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The Goal of God.
(I Cor. 15: 28).
No.1.
God is, and always has been, "all in all" in creation.
pp. 9 - 11
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" (I Cor. 15: 28).
It would be only too easy at this point to allow ourselves to be turned aside from the
main purpose of our inquiry, to the unfruitful debate which gathers around the Divine
intention expressed in the second word "All". To the question of the disciples:
"Lord are there few that be saved?" (Luke 13: 23).
His answer was in effect, `see to it that you are'.
In the series of articles entitled "The Reconciliation of all Things" which ran through
Volume VI The Berean Expositor we have given the answer that we find in Scripture as
to the number comprehended by the `all' who are reconciled and redeemed. That is not
our chief quest now. For our present purpose it makes no difference to our approach or
our conclusion whether `all' is limited to Adam's seed, to believers, to the elect--or
whether it is as universal as creation itself--our concern is rather with the intention
behind the first word `all' of I Cor. 15: 28. What does it mean when it says "That God
may be ALL in all"?
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,