When Creation Came Into Being

Christ is the Lamb Slain from
the Foundation of the World.

The Arms of Love

 

Once We Say It Is Okay

 

Each Human Being Matters

 

Christian Universalism

“God made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment — to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.” (Ephesians 1:9-10)

“Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he ‘has put everything under his feet.’ Now when it says that ‘everything’ has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.” (1 Corinthians 15:24-28)

An Announcement, Not An Argument

“Christ is risen from the dead,
Trampling death by death,
And on those in the tombs
Bestowing Life.”
Paschal Troparion

Not By Special Knowledge

 

Discerning Doctrine By Love

Christ Became Human Being

Through the Incarnation,
Christ has defined what
It means to be human,
Revealed most fully in
The Cross and Resurrection.

There Is Only One Human Being

Though there are many human persons,
There is only one human being.

All Things Participate in Christ

 

God’s Way Is Restoration

“For God’s purpose, according to which he did not make the human being to perish but to live forever, abides unchanging. When his kindness sees shining in us the slightest glimmer of good will, which he himself has in fact sparked from the hard flint of our heart, he fosters it, stirs it up and strengthens it with his inspiration, ‘desiring all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.’ For, he says, ‘it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.’ And again he says, ‘God does not wish a soul to perish, but he withdraws and reflects, lest one who has been cast down perish utterly.’” ~ St. John Cassian, Conference 13.7

Because of Our Justification

Salvation Enables Faith

 

The Good News Hidden In Romans 3:23

In the first eleven chapters of Romans, the apostle Paul makes a long argument concerning the inclusiveness of the gospel. Along the way, he shows the inclusiveness of the gospel.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:23-24)

Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. (Romans 5:18)

The experience of mortality and sin is universal, but so to the rectification and life Christ has secured for us through his faithfulness. And at the end of Paul's extensive argument, this is the conclusion he comes to:

God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all. (Romans 11:32)

At this amazing declaration of universal mercy, Paul leaps into doxological wonder.

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?” For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. (Romans 11:33-36)

A Reorientation of the Heart