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No.10.
Submission.
pp. 86 - 88
"For even Christ pleased not Himself" (Rom. 15: 3).
There is a Sunday School prayer that begins:
"Lord Jesus, be Thou with us now
as at Thy feet we humbly bow,
And when we sing and when we pray
Help us to mean the words we say . . . . .".
In the hymn "Thy way not mine, O Lord" there are prayers such as "Choose out the
path for me. Smooth let it be or rough . . . . ." and "Take Thou my cup and it with joy or
sorrow fill". But when we sing these words, do we really mean them?
So when we think of submission, and submission to the will of the Lord, we ask
whether we are giving an intellectual assent, without really meaning that we are willing
to submit ourselves to God's will. Would it be true to say that we make mental
reservations when we say "Thy will be done"?
The Greek word hypotasso is translated in various ways, such as to submit, be subject
to, be in subject to, be in subjection to, etc. Young's Concordance gives the rendering "to
set in array under" and this seems to convey an orderly structure.
The description in I Cor. 15: of the ultimate subjection and submission of all things
to God is an example of an orderly structure. All things will be put under the feet of the
Lord Jesus Christ, although Heb. 2: 8 points out that we do not yet see all things under
Him. Christ must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be
destroyed is death. When all things are subdued unto Him, then we read "the Son also
Himself shall be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in
all" (I Cor. 15: 24-28). See also Eph. 1: 10 and 22.
We are instructed to recognize and be subject to the powers that be and this is another
orderly structure. We should render to all their dues, we should pay our taxes, and render
honour to whom honour is due (see Rom. 13: 1-8). Hebrews 13: 17 repeats this
principle, "Obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves . . . . .". See
also I Pet. 2: 13-14.
The submission of the church to Christ is introduced as an example of the relationship
that should exist between husband and wife. Eph. 5: 24-25 reads: