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THE ALL-ENCOMPASSING SUPREMACY OF GOD

Ephesians 1:19-23; 1 Chronicles 29:10-14;

J.L. I have a very clear impression that the Lord may help us in enquiring about the all-encompassing love of the Lord Jesus and of His place in glory, leading our hearts finally to the all-encompassing supremacy of God. I use the word ‘all-encompassing’ because finally it will be seen that the supremacy of God in headship will fill the universe. The blessedness of all that will fill the universe of new creation will be sustained in love. The all-encompassing love of God that has come into expression in Christ will be seen there in final glory for God’s delight and the eternal happiness of the saints.

I am very conscious that each of the scriptures read might be said to be capable of infinite expansion, and therefore I appreciate that we may have time to say only a little as to each. But I do desire that there might be help by the Spirit of God to explore something of the fulness of these inexhaustible subjects. I may say for the benefit of all, and right down to the young children today, that I have a very special interest in the little word “all”. It is a very short and small word but it has a very large meaning, and the brethren will note that it features many, many times in each of these scriptures read.

I was interested in the hymn given out at the beginning because the word ‘all’ came into our hymn very remarkably. We sang of the Lord existing before time began:

‘Thou wast there in all Thy glory’

then as to the relationships that existed,

‘All inscrutable, divine’

And as to the work accomplished by the Saviour

All His will Thou has accomplished,

All the work He gave Thee, done’. (Hymn 117)

It is a little word that repeatedly is used in many passages of scripture, and which is appropriate to use in relation to divine Persons. It is not excessive or extravagant to use it, because we are speaking about surpassing glory and blessedness connected with the love of Christ, and the glory of Christ, and finally the all-embracing supremacy of God in headship in love.

R.D.P. Where we began to read, we get the “surpassing greatness of his power towards us who believe”, and the sense that the apostle is reaching for words to convey the fulness and the greatness of all that has been accomplished by divine Persons.

J.L. Not only was the apostle stretching out for suitable words, but I rather think that we will find ourselves doing that as we proceed today in speaking of such majestic things. They spring in a wonderful way from the glory of the Lord Jesus as the One who has come forth out of death, raised by the glory of the Father and seated at His right hand, and all things committed into the hands of Christ. What a marvellous place He occupies now and will be seen to occupy in the millennium.

R.D.P. This passage is one of Paul’s two prayers in his epistle to the Ephesians, and it was suggested recently that there comes a point where ministry can go no further. Paul’s desire is that the God of our Lord Jesus “would give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of him”, Eph.1:17. Ministry can go so far, but Paul’s prayers seem to involve what surpasses even what ministry can bring.

J.L. That is very good. It helps us to understand why, in Paul’s communications to the saints and to individuals, there are often interjections of doxologies. The subjects before Paul’s heart and in his prayers were so great that his heart frequently went out in worship to divine Persons, and one would trust that the very spirit of that may be in our affections more. I am sure it has been already today. I can say that I enjoyed these thoughts where we gathered this morning. I might just make reference to another use of the word “all” in the closing hymn where we were. We sang:

‘And Thou, who makest all things new,

Canst all in love survey (Hymn 258).

That will be the climax. God has centred everything in a blessed Man; that is where we begin here in Ephesians.

N.J.H. Does the word “all” in these passages link with Christ glorified?

J.L. Especially so. I need the help of the Spirit of God and the saints as we proceed in selecting suitable words, but I do think that we are not using extravagant language in saying that all glory and all supremacy belongs to Christ. We could not say that of any other man. It is not a thing suitable to say of creatures, but it belongs to Christ in glory. Was that what was in your mind?

N.J.H. Psalm 8 says “how excellent is thy name in all the earth!” (v.1), referring to a certain supremacy in the earth through the Man of God’s choice, but here it relates to Christ where He is glorified.

J.L. It is there that it is seen. Soon, it will not only be those of us who by the Spirit are helped to see it now, but it will shortly be seen in the display of millennial glory and shine in the Lord Jesus as the Centre of the universe of bliss.

D.J.W. The verse came into my mind this morning, “the mystery of piety is great. God has been manifested in flesh”, 1 Tim.3:16. There is mystery connected with it but God has been fully manifested. The all-encompassing knowledge of God is really centred in a Man.

J.L. That is very helpful, and it is that blessed Man who has been raised. As Man He came to die, He went into death, and He has been raised. The Father has wrought in Christ in raising Him from among the dead, and it is that blessed Person who has been set in this place of supremacy and glory.

D.J.W. In chapter 3, the reference “and to know the love of the Christ” (v.19) would be an anchor in the presence of what in itself is so vast.

J.L. I am glad you use that expression. I frequently use it myself in relation to that passage, and I think it is very blessed to think of it in that connection, because there is a reference there to breadth, length, depth and height. You might justifiably ponder the vastness of all that they convey, but there is an anchorage point for the soul in the very centre in Christ – to “know the love of the Christ”.

D.C.W. This blessed One has earned an entitlement in giving Himself a ransom for all.

J.L. He has earned it and He has been given the place of glory by the Father, and rightly so!

J.R.W. Would you allow the use of the word “every” along with “all”?

J.L. That is another suitable word to employ. We have to be careful in using some of these words in regard of things and persons down here, but we can use the highest terms in honour of the Lord Jesus.

J.R.W. We were struck this morning with the greatness of One to whom “every knee should bow, …. and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to God the Father’s glory”, Phil.2:10,11.

J.L. I used a word at the beginning which I trust is an appropriate word that the brethren can understand – the all-encompassing glory of the Lord Jesus, because you cannot go beyond the bounds of the place He occupies in glory. The word you have just made reference to, “every” – every name and other such references – seems to confirm it, that everything has been placed under the dominion of the Lord Jesus.

P.J.W. “For in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily”, Col.2:9. Could you give us your impression of that?

J.L. I would be careful not to limit such a wonderful expression too much, but I do think it conveys at least this, that all that can be known of God has been expressed so wonderfully in a blessed Man. I think “the fulness” is a term that conveys what has come out into expression of God that can be taken account of. No one has seen God at any time and it does not convey here that there is opportunity to behold Deity. That is not conveyed. The word “fulness” here rather conveys that all that can be so blessedly and so greatly expressed of God has found its expression and its centre there.

P.J.W. Yes. We sang the hymn this morning which uses the words ‘Effulgence of God’s glory’ and ‘Expression of His substance’ (Hymn 16).

J.L. Very good; we do well to read over these passages regularly. The more we do so the more, I believe, the Spirit of God would help us to be occupied with the surpassing love and glories of the Lord Jesus.

R.D.P. The river in Ezekiel was experienced in various stages and in the last one, it was described as “a river that I could not pass through”. But that was not all; it then says that it was “a river that could not be passed through”, Ezek.47:5. That is a very wonderful thing – there is which can flow out of the house, and the greatness of all that God is, and it is beyond the human measure of what I can reach to. It was a river that could not be passed through.

J.L. In that respect, it was a river immensely full in its flow, but what then did Ezekiel do? Give up and go back to the bank? It is at that point that we are given to learn of “waters to swim in”. I believe that is what we would seek help to do today. These are the very things we seek to explore. We cannot go beyond them, but the Spirit of God would help us to enter into the fulness of the enjoyment of them.

J.B.I. Give us your impression of Christ filling “all in all”.

J.L. I think in its context it conveys supremacy and dominion. It is different from the reference to “God all in all” in Corinthians. We may speak about that shortly, but my impression of the Lord Jesus as the One who fills all in all is the thought of supremacy in dominion and in power.

J.T.B. He is great enough to have that position.

J.L. Yes, He has that position and these words are indited of the Holy Spirit. Where the double use of the word ‘all’ is given, that is precisely what it is conveying – the immensity and fulness of the subject before us. I think it well to emphasise again that Scripture does not use excessive or extravagant language. Sometimes we may employ adjectives that are beyond what would be appropriate, but not so in such a blessed subject here.

J.T.B. It says, “by him to reconcile all things to itself”, Col.1:20. This Man, in His person, is capable of reconciling everything for the pleasure of the Godhead.

J.L. Yes, very good.

D.J.W. Would it imply that everything else is displaced? I was thinking of Revelation 21, where there is a whole scene of things that is removed; ‘all in all’ means that everything else has been removed from view.

J.L. Yes, and Christ is filling everything. Nothing else can rise in superiority above it. What a place He has, and has been given. Reference already has been made to His worthiness to have that place, and it is the Father who has taken this action to “put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the assembly, which is his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all.” I might say carefully and reverently that as God, Christ is not given anything; He possesses all things because of who He is. I think that I am right in saying that this then is an allusion to His place in supreme glory as Man given to Him by the Father. Would you agree with that?

D.J.W. I do, yes; it shows the greatness of his manhood.

J.L. I am not suggesting that we detach in our minds and thoughts the greatness of His person which exists eternally, but in the context here it is the greatness of the place He has been given as Man. That is to be held in honour in our hearts.

J.R.W. Is the fulness here in reference to the assembly?

J.L. Yes; “… all things to the assembly, which is his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all”. What was your point in making reference to that?

J.R.W. The assembly is a vessel that is great enough to be the counterpart of such a One. Does this scripture bring that thought into relief?

J.L. I am glad you make mention of that, to guide us in the appropriate use of the word here in this verse. It is rather that the fulness of Christ has come out into expression in the assembly, although what we said earlier stands, I think, in regard of the use of the word “fulness” in relation to Christ Himself, because the fulness of all that can be known of God has come out into expression in Him.

D.C.W. The Lord had knowledge of this before He went into death. It says, “knowing that the Father had given him all things into his hands”, John 13:3.

J.L. Yes, that is right. The timing of it awaited His being raised from among the dead and glorified, but all that we are speaking of was known anticipatively in the mind and heart of the Lord Jesus, and makes the particular things that He did just at that point all the more remarkable.

D.C.W. It goes on to say that “he came out from God and was going to God”. Was the whole matter not only in prospect but also an established fact?

J.L. Yes, very good.

N.C.McK. Is this fulness in Ephesians 1 in relation to the day of display and what is required for the display of God’s great thoughts of Christ and the assembly? It says, “let them have dominion”, Gen.1:26.

J.L. Yes. We await the time of display. What is to be seen in display in the assembly of the fulness of Christ has yet to come. We are presently in the period of mystery, where it is not publicly in evidence in the world where we are. But then there is to be this display in coming glory, and that helps in relation to the place that He has been given which will then be seen publicly and brought into marvellous display.

I thought we might draw on the passage in 1 Chronicles 29 where David’s remarkable apprehension of God seemed to stir his heart to employ these terms that speak of God’s greatness so suitably. David says, “thou are exalted as Head above all”. That is connected with the greatness of Jehovah described at the beginning of the verse in the reference to power, glory, splendour and majesty, then “all that is in the heavens and on the earth is thine”. He is Head above all.

T.R.C. I wonder whether Paul had this in his affections when he wrote Ephesians 1, Colossians 1 and Hebrews 1 – the fulness of what he saw in the glory and greatness of Christ.

J.L. I am sure he did. He had a very great understanding of the fulness of Christ’s glory. We are greatly indebted to Paul, and I might add, to his doxologies. They are well worth studying. There are many doxologies in the New Testament, some by Paul, some by Peter, some by John and a very precious one by Jude. They are all worthy of our consideration and study because there is great wealth in all of them. But here was David, even in the Old Testament, with a remarkable apprehension of the greatness that belonged and belongs to God, and we still draw on it in our response in the service of God and take up these very words.

R.M.B. I wondered if you could say more for our help as to the headship of God. Is that what you have in mind in this reference in verse 11 of this chapter?

J.L. Yes, I was especially thinking about that. “Thou art exalted as Head above all”; you cannot go higher than that. The very words convey the supremacy of God in majesty. I do not think that, in this section, it is altogether a reference to the special enjoyment of God’s love. We are brought to know the blessedness of that in the way in which God has come out in love in Christ and brought us near in the enjoyment of relationships. But here it is rather connected with greatness, power, glory, splendour and majesty, and all this is centred in the God who is Head above all.

R.M.B. We have spoken in connection with Ephesians 1 as to the headship of Christ, His headship over all things, and we have here a reference to the headship of God. Could you say something as to how the headship of Christ and the headship of God stand in relation to each other?

J.L. We may get further help when we come to 1 Corinthians to find out how that works out, where Christ as Man finally takes a place of subjection, so that the supremacy of God might be seen in unending glory as in all and over all. But I think the headship of Christ is especially seen in relation to the place of glory which He has been given now, and which will be displayed in the millennium. When we go forward into consideration of what will be seen and known of God eternally, I think the headship of God will perhaps be rather more prominent then, but nevertheless it exists now because it was in the mind and heart and expressions of David.

R.M.B. Is it in your mind that the headship of Christ really makes way for the headship of God?

J.L. Yes, that is rather in my mind, and I think that the headship of Christ especially connects with display in the world to come.

G.C.B. I might mention an adjustment that I received many years ago. I suggested in a meeting that the reference in Ephesians brought out that the purpose of God was to head up all things in the Christ, and the brother taking the meetings said, ‘That is millennial’. That connects with what has been said. It was an abrupt adjustment, and it made me think.

J.L. Well, that is what we are rather seeking to say now, though we have to tread carefully because we are very clearly on holy ground where, nonetheless, the supremacy of God in headship over all exists now as it equally will do eternally.

N.C.McK. Is it part of God’s wisdom that He has provisionally placed headship in man in the time scene? God has used headship in man to lead up to this great thought of the eternal day when He will be Head of all. Is it God’s thought that Christ should have such a place, in order to make way for Him?

J.L. Yes, I think so. It is very fitting and very thrilling to our hearts that God, following the sufferings of the Lord Jesus, should give Him such a place as Man after He had so marvellously accomplished all God’s will as Man here. And then – when we think of the place of rejection publicly that remains during the time we are in, causing us to gather as we did this morning in the scene of Christ’s rejection to remember Him in His absence – how fitting it is that the display of His headship in glory should be brought out into expression according to the Father’s own will.

J.A.B. Would you say that Christ’s headship is to be answered to? The Spirit would help each one of us to be impressed and affected by what we are speaking of; but is what God has in mind in a conversation like this that we might answer to what you are bringing before us? Would that be the point of David’s words at the end of the next verse; “and in thy hand it is to make all great and strong”? The glory of Christ that you are bringing before us would draw out our worship. We have the Spirit’s power in us to respond to this. If we simply treat what you are bringing before us as doctrine, although it is doctrine, will we miss the point of why God has made Himself known in this way?

J.L. Yes, I clearly follow your point, and it is borne out in the language of David here who goes on to say, “And now”, as if to say that the effect of this is that there should be an answer in glory immediately given to God. David says, “And now, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.” He acknowledges that all is of God; “for all” – here we have that word again – “all is of thee, and of that which is from thy hand have we given thee”. That bears out your point that David was not simply making a collection of wonderful statements, but the effect of it in his heart caused him to say, ‘I must yield this glory and honour to the God to whom these things belong’. Do you think so?

J.A.B. Yes. I was affected by a hymn that we sang this morning;

‘Nought is concealed,

O God, of all thy wondrous plan’ (Hymn 20)

God’s purpose was to make Himself known that there might be a response now and eternally from all those affected and responding to what you are bringing before us.

J.L. Yes, I do feel that. Clearly, the Spirit of God would help us, I trust, to gain some understanding of the majestic greatness that belongs to God as Head over all, but the effect of that should be to immediately bow our hearts in worship and response, as it was in the heart of David according to his knowledge of God then.

Q.A.P. Does the doxology in Romans 9 help, “the Christ, who is over all, God blessed forever” (v.5). Does that title “the Christ” link with His headship, and then Paul goes on to speak of His glory as God.

J.L. In that particular doxology, it is a particular allusion to Christ’s place as God. What we said earlier, I trust rightly and carefully, related to His place in headship as Man which will shine out in millennial glory, but the doxology in Romans 9 is one of the scriptures that clearly confirms His Deity.

J.R.W. Would what the apostle says in 1 Corinthians 11, “Christ is the head of every man” (v.3), help. Man is the head of the woman, but the Christ’s head is God.

J.L. Yes, that helps in establishing these areas of headship, if that is a right way to put it. It is God supreme in glory as Head over all. It does not in any way detract from what is said here, but indeed confirms the thought.

J.R.W. The headship of Christ is generally presented in relation to the assembly which is His body, but I wondered if what we get here, as you are bringing before us, is the absolute supremacy of God in the greatness of who He is.

J.L. The headship of the Lord Jesus in scripture is presented in several ways. The passage you have quoted from presents His headship in the creational order that God has been pleased to give an indication of. Then we can consider the Lord’s headship in relation to the assembly, Head of the body then Head over all things to the assembly. We might call that final thought His dominical headship, which is what we have been looking at in Ephesians; all the dominion that is put under His hand because God has made Him Head over all things. How are we progressing in answer to your enquiry?

R.M.B. What is being said is helpful. Is the way in which David subdued all his enemies and established the kingdom, as leading up to this, a picture for us of the way in which the Lord Jesus, having taken His kingdom, will resolve every question that has been introduced by the coming in of sin, in order that the headship of God may pervade the universe through eternity?

J.L. It is not without significance in that respect that in Ephesians 1, Christ’s headship is related to everything being put under His feet. That has a definite link with David’s marvellous reign and his subjugation of enemies, making way for the subsequent time of Solomon's display in kingly glory. It was really during David’s reign that the enemies were put under his feet. Christ as Man will bring that about too, in view of the settled conditions to be introduced in millennial glory.

R.M.B. I was helped many years ago by a remark of Mr Taylor where he said that the book of Joshua gives us our inheritance, but the second book of Chronicles gives us God’s inheritance. Is that the thought, that everything is resolved, everything is put in order so that God might have His place and that He might receive what is His?

J.L. Yes, that helps.

N.J.H. Would the greatest knowledge of God be found in the assembly?

J.L. I believe so, in the vessel that has been blessed with every spiritual blessing. Indeed, one of the Lord’s servants went so far as to suggest, and I believe it to be right, that even Israel’s blessings will be best known by the assembly, although Israel will have specific blessings to enjoy¹. But I do not think that there will be superior knowledge of these blessings in any of the other families. There will be varied knowledge found with each, but would I be right in saying that there will be cumulative knowledge found in the assembly?

N.J.H. David is really at the height of his knowledge of Israel’s God, if we could use that expression, but we have “my God and your God”, John 20:17. We are brought into the knowledge of Christ’s God, which is the greatest thought.

J.L. In turn then, would you say that on account of us having, through marvellous grace and blessing from God, such a wonderful knowledge of Himself and these purposes of His love, it brings us back to the point that was made already that it should prompt our hearts to answer in fulness of response. Glory to God is characteristic of assembly response.

N.J.H. You have a sense that, when the Lord comes in at the Supper, the great end in His mind is to reach response to God in the service. Is that the great thought in His heart as He comes in, that those of the assembly will be with Him in that experience, the ultimate?

J.L. I was thinking over that particular point, and wondering what expressions we might use. We cannot quite say that we have reached the end, because in a sense there is no end to the glory that God possesses. There will be continuing response throughout eternity from the assembly as a vessel of praise and, as secured according to His love and wisdom, answering to it.

B.E.S. What is the particular significance of the name “Jehovah” which David uses?

J.L. I would rather that you should tell us what that particular name and title of Jehovah conveys.

B.E.S. It signifies God in relationship, does it not, God known in a particular way in Israel? But that has now come out in Christ and will be centred in Him eternally.

J.L. That adds to the blessedness of what will be enjoyed in the assembly. There was that known by Israel in covenant relationships by God being pleased to use this name Jehovah, but known in a special way in the intimacy of family relationships in the assembly, were you thinking?

B.E.S. I was thinking on those lines.

J.T.B. Does it all enhance the glory of the incarnation? I was thinking of the reference in Hebrews; “For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make perfect the leader of their salvation through sufferings”, Heb.2:10. “Bringing many sons to glory” must involve what is for God’s own heart, and the objects of His own selection.

J.L. Yes, that helps. I was enjoying in that connection the reference in the doxology in Romans to “of him, and through him, and for him are all things”. Does that fit in with your thought?

J.T.B. Yes. It is tremendous to contemplate that the God for whom, through whom and by whom are all things should go to such lengths to secure an answer to His own affections.

J.L. It seems to include a retrospective view there, taking account of the way in which God has brought all this about. It causes us to reflect upon the wonder of the incoming of the Lord Jesus in all the down-stooping love that came into manifestation in the incarnation, and came into display personally in Him in His pathway here, and seen in the accomplishment of all that took place at the cross. These things bow our hearts in worship. No wonder David said here in Chronicles “all is of thee”; all has come from what God has wrought in wisdom and in love. Then I wondered why David says, “and of that which is from thy hand have we given thee”?

D.J.W. Does it highlight the administrative position of Christ?

J.L. That is a good thought – what God has made available through the administration of His hand of blessing in Christ towards us, so that all that we have thus received should contribute to the returning response.

D.J.W. I was thinking of the verse in John: “The Father loves the Son, and has given all things to be in his hand”, John 3:35. His hands were not just for healing, but to establish everything for God according to His purpose.

J.L. He is the great Dispenser of divine blessing.

W.W.W. David says, “all is of thee”; God is the Source of all.

J.L. Very good, that is a good point for us to take up – God as the Source of all. These expressions come into some of our hymns, and we should value our hymn book with its many choice compositions that we are privileged to have and to use. They give us to learn and appreciate that God is the Source of all. As Head, He is over all, but He is equally the Source of all and the One who has committed everything into Christ’s hands. The Lord Jesus has become the Administrator of divine blessing, and we have been enriched by what God has done in order to yield ourselves in response.

D.J.W. The structure of verse 11 is very interesting. It is not just a list of the glories of God, but the word “and” between each one seems to suggest that each glory is held in harmony and adds to the others. I was thinking of the word you used earlier, ‘encompassing’.

J.L. Yes. I do not know if I have been able to fully convey my thought about the all-encompassing glory of God, but I have to say that I am enjoying it within my own heart. It is as if what God has done, in so far as all is of Him and through Him and for Him, emphasises the all-encompassing blessedness of what God has wrought for His own glory. No wonder the apostle immediately goes on to say, “to him be glory for ever”. We cannot go beyond the bounds of these things. They are so immense in relation to divine operations in blessing: we have to keep within the scope of what has been thus expressed and known of God.

D.J.W. Hymn 129 speaks of ‘a sphere vast, yet finite’. It used to say, ‘Thus apprehending a sphere without limit’, but that was changed because we are brought to know the breadth and length and depth and height. Each of these aspects suggests measure, because we are creature, but God is infinite.

J.L. We have to respect the majesty that belongs to Deity, and remember that we are creatures, but according to what has been made known, it bows our hearts adoringly in worship: “of him, and through him, and for him are all things: to him be glory for ever”.

D.J.W. Is that an unbroken circle?

J.L. Very good. It gives some justification then for using the word “encompassing”.

This passage in 1 Corinthians 15 leads on to eternal glory, concluding with God being “all in all”. I like the thought that is conveyed there as to God being all in all. He is over all in power and majesty and supremacy, but I believe that He is in all in love. He is still supreme in glory and headship, but He is known in the blessedness eternally of His love.

J.R.W. It says, “Then the end”. When is the end?

J.L. I recall when I was much younger that question being asked, and a brother whom I very much valued answered it by saying that the reference there to “the end” is the end of the moral line, when there will be a complete resolving of everything to the entire satisfaction of God. But then he said that there is no end to the love line; that goes on throughout eternity and bears on the reference that “God may be all in all”. You cannot attach the word ‘end’ to that, can you? I might just add that the end therefore necessarily connects with the subjugation of everything, so that God’s supremacy finally in love might be enjoyed.

R.D.P. I can see what you have said as to the end of the moral line. “Then the end, when he gives up the kingdom”; Christ gives up the kingdom to His God and Father. It is remarkable to think of Christ – in all the greatness of who He is, what He has done and what He has secured for God – in this moment when He will give up the kingdom “to him who is God and Father”. I wonder if the headship of Christ and the headship of God are both seen at this moment when He will give up the kingdom. It is not given up in the sense of abandoned; it is given up as a complete and whole thing.

J.L. Christ personally establishes all that is required in the kingdom in bringing all into subjection, and then finally as Man He will take this marvellous place. The kingdom, I would suggest, will not then altogether represent the setting forth of rule and power, but rather it will be where there will be influence and rule in love, so that it might abide forever under the supremacy of God as known eternally.

R.W.McC. I was wondering, in view of what has been quoted from the hymn about ‘a sphere vast, yet finite’, if the headship of God is related to the created sphere, both the physical creation and the new creation. Could you help us about that?

J.L. I think that, when we are speaking about what will exist eternally, we have gone as far as the point of new creation’s realm which is referred to in Revelation 21. Everything there is established according to the mind of God, then it refers to, “he that sat on the throne” (v.5). There is still supremacy and power in evidence in the One who is the Speaker. It says, “he that sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new”. Would that be the realm of new creation? I am enquiring, because I do not have all the answers.

R.W.McC. I think what you said as to the end of the moral line is helpful. I want to ask, does the moral line relate to God’s ways? Is this the end of His ways?

J.L. Yes, I think so; the end of God’s ways and His marvellous operations.

H.T.F. In the section we are reading, in the quotation from Psalm 8, “For he has put all things in subjection under his feet”, the words “in subjection” are added. Are all things being put in subjection the result? It is not a domineering thought, but it is a blessed thought of what pervades all for God’s pleasure.

J.L. There is this marvellous point to be noted in that connection, that Christ puts everything into subjection. He will do that because of His authority and power as ruling in the kingdom. But when it comes to the latter part of this marvellous section we have read, it says “the Son also himself shall be placed in subjection”. There is a shade of difference there that causes me to give honour to the Lord Jesus as Man taking such a wonderful place, though He ever remains God and will share in the eternal supremacy that is included, I believe, in the final thought, “that God may be all in all”. I have to speak reverently because we must be careful when speaking of the personal greatness of the Lord Jesus, but eternity will not be characterised in any way by disorder or confusion. Everything will be resolved and brought into suited subjection according to all that God requires, so that the eternal enjoyment of His love will remain undisturbed for Himself and for the saints. I enjoyed that thought which came into the hymn I quoted earlier that we sang last of all where we were this morning:

‘And Thou, who makest all things new,

Canst all in love survey’ (Hymn 258)

Think of the delight of God’s own heart in surveying the vast scene where everything will be held in suited order, having been brought into subjection, and God in love surveying all.

J.A.B. Should we each experience something of the preciousness of what we are speaking about? It can be enjoyed with the help of the Holy Spirit as we are engaged in worship as we were this morning. Much of what we are speaking about will find its fulness in eternity, but it is a wonderful thing that, in the service of God, we can touch the reality of what you have been bringing before us. This is not only future, although the fulness of it is, but is the reality of it available to everyone who loves the Lord Jesus, in whom the Holy Spirit is free and who has some impression of the greatness of God?

J.L. I think we know that by way of some experience. We know something of the present reality of these things by the Spirit, although it is very evident that the actuality has still to come. But the present foretaste by the Spirit gives us some appreciation of the reality and blessedness of these things. And to go back to that verse I quoted from Revelation, the One who was on the throne at that time said to John, “Write, for these words are true and faithful”, Rev.21:5. These words include what had just been set out about the eternal state of things in the earlier verses, and it is as if the One who sits upon the throne was confirming to John that these things are true and faithful, as if to say –accept them and take them in. John, as instructed by the Spirit, put them in writing so that we might have some present understanding and knowledge of them by the Spirit, although we still await the actuality.

J.A.B. So the Lord could say even to the woman at Sychar’s well, “the Father seeks such as his worshippers”, John 4:23. The objective in such a conversation as we are enjoying would be to stimulate worship with each one of us.

J.L. I am sure that is very true. It takes us back a little to Paul’s several doxologies, so that even in the course of writing or speaking to the saints in various places, his heart broke out in the spirit of spontaneous worship. That would be my consideration of what a doxology is. It is an outburst of spontaneous worship to divine Persons.

T.W.L. Would it be right to think that Christ moving into an area of subjection that “God may be all in all” involves His eternal mediatorial position? I was thinking of it in the light of how you began, Christ’s all-encompassing love going through to the all-encompassing supremacy of God. Is Christ still an Operator here, that “God may be all in all”?

J.L. I feel tested in what I can say about these wonderful things, but it is very clear that His deity continually exists: it has done, does do at the present time and will do. We give thanks that He will remain a Man, and that our place of favour before God stands secure because this blessed Person will remain a Man. Earlier in the reading, it was remarked that Christ will be there like an anchorage point in all the breadth and length and depth and height of the fulness of what will characterise the eternal sphere. There will be that blessed anchorage point in the love of the Christ, the One who takes this place in subjection as man that “God might be all in all”.

T.W.L. Yes, it is important to understand that. An older brother locally told us in relation to this that God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit may be “all in all”.

J.L. That is my understanding. I am coming to the point in our enquiry when some of these things remain for our contemplation and worshipful response, lest we progress and attempt to say too much that might become unsuitable. But they are there – they are there in the Scriptures, and the fulness of them is presented to us. It is not intended that we should bypass them. It is intended that we should explore them and consider them. I just mention again that the word “all” comes into such prominence in all of these scriptures, so that it seems as if the Spirit of God would engage our hearts worshipfully with the fulness of them and cause them to remain in our consideration.

Reading at Birmingham

4 November 2018

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