There are then three steps in the ultimate object of the kingdom. In the first place it is in order to deliver it up to God, even the Father, when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. We learn from Psalm 2 That He will receive the authority of the kingdom from God: “Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession”; and He Himself says, speaking of the same subject, “Even as I received of My Father.” His authority will therefore be wielded on God’s behalf; and thus, when His mission is completed, He delivers up the kingdom which had been committed to His hands. When returning to the Father from the earth, having come to do His will, He said in His blessed perfection, “I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do”; and we know that He will be able to use the same language at the close of the kingdom. Being what He is, all His works must be perfect like Himself. Nor must we lose sight of His own joy in having again glorified the Father on earth, and in finishing the work which had been given Him to perform, nor indeed forget the joy of the Father’s heart in receiving from the hands of His beloved Son what He had committed to Him. John 5 gives us a most blessed inlet into the complacent relationships existing between the Father and the Son (vss. 19-20); and it is therefore allowable to meditate upon the mutual delight of the Father and the Son in the delivering up of the kingdom.
The second step is seen in verse 28: “And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him.” This brings us at once face to face with the great mystery of redemption, and with the glory of the purpose of God for man as set forth in His beloved Son. What we mean by the mystery of redemption is the incarnation, that it should please God thus to approach man, to become God manifest in flesh. Two scriptures will unfold this to us: “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself”; “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same” (2 Cor. 5:1919To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:19); Heb. 2:1414Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; (Hebrews 2:14)). It was thus in a man — the Man Christ Jesus — that God drew near to man, and at the same time set forth all that God is. But this is not all.
Having as man glorified God in all that God is by enduring all that the glory of God required on account of what man was and is, He Himself has been glorified as Man at the right hand of God. Having become Man for the work of redemption, He remains Man forever; and thus when every enemy has been subjugated, when all things have been put under His feet, having delivered up the kingdom to God the Father, He remains forever identified with His redeemed, the Leader of a chosen race, pre-eminent among all for whom He died, yet taking the place of subjection to Him who put all things under Him. It was so while in this world. As He Himself said, “I have not spoken of Myself; but the Father which sent Me, He gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that His commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto Me, so I speak” (John 12:19,5019The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world is gone after him. (John 12:19)
50And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak. (John 12:50)).
So in eternity itself, He, a divine Person, having become Man — a Man of flesh and blood, but now the risen and glorified Man — will ever be Man, and as such, subject to Him whose will He came to do. What grace! we cannot but exclaim. For we are made companions of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end; and we shall thus remain His companions, as the result of His blessed grace, through all the countless ages of eternity. But it will be the delight of all to acknowledge His pre-eminence, to behold Him anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows; for it is then that He will reap the fruit of all His toil and be forever satisfied.
This brings us to the glory of God’s purpose for man. It is as Man that Christ, as we have seen, has been glorified; and Christ glorified as Man is the pattern and expression of what God’s purpose is for all the redeemed. One scripture precisely states this: “For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom. 8:2929For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Romans 8:29)). As a well-known hymn has put it —
“And is it so? I shall be like Thy Son.
Is this the grace which He for me has won?
Father of glory, thought beyond all thought,
In glory to His own blest likeness brought.
“Nor I alone, Thy loved ones all, complete
In glory round Thee there with joy shall meet,
All like Thee, for Thy glory like Thee, Lord,
Object supreme of all, by all adored.”
This glorious goal is made sure by the immutable purpose of God who chose us in Christ for this before the foundation of the world. But are we to rest satisfied in that we shall be conformed to the image of God’s Son? No, though we shall surely be filled with divine joy at this marvelous consummation of the purpose and grace of God, we shall use diligence just in proportion as we enter into God’s thoughts, to grow daily in the likeness of Christ. It will be our delight to behold the unveiled face of our glorified Lord, and thereby to be changed into the same image, from glory to glory as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Cor. 3:1818But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:18)). We may see in the language of Paul what should be the present effect in our souls of the revelation to us of God’s purposes. He says (we give another translation): “I follow after, if that I may get possession of that for which also I have been taken possession of by Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:1212Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12)). That is, since Christ had taken possession of him that he might be conformed to His image, he himself, in full communion with this end, the end of the purpose of God, would diligently and steadfastly follow on to this goal. So should it be with every believer; we all alike should seek grace to keep our eye upon Christ, the glorified Man, because He is, in that condition, the expression of God’s purpose, the Model, so to speak, to whom we are to be conformed. And let it be remembered that the greater our diligence in the contemplation of the Model set before us, the larger our growth in moral conformity to Christ.
The third and last step remains to be considered. It is the ultimate object and end of the delivering up the kingdom, and the consequence of the Son Himself being subject to Him that put all things under Him; it is that GOD MAY BE ALL IN ALL. We may not attempt to explain these wondrous words, though we may offer a few observations with a view of eliciting the adoration of our hearts in meditating upon this blissful prospect. The end of redemption then is that God may be all in all. If the expression in John 3, “The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand,” is timeless, if, that is to say, it refers to the past eternity, setting forth the Father’s delight in the Son, and teaching that it was His purpose before the foundation of the world, to deliver all things into the hand of the Son, we have a wondrous unfolding of divine thoughts. From all eternity, in that case, it was in the heart of the Father that the Son should be supremely exalted in this scene; and Hebrews 1 teaches that the Son is appointed Heir of all things. For the affectuation of His purpose the incarnation, death, resurrection, and exaltation of Christ at the right hand of God were, as we have already seen, necessary; and now we learn that there was another object in it all, that God might be all in all. If the Father was bent upon glorifying the Son, the Son was equally bent upon glorifying the Father (compare John 13:31-32; 17:1, 231Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him. (John 13:31‑32)
1These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: 2As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. (John 17:1‑2)).
As to the expression itself, a similar one is found in Colossians 3, but used there of Christ. After speaking of the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him, the Apostle proceeds, “Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but CHRIST IS ALL, AND IN ALL” (Col. 3:10-1110And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: 11Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. (Colossians 3:10‑11)). This, we apprehend, is not so difficult, as the expression is used in contrast with the distinctions which obtain among men. It will mean, therefore, that in this region or circle (that of the new man) all that is of the flesh has disappeared, and only Christ and what is of Christ remains, so that Christ is everything (for that is the force of the expression) as well as in all. It is Christ objectively and Christ subjectively, and there is nothing besides. How blessed!
So after the mediatorial kingdom has been delivered up to God the Father, the Son Himself becomes subject, for He takes His place as the glorified Man in the midst of the redeemed, the Firstborn among many brethren, and God is all in all. He is EVERYTHING and in all — as we read in Ephesians, though in a different sense, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. All that God is, His glory, will be in full display, and He is love; and this will form the element in which all the redeemed will live and move and have their being forever. God is love, and dwelling in love, they will dwell in God, and God will dwell in them. Thus God will be in all, as well as be everything. And the foundation of all this lies in that stupendous and finished work of Christ on Calvary. Hence it is that Peter says, “Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Pet. 3:1313Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. (2 Peter 3:13)).
It has yet to be remarked that when the name God is used, as in this case, absolutely, it includes necessarily all that He is in the unity of the Godhead, all that He is as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is and must be God in all that He is as revealed in and through the three divine Persons. This has to be borne in mind in weighing the words which have been before us. One other observation may be made. In the eternal scene unfolded in Revelaton 21:1-8, it will be noticed that there is no mention of Christ, only of God, whereas in the heavenly Jerusalem it is God and the Lamb. This is in harmony with what has been considered in Corinthians. Christ having become identified with the redeemed as the Firstborn among many brethren, God is ALL IN ALL; and He therefore, in the blessed and beatific display of what He is, pervades the whole scene.
On such a subject, how powerless are human words! But inasmuch as the revelation has been made to us, there is surely blessing to be found in meditating upon it in the presence of God. And may the blessed Spirit of God who alone can preserve us from error, guide us into the truth of the revelation made, and form us according to it, that God may be glorified in us, and we in Him!
“Thou are coming, mighty Savior!
King of kings, Thy written name!
Thou are coming, royal Savior!
Coming for Thy promised reign.
Oh, the joy when sin’s confusion
Ends beneath Thy righteous sway!
Oh, the peace when all delusion
At Thy presence dies away!
“Thou art coming, crowned Savior!
Not ‘the second time’ for sin;
Thou art coming, throned Savior!
Bringing all the glory in.
All Thy Father’s house, its glory,
Hangs by sure behest on Thee;
Oh, the sweetness of the story!
Savior, come, we wait for Thee!”