Stephen Jones — Godsleer
b2 — The Restoration of All Things
Soevereiniteit van God — einddoel: herstel van alle dingen
Passage 1 — Zonde als tijdelijk, herstel als doel:
“In my view, sin is temporary. Because it had a beginning, it also will have an end. The whole idea of ‘restoration’ implies that history is the process by which God is showing us the results of sin before finally restoring all things under His feet as it was at the beginning. Through this process, we will gain more at our maturity than we had in our naive beginnings.”
Bron: Jones, The Restoration of All Things, Ch.6 (“All Things Under His Feet”).
Interpretatie: Jones verbindt de tijdelijkheid van zonde direct aan Gods soevereine bedoeling: het einddoel is geen eeuwige scheiding maar universeel herstel. De formulering “we will gain more at our maturity” impliceert dat Gods plan verder gaat dan de oorsponkelijke schepping.
Passage 2 — De dualistiche dwaling verworpen:
“This dualistic theology presumed that good and evil were eternal kingdoms that would always coexist. The final goal of history was to separate men into heaven or hell, and all the evil and darkness would continue forever as one dark blot in God’s creation. By the fifth century A.D. the Church had drunk deeply from this non-biblical theology and had begun to adopt it officially in its own teaching and persecute those who denied it. This was one of the greatest tragedies of all time in the history of Christian thought.”
Bron: Jones, The Restoration of All Things, Ch.6.
Interpretatie: Jones karakteriseert het dualistische godsdienstmodel (eeuwig hemel versus hel) als niet-bijbels en historisch geconditioneerd, met een directe kritiek op het vijfde-eeuwse kerkelijk concensus.
Passage 3 — Alles onderworpen aan Christus (Hebr. 2:7-9):
“For in subjecting all things to Him, He left NOTHING that is NOT subject to Him. But now we do not YET see all things subjected to Him. […] this does not mean that they will be lost in the end, for that would indicate that in fact they were not really subjected to Him in the first place. But yet the FACT of universal reconciliation has already been established at the cross. It is only a matter of time before this is manifested in the earth.”
Bron: Jones, The Restoration of All Things, Ch.6 (Hebr. 2:7-9 geciteerd).
Interpretatie: Jones maakt een onderscheid tussen de juridische werkelijkheid van verzoening (reeds voltrokken aan het kruis) en de manifestatie ervan in de geschiedenis (nog lopend).
Passage 4 — 1 Korintiërs 15:22-28 als programmaverklaring:
“For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. […] Christ ‘must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet’ […] ‘The last enemy that will be abolished is death.‘”
Bron: Jones, The Restoration of All Things, Ch.6 (1 Kor. 15:22-28 geciteerd).
[SPANNING met eerdere bron] In b1 (Creation’s Jubilee, hfst. 5) citeert Jones dezelfde tekst met identieke conclusie: “all” in Adam = “all” in Christus, zonder uitzondering. De argumentatie in b2 is consistenter uitgewerkt via de wet van de verlossing en het jubeljaar.
God als eigenaar en losser — eigendomsrecht als grond voor verlossing
Passage 5 — Eigendom door schepping:
“‘In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,’ the Bible begins. This verse establishes God’s ownership and certain rights that come with ownership. He owns it by right of creation. As another song goes, ‘This is My Father’s world.’ Yet all was sold at the Cosmic Pawn Shop in order to make payment for Adam’s sin.”
Bron: Jones, The Restoration of All Things, Ch.7 (“The Laws of Redemption”).
Interpretatie: Jones fundeert Gods verlossingsrecht niet in verkiezing maar in eigendomsrecht: God is de Creator en heeft daarmee het juridische recht van terugkoop.
Passage 6 — Verwantschapslosser (Kinsman Redeemer):
“You can purchase anything, but you can redeem only that which you once owned. […] Jesus came to redeem that which He had owned but which later had been sold according to the divine law.”
Bron: Jones, The Restoration of All Things, Ch.7.
Passage 7 — Het recht overstijgt de wil van de slavenmeester:
“The slave-master has no obligation to sell his slave to a non-kinsman—at any price. But if a kinsman comes with a sufficient amount of money to pay the remaining portion of the debt note, the slave-master has no choice in the matter. The kinsman’s redemption right takes precedence over the slave-master’s desire to keep the slave in his possession.”
Bron: Jones, The Restoration of All Things, Ch.7 (Lev. 25:47-49 geciteerd).
Interpretatie: Jones past het OT jubeljaar-recht toe op de kosmos: de duivel heeft geen zeggenschap over wat God als rechtmatige losser opeist.
Passage 8 — Jubeljaar als genadewet:
“The time of bondage is the time of potential redemption. But these years of redemption end when the redemption laws are swallowed up by the law of Jubilee. Under the law of Jubilee, all debtors are to be set free from bondage at the end of each 49-year cycle. […] ‘Even if he is not redeemed by those means, he shall still go out in the year of Jubilee.‘”
Bron: Jones, The Restoration of All Things, Ch.7 (Lev. 25:8-10, 25:54 geciteerd).
Interpretatie: Het jubeljaar fungeert bij Jones als het definitieve genademoment: onafhankelijk van de menselijke reactie zal God zijn eigendom opeisen.
Liefde van God — universele zorg als theologische vraag
Passage 9 — De kernvraag:
“The only serious question remaining is this: Did Jesus actually WANT to redeem all of creation, or, as Calvinism teaches, is he content to redeem only a few items which He purchased by His blood? This is really a question about the extent of the love of God. Does He love everything that He created?”
Bron: Jones, The Restoration of All Things, Ch.7.
Interpretatie: Jones stelt de kwestie van universele verlossing expliciet als een Godsleer-kwestie: het gaat niet primair om soteriologie maar om wie God is en wat zijn liefde omvat.
Passage 10 — Drie bezwaren weerlegd:
“It comes down to three primary objections. The first is to say some people are such huge sinners that their debt to the law exceeds the value of the blood of Christ. […] The second objection says that Christ paid for the sin of the whole world, but that most of it was undeliverable, due to the will of man. […] The third objection says that God does not love the world enough to actually purchase all of creation by His blood. This is the idea of limited atonement.”
Bron: Jones, The Restoration of All Things, Ch.6.
Interpretatie: Jones systematiseert de drie hoofdposities die universele verlossing bestrijden en verwerpt alle drie als strijdig met de bijbelse godsleer — respectievelijk onderschatting van Christus’ bloed, overschatting van de menselijke wil, en beperking van Gods liefde.
Passage 11 — Johannes 3:16 als weerlegging van beperkte verzoening:
“But Jesus said in John 3:16, ‘For God so loved the world.’ Those who do not want to see all mankind saved are those who do not yet have the mind of Christ.”
Bron: Jones, The Restoration of All Things, Ch.6.
Alomtegenwoordigheid / God als God van de hele aarde — universeel verbond
Passage 12 — God als God van de hele aarde (Jes. 54:5):
“Isaiah 54:5 says that the Redeemer of Israel is ‘the God of the whole earth.‘”
Bron: Jones, The Restoration of All Things, Ch.8 (“The Covenant with the Four Beasts”).
Passage 13 — Het Noachitisch verbond als universeel verbond (Gen. 9:9-10):
“Now behold, I Myself do establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you; and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth.”
Bron: Jones, The Restoration of All Things, Ch.8 (Gen. 9:9-10 geciteerd).
Interpretatie: Jones benadrukt dat dit het eerste verbond in de Bijbel is, en dat het universele reikwijdte heeft: niet alleen mens, maar alle levende wezens. De herhaalde formulering van de universele reikwijdte in Gen. 9:9-17 legt Jones uit als Gods nadruk op de kosmische omvang van zijn plan.
Passage 14 — Vijf verbonden in opbouw:
“The Bible speaks of five specific covenants in progressive order that establish the great plan to bring all things under the feet of Christ. […] The covenant with Noah is the first in the Bible, and it establishes the scope of God’s plan for the whole earth. It is the covenant of the Restoration of All Things, for it is the covenant with every living creature of all flesh.”
Bron: Jones, The Restoration of All Things, Ch.8.
Interpretatie: Jones leest de vijf verbonden (Noach, Abraham, Mozes, David, Nieuw Verbond) als een voortschrijdende openbaring van Gods universele verlossingsplan, waarbij het Noachitisch verbond de maximale reikwijdte bepaalt.
Passage 15 — Openbaring 5:13-14 als kosmische bevestiging:
“And every thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, ‘To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.’ And the four living creatures kept saying, ‘Amen.‘”
Bron: Jones, The Restoration of All Things, Ch.8 (Op. 5:13-14 geciteerd).
Jones citeert commentator William Milligan (The Expositor’s Bible, Vol. 6, p. 854): “The whole universe, from its remotest star to the things around us, and beneath our feet, is one—one in feeling, in emotion, in expression; one in heart and voice.”
Gerechtigheid van God — God als rechtvaardige rechter over alle naties
Passage 16 — Alle volken zullen God lofzingen (Ps. 66:4; 67):
“Psalm 66:4 says, ‘All the earth will worship Thee, and will sing praises to Thee.’ […] Psalm 67:4: ‘Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for Thou wilt judge the peoples with uprightness, and guide the nations on the earth.‘”
Bron: Jones, The Restoration of All Things, Ch.9 (“David’s Prophecies”).
Interpretatie: Jones wijst erop dat de volken bltijdschap tonen wanneer God oordeelt — in tegenstelling tot de gangbare voorstelling van Gods oordeel als angst en veroordeling.
Passage 17 — God als erfgenaam van alle naties (Ps. 82:8):
“Psalm 82:8 says, ‘Arise, O God, judge the earth! For it is Thou who dost possess [inherit] all the nations.’ All the nations are God’s inheritance—not merely Israel or Judah.”
Bron: Jones, The Restoration of All Things, Ch.9.
Passage 18 — Openbaring 15:3-4 als eschatologische bevestiging:
“‘Great and marvelous are Thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty; righteous and true are Thy ways, Thou King of the nations. Who will NOT fear, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? For Thou alone art holy; for all the nations will come and worship before Thee, for Thy righteous acts have been revealed.‘”
Bron: Jones, The Restoration of All Things, Ch.9 (Op. 15:3-4 geciteerd).
Interpretatie: Jones leest de retorische vraag “Who will NOT fear?” als bewijs dat geen enkele natie uiteindelijk buiten Gods verlossingsplan valt.
Passage 19 — God brengt vreugde door rechtvaardig oordeel:
“So we see David himself understanding that all nations belong to God and form His inheritance. He does not intend to destroy His inheritance, but to bring joy to it through righteous judgment.”
Bron: Jones, The Restoration of All Things, Ch.9.