THAT which constitutes our
subject, "GOD ALL IN ALL," is a part of a very
important and profound passage of Scripture, as may be seen from our text.
It is one of the greatest revelations of truth in the Word of God, setting
forth God's grand and glorious goal, namely, the ultimate removal and
repudiation of Sin . . . "since then He must often be suffering from the
disruption of the world, yet now, once, at the conclusion of the eons, for
the repudiation of sin through His sacrifice, is He manifest"(Heb.
9:26). The consequent cessation and abolishment of evil and the
justification and vivification of all His creatures without the loss of a
single one, is God's goal. Nothing short of it is. This is what is
divinely declared in this brief, yet highly informative section of 1
Corinthians 15:20-28.
THE FUNDAMENTAL FACT OF THE EVANGEL
It would be of profit to
acquaint ourselves with what is set forth in 1 Corinthians 15, verses 12
to 28. In substance it shows that the death of Christ is essential to the
evangel and, in addition (for a dead Christ can not save), that His
resurrection is vitally necessary for justification, vivification,
reconciliation and all other blessings besides. This is important, for, as
the apostle points out, if Christ has not been roused, we are still in our
sins, and those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. His
resurrection, then, is of supreme importance.
THE DEATH STATE
Death is the opposite of life,
according to the Scriptures. It is not a change from one form of life to
another - certainly not the gateway to glory, as is usually taught even by
devout men. To the contrary, death is a cessation of being, destruction,
disorganization. separation of one's vital units. Happily, Christ will
deliver all the dead from this dire condition, for He is God's appointed
instrument for the deliverance of all mankind from the death state. To
John, on the Isle of Patmos, Christ gave assurance of this divinely-given
task on behalf of mankind, saying. "Do not fear! I am the First and the
Last, and the Living One: and I became dead, and, lo! living am I for the
eons of the eons (Amen!). And I have the keys of death and of the unseen"
(Rev. 1:17,18).
THE COMPLETENESS OF CHRIST'S
SUBJECT1ON AND THE UNIVERSALITY
OF HIS ACHIEVEMENT
All insubordination will be
put down in the dust of defeat whenever and wherever it shows its ugly
head in the heavens and on the earth. Christ Jesus our Saviour is Ruler of
both spheres. He Who is of the celestial came to earth, divested Himself
of His former glory in order to be man's Saviour, Redeemer and
Deliverer. In His lowliness He came to be at the feet of all - " . .
. nevertheless empties Himself, taking the form of a slave, coming to be
in the likeness of humanity, and, being found in fashion as a human, He
humbles Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross."(Phil 2:7,8).
Hence, He is acquainted with
the ways of men and angels and, therefore, is well qualified to be Lord of
all in the heavens as well as on the earth. He is set over all, ascends
over all who are of the heavens that He may be completing "the all,"
the universe - "Now the "He ascended,' what is it except that He
first descended also into the lower parts of the earth? He Who descends is
the Same Who ascends also, up over all who are of the heavens, that He
should be completing all" (Eph 4:9-10).
No angel, or celestial
creature, has this unique, distinctive position and opportunity, for none
could qualify. Only the Son of God's love is capable of all this. Thank
God for this qualified One Who will soon take unto Himself His great power
and reign! With firmness, yet in love, and a wisdom which takes into
account the weaknesses and follies of His subjects - men and heavenly
creatures as well - He will, with unquenchable zeal, bring all God's
rebellious creatures into full subjection to His God and Father Who
created them.
The last enemy that the Christ
will have to deal with is death. It will become inoperative - be abolished - by
His power. Its victims will have become completely emancipated from its
slavery, and not till then will it be possible for all to be made alive in
Christ.
Some of the Corinthians (like
the Sadducees), denied the resurrection of the dead, but Paul insists not
only on the resurrection of the dead, but on the vivification of all,
including those who have not actually gone into the death state.
ALL WILL BE WELL
Customarily, it is taken for
granted that the last Book of the Bible (The Scroll of the Unveiling of
Jesus Christ) contains the revelation of the consummation of the eons,
whereas that was not given to John, but to Paul, whose writings reveal a
purpose formed before the eons, in Christ Jesus, embracing within its
compass the events from and included in the first chapter of Genesis
onwards to - and beyond - the final vision recorded by John in the Scroll
of his testimony, the Scroll of the Unveiling of Jesus Christ.
Comfort yourself, then, with
this thought, with this truth, that no matter how black things may look at
present, however much evil and sin seem to triumph, how much sickness,
disease may wreck this mortal frame, we have a Saviour, Who is Lord of
all. One Who is fully capable of grappling with our unsolved problems,
however formidable they might be, and solve them so marvelously that He
will be universally acclaimed Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Let no one, therefore, deceive
you into thinking that this will never come to pass; will never be true;
that it is only a pipe dream that all will not eventually be saved; that
some will be (as it is put) "eternally lost." Those who speak thus
evidently don't know the God Whom they profess to love and
worship; don't know the Scriptures they profess to believe; don't
know the Saviour and the true value of His death for them and
for all. For He said: "And I, if I should be exalted out of
the earth, shall be drawing all to Myself" (John 12:32). Don't be
disturbed by them, even by the uninformed evangelists, pastors and
teachers, concerning their teaching of "eternal damnation " with its seeming
support of the Word of God - "Verily, I am saying to you that all shall
be pardoned the sons of mankind, the penalties of the sins and the
blasphemies, whatsoever they should be blaspheming. yet whoever should be
blaspheming against the holy spirit is having no pardon for the eon, but
is liable to the eonian penalty for the sin - for they said, "An unclean
spirit has he.'"(Mark3:28-30).
When this text is correctly
translated, as it is in some versions, notably the Concordant Version, it
is clear that this passage - and others like it - is in line with the
fundamental teaching of the Word of God. Punishment, or chastening, is
never intended of God to be perpetual. It is wholly confined within the
eons. That is all our Lord said in the above passage.
The inspired apostle declares
emphatically that Christ will reign until He shall be placing all His
enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be abolished is death. Note that
death is the last enemy. In this instance, it is none other than the second
death which is in view, for at this period of Christ's reign all have
been delivered from the first death (Rev. 20:4-15). Hence, only the
second death is remaining; and remember, it is the "last enemy,"
the abolition of which (necessarily) must take place almost at the close
of His reign. The abolishment of death, the second death, is important in
order that all may be vivified so that GOD may
become ALL IN ALL.
CHRIST'S RESURRECTION
THE KEYSTONE
The inspired apostle Paul
makes it crystal clear that, for God to be All in all, the resurrection of
all the dead is required. Every son and daughter of Adam is
included, all for whom Christ died. His words are, "For since, in
fact, through a man came death, through a Man, also, comes the
resurrection of the dead." (1 Cor. 15 :21).
So then, for God to be All
in all demands the resurrection of all the dead, right back to Adam
and Eve. That is why our text is placed right in the heart of the theme of
the resurrection of which the apostle speaks so eloquently and so
passionately.
And lest there be any
misunderstanding of His word, the apostle goes right on to say, "For
even as, in Adam, all are dying (all do not die, but all are dying, a
process), thus also, in Christ, shall all be vivified. Yet each in his own
class . . ."
All will not be vivified, or
made to live, at the same time. There will be three classes. So the
apostle goes right on to explain the order in which the three classes will
be vivified, or made alive - made to live a full life in all its
perfection and glory of person and immortality, with all the possibility
of death completely removed. Such is the nature and quality of
vivification or making alive - a life that only God through Christ can
impart. Thank God for such an expectation for it fills us with joy to the
full! Hallelujah! Yes, in times like these. Praise be unto Him.
Now the apostle continues:
carefully note his words which so many Christians fail to grasp.
First - the Firstfruit, Christ - Resurrection
(1900 and more years ago);
Second - thereupon those who
are Christ's in His presence;
Third - thereafter comes the
consummation - the finality.
But, someone may ask, when
will the consummation be? The apostle explains this fully in 1 Corinthians
15:24-28. When will the consummation be - the time? When will the third
class be vivified ? Listen carefully:
(a) Whenever He may be
giving up the kingdom to His God and Father (verse 24).
(b) Whenever He should
be nullifying all sovereignty and all authority and power . . . (verse
24).
(c) Now whenever He may
be saying that all is subject . . . (verse 27).
(d) Now, whenever all
may be subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also shall be subjected to
Him Who subjects all to Him, that God may be All in all (verse 28).
That is the time when the
third class will be vivified, made to live endlessly. The apostle proceeds
to supply further details of Christ's work in verses 24-28. Note the
word "whenever" throughout.
The oft repeated word "whenever"
points to the many things to be accomplished before the consummation of
the eons, the time when the third class will be vivified. And they, with
the rest of creation, will be presented to God, a subjected, reconciled
creation in which God becomes ALL in ALL.
Dear Reader: Thank God for this wonderful plan of
full deliverance for the human race, our only hope in this life and in
the ages to come. May God, by His spirit, open your spiritual eyes to
see and your heart to understand; and don't fail to tell others, and
thus become a channel of blessing, is the prayer of the author.
