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"Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge (acknowledgment) of
the Son of God . . . . ." (Eph. 4: 13).
"(The Father) Who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into
the kingdom of the Son of His love" (Col. 1: 12, R.V.).
When He is the ascended and exalted Son in glory, it is His Headship over all things
to the church which is His Body, that is now stressed. There are seven references to this
supreme Headship in the prison ministry of Paul (Eph. 1: 22; 4: 15; 5: 23; Col. 1: 18;
2: 10, 19. Also Eph. 1: 10 where "gather together in one" is literally "head up again" all
things "in heaven and earth").
The object of all this is `that in all things He might have the first place (pre-eminence)'
(Col. 1: 18) which will be demonstrated in a future day of triumph manifestly when every
being in existence bows the knee to Him and gives Him His rightful place as LORD
(Phil. 2: 9-11).
His mediatorial position lasts as long as it is needed, that is as long as sin and
imperfection remain in the creation. We come to the furthest point in I Cor. 15: 24-28
when at last a new heaven and earth come into being (Rev. 21: 3-5), when sin and death
are eradicated for ever, and the whole universe is now standing in the power of God
Himself and not in the strength or ability of any created being. Then, and not till then,
will the Son hand over the kingdom to the Father that GOD (not the Father, Son, or Holy
Spirit) may be all in all. Here we have traversed a huge circle:
"In the beginning GOD created the heaven and the earth" (Gen. 1: 1).
At the end "GOD all in all" (I Cor. 15: 28).
In between is the long span of time covered by the ages during which God is working
out His great redemptive plan to bring all things back to perfection. In order to do this,
He has found it necessary to manifest Himself in a threefold way, as Father, Son and
Holy Spirit.
The Word of God reveals nothing of eternity past or eternity in the future when the
ages are completed. We are therefore not in a position to say that the Trinity existed in
past eternity and will do so in the future for evermore. If we keep to what is revealed we
shall link the Trinity with the redemptive purpose of God and go no further. This does
not touch the eternal Being of God nor alter the glorious fact that the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Word of God, has wonderfully made Him known to us, "He that hath seen Me hath
seen the Father" (John 14: 9).