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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.
When therefore the Apostle wrote "That God may be ALL in all" that `all' must
contain within its scope all that goes to make up the moral nature of man, and all that is
reflected of the nature of God, both in the law of Sinai, in the gospel of grace, and in the
person of Christ. We are now we trust, prepared to give this most important theme our
closes attention, and we pray that light and truth may be our guide and goal as we seek to
open up the Scriptures.
No.2.
An examination of the term "All in all".
pp. 51 - 54
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
I Cor. 15: 28, where the expression `all in all' is used.
While an exact verbal parallel with I Cor. 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:
A | I Cor. 12: 6. Members of the Corinthian church.
B | I Cor. 15: 28. The goal of the ages realized.
C | Eph. 1: 23. The goal set forth in the Mystery.
A | Eph. 4: 6. Members of the Body.
B | Col. 3: 11. The goal anticipated.
Let us examine these passages. The first one has to do with "spiritual gifts"
(I 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" (I Cor. 12: 11).