Our goal in this blog post is to finish the long sentence, which began in verse 3. I have not, by design included any periods or broken the sentence up into smaller sentences. Most renderings will though, creating seven or eight sentences where there is actually only one. Why did I leave it as such? Because the length and quality of dependent clauses is part of the message. What the blessed apostle is attempting to communicate cannot be done simply and succinctly, or indeed, ever completely.

CLICK HERE for introduction and vv 1-4.

CLICK HERE for vv 5-9.

Remember, I am giving you each verse as my translation from the Greek New Testament in two formats, the first one is a ‘straight’ rendering and the second is a am calling a ‘loose’ translation in which I am trying to capture modern usage or a more conversational feel.

Verse 10

recapitulating in Messiah all things in heaven and earth as he manages the fullness of times

re-establishing everything in heaven and earth around Messiah as he oversees the ticking of time

In the previous post I called this verse a doozy–and indeed it is. There are four main words to talk about. The first one is the key verb that the NRSV translates as ‘gather up’. That is a fair attempt. It could also be one ‘sum up’, as in a tidying up of ideas. The actual word, though, is far more interesting than that, because the root is ‘head’ — and it has the intention of saying ‘put back under the head’ which is about reordering or reorganizing. Theologians often think of this word as ‘recapitulate’, which is one of my choices.

A big part of the plan is this great reset in which Jesus takes his place as the head of everything, not just the head of the church but as the head of all things in heaven and earth. We who follow Jesus believe that he is the Lord, and that he is God, which is true, but the reality is he has not yet carried through with this reset in it totality. He is waiting.

Which takes us to another of the important words, the idea of administration. The word Paul uses is a familiar one, even in English, as it is the root word for ‘economy’ and sometimes is connected to the way a house is run because ‘home’ is a root noun in the compound word oiko-nomia. It would be fitting to say something like, ‘in the administration of . . .’ but I chose to verbify* it with manage or oversee. God is the steward, or the manager, of the house of the universe. What exactly is he managing?

Time, or precisely, the unfolding of time (kairos, not chronos) in a cosmic and historical way. The phrase here is almost identical to Galatians 4:4, which is one we read at Christmas, right? ‘In the fullness of time God sent his son, born of a woman, born under the law.’ In that usage the phrase the empahsis is upon the birth of Jesus at ‘just the right time.’ Here, the meaning is different. Here it is about time unfolding, and perhaps Paul is thinking of epochs in his mind with the early Genesis narrative, then Patriarchs, then Moses, the monarchy and now Greece and Rome. Someone is overseeing all of this, keeping a hand on the steering wheel, and that person is God. He is the keeper of times. I will come back to this in a moment.

The fourth interesting part of this is the location, heaven and earth. It is universal in scope, not regional or local. He is the Messiah of Israel, and he is the Son of David, but he is so much more.

All of this together, then, in this one verse, teaches us that God is the master of time, and he is unfolding history, managing time the way a steward might run a household or a farmer might tend a garden, and when the timing is right he will act in such a way as to put everything that exists under the direct leadership of Jesus. This hasn’t happened yet, but it will.

This is how we know Paul is talking about time fulfilled, at the cross where deliverance was made (1:7) and in the future consummation when all will be set right and Jesus will take control of the nations directly.

As I write these words and examine this passage in the pre-dawn hours of the fourth Thursday of Lent in the year of our Lord 2026, the world is in serious trouble. War rages in Ukraine, tensions are high between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the United States and Israel have attacked Iran and Lebanon, which, in retaliation, has nearly crippled oil and energy supplies for much of the world. Inflation is climbing. Justice is called into question because pedophiles run free. Corporations have used AI in a careless way to mercilessly reduce workforces and jobs are drying up. Even in side the church leadership is cruel and immoral, seeking power and fame rather than faithfulness. Things look bleak, and time seems spinning out of control. Yet faith, real faith, remembers that God is the keeper of times, and he is managing it, overseeing it, administrating it alongside history in such a way that human beings are given maximum freedom until it is time to give an account. That moment will be when Jesus sits upon a throne and everything will come under his direct control. This will not happen before he is ready, and what is more, faith understands and gives thanks for the fact that God has kept us from blowing the planet to smithereens. That we are still here is evidence of his amazing greatness in keeping the times.

*Verbify is not a real word, but it should be.

Verse 11

in whom we were chosen, having been predestined according to the purpose of everything happening according to the plan of his will

we were selected in him, it was his purpose, his forever plan, everything happening according to his will

You can feel that this is a summary statement of the previous few thoughts. As such, it is a repetition of things we’ve already talked about. The interesting thing is how the language employs so many different ways of saying ‘this was always God’s plan’. There is one word that means ‘it will all work out’ and another word for ‘intention or purpose’ and another word for ‘will’ and then the word ‘chosen”, which is different than the word for election in verse 4 and can carry with it a feeling of appointed. Everything is appointed, willed, intended, purposed, planned, and will all work out.

What will? Everything will.

Verse 12

for us to be in praise of his glory, anticipating hope in Messiah

that we be in celebration of his glory, pre-hoping in Messiah

A big part of the plan was for us to praise, to celebrate this glory. This is a point I can’t leave without highlighting the purpose of worship — celebration and praise. It is God-centered, about his glory and his amazing work. Yes, human need and the human condition are also part of the content, but the focus is, and must always be, on what the Lord is doing and working through it. Too much of worship is focused solely on human emotion, generating ‘feels’, and targeting a growth curve in attendance. Such a focus is hogwash idolatry. We praise God, we celebrate God, in art, beautify, song, and word because who he is and what he has done and what has promised he will do.

The word for ‘hope’ has a prefix before it that can either mean ‘first to hope’ or ‘hope before.’ Given the context of praise and glory, I chose to focus on the pre-hope. Pre-hope is what comes before hope; which is to say, pre-hope is optimism before we fully know what good things might be in store for us.

I need more pre-hope in my life.

Verse 13

whom you, after you heard the true gospel of your salvation, thus being marked with a seal in the promised Holy Spirit

the person who, after you heard the true words about the good news of your salvation, then marked you with an emblem in the Spirit about the holy promise

You don’t know how tempting it was to translate the word ‘mark’ as spiritual tattoo. Disclosure — I have no tattoos, but that is kind of the idea being mentioned here by Paul to describe being marked by the Spirit. The biggest question we have to ask is whether this is about baptism or about the arrival of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life, which occurs at the moment of belief.

I opt for baptism based on the connection between baptism and circumcision, which was the ‘mark’ of the Old Covenant. Paul has no problems equating the two, and does so explicitly in Colossians 2:11-12. Our baptism is a spiritual tattoo that marks us as being in Christ, and as recipients of the Holy Spirit, and thus among those who have. been delivered, which is to say, the church.

Speaking of Holy Spirit, you should take note in my alternative translation, I moved ‘spirit’ from the word ‘holy’. I do believe it is a reference to the Holy Spirit, but the word holy itself is not next to the word spirit, rather it is at the end, closer to promise. The idea of promise can take us in many directions, all of which may be legitimate, but contextually promise is tied to the forgiveness of sins and the inclusion as a child of God. That is the sacred promise.

Verse 14

who is earnest money of our inheritance, until the deliverance of the estate, to the praise of his glory.

who is the down payment on our inheritance, until the whole estate is ours, praise his glory!

There it is, 257 words in that sentence, now complete, and how do we celebrate finishing it? By playing every New Testament students favorite game: Can you keep up with Paul’s ever switching metaphors? Here, at the end, he switches from the beautiful language of family and adoption, and spiritual marking of covenant, and turns to finance to describe the Holy Spirit’s work in our life. And, from our perspective, it is muddled. It sounds to our ears like he is confusing the process of buying a house — in which earnest money is put down to show intent to actually buy — and the inheritance of an estate after a will has been processed.

Yet, that is not how I read it. I read earnest money here as not about buying a house, but it is, work with me — as though the parents have died, and the children are given some ‘money to live on’ until the process of switching over the estate is finished and they may claim full ownership. The Holy Spirit here is a kind of ‘executor’ of the will, then, providing for day-to-day things now while at the same time working toward the day when the heir is in full control.

The Holy Spirit is our access to God for daily living until the fullness of times, the mystery is completely revealed, and the metaphor becomes reality.

And never forget, the one who died, leaving us this beautiful inheritance, is Messiah Jesus.