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 I Cor. 15: as we have earlier suggested:

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 endeavour 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 fullness 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 the 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 Heb. 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:

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 for