"For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen"
Romans 11:36

 
This verse is easy to say "Yeah, cool" and move on about. It's the end of Romans 11 and usually we figure all the "meaty" verses happen earlier in the chapter. 

I read this verse the other night and I felt God calling me to dive into it. To dive into those common prepositions and discover the depth He has hidden inside of it.

From Him: God is the origination of all things. He is the beginning, the source, and the start. It's easy to disconnect ourselves from the creation story. Yes, He made all those things at the beginning, but that was a long time ago. But if we take a quick look around us, this verse tell us that He is the start of ALL THINGS. This doesn't simply hold true to the beginning of time, but also everything and every person we rest our eyes on. 

Through Him: God is the opening to all things. He is the way to all things. God is the way to all things. 

To Him: 'To' means "expressing motion in the direction of". This part of the Scripture is saying that all things are in the process of moving towards Him. God's redemption is world wide in scope and all things are included. This means that even the tragedies, the heart break, the rough days, are all a part of moving us to Him. All things are included in moving in the direction of Christ. 

I've been praying that God gives me the wisdom to live in the truth of this verse for all the days of my life.

Everything is pointing to Him. It makes the fact that Jesus chose us to continue to bring this verse to life so much more ridiculous. He chose us fulling knowing our depravity, our mishaps, our straying hearts, our sinfulness, all of it. And not a single second of our lives has stepped out of bounds of the all encompassing "all things" this verse talks about. This puts a whole new depth to His grace and love and mercy. 

Jesus is the start, the opening and direction of all things. To Him be glory forever! Amen.