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God's Determinative Will
By John Gavazzoni
The vision-portrayal of Christ's sovereignty in the Book of Revelation, is pregnant with meaning. John saw Him as a Lamb in the midst of the throne. The meaning is clear: what rules in the universe is the sacrificial love of God. That's what will have the final say re: all mankind's eternal destiny.
God's Lamb, handed over to men to bear the worst of their rage toward God, turned over to them in meek submissiveness, is seen as the One Who, in that very Way, will bring to an end, by just such dynamic of rulership, every last vestige of ignorant-based rebellion to divine authority.
In His death and resurrection, Christ became the Lord of the living and the dead within the eons past, present and future. Scripture especially connects the Lordship of Christ/the sovereignty of God with God's determination that all be saved: "... God, who will have all men to be saved, and come into the knowledge of the truth."
Sovereignty means nothing if somehow God is denied the very thing closest to His heart. God being willing that none should perish, but that all should come to repentance, is meaningless if that divine willingness ends up being vetoed by man's unwillingness.
The audacity of some translations to change "will" and "willing" to mere desire on God's part is a perfect example of corrupting the Word of God by religious tradition. Since God is God, His will is not merely a nice, hopeful sentiment, it is determinative. It speaks of divine resolve. We could paraphrase that it is God's resolve/determination that none perish. My dear friend, Jonathan Mitchell, as a New Testament translator added his very valued comments to the above:
"The word "theloo" primarily means, "will; intent; determined purpose." I completely concur with you. Since the word "dead/death" is used both factually and figuratively, I would add by suggesting that He is now Lord of those yet figuratively dead - like those who are dead while they live (1 Tim. whatever). He is their Lord, now, and in His time they will all bow the knee and confess it. This is not to say that the literal and factual aspect is not the central truth to which this vs. speaks." End of quote.
Conventional, pseudo-orthodoxy would have us believe that the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, will finally end up being functionally ineffective for most of mankind, because, where the rubber meets the road in man's relationship to God, it is man's willful unwillingness to accept that redemption that will have the final say, will be the final determining factor.
For those of you who are reading this article, and who are still being held captive by the darkness of such vain egotism, I simply call upon you to "look and live my brother, live" for there's a Lamb in the midst of the throne.
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