1. Why is 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 in the past tense?
“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.”
2. What/who are the all things mentioned in this passage?
“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him…For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” Colossians 1:16-20
3. How could this passage mean that God is going to reconcile all His physical creation of rocks, trees and weather etc., but not the crown of His creation, man? Do not “all things” here literally mean all things including mankind?
4. Is not this passage saying that we need to be reconciled to God since He has already been reconciled to us through the cross? Did He not say that, “while we were still His enemies Christ died for us”?
5. Is the sinner redeemed and reconciled because he repents or is he called upon to repent because he has been redeemed and reconciled? Is an unbeliever someone who has not yet been redeemed or someone who is not yet awakened to what has been already done for him?
6. If we have been given “the message of reconciliation” which is “be reconciled to God!” does it not appear that we are announcing something that is already true to the world which they simply do not know has happened to them? Is it more of an announcement of news rather than a conditional premise based upon the response of the recipient? (What remains is for folks to become what they have been declared to be, where God brings our condition up to the level of our position — this is by grace through faith).
7. When is God going to fulfill the following words?
“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” (Habakkuk 2:14)
“All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him.” (Psalm 22:27)
“No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (Jeremiah 31:34)
“For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call upon the name of the LORD and serve him with one accord.” (Zephaniah 3:9)