Has The Whole World Received the Gospel?

Paul writes some very thought-provoking messages, often surprising. Today I would like to look at one of them.

21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. (Col 1:21–23).

Paul is addressing the predominantly Gentile audience in Colossae. He is, after all, the apostle to the Gentiles. In verses 21 and 22, he reminds them that they were once hostile to God. They have now been reconciled to God by the death of Jesus Christ. But it is verse 23 that I want to focus on.

How do we deal with this, with 1st-century or 21st-century awareness? Here is some background material to help you decide. Paul is aware of Ps 19:1-6. This is important later.

Consider this:

Option 1. With 21st-century awareness, we have a premise that expects fulfillment in the future.

Option 2. With 1st-century awareness, we have a premise that has been and is being fulfilled. We are awaiting the fullness of the Gentiles and the return of Jesus.

In either case, we are not off the hook. The Great Commission (Mt 28:18-20) is still in force, because it is not fulfilled. Or the fullness of the Gentiles is not met.

Option 1: violates Greek grammar. The verb, proclaim, IS NOT future tense.

Option 2: complies with Greek grammar. It supports the worldview of 1st-century Jews.

“… has been proclaimed” is a verb in the aorist tense, passive voice

The aorist tense, as I explained elsewhere, expresses a completed act. The passive voice indicates that the subject was acted upon rather than doing the acting. So, the gospel, in some way, was proclaimed already in “all creation under heaven.”

1st-century Jews, of which Paul was one. He was a Pharisee (the highly educated elite). Part of their worldview included believing that the heavens declare messages from God. This is not some abstract awesomeness of, or enthrallment with, natural beauty. These are actual messages that Yahweh sends out to understand and act upon by mortal men.

Hence, the Magi of Matthew’s gospel and the retrograde of the Sun for Hezekiah in 2 Kings.

Let’s be careful. Do not confuse or conflate this with astrology, a corruption of astronomy. Astronomy uses the constellations for navigation and the setting of seasons. Astrology borrowed the constellation names. Astrologers divided the heavenly constellation band into equal 30-degree segments. This was not for navigational or seasonal measurements. They claim that the constellations control and determine the destiny of mankind. That is superstition and, using modern-day parlance, fake news. Yahweh is the sole determiner of a person’s destiny. I repeat, astrology is idolatry and an abomination.

When Yahweh uses astronomy, He sends messages for mankind to pick up on. He is not controlling our response; he is speaking with us. We can and do listen – or not by an act of will.

Ps 19:1-6 is an example of supernatural astronomy and Paul makes a direct quote of Ps 19:4 in Ro 10:18 as an affirmative answer to the question, “have they not heard?”, the “they”, being the nations (whole world).

As stated, Paul was aware of Ps 19 and its ramifications. He also recognized the mandate of the Great Commission. He took it to heart. He had great respect for his calling as the apostle to the Gentiles. He spent years traversing the geography of Gen 10 and Acts 2. He started on the eastern side of those geographical lists of countries. He generally worked his way West, heading to the far-western point of the lists, Tarshish. Spain (Tarshish) was the westernmost point of the then-known world.

In his mind, his goal of reaching the Gentiles would be completed when he arrived in Spain. He died in Rome before he met that goal. But he was trying to accomplish it (Ro 15:24). Some traditions say he got to Spain and then came back to Rome, where he got beheaded. The evidence is thin, though.

This quote in Col 1:23 isn’t as direct as the Ro 10:18 quote. You would be wrong if you think the concept was not in Paul’s mind. You would be doing violence to his character and calling. He knew what he was saying, and he wasn’t being flippant. He meant exactly what he was saying.

Let’s look at it though:

18 But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for

“Their voice has gone out to all the earth,

    and their words to the ends of the world.” (Ro 10:18).

Paul is saying: to ALL the earth — to the ENDS of the world. Has gone out (aorist active). Psa 19:1-4

Let’s look at Rev 12:1-5 too:

And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. 4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. 5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne,

The temptation is to look at this passage with 21st-century eyes. If we do, we will likely come up with some futuristic explanation. But if you are a literate 1st-century Jew. You understand the OT, the culture, the calendar, the traditions, and the astronomy of the day.

When you read Rev 12, these images might fill your mind:

• Virgin – Constellation Virgo
• Birth (Sun in the “belly” of the Virgin)
• King planet (Jupiter)
• King star (Regulus)
• Sun – King Jesus
• Moon – pagans under the feet of the King
• Leo – (Constellation) – Lion of Judah
• Dragon – waiting to devour the male child

These all coincided at the time of the Magi/ birth of Jesus. It is a full-fledged presentation of the gospel, presented to the whole world, in the heavens.

If you are that 1st-century Jew reading this, you may think, “Hmm! We should have listened to this Jesus more earnestly.”

So, given this background, I pick Option 2 above. I support my conclusion from scripture alone.

If you think it is a stretch, choose Option 1; that is your prerogative, and you must freely exercise your will. But remember that if you do so, you are engaging in a free-will choice. That choice comes from:

• your theological system,
• creedal beliefs,
• denominational bias,
• or conventional wisdom,

It doesn’t come from a 1st-century reading of sola scriptura.

That’s my bias. I could be wrong. And it is not a hill I am willing to die on. But you must admit, it is a clever (supernatural) way of communicating the gospel, worthy of Yahweh. And, let me make clear as my parting statement, the following point. This knowledge, if it is true, does not absolve us from any responsibility regarding the fulfillment of Jesus’ parting mandate:

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Mt 28:18–20)

That is still a mandate until the end of the age. However, it might indicate that the fulfillment of the mandate to “make disciples of all nations” is closer than we might have thought.

We miss so much that we could see when we read with 21st-century English eyes.  It helps to dig more. We can unpack the full message with 1st-century Greek understanding eyes.

We will not all be scholars, but we can give more of ourselves to knowing God. The study tools are available to anyone interested. The Premium Logos desktop app subscription is only $7.00/month or $70.00/year. You will spend more than that on coffee.