by T B. Baines
Up to the cross God was unfolding His plan of earthly government to try man, first alone, then with Christ in his midst to see whether he could carry out the divine purposes of blessing to the world. The result was disastrous failure. Man could neither execute God's schemes himself, nor receive—or even recognize—the anointed One by whom they are to be accomplished.
The first man ruined all he touched; the second Man was despised, rejected, and crucified. This brought God's plans to a close until the people who refused their Messiah shall repent, and He shall again appear for their deliverance and blessing. Meanwhile, even the count of prophetic time stops, the space between Christ's death and the resumption of God's earthly designs being treated as a blank.
How, then, is God filling up this interval? What purposes is He now carrying out? Till the cross, the first man was under trial, but there all was changed. Man proved that in his nature he was hopelessly alienated from God, and could not even receive blessing from Him in whom all God's gracious promises and purposes await their fulfillment. It was not enough, then, for the second Man to appear. The first man must receive a new nature, must be created anew before he could take the blessings which the second Man came to dispense.
How could God effect this transformation? How could man be drawn out of this pit of ruin? It was by the very thing which showed how hopeless his ruin was! The deed which proved man's ripeness for perdition brought out God's power unto salvation. The cross which demonstrated the irreconcilable hatred of man's heart to God revealed the unquenchable love of God's heart to man. That which sealed the doom of the old creation opened the door for the new. The bloodshed upon the cross laid the righteous basis for the reconciliation of all things.
In Christ's death the old creation was judicially set aside, while His resurrection brought in the second Man as the "last Adam," the firstborn of a new creation in each member of which God could find the same delight as in its risen Head. Instead of the single grain of wheat, He had fallen into the ground and died, so that now He could produce much fruit, as it is written, "Behold I and the children which God hath given Me." Heb. 2:1313And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me. (Hebrews 2:13).
All blessing, then, for the Church or the world is based on the death and resurrection of the second Man. But the cross is regarded in Scripture from the side of man's guilt as well as from that of God's grace. All admit the punishment of the Jews for their rejection of Christ. But were the Gentiles without guilt? The Holy Spirit teaches that Christ came as the Light; that "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not." John 1:1010He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. (John 1:10). Jesus declares the world's condemnation to be "that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." John 3:1919And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19).
The world, therefore, that is, man as a whole, is guilty of refusing the One sent from God to effect its blessing. This crime still forms the subject of God's judgment, both on Jew and Gentile. By this judgment the Jews have been cast out, and the earthly blessings of the kingdom, whether to Jew or Gentile, postponed. Creation is still left groaning for deliverance, until the scepter is given to Christ. And in the meanwhile, God is carrying out other purposes, quite apart from His designs of righteous government and blessing for the earth.
These purposes may be looked at, first as regards the kingdom, and next as regards the Church. The kingdom in its Jewish form is postponed. In outward display, it cannot be set up till Israel shall say, "Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord." But Jesus speaks of "the mysteries of the kingdom," and it is in this mysterious, or unrevealed form, that the kingdom now exists.
During this epoch, Christ, not having received His own throne, is seated on the Father's throne, waiting till God shall give Him the nations for His inheritance. It is the day of His "patience," and not His "power." He is not taking vengeance on His enemies, but beseeching them to be reconciled. Satan is allowed to sow tares in the field without provoking immediate judgment. The leaven is to work in the meal till all is corrupted.
God still tarries in grace, not willing that any should perish, and seeking to gather out a people from the ruin and judgment which are impending. Such is the kingdom in its mysterious form. On God's side, it is the display of perfect grace and matchless forbearance. On man's side, it is but a sadder disclosure of his proneness to depart from God, and to corrupt the best gifts entrusted to his hands.
While the kingdom drifts to hopeless shipwreck under man's pilotage, God has another thought in His heart, a mystery which, as Paul says, "in other ages was not made' known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed into His holy apostles, and prophets by the Spirit." This mystery was disclosed "to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." Eph. 3:5, 10, 115Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; (Ephesians 3:5)
10To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, 11According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: (Ephesians 3:10‑11).
Here, then, is God's present work. His schemes of earthly blessing are suspended; the kingdom, in its mysterious form, is filled with corruption and hurrying to judgment. He is carrying out purposes for Christ's glory which He formed before the world was. These are purposes which prophets had not heard, and angels desire to look into; purposes in which, whatever our dullness, the principalities and powers in heavenly places discern the manifold wisdom of God. These purposes are fulfilled by the Church, which thus stands forth, not only as the object of God's most cherished delight, but as the brightest display of His divine wisdom.
The void between the suspension and resumption of God's earthly purposes is filled up by the kingdom in its present form, and by the Church. According to God's institution, these were coextensive consisting of the same persons, though viewed in a different way. Notwithstanding, therefore, the divergence which man's failure has introduced, the kingdom is still occasionally spoken of in Scripture under its narrower, as well as under its wider aspect-according to its institution by God as well as according to its administration by man. Both views appear in the discourse in which our Lord specially treats of the kingdom in its present form (Matt. 13).
When speaking to the multitude, He shows the kingdom as man makes it, tares growing among the wheat and leaven corrupting the pure meal. But afterward He retires with His disciples into the house, and unfolds the mysteries that were given to them only to know. In explaining the parable of the tares, He says, "The good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one." Matt. 13:3838The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; (Matthew 13:38). Here the kingdom is looked at in its narrower aspect, as consisting only of the good seed.
The two parables which follow regard it in the same light. "The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchantman, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it." Matt. 13:44-4644Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. 45Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: 46Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. (Matthew 13:44‑46).