"subjected" to the great purpose of God, then the goal is reached and God is "all in all"

(28). The word hupotasso, subdue, is linked with tagma, "order" or "rank" of verse 23.

It is not a harsh word meaning despotic rule, but suggests the perfect alignment of all the

redeemed in heaven and earth to the will and plan of the ages devised by the Lord.

This takes man back into the place intended for him in that great plan, for which sin

and death had unfitted him. We can say that the whole of revelation is largely concerned

with this object, namely the removal of all things that bar the accomplishment of the

Divine purpose and this is what redemption and resurrection are all about and without

them, such fruition would be impossible.

It is important to note that all enemies go under the feet of Christ (an Eastern figure of

a conqueror), whereas the redeemed go under His headship, and the reign of Christ as

King of kings and Lord of lords will not cease until this is accomplished. When this state

of things has been reached:

Here we must take great care to note exactly what is said, for all sorts of wrong

conceptions have sprung from a misreading of this verse. Many misread it as reading

". . . . . then shall the Son also Himself be subjected unto Him that did subject all things

unto Him, that the Father may be all in all". This is the result of an erroneous conception

of the Godhead in which the Father is God and the Son takes a lesser place in the

Godhead. This is a confusing of status with role and operation. Oscar Cullman is right

when he states "to speak of the Son has meaning only in reference to God's revelatory

action, not in reference to God's being".

The revelation of the Trinity was necessary to carry out the great plan of redemption

and victory over Satan, sin and death. We have no means of knowing whether this

relationship obtains right throughout eternity, for Scripture does not inform us and it is

foolish to speculate. Some have made up their minds that such a relationship is eternal,

hence their substituting, in their minds at least, the Father in place of God in verse 28.

When the great goal has been reached at the end of the ages, it is not the Father, Son,

or Holy Spirit that is said to be "all in all", but GOD, without any reference to any such

relationship or need of mediation in the realized Kingdom of God and we should be

content to leave it there.

The verse that follows is problematic and has lead to all sorts of extraordinary ideas in

Some, like the Mormons, think this teaches baptism for the dead by proxy. Others

teach that Paul is referring to those who were baptized on the basis of the testimony of