOR HIM. In what sense were we created for God or for Christ? Ephesians 1:11–14 speaks of believers as heirs who receive eternal life, but also as God’s own inheritance, treasured by Christ. FOR HIM indicates that we are God’s treasured possession and Christ’s cherished bride. Are only believers ‘for him’? Or all all things and all people ‘for him’? It’s both/and and temporal/ultimate. God’s promise is for all people, and those who respond in this life begin to experience their inheritance in this life.

To him

TO HIM. Since we are created for union with God through spiritual marriage to God’s Son, the preposition ‘to’ tells us where all things and all people are heading. God’s plan from eternity is that we would take up residence with him, abiding with Christ forever in the kingdom of God. In John’s gospel, Jesus calls this union ‘eternal life’ and clarifies that our homecoming need not wait for the next life. We’re invited to experience eternal life now—today—which he defines as knowing God and the Son he has sent (John 17:3).

Unfortunately, as some tell the story, everyone has left home but only a few return. That may be true in the temporal sense, but Paul’s gospel is ultimately all-embracing. We don’t even need to read between the lines—the Apostle can’t be more straightforward:

All things and all people come FROM God,
all things and all people came THROUGH Christ,
all things and all people are purposed FOR Christ, and
all things and all people return TO God.

Restoration of all things and all people

As we wrap these prepositions into one gospel arc, the Apostle Peter forecasts “The restoration of all things (panton)” (Acts 3:21) as a fact. The word restoration (apokatastasis) here is loaded with a strong sense of (i) our return to our Source and (ii) our return to wholeness.

As Jesus tells it, the human story is encapsulated in the parable of the prodigal sons, which he leaves as an open invitation. How will we respond? But in the texts I’ve cited, Paul does finally reveal the ending:

Two sons leave home (neither are ever disowned) on a fraught journey involving parties and pig pens, fullness and famine, slaving in fields and reunion banquets. For Paul, those who have gone out will surely return. Our return, our homecoming, he says includes all things and all people. Paul repeated says so. It’s not a prediction so much as a spoiler.

As I often say, this end does not without a means, a pathway home. To boil it down: God sent his Son to reconcile all things and all people (panta) to himself (Colossians 1:20) and gathers “a people for his name” who invest their lives in the reconciliation of all things and all people. We are those whose joy is knowing that no matter how bad things seem to get in this moment, Jesus, Paul, John, and Peter have seen the End (to telos – 1 Corinthians 15:24, 27) from the beginning (en arche – Genesis 1:1, John 1:1).

For me, their from, through, for, and to confidence in God’s revealed plan is frequently the difference between despair and hope, and my motivation to a ministry of reconciliation with the person in front of me (including the one in the mirror). Nothing grandiose. Just paying forward the mercy I’ve received.

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