Ephesians 1:10

“unto. dispensation of the fulness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things upon the earth; in Him,. say”

“Unto”: “With. view to” (NASV). “Put into effect” (NIV). “Dispensation”: “Administration” (NASV). “Which literally means household management” (Barclay p. 84). “It referred in ancient times to the dispensing of order in business administration or household management. God's plan was worked out in an orderly way” (Caldwell pp. 32-33). “Fulness of the times”: God is in control and He has always been in control. God has. timetable and when the time was right, Jesus came into this world (Galatians 4:4). When the time was right, He began preaching (Mark 1:15). When the time was right, He died for our sins (John 17:1). When the time was right the gospel was proclaimed (Titus 1:3), and when the time is right, Jesus will come again (Acts 17:31).

From eternity, God has had. plan, and this plan has been carried out on schedule. The contention of Premillennialism, that the rejection of the Jews caused God to alter His plan, is false. This whole chapter condemns such. low view of God's foreknowledge. God knew exactly what He was doing, and every factor had been taken into account. One will never really understand the history of this planet, without first understanding God's plan (Acts 17:26; Daniel 5:21).

“To sum up”: “To bring back to and gather round the main point” (Vincent p. 367). “To gather up” (Bruce p. 261). “All things in Christ”: The plan was to provide one place for reconciliation. If anyone will be reconciled, then it must be through Christ (Colossians 1:20; Ephesians 2:13 ff; John 14:6; Acts 4:12). “These phrases summarize the mystery. God reduced all things to. common denominator under one head, Jesus Christ” (Caldwell pp. 33-34). "This verse has been used as the keystone of the doctrine of 'Universalism', to the effect that all men shall be saved in the end” (Coffman p. 128). What. pitiful abuse of this passage! This whole chapter has stressed that salvation is only "in Him". And there are definite conditions for being "in Him" (Galatians 3:26). Besides that, Jesus Himself exploded the myth that everyone will eventually be saved (Matthew 7:13; Matthew 21:1; Matthew 22:1; Matthew 23:1). “The things in the heavens, and the things upon the earth”: The things in the above passage could be "people", for only "people" are reconciled. Hence, this verse may be teaching the same truth as found in Hebrews 9:15. that reconciliation to God for anyone (even the O.T. faithful or the moral Gentile), will only be because of Christ. In another sense, every part of the physical and heavenly creation exists for Christ. That is, the physical universe only exists to provide mankind the opportunity to obey Christ (Colossians 1:16). In addition, one day all will acknowledge the headship of Christ (1 Peter 2:9). “Since Christ is preeminent in God's purpose in the whole universe as well as 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” (Coffman p. 128). In addition, one is out of harmony with the purpose for the entire universe. Christianity is the only religion that really puts you "in harmony" with "nature".