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Yet further. The Son was no unwilling offering, for the same word is
used in Ephesians 5:2, 'walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath
Given Himself (same Greek word) for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for
a sweet -smelling savour'. This 'delivering up' of Himself was not only for
the Church (Eph. 5:25), but for the individual believer, so that Paul could
say:
'The Son of God, Who loved me, and gave Himself for me' (Gal. 2:20).
When the Son 'delivers up the kingdom to the Father', it is the last act of
His as 'the one Mediator'. The work of redemption, reconciliation and
restoration will have been accomplished, not by power merely, but by love, by
honouring all the claims of righteousness, even to the death of the Cross.
No one could and would have imagined such a course for Deity to tread, but no
one knows or can anticipate the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and
knowledge of God. When 'the end' is reached, Priesthood, Sacrifice, Altar,
Temple, Crown, Throne and Sceptre cease to find a place. When the Son
delivers up the kingdom it is not that a kingdom however perfect will succeed
but that God may be all in all. This aspect of truth, however, is not
developed here.
Let us visualize the course of events linking the fall with the
restoration, using paradidomi as links in the chain.
paradidomi
(Delivered up)
The Beginning
'Christ also hath once suffered for
The
sins, the Just for the unjust, that
End
He might bring us to God' (1 Pet. 3:18).
The
Usurper
The
Mediator
John 8:44 1
Betrayal
Delivered to
The
Gave Himself
Given by
1 Corinthians
John 3:8
Gentiles
CROSS
the Father
15:24 -28
Luke 4:6
Matt. 26:45
John 19:16
Matt. 20:19
Eph. 5:2
Rom. 8:32
Gal. 2:20
Such is the testimony of one word divinely chosen, its usage superintended,
its message clear, its testimony wonderful.
The final state will be indefectible for it will stand in redemption,
in love and in perfect unity, for John 17:23 is implied in the terms 'that
God may be all in all', but this glorious phrase awaits future examination.
'That God may be all in all' (1 Cor. 15:24 -28).
'In the beginning' God was 'All'. He spake and it was done. Sun, moon
and star obeyed His will, but sun, moon and star had no knowledge that they
did so. It is inconceivable that the sun would refuse to shine, or the moon
to object to wax or wane. Seed -time and harvest persist in spite of many
disquieting alterations in weather; birds build their nests, as they did on
the first days of creation. God was 'All'. The Scriptures reveal not only a
wise and all -powerful Creator, but a heart of love at the core of the