GOD ALL IN ALL
1 Corinthians 15:24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 27 For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. 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, that God may be all in all.
What does it mean, “that God may be all in all?” Here is what the Amplified Bible states: “that God be everything to everyone, supreme, the indwelling and controlling factor of life.”
From all Eternity God has purposed to dwell in his people, chosen in His Son from before the foundation of the world. 2 Corinthians 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Ephesians 1:3 ¶ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
And this is that for which the Son petitioned the Father at the time of his final work on earth. John 17:20 ¶ Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. 24 ¶ Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
Therefore we come to see that the term, “that God may be all in all,” signifies the accomplishment of that eternal determination.
But when shall God come to be all in all? Verse twenty-four of our text clearly states that this shall finally occur after the Son of God shall have delivered up the kingdom to God. And this shall take place after the Son, having reigned since his ascension, has put down all rule and all authority and power.
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Hebrews 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
And God’s becoming all in all should not seem as some new thing to us. We have read of it in the Scriptures over the period of our Christian lives. Consider these verses: Zechariah 2:10 ¶ Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD. 11 And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto thee.
Acts 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
Colossians 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: 11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
Revelation 21:1 ¶ And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. This, of course is not referring to eternity, but to the Holy Spirit descending at Pentecost to bring in the New Testament church. It is a new spiritual age that forever supersedes the old economy under the law.
Hebrews 10:8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; 9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. 10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
This is how the Prophet Isaiah stated it: Isaiah 65:17 ¶ For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. 66:22 For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.
And the Apostle Peter clarifies it as the new heavens and earth of righteousness! 2 Peter 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
God becoming all and in all can be more clearly seen in the relationship of the child with the mother. The child is formed within the mother after the male’s seed is planted within her. Just as the new believer is spiritually conceived by the imparting of the Holy Spirit by God’s sovereign will alone. For we are said to have been chosen IN Christ from before the foundation of the world. For just as Eve was in Adam before she was brought out and formed to be the ‘womb-man,’ even so we were known to God from all eternity in His Son! Genesis 2:21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. Ephesians 1:4 According as he (God, the Father) hath chosen us (all believers) in him (Christ) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
The Eternal Son has said that his delights were with the sons of men, before the mountains were brought forth! Proverbs 8:22 The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. 25 Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: 30 Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; 31 Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.
Then due to that conception there is a birth. This is how the Lord expounded to Nicodemus the necessity of the new birth in order to both see, and enter the kingdom of God! John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Then the mother begins to put herself into the child, who was once within her, by her loving example and by her teaching. For no birth comes with a book of instructions! It is usually passed down from the infant’s grandmother to its mother, and then on to the child itself. Titus 2:3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; 4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
Therefore as each previous generation finally influences the succeeding generation with the expression of their own character, we see a picture of God becoming all in all. Colossians 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
The vastness of God’s glory will necessitate a vastness of individuals brought to glory through the provided redemption of Christ, and the Holy Spirit’s application. We have wrongly looked at ‘Heaven’ through eyes of human sentiment. It should only be seen from the viewpoint of God’s matchless glory! The focus will be on His Person, and not on our sentimental concepts. Revelation 7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; 10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. 11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, 12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
Revelation 5:11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; 12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.
Psalm 150:6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD. gb
