Three Phases of Peace

PEACE WITH GOD -- A sick visitor once asked a man whether he had made his peace with God. "No", replied the man, "No, thank God, it was made for me". Peace with God can only be possible as a result of righteousness. Man by nature cannot produce this righteousness, and therefore cannot make his peace with God. Romans 5:1 gives the true position: "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ". Note the "being" before the "having".

PEACE OF GOD -- All who have peace with God, who are fully acquitted before God, are not always enjoying the peace of God. This is more in line with the second half of Isaiah 32:17, "The effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever". Philippians 4:5 to 7 shows us the path to this peace. Moderation or "yieldingness" to all; anxiety for nothing, for everything prayer and thanks, "and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall GARRISON your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus". Colossians 3:15 says, "Let the peace of God RULE as UMPIRE in your hearts". Here we have a blessed guard and guide.

THE GOD OF PEACE -- One might think that to reach the standard of Philippians 4:5 to 7 was high enough. Verse 9, however, pointing us to the example of that faithful follower of the Lord, says, "Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of Peace shall be with you". If the Giver is greater than His gifts, this is favour indeed.

The Lord's Leading

The Lord guides by the application of His own Word. One can be positive in saying that no one is ever 'led' to disobey or contravene the teaching of Scripture. Instead of praying for guidance on many subjects, we should read the answer already given in the Word. For example,

• 1. In all thy ways acknowledge Him.
• 2. And He shall direct thy paths.

Without any special prayer, or special guidance, this lamp unto our feet will settle the Lord's will for us. We stand at the cross-ways of life. Which is the path for us? This road seems attractive, but it leads in a direction where it will be difficult or impossible to acknowledge the Lord in all our ways. That is the Lord's guidance; that shuts the door for us. Scriptural examples, as well as individual experience, go to show that the Lord's answers are far more frequently in a negative than in a positive direction.

Take as an illustration, the case of the apostle Paul and those with him as given in Acts 16:6-10. After they had preached the word in Phrygia and Galatia, we find that they were forbidden to preach the word in Asia. Here is a negative leading; they were not told where they were to preach, but were simply forbidden to preach in that one spot. They arrived on their journey at Mysia, and here it appears they wondered whether it was the Lord's will for them to evangelize Bithynia; 'but the Spirit suffered them not'. Here again was a negative answer, there was no other course open apparently than to go straight on, so:

Passing by Mysia they came down to Troas, and a vision appeared unto Paul in the night ... immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.

Here was at last the positive. There is no mystery whatever about the preponderance of negatives in our experience. Just as there is one right way of doing a thing and a hundred wrong ways, so is it with the will of God. And just as there are 99 chances to 1 that we shall adopt the wrong way first, so it is highly probable that we shall attempt to preach in our Asia, or assay to go into our Bithynia instead of going straight from our Galatia to Troas and Macedonia.

The negative answers will grow less in proportion in the nearness of our walk to the Lord, and the knowledge of His will. As we grow in grace we shall sense as it were the right and the wrong, we shall ask less for those things that are not according to His will, we shall seek more to please Him than to please ourselves, and instead of experiencing a whole list of negatives, we shall approach the Divine plan for us more quickly and certainly. Our prayers are answered when the Spirit forbids or suffers us not, just as surely as when He gives the vision and the assurance of the call.

With what certainty we tread when the positive answer is given: 'immediately we endeavoured', 'assuredly gathering', 'we came with a straight course', and we find the one 'whose heart the Lord opened', (Acts 16:6-15). It is helpful in this connection to remember the Septuagint rendering of Proverbs 3:6:

In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall RIGHTLY DIVIDE thy paths.

The Goal of God

When we speak of the "Person" in the Godhead, we employ a term that really means that the Invisible, Unconditional, Absolute has "spoken through" the person of "Father" or "Son" or "Holy Ghost" in the N.T., even as He spoke through the titles Elohim, Jehovah, and El Shaddai in the O.T. No one name, nor all the names of God employed together, can encompass and fully present God Himself. Even the employment of the masculine pronoun "He", "Him" is a concession to our limitations, for God Who is Spirit, Invisible, having neither bodily parts, form or parts cannot be properly conceived of as male or female. At every turn human limitation is met by Divine condescension, and nowhere is this more evident and more necessary than in the revelation of His unspeakable nature to man. In philosophy or logic a name is "a word taken at pleasure to serve for a mark, which may raise in our mind a thought like to some thought we had before," but like words, names are often mistaken for things to our undoing. God is Elohim, but He is infinitely more. God is Jehovah, God is Father, God is Son, God is Holy Ghost, but God is, in Himself--what? That is a question never raised and never answered in the Scriptures. For us, at least, until in the glory we shall be in a position to know even as we are known, we exultantly behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, and if we ask ourselves, as we should, "What is God like?" the answer is that Christ is "the character" (the express Image) of His invisible, unknowable substance or reality (hupostasis Heb. 1:3).

Now all this mighty movement, Creation, Purpose, Manifestation, Self-limitation must, if God be wise, holy and just, have an equally wonderful goal. That goal is indicated in 1 Cor. 15 as we have earlier suggested: "That God may be all in all."

That is "the end", and creation, overthrow, Adam, redemption, resurrection, eternal life and ultimate glory, are all the blessed means adopted to ensure at last this most wonderful end is attained. We must contemplate this unfolding therefore with bowed heart and reverent thought, for the unveiling of this purpose will ultimately unveil the heart of the living God.

Let us now return to the opening theme of our study and endeavor with the light we have now received to take another step forward. We have already observed that in the world of Nature God is, and always has been, "All in all", and it is toward this same glorious and acknowledged supremacy and fulness in the world of moral agents that the purpose of the ages moves. Where, however, in the world of physics, God could say "Let there be light" and there was light, where in that realm "He spake and it was done, He commanded and it stood fast, in this highest world of morals, it takes the slow unfolding centuries, the bitter lesson of the ages, in other words it takes "the perfecting through suffering" before the God of creation can be the confessed and acknowledged "All in all" in the hearts and consciences of men.

Two passages in Hebrews 2 which have not yet been considered must now be given attention, for they contain within them the solution of one of the great problems of the ages, namely, in what way will God be so "all in all" that the relationship shall carry within itself its own guarantee of permanence and its assurance of richest intimacy. The passages are: "Perfect through sufferings" and "all of one."

This oneness is to be effected between two parties separated by a gulf that at first seems impassable: The INFINITE God, Who is Spirit, and FINITE man who is flesh. The gulf is spanned by the provision of the Mediator, Job's "daysman", the One Who could lay His hands upon both God and man, in short, He Who was "God manifest in the flesh." Here, in Him, God and man can meet. We are already taught that God is "like Christ", so that if redeemed man can become "like Christ" also, oneness is assured and forever established by the possession of this common likeness. This truth we now seek to establish by an examination of the Scriptural employment of the word "Image".

First we must consider those passages which teach that "God is Christ-like", in which God comes down and finds a meeting place with man, in the person of His Son, the One Mediator. Then we must consider the passages where man (1) by creation, and (2) by redemption is said to be either created in the likeness of God, or predestinated to be conformed to the Image of His Son, or is yet to have a body like unto His body of glory; and having discovered in this body like unto His body of glory; and having discovered in the blessed Person, the Son of God, the Divine meeting place of God and man, we shall have discovered the way, and the only way indicated in the Scriptures, for God to become All in all to His people. That will be when He Who is the Word, the Form, the Image, the Character of God, and they, for whom this same glorious One became flesh and was made like unto His brethren, shall have become one in the same sense indicated in John 17:21-23: "That they all may be one, as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us...I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may have been perfected into one" or shall be "all of one" as indicated in Hebrews 2:11.

(From The Berean Expositor, Vol. 44)

The Indwelling Christ

By just leaving one letter out, Christian becomes Christ in. Think on this. Is it true?

Paul told the Galatians that he had been especially chosen from birth to reveal God's Son in himself. Is Paul the only one in whom God would reveal His Son? Could this not also apply to all who are His?

Since we are epistles read of all men, it is manifest that we ought to be very careful, for what we do and say is to them what Christ would do and say. For He works with our hands, talks with our tongue, and walks with our feet. So we should be doubly sure that we be careful what we do, what we say, and where we walk.

Paul also said that he was crucified with Christ, dead, but now alive, yet not himself, but Christ living in Him. This was Paul's estimate of true Christian living. And he was humble enough that he did allow Christ to live and work in him, as his life testifies. He was also able to ask others to follow him as an example. Would that we all could say that!

The Lord here on earth gave an example of this too. He said nothing that the Father had not given Him to say, nor did He do anything that the Father had not told Him to do. There was perfect accord between Him and the Father.

And so should the Christian be careful about doing anything on his own, but letting Christ work in him; nor should he say anything but what Christ would say through him. There is a great need for this close walk with Christ in these days. The world does not know where to look for Christ. Those that maintain that they are His are not too interested in manifesting Christ in their flesh. They seek their own things.

In reference to the members of the church in this age we are told that Christ in or among the believers is the hope of glory. Also that believers are being built up into a holy temple in which God can dwell by the Spirit.

It might be well for us to ask at times, would Christ do this? Would Christ say this? Would Christ go here? Would Christ even think of these things? Let us examine ourselves.

In his prayer in Ephesians 3, Paul shows that strength is needed for Christ to dwell in our hearts by faith. Some of that power to usward who believe, that power which raised Christ from the dead is need in this instance.

Paul also told the Philippians that above all things he wanted Christ to be magnified in his body, whether by death or by life and that if he died it would be Christ's gain, and if he continued to live and witness, it would be to Christ's gain.

You see, this is all leading up to a future life when God can be all in all. He will be all, since there will then be no other gods before Him. And he can be in all because of the death of the old man and a new creature in resurrection in which He can dwell.

(Taken from Truth For Today Vol. 28, March 1976) 

A Question of Divisions

As we look about us today we see that Christendom is divided into hundreds of sects. We read much about these divisions as men deplore them. There is a widespread accusation that men are dividing the body of Christ. And men everywhere are seeking to make a union, to gather the sects and denominations together under one head. But of course that one head will be a man.

In the midst of all this the question comes to mind as to whether there can be divisions in the body of Christ. If so, how could it be done? Where would one start? What means could be used?

In Ephesians 4:3-6 there is mentioned the unity of the Spirit. It is sevenfold as follows:

              ONE LORD

      One Hope   One Faith

   One Spirit       One Baptism

One Body              One God and Father
 

No one can make this unity. It is already made. It is to be kept, that is all that one can do about it. But somebody is sure to ask if the unity is broken if somebody does not keep it. Failing to keep the unity is not breaking it or making any divisions. The unity cannot be changed by man's attitude toward it. It remains nonetheless.

In man-made organizations, there can be all kinds of divisions and splits. And they can also make a unity by joining organizations together. But no such unity can be a spiritual one.

In the churches during Acts, there were divisions and strife. This was wrong and was mentioned along with carnality, fornication, incest, and the like. But after Acts the word church never again appears in the plural and no longer does the term apply to a group of believers here on the earth. The church today is seated with Christ in the heavens. What man can ascend to heaven to divide this church? 

The Head of the church today is seated at the right hand of God in the heavenlies. If any man were to try to be head of the church today, he would have to invade heaven itself and displace Christ from His position there. Yet men vainly imagine that the church is here on the earth and that a man is its head. And many a martyr died in the flames insisting that Christ was the Head of the church, and not somebody else.

What man can ascend to heaven to break the unity of the Spirit? Yet we are told that we are to strive earnestly to keep it. We are to watch over it, to take care of it in our own lives, to keep an eye upon it, not looking to something else as a substitute, and to observe it attentively. Our failure to do this does not break it, but it can break us. We can suffer loss and lose our joy.

Keeping the unity of the Spirit is closely knit with the walk. The unity can be manifested in the walk. If one will closely read this chapter 4, he will see that this all leads on to a unity of the faith mentioned in verse 13. But there can be no unity of faith without a knowledge of the the Son of God. This leads to maturity, the full grown man.

The Dividing Line (1)

It is amazing, as we look through the New Testament, so-called, that there is a clear line of cleavage at Acts 28:28. It is like going out from the dark to the light. Of course some things, especially of the flesh, disappear at that point. There is where the 9 gifts of the Spirit ceased. There has been much counterfeiting of these things, but the real thing is just not here today.

Paul went into his own hired house in Rome as one bound for the hope of Israel. But after a meeting with the Jewish leaders, and their rejection, Paul later writes that he is a prisoner for the Gentiles, Israel is off the scene, divorced and set aside till now.

Before this point in history there had been mysteries from time to time, but now it is The Mystery that is proclaimed. And it is the duty of every believer today to find out what this mystery or secret is. It is important.

In all of his early ministry Paul had spoken none other things than what the prophets and Moses said. He stuck to the Hebrew Bible, the only Bible of that day. And all the writings of our New Testament up to that historical point, where Israel were divorced, were based on Moses and the prophets. But not so after that point. When Paul received the revelation of the mystery, he immediately wrote Ephesians, Moses and the prophets are now left behind.

Especially in his Corinthian letters and the Thessalonian letters, Paul was expecting the raising of Israel and they along with believers who were alive would be raptured up into the air to meet the Lord coming down from heaven to set up the great millennial kingdom. But now in a short time, Paul was resigned to die, as he writes to Timothy. These are Paul's last words recorded.

Paul was an ardent preacher of the New Covenant, especially quoting from Isa. 31:31 in his Hebrew letter. This was the hope of Israel. But after Acts, nothing more is said about it.

In Romans Paul stressed the fact that the gospel was to the Jew first, and then to the Gentile. But later he had no message for the nation that was no longer a nation.

The Gentile believers from Acts 13 till the end were simply grafted into the olive tree, representing Israel, to make them bear fruit. But after the cutting off of Israel, the Gentiles were the center of the scene, and blest with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.

From the preaching of John Baptist till the end of Acts, the kingdom of heaven was the theme. Suddenly that ceased and the dispensation of the mystery was revealed with its church, the body of Christ.

From Acts 13 up to the end of Acts, both Jew and Gentile were blest with faithful Abraham. But now members of the church are blest in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. A change from an earthly hope to a heavenly hope.

(Reprinted from Truth For Today - Vol. 37, 1985)

Riches in Glory (1)

Many are missing good things. It may seem that they are choosing this way. But, really, no one wishes to miss a good thing. So why do so many miss out on the good things? Ignorance.

Think of the regrets because of missed opportunities which knocked at the door only once. You have heard stories of folks who missed untold treasures. One fortune was in the old family Bible. The heir had not bothered to open it. Lots of people are poor today because they fail to open the Bible.

A closed Bible is either because of ignorance or plain neglect. I am talking about those who profess to be Christians. Through ignorance, they are choosing lesser blessings instead of the greater ones. A baby will choose the shiny penny rather than the dull $100 bill. It has not had any sense of values yet.

Think of the millions of Christians who are poor spiritually. They are so by choice. It is an ignorant choice.

For an example, let us consider Col. 3:4, "When Christ, our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory." Have you considered that verse? Does it apply to you, or to somebody else? Have you ever really studied that verse? Have you claimed it for your hope? Or, are you following the crowd right down Broadway?

Is this appearing here on the earth? In the clouds? Or, in glory? We do sense the fact that some day the Lord will appear. This word appear is not used in connection with the hope of Israel. It remains for the church.

The Lord does not yet reign. He has no throne, but shares His Father's throne at present time. Some day He will reign on the earth. He will have many crowns in that reign (Rev. 19:12). He will wear the crown of every nation on the earth, hence many crowns. King of kings, and Lord of lords will be His title.

But where did he get the crowns? Where is the coronation ceremony? Not here on earth, for He comes from heaven with the crowns already on His head. Where is the coronation?

Before coming to the earth He will rise from His Father's throne. Since our life is hid with Christ in God (Col. 3:3), then we must conclude that He is hid in the heavenlies. He is also waiting for the manifestation there.

The church as not been invited to the marriage of the Lamb. But it has been invited to the coronation of the Lord. The marriage of the Lamb will be here on the earth. The bride is Israel, an earth people. The coronation is in the heavenly places, far above all. Christ is the Head of His church. They are invited to His manifestation to the powers in the heavenlies, not to peoples on the earth.

"Then shall ye also appear with Him in glory." What a wonderful time that will be. But, will you be there?

(Reprinted from Vol. 27 of Truth For Today.)

Riches in Glory (2)

I was a child of God for many years before I knew that I could have the adoption as a son and have my citizenship in the heavenlies, the holies. I was content to remain a child, since I knew nothing else. Ignorance may be bliss at times. But somebody pointed me to the truth.

In view of Phil. 3:20, I changed my address. I have been quickened, raised, and seated with Christ in His Father's throne. And all that by simple faith. I never deserved it. The Father was glad to give it to me. All I had to do was to believe and ask. It was that simple.

And all that time that I was a child of God, I never dreamed that I was a saint. But I was. Not by anything I had done, but because of my relationship to Christ. I had died with Him, and was buried with Him, and I was resurrected with Him. That made me a saint. No person or group of persons conferred that sainthood upon me. It was by God's grace. For you see, I had been clothed with the righteousness of Christ. And God looked upon me then as if He were looking at His own Son. The Son had my sins imputed to Him, and I had His righteousness imputed to me. That was one trade in my life that I got a real bargain, got the best of the deal.

And there is plenty of the same for you in the storehouse of the unsearchable riches of Christ. All you do is ask and it shall be.

I had had some puzzles in my former life which I just could not make out. But I kept wondering why the church during Acts was so different from what was called the church in my day. There were few similarities. Why no longer the gifts of the Spirit? I never saw anybody raised from the dead. No families in the groups I attended ever observed the passover as they did back then. Why? And why could Gentiles now take part in the services and sit in the congregation, when back during Acts they could not do so (Rom. 9:4)? I wondered why folks then would be stricken dead when they lied in the assembly, but now even preachers can get away with lying. It just did not make sense. But then I brought up the traditions of the church and I dared not question these things. That would be heresy.

Also the meek were to inherit the earth. What earth and where? Did I have any part in this? I later found that this inheritance was for Israel, the promised land or earth. I also found out that the promise of long life in this land was for honoring father and mother. Again, this did not make sense for today.

But the last straw was the realization that the church of Acts period was to go through the great tribulation and then caught up into the air (not heaven) at the last trump. And they do not go to heaven, but have part in the kingdom here on earth.

I needed a key to all this, and I finally found it. It was hanging right at the door and I had never seen it? Have you seen it?

(Taken from Truth For Today Vol. 27, January 1975)

Riches in Glory (3)

Yes, I finally found the key to the truth and the reasons for my confusion. And, as I said before, it was hanging right at the door in plain sight. This seems to be the best place to hide something; just put it right out in the open and folks will not see it.

All those years, 2 Tim. 2:15 had been in my Bible and I had never really seen it there. If I did read it, it did not mean anything; just so many words. But one day light shone upon it just right and I saw it. "Rightly divide," that was the key. Simple, isn't it? Why didn't I see it before?

All that time I had not realized that I was not a Jew. My ancestors came from Japheth, not Shem. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were not my fathers. My fathers did not cross the Red Sea, waste 40 years in the wilderness, and then cross the Jordan into the promised land. My fathers were not at Sinai to receive the law. It was not given to Gentiles, but to Israel.

All this I did not know. No one had ever mentioned it to me that I can remember. And I began to realize that confusion is just plain ignorance, and I certainly had been ignorant. In that ignorance I had been trying to steal. I was appropriating to myself that which belonged to Israel, especially the blessings. As for the curses, I was willing that Israel should have them. I had used an old Bible in which all the good things in the Old Testament were related to the church, and all the bad things to Israel. I just swallowed all that without questions. After all, it was in print, so why should it be wrong?

I shudder when I think back to some of the early Bible teaching I did. Only wish there was some way of correcting it. But no way!

So I work all the harder in order that I may be approved of God, a good workman that need not be ashamed, now rightly dividing the Word of Truth as the Word says I should do.

As long as I did not know whether I was Jew or Gentile, the passage in John 4:22 which says that salvation was of the Jews did not bother me. But when I began rightly dividing the Word and found in Acts 28:28 that the salvation of God was sent to the Gentiles, I took another look, and made a great discovery. The promises made to Abraham are not valid today. They have been set aside for a time until Israel wakes up and is ready to receive them. And the kingdom is a part of this. The King was rejected, murdered, and rejected the second time at the end of Acts. That is why Israel is divorced today and the Gentiles have a salvation of their own.

I say, I was scared for a little while, knowing that although Moses had led the children of Israel out of Egypt and through the wilderness, yet he did not get to enter the land. And also Paul, during his kingdom ministry, was somewhat exercised lest he should become a castaway, that is disapproved. So I was worried a bit about that early teaching of mine.

(Reprinted from Truth For Today - Vol. 27, 1975)

Riches in Glory (4)

Really, I have been giving you a bit of autobiography, of how I discovered riches untold, and some of the traps by the way. Having been brought up in a denominational atmosphere and even a grad of a church college, I had acquired a lot of traditions and superstitions. I had been taught that good boys and girls went to heaven, and the bad ones somewhere else, you-know-where! I had heard it said that God loved only good little girls and boys, and I believed it. I had not really read and realized that God loved sinners and that Christ died for the ungodly.

Most folks seemed to think that if you believed that there was a God (or god) in heaven and went to church once in a while, all was fine. They would get to heaven some day, and that was supposed to be when they died. When you have on the traditional specs, you just never see what God has really said. I had not noticed that Abraham believed God and it (his faith) was counted (imputed) unto him for righteousness.

So I was pretty much taken up with my own works, what I could do that would please and placate God, so He would not be too severe on me in the day of judgment. My denomination had not yet discovered the great thing Martin Luther found when in Rome, that one is justified by faith. So I had my fears, as do so many.

Can well remember how that in the Humanities section of the school they taught that man had a soul, a separate entity that could live, think and even suffer pain or have joy outside the body. But in the same school in the Science department we were taught otherwise. And then in Applied Psychology we learned that thought was a combination chemical and electrical reaction in the brain, and that when the brain died all this action ceased. Bewildering? I didn't know which way was UP part of the time!

I am sure that I am not the only one who had to go through some of these things. I determined to find the answers some way, but had no way to go about it. At one time had the idea of going to a seminary and getting much Bible study. Was making plans for it, but the Lord shut the door, and am I glad! I would have had a lot more to unlearn, and it was pretty bad as it was. Hope that I am not boring you with all this, and especially all the I's I put in, but just hope that it will help somebody with problems similar to what I had.

I found the way to find answers. It was to dig them out for myself, to read and study the Word and believe it. Pretty hard to believe the Word after one has been fed traditions for a long time. I had heard, Hath God said, all too many times. Many passages of Scripture had been taught to mean the opposite of what God intended. This made God a liar.

And then one day I heard of 2 Tim. 2:15. I think that was the real turning point. That was the key I was looking for. Then real work began.

The Goal of God (1)

A plan of action, presupposes a goal toward which everything contributes either by way of direct purpose, incidental assistance, or the overruling and directing of evil antagonism. That such a purpose is an integral part of the Scriptures is evident to all who have studied its teaching with any approach to understanding. To most of our readers, it is the goal of the ages, the purpose, which gives a life pulse to the most formal and ceremonial parts of Scripture, even as it crowns the most glorious of the triumphs of redeeming love. The goal of the ages is expressed in one statement made by the Apostle Paul: "That God may be all in all" (1 Cor. 15:28).

If we turn our thought to the witness of the heavens and observe the silent obedience of sun, moon and star, or if we consider the testimony of the creation around us, and observe the unbroken obedience that is ever and always going on in the world of chemistry or biology, we can say that here in this irrational unmoral creation, God is and always has been "All in all". Never in the experience of human observation has the sun refused to rise and set, never has the ocean grown weary of its tidal regularity, never has the power of gravitation, or the law of chemical combination been transgressed. This fact is fully recognized in the Scriptures.

"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created" (Rev. 4:11).

"And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing and honour, and glory, and power be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever" (Rev. 5:13).

If the words "every creature" are construed as inclusive of mankind, then the rest of the book of Revelation, with its revolt, blasphemy, wickedness and wrath is inexplicable, but if they refer to creation apart from men and angels, all is harmony.

The reader will call to mind many a passage where sun and star, or the humbler creatures of earth are revealed as entirely subservient to the Divine Will. God has always been "all in all" as Creator. Without this perfect alignment creation would vanish and the whole fabric turns to chaos. He upholds all things and by Him all things consist. That, therefore, cannot be a future goal which has always been in existence from the beginning. When we look again at 1Cor. 15:28, we find that it is in a context that speaks of rule, authority, power, enmity, resurrection, immortality, sin, law, death and victory. These terms do not belong to science, they are out of place when dealing with creation as such, they are entirely related to man, his nature, his fall, his redemption and his final oneness with God. The goal of the ages expressed in the words "That God may be all in all" therefore looks to the one great exception in the earth-to man, the moral, reasonable creature, who can and did, by the very fact that he was moral and not mechanical, come under the category of "ought" and in connection with whom even God uses the contingent "IF". God Who is already "all" in creation, will one day be "all" within the moral realm, but whereas in the realm of irresponsible creation "He spake, and it was done", the question never arose as to whether fire and hail, snow and vapours, or stormy wind, would or would not fulfill His Word the creation, constitution and the probation of the first man, a responsible creature, as recorded in Genesis 1-3 reveals an entirely different proposition. Here the Lord does not "speak" and find it done. In the material world, He had but to say "Light be", and "Light was", but in the moral and the spiritual world, no such instantaneous command or response was, or is, possible. In the very nature of the moral world, compulsory obedience, compelled love, coerced sanctity or commanded affection are impossible. Where probation has no place in the obedience of creation to the laws of its being, time and experience are essential factors in the work of grace in the moral sphere. It may have been necessary that the fitting of the earth for man should occupy six days, followed by one day's rest, in order that it foreshadow the course of the ages, but the reader of the Scripture is made abundantly alive to the fact, that God was under no more physical necessity to occupy six days in the work, than He Who fainteth not nor is weary was under any necessity to have the seventh day set apart for rest. With regard to man, and the purpose of his creation, time, probation, testing, experience, suffering, faith, hope, reward punishment, all have their place, and it is therefore of the very nature of the subject that it should involve patient waiting, great giving, unbounded love, and grace beyond dreams, before the "all" which characterized God's pre-eminence in nature should find its echo in the moral world.

(The article on this page was taken from Vol. 43 of the Berean Expositor. It is the first of a series of 13.)

The Goal of God (2)

We have seen that when the goal of the ages is expressed in the words "that God may be all in all", something essentially different from the blind unintelligent unconscious obedience of all creation is involved, for man is a rational being, he is a moral agent, he is actuated by desire, he is influenced by example, he can turn away from the truth, he can say "no" to his Maker. He can be rewarded for service or punished for iniquity, and if God is yet to be "All in all", with regard to man, then such a goal presupposes a working of laws, and movements of grace that are unknown to the present world of created things. In this article we devote ourselves to the examination of those passages, other than 1 Cor. 15:28, where the expression "all in all" is used.

While an exact verbal parallel with 1Cor. 15:28 does not exist, there are four other passages in which the variation is so slight that it would be sacrificing genuine illumination for mere pedantic scruples if we denied ourselves the benefit of their comparison. The passages are as follows: 1 Cor. 12:6; 1 Cor. 15:28; Eph. 1:23; Eph. 4:6; Col. 3:11.

Let us examine these passages. The first one has to do with "spiritual gifts" (1 Cor. 12:1). These spiritual gifts were very diverse in character. One believer had the spirit of wisdom, another the gift of healing, yet another the gift of prophecy, another the speaking in an unknown tongue; nevertheless, however diverse these gifts may have been "All these worketh that one and self same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will" (1 Cor. 12:11). As an illustration of this "diversity in unity" the Apostle takes the human body, with its head, its hands, its feet, its organs of sight, of smell, of hearing, and even those members which have less honor, or are uncomely; and he declares, that "God hath set the members every one of them in the body as it hath pleased Him" (1 Cor. 12:18).

Paul then reverts to the original theme, namely that of "spiritual gifts" saying "God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues" (1 Cor. 12:28). Now all this is but an expansion of the statement of verse 6: "There are diversities of operations, but it is the same God Which worketh all in all" (1 Cor. 12:6).

In order to perceive the strong emphasis that is in this verse on the idea of "inworking", let us give the verse a literal translation "diversities of energema (inworkings) but it is the same God which energeo (inworketh) ta panta en pasin the all things in all".

We defer 1 Cor. 15:28, until we can approach it armed with the knowledge gained from other sources. Our next passage therefore must be Eph. 1:23. Here we meet with a quotation from Psalms 8, which figures also in the context of 1Cor. 15:28, namely the expression "all things under His feet", but as this demands separate treatment, we concentrate for the time being on the actual passage which uses the expression "all in all". "And hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church which is His Body, the fulness of Him that filleth (ta panta en pasi) "all in all" (Eph. 1:22,23).

Just as in Col. 3:11 Christ and the church anticipates the goal of the ages, so Eph. 1:23 anticipates the goal as expressed in Eph. 3:19 "That ye may be filled with (or unto) all the fulness of God." Christ fills all things. He that descended to the lower parts of the earth, ascended also far above all heavens, with this object "That he might fill all things" (Eph. 4:10). Not only must He fill all things, we find in Colossians one an intermingling of creative power and supremacy and redemptive preeminence associated with the idea of fulness.

The next passage indicated is Eph. 4:6, where the emphasis is upon the unity of the Spirit, and the completely satisfying fulness of our God and Father.

"Who is over all, and through all, and in you all" (or as it may read "in all things to you') (Eph. 1:6) a passage that clearly anticipates the day when "God shall be all in all."

The last reference is Col. 3:11. Its context take us back to the original creation of man and the evident purpose there expressed (Col. 3:10), but this demands a study itself. Here, moreover, the new man is stressed, another anticipation of that day when He shall make "all things new". This aspect too we must consider separately. The immediate stresses the passing away of all those differences of race, creed and caste, of Greek and Jew, who in their new relationship find their wisdom and righteousness alone in Him (1 Cor. 1:30); of circumcision and uncircumcision who find their full acceptance in Him (Gal. 6: 15,16); of Scythian, bondman and free who alike find their complete emancipation in Him.

Nothing short of this spirit will fulfill "the End" (1 Cor. 15:24) towards which the purpose of the ages slowly but surely moves. This, and nothing short of this, will fulfill the words of 1 Cor. 15:28 "That God may be all in all."

The Goal of God (3)

We have already quoted Ephesians 1:22,23 but deferred the examination of the words "all things under His feet", so that they may be given separate consideration.

As is known, the words occur for the first time in Scripture in Psalm 8, and they are quoted not only in Eph. 1 but in Hebrews 2, as well as in 1 Cor. 15. Connected with this passage we must consider another phrase, namely, "Till I make Thine enemies Thy footstool", which occurs originally in Psalm 110 and is quoted in Matthew, Mark, Luke, Acts and Hebrews. If we attend to the way in which these two passages from the Psalms are originally employed, and then to the way in which the several writers of the New Testament have quoted them, we shall gain further illumination upon the goal of God as expressed in 1 Cor. 15:28.

First, let us consider Psalm 8 which contains the words "all things under His feet" (Psalm 8:6).

When we think of 1 Cor. 15:28 and Psalm 8 together, we discover that there is in both an enemy; that they both make pointed allusion to sun and star and speak of the glory that pertains to the earth and the glory that pertains to the heavens. Even the flesh of man, fish and birds are compared and contrasted. The frailty of man even at his creation is indicated by the contrast between Adam, the first man, who was made "a living soul", and Christ, the last Adam, the second Man, as a "life-giving Spirit". The further frailty of the sons of Adam is revealed in the references to the human body during this life and to the resurrection body of the life to come. "It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power."

We pass now to the reference to Psalm 8 in the epistle to the Hebrews "For unto the angels hath He not put in subjection the world to come whereof we speak" (Heb. 2:5).

Let us note well the Apostle's own explanatory clause "whereof we speak." Of what does he speak? (1) The world was to come. (2) The fact that this world to come has not been put in subjection to angels. The quotation from Psalm 8, the glance at Adam who could not and did not hold this high office, turns us to the man as seen in Jesus Christ, Who by virtue of His death and resurrection will take that great and glorious position. The words "we see not yet" cover the dispensational aspect of the doctrine. The rightful Ruler of that world to come did not ascend the throne at His first advent, but stooped to death, even the death of the cross. The purpose of this death is manifold, and every reference in the Scriptures opens up new avenues of thought and aspects of truth.

Confining ourselves for the moment to the actual implications of Heb. 2 we find that this death precedes the day of His glory.

Namely, rule in "The world to come whereof we speak."

This dominion is limited to the earth, and to the period which comes before the day of which John spoke when he said, "And there was no more sea", for fish of the sea are included in the imperfect foreshadowing under Adam. Hebrews 2 speaks of the earth, "the world to come."

"The kingdoms of the world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ" (Rev. 11:15). Psalm 8 however recognizes that the glory of the Lord is associated with "the heavens" as well as with the earth. The Psalmist does not people heaven with the redeemed; he sees no other occupants than the sun, the moon and the stars. Nevertheless, those who know the teaching of the New Testament know that there is a higher sphere, higher than all spheres of glory and blessing, now opened to faith by grace, and accordingly, it is fitting that this expression "all things under His feet" should be found once more in the epistle of the Mystery - Ephesians.

In Ephesians 1:21-23 where the words occur, we read that Christ has been given to be Head over all things to the Church which is His Body, but not that the Church is under His feet. Principalities, powers, might and dominion are under His feet, and that position, Christ with all such powers beneath His feet is "HEAD OVER ALL THINGS to the church" for this church is potentially "seated together" in those high heavens where He now sits, henceforth expecting His foes to be made His footstool. This passage in Ephesians, quite apart from any problems raised, is most certainly the heavenly aspect of the Savior's dominion over "all things", and indicates "things in heaven and things on earth" are being prepared for the final application of redeeming and restoring grace.

Satan is to be bruised under the saints' feet shortly (Rom. 16:20). All enemies are put "under His feet" (1 Cor. 15:25), consequently, we must distinguish those who are made subject under Him (as he was - Luke 2:51; and will be-1 Cor. 15:28), from those who are "put under His feet" as all enemies must be, before the consummation is reached.

Before, therefore, the goal of the ages can be reached, there must and shall be: (1) The willing submission of all the redeemed. (2) The putting down of all authority and power. (3) The willing submission of the Son. (4) The delivering up of the Kingdom to the Father "That God may be all in all". (Taken from Vol 43 of The Berean Expositor)

The Goal of God (4)

The revelation of God's purpose opens with a "beginning" and in the New Testament reaches an "end". The end "is not yet" but sometimes, to perceive the end of a thing enables one to go back and understand a little better the beginning. If the "end" be the cessation of time, then the beginning will be the commencement of time, but to utter such a statement produces a feeling of frustration. What can be meant by a cessation of time? It may be perfectly true that our present mode of measuring time by the day, hour and minute, will cease; it may be perfectly true that the timepiece of our present system will become obsolete, but if life is to continue, if the redeemed of the Lord are not to cease to be, time, essential time, must abide, for unless we can use the words "now", "then" and "when", existence must cease.

It is a well known fact that the book of the Revelation is in structural correspondence with the book of Genesis, but while the book of Revelation is canonically the book of the end, one passage in the epistle to the Corinthians takes us much further. Let us give this passage the attention which the solemnity of the subject demands, and with the light we receive, we shall be better able to go back to "the beginning" of Genesis 1:1 with hope of a clearer understanding of its import. The fifteenth chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians is devoted to the fact and the outcome of the resurrection. It is not our intention to attempt an exposition of 1 Cor. 15, but in order to perceive the place which the section in mind occupies, we present the following analysis. The chapter, as a whole is divided into three parts.

1. 1-11 EVIDENCE and EVANGELISTIC importance of resurrection.
2. 12-34 FACT of the resurrection established.
3. 35-58 MANNER of the resurrection discussed.

This brings us to 1 Cor. 15:24-28, the passage in point, and here we must call a halt, while we consider the terms used and their meaning and bearing upon both the goal of the ages and the opening words of Genesis.

"Then cometh the end" (1 Cor. 15:24).

"Then" refers to the preceding sentence "at His coming", and in the structure we have noted that verses 20-23 extend from Adam to the parousia that aspect of the Second Coming of Christ that pertains to all callings and spheres other than the hope of the dispensation of the Mystery.

Parousia. This word is derived from para "beside" and eimi "to be" and so "to be present" in opposition to apousia

"absence" (Phil. 2:12). Paul speaks of the coming of Christ in 1 Cor. 15:23, and the coming of Stephanas in 1 Cor. 16:17, in both cases using the word parousia. In 2Cor. 7:6,7 he uses the same word of the coming of Titus, and in 10:10 of his own bodily "presence". So in Phil. 1:26 and 2:12 he uses it of himself. The word is used altogether 24 times in the N. T., 6 occurrences speak of the presence of Stephanas, Titus or Paul, one passage speaks of the coming and personal presence of the man of sin (2 Thess. 2:9), one passage speaks of the coming of the day of God (2 Pet. 3:12), the remainder speak of the coming of Christ.

1. As the Son of Man (Matt. 24:3,27, 37,39).
2. As the Lord (1 Thess. 3:13; 4:15; 5:23 2Thess. 2:1,8; James 5:7,8; 2 Peter 1:16.
3. As Christ (1Cor. 15:23; 1Thess. 2:19).
4. As "His", without specific title (2Pet. 3:4; 1John 2:28).

It will be seen that the parousia is used in the great prophecy of Matthew 24, and by Paul in his epistles written while the hope of Israel was still possible of realization and by Peter, James, and John, but that while he freely uses the word in the prison epistle to the Philippians, he never uses it of the coming of Christ as the hope of the church of the Mystery, another word epiphaneia taking its place.

When we read "Then cometh the end" we must remember as Weymouth notes in his margin "Later on. The 'then' of the A.V. is only a correct translation in the sense of 'next in order'. The Greek word denotes sequence not simultaneousness, as in Mark 4:28 "after that the full corn in the ear."

The END. Telos does not, as is commonly supposed, primarily denote the end, termination with reference to time, but THE GOAL REACHED, THE COMPLETION or CONCLUSION, at which anything arrives, with as ISSUE or ENDING. To illustrate or clarify this distinction:

1. The "end" of the pen with which I write these words is an iridium point on the nib, which being dipped in ink makes marks on a sheet of paper. That is the physical end.
2. The "end" telos of this pen however is to write. That is the purposeful end. The end or teminus of a journey may be Euston Station, but the end or purpose of the journey may be to visit a relative. When, therefore, 1 Cor. 15:24 says "Then cometh the end", it means that the goal of God has been attained.

(This article was taken from Vol. 44 of The Berean Expositor.)

The Goal of God (5)

The goal is nothing less than that God may be all in all.

We were warned that the words "Then cometh the end" meant sequence, "afterwards", not immediacy, and now we see that there are certain things that must be accomplished before the end is reached.

The reader will discover that there is a background of war in connection with every phrase of the kingdom in Scriptures. Passing a mass of detail concerning the kingdom of Israel, we find that "an enemy" is present in the record of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 13:25,39), the preaching of the kingdom of God was associated with authority over the power of the enemy (Luke 10:9,19), and the translation of the Church of the One Body from the authority of darkness "into the Kingdom of His dear Son" (Col. 1:13) shows that the Mystery itself is no exception to the rule. The reign of Christ must continue until "all enemies" are completely subdued, and when this is achieved, the purpose of His reign and of His kingdom is attained. To perpetuate that aspect of kingship would be undispensational in the first degree, for it is evident from the teaching of Scripture that just as neither Priesthood, Temple, Altar or Sacrifice would ever have been introduced had there been no sin, so Kingship, Crown, Throne and Scepter would have found no place in the present creation had there been no enemy in view. The kingdom that will be delivered up at the end of the ages, will be the Mediatorial kingdom of the great King-Priest after the order of Melchisedec, who, it should be noted, appears on the page of Scripture when Abraham was returning "from the slaughter of the kings" (Heb. 7:1), a comment that is as inspired as the rest of the epistle, and intentionally links this King-Priest with war. Such is one aspect of the goal of the ages, the bringing in of perfect peace, by the subjugation of every man, that God may be all in all (1 Cor. 15:28).

We must remember the fact that when the kingdom is delivered up, it is delivered up by the SON to the FATHER, but the goal is not that the FATHER may be all in all, but that GOD may be all in all.

We joyfully acknowledge that which Israel in their blindness failed to see, that the Messiah Who came from themselves so far as the flesh was concerned, and Who, according to the Spirit, was declared to be the Son of God with power (Rom. 1:3,4), was at the same time. "Over all, God blessed forever." To this the Apostle adds his solemn "Amen". May all who read and believe, echo that "Amen" and rejoice to know that one day Israel shall look on Him Whom they pierced, the One, Who, even in the days of Isaiah, was named "The mighty God," and shall at last say of Him: "Lo this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us" (Isa. 25:9). When the Son is made subject to the Father, the end is reached for which He, Who originally existed in the form of God, emptied Himself (Phil. 2:6,7). He emptied Himself of His glory by becoming man. He further humbled Himself by taking the form of a servant and stooped to the death of the cross. Because of this He has been exalted, and given the name which is above every name, and the goal of 1 Cor. 15:28, as well as the goal of Phil. 2:11, is that the supreme exaltation of the Son should be to the glory of God the Father. When this is achieved, the Son who is both Creator and Redeemer ascends the throne of Deity, He reassumes the glory that was His before the world began, and once more, as it was in the beginning, one God occupies the throne of the universe, all His Mediatorial titles Elohim, Jehovah, El Shaddai, Father, Son, Spirit, Comforter, being completely realized and fulfilled that God, such a God, the God of Creation, Providence, Purpose, Redemption, the God against Whom Satan dared to raise his hand, at last will be all in all. A great disservice has been rendered to the cause of truth by the quasi-philosophical employment of the word "persons" when speaking of the Godhead. This word "person" is the translation of the Greek work hypostasis, a word used three times in the epistle to the Hebrews. In chp. 11 no one could possibly translate the opening verse "Now faith is the person of things hoped for", the word substance being derived from the Latin meaning "to stand under" precisely as does the Greek hypostasis. Our acquaintance with the material world is mainly that of appearance; we do not get down to the underlying substance itself. So, in Heb. 1:3, we should read that Christ is "the Express Image of His substance," that is, He was "God manifest."

If we would but keep in mind the idea of someone acting the part of some particular character and speaking the words of the part "through a mask" we should have the scriptural symbol, as far as it can be revealed, of the One Invisible God, assuming at one time the office of the Creator, at another, that of Redeemer and Comforter, without befogging the mind and virtually believing either in three Gods, or denying the Trinity of the Scriptures. In the "person" of the Son, the humble God had played the part of Mediator, and when the glorious work of Mediator is accomplished, the "person" i.e. the mask, will be laid aside. At the consummation "The Son" will not be all in all, "The Father" will not be all in all, but GOD will be all in all.

The Goal of God (6)

"All in all." What is the extent of this second word "all"? Is it the entire universe both of men, angel and spirit? Is it all men without exception? Is it all men without distinction? How can we discover the meaning of such a word? We know that it has one exception "It is manifest that He is excepted, which did put all things under Him," so that we can safely say that the word "all" is never used in its widest and fullest sense, but that where we have the entire universe in view, there is nevertheless an exception to be made. This is important, for if "all" in such a context does not and cannot be used in its full universal sense, that may be true in other passages where the circumference is smaller. The word "all" is universal, but the word cannot be used alone, the context supplying the things that are comprehended within its embrace. The idea of the word "all" can be likened to a circle, but the size of the circle will vary according to the things spoken of; but however large or small the number of things there may be, the shape of the circle never changes; all, means universality, but a universality of specified things. It is therefore of the utmost importance that "the things" should be correctly stated, otherwise wild, fanatical and evil doctrine will arise.

One circle can enclose another, the "all" of redemption, being much larger in scope than the "all" of the membership of the church of the Mystery. One circle may intersect another, because the things spoken of may be considered from more than one point of view. Let us now consider the usage of the word "all" in 1Cor. 15:24-28), "All rule and all authority and power" are to be put down (1Cor. 15:24), but it is manifest that the rule, authority and power of God Himself is not in view, else it would defeat the very object of this subjugation. If we read on to verse 25, we shall come to the inspired comment "For"; this is a logical connective, and is prefaced to what follows and links it with what has already been said, "For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet." The rule, authority and power therefore of verse 24 are not universal, they refer to enemies, and when thus limited, the "all" again assumes it universality, not some enemies, but all enemies are comprehended in this subjection. As a further explanation, the nature of these enemies is revealed by the statement "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." The enmity envisaged is spiritual, even as the rule, authority and power. Moreover, where verses 24, 25 use the words "put down" or "put under His feet", verse 26 says plainly "destroyed", even as the corresponding passage in verse 54 declares that death shall be swallowed up in victory at the resurrection.

Having taken us so far, the Apostle returns to the subject, and this time makes a quotation from Psalm 8, "For He hath put all things under His feet." The placing of an enemy under the feet is an Old Testament figure of conquest, and never means deliverance, liberation or blessing. Throughout 1 Cor. 15:24-27, and in every passage where Psalm 8:6 is quoted the redeemed are excepted. The first occurrence of this figure is in Joshua 10. The kings of the Amorites and others, banded themselves together against Gibeon, and upon the triumphant expedition of Joshua against them, these kings hid themselves in a cave at Makkedah. They were brought out from their hiding place, and Joshua called to the captains of the men of war "Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings ... and afterward Joshua smote them, and slew them, and hanged them on five trees" (Joshua 10:22-27). Makkedah was treated as was Jericho (10:28), and it is utterly impossible to read into Joshua 10, the remotest hint that these enemies had the slightest hope of deliverance. This is the figure employed in 1 Cor. 15:24-28 when all enemies are put under the feet of Christ, the true Joshua.

When Paul assured the Roman believers that "The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly", they knew that the age-long enmity between the two seeds was at length to terminate in the utter defeat of Satan, and the complete victory of the Redeemer and His people. When the eighth Psalm is quoted in Eph. 1, the all things that are under His feet, are principality and power, might and dominion, but not the church. Here, once again, we could echo 1 Cor. 15 and say "It is manifest that one company is excepted, namely the Church which is His Body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all." One of the services rendered by Colossians, an epistle which goes over much the same ground as that of Ephesians, is that it presents a truth stated in Ephesians from another angle.

This is presenting the truth of Eph. 1:22,23 from another viewpoint. It will be seen moreover, that Col. 3:11 teaches that the church of the Mystery foreshadows and anticipates the day when God shall be all in all, Christ occupying that position here and now, even as the final subjugation of all rule, authority and power is anticipated in Eph. 1:21-23. When that great day comes, we read that, when all things are subdued unto Him, then shall the Son Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, and this calls for careful consideration, lest by hasty conclusions and inconsiderate speech we dishonor the Lord.

(Taken from The Berean Expositor-Vol. 44)

The Goal of God (7)

We have considered very briefly "the end", the goal of the ages, the consummation of redemption, the day when God shall be all in all. An "end" presupposes a "beginning", and moreover, if we rightly apprehend what is aimed at in the "end", we shall better appreciate what is implied by "the beginning". Let us therefore turn back to the opening sentence of the Bible and reconsider what is intended by the revelation that "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen.1:1). "Beginning" is the Hebrew reshith derived from rosh "head", which is the translation of this word in 249 occurrences.

In Leviticus to Deuteronomy we have the word translated "firstfruits" (Lev. 2:12; 23:10; Num. 18:12; Deut. 18:4; 26:10). Altogether the term "firstfruits" is stated in 11 passages, and implied in at least 7 others. Several passages bring the two words "beginning" and "end" together (Num. 24:20; Deut. 11:12; Job 8:7; 42:12; Ecc. 7:8; Isa. 46:10).

Common usage inclines the mind to think of time, when the phrase "in the beginning" is read, but if we press the point and ask "in the beginning of what?" how can we expect an answer? If God necessarily existed before the first act of creation, time cannot strictly be said to begin at all. When we consult a dictionary we find that the time element is of the first prominence. The English word is ultimately derived from the Greek ginomai and geno to become, to be brought forth.

When the sacred volume opens, the words "in the beginning" are left unexplained, but when it closes, we discover that they imply not only a time, a commencement, but a Person, a Firstfruits and a Pledge, indeed the Alpha and the Omega, the Yea and the Amen (2 Cor. 1:20). There is no article "the" in the Hebrew phrase "In the beginning", the word being bereshith "In the beginning" or "to begin with" or "as a commencement" implying a goal that was in mind, a firstfruits, something future which was pledged in the opening act. Three great passages in the N.T. ascribe creation to the Saviour, namely chapters one of John, Hebrews, and Colossians, but as these passages are of fundamental importance we will reserve their study for a future article.

If there is one fundamental truth which underlies all other revelations concerning the Godhead, it is that GOD is the Creator, and consequently when we read John 1, we gather that, before the first act of creation was undertaken by the Almighty, a movement took place which is beyond our ability to describe or understand, but which can be spoken of as a descent of the unconditioned and absolute God, "Who is "invisible", into the realm of the conditioned and manifest. Hence, in the N.T. where creation is ascribed to Christ, He bears the titles "The Word", "The Image", and "The express Image of His Person". Essentially "God is spirit" (John 4:24) and God is "one" (Deut. 6:4).

Creation is the work of God Manifest; redemption the work of God manifest in the flesh. Creation is ascribed to Him as "The Word" (John 1:3).

Creation is ascribed to Him as "The Image of the Invisible God" (Col. 1:16,17).

Creation is ascribed to Him as "The express Image of His person" (Heb. 1:10).

It will be observed that in John's Gospel the word "create" is not used, but the word ginomai "to become". This seems to have been chosen to emphasize two great facts:

1) All things came into being through Him, that is the primeval creation (John 1:1-3).

2) Grace and truth, i.e. the new creation came into being through Him (John 1:17).

This is the first great comparison. The second is found in John 8:58 and the recurring claims introduced by the words "I am". "Before Abraham came into being (ginomai), I AM". "I AM the bread of life...the light of the world...the good Shepherd...the resurrection and the life.." The word "create" is not used in Hebrews 1. There we read "And Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of Thine hands" (Heb. 1:10), and the strange fact is that, even though the earth and the heavens were thus brought into being, "They shall perish...and wax old as doth a garment." This is revealed in order that the Hebrews should be prepared to find some things which had been given as foundations, were now to be "left" (Heb. 6:1); that like the present heavens, the old covenant "waxeth old (and) is ready to vanish away" (Heb. 8:13) in favor of the New Covenant, and that, just as the work of His "fingers" so the Tabernacle "made with hands" (Heb. (9:11,24) was also to be done away. The word "create" is used in Col. 1:16 and 3:10 of both the old and the new creations, and this relationship is further enforced by the repetition of the title "The Firstborn" in Col. 1:15 in connection with the primeval creation, and in Col. 1:18 of the church of the Mystery.

It is evident that these 3 books, John, Hebrews, and Colossians, use their terms with precision, and the fact that inspiration has so pointed the way, makes it an established fact and no longer a pleasant theory that "In the beginning" really does mean in Gen. 1:1 that the primeval creation was a kind of "firstfruits", pledging the attainment of the goal of the ages.

(From The Berean Expositor - Vol. 44)