Rarely would someone look up the definition of a word for which the definition is quite obvious, but consider for a moment the meaning of the English word “all.” “All” is “used to refer to the whole quantity or extent of a particular group or thing.” It emphasizes “every member or individual component of” a particular group. Thus, the word “all” is fully inclusive and does not exclude any person or thing under consideration.
The Scripture uses the word “all” (or its counterpart “every”) in some very specific ways, to which the child of God should pay very close attention. If God says “all” and if God means “all,” then His child ought to understand “all” and see “all” the way that God sees “all.”
God made “every nation of men” from one man (Acts 17:26). Thus, “all” people have been made in the “image” and “likeness” of God (Gen. 1:26).
God says that “all” are lost in sin and are falling “short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23).
God, in His great love, “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4).
God came to earth in the flesh and “died for all” on the cross (2 Cor. 5:14), tasting “death for everyone” (Heb. 2:9).
God says that “all” need and deserve to hear the saving power of “the gospel of Christ” (Mark 16:15; Rom. 1:16).
God says that “all” people will die—“All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust” (Ecc. 3:20).
God says that “all” will “appear before the judgment seat of Christ” to be judged for how they lived (2 Cor. 5:10).
God says that “all” will be “gathered” before Christ and will be sentenced to their eternal destiny (Matt. 25:31-46).
God says that we have a responsibility to warn and teach “every man” (Col. 1:28).
Is your “all/every” the same as God’s “all/every”? “All” includes all nationalities, all ethnicities, all classes, all economic levels, all education levels, all religious persuasions, both genders, all sexual orientations, all careers, all political persuasions, all ages, all personalities, all heights, all weights, all accents, all mask-wearers (and non-wearers), all social-media-users (and non-users), etc., etc. God’s “all” includes every single person that we know and every single person we may ever meet!
While we get wrapped up and focused on various things by which we can identify (and thus divide) ourselves, let us be reminded that in the eyes and love of God, “all” people equally need our Christ-like attention and efforts.