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hands ..." - that is. God's creation.
Continue:
NOT YET the Universe!
"Thou hast put ALL THINGS (Mof–
fatt: the UNIVERSE) in subjection un–
der his feet. For in thal he put ALL
in subjection under him, he
left
nothing
that is not pul under
him . .. ." Can you grasp that? The
ent ire vast. endless UNIVERSE! But
that is for BORN sons of God. Manis
not yet B"ORN - except Christ only!
Continue. Here comes the answer:
" ... But
now
[in this present ges–
tation state] we see NOT YET all
lhings [the universe) put under him"
(verse 8).
But what
do
we see. NOW?
" But we see JESUS ... crowned
with glory and honour" (verse 9).
Yes, as revealed in chapter
1,
Jesus
has already been given the execu–
tive administration of God's Gov–
ernment - the KINGDOM of Goo –
over the entire UNIVERSE! Only,
un–
ti/
our time to inherit and possess
the government of EARTH, at
Christ's return, He is allowing Satan
to conli nue on this earth his work of
deception. Now continue:
"For it became him [Jesus), for
whom are aiJ things. and by whom
are all th ings. in bringi-ng many sons
unto GLORY. to make lhe captain
[margin, leader - or fore runner,
pioneer - the One who has gone on
before us. as we are lo follow) of
their salvation perfect through suf–
fer ings. For both he that sanctifieth
and they who are sanct ified are all
of one: for wh ich cause he is not
ashamed to call them
brethren"
(verses
10- 11).
Christ First Born of Many
We are, as quoted before. heirs of
God, and joint-heirs - as BRETHREN
- with ChriS!. He has gone on
ahead. through a resurrection. to
GLORY as the pioneer!
He is the firstborn of many breth–
ren! He has INHERITED "all things"
- the UNIVERSE! We are sti ll heirs–
still in the gestation s1age of the pro–
cess of being BORN of God. Jesus is
now our High Priest, supervising
our spiritual development - pre–
paring us to be kings and pr iests.
reigning
with
Him!
The
PLAIN TRUTH February 1977
As a physical babe must
grow physically,
so we in the ·Christian
life must grow in
spiritual knowledge and
character (11 Pet. 3:18)
to become perfect.
The tirst thousand years we shall
reign ON THE EARTH. For He shall
have "made them kings and priests:
and they shall reign on the earth"
(Rev.
5:10. RSV).
The First Thousand Years
For that first thousand years. Jesus
is to reign on the throne of His
earthly ancestor DAVID in Jerusalem
(lsa. 9:6-7). And, "he that over–
cometh, and keepeth my works unto
the end, to him will
1
give -power
over the nations: and he shall ru le
them with a rod of iron .. .' ' (Rev.
2:26-27). But how and from where
shall we rule?
Jesus said, again. "To him that
overcometh will
I
grant to sit with
me in my throne [at Jerusalem].
even as
1
also overcame, and am
[now] set down with my Father in
his throne" (Rev.
3:21 ).
When BORN of God. we shall BE
spiril, no longer human ftesh and
blood. We shall be given POWER! As
Daniel revealed, the saints then
shall take the kingdoms of earth's
nations and RULE them - for the
first thousand years.
And . ..
after that?
The passage in
Hebrews 2 shows that then, under
Christ, we shall be given power to
rule over the entire vast univers.e -
literally ALL THINGS. for that is the
power that has been given to Christ,
and we are joint-heirs, to become
joint-INHERITORS with Him.
All Power - The UNIVERSE
Most people have passed right over
many vital statements in the Bible,
nol recognizing their tremendous
import!
Let me give you a few. Ask your–
self, have you ever recognized the
true import of these statements in
God's Word?
Matthew 28:18:
"And Jesus carne
and spoke unto them [after His res–
urrection], saying, ALL POWER is
given unto me in heaven and in
earth."
Matthew 11 :27:
Jesus said: "ALL
THINGS [the whole universe] are de–
livered unto me of my Father ...."
John
3:35:
"The Father loveth the
Son. and hath given ALL THINGS
into bis hand."
John
13:3:
During the Jast Pass–
over, " Jesus knowing tha t the
Fa ther had given ALL THINGS into
his hands, and that he was come
from God, and went to God ...."
John 16:15:
"ALL THINGS that the
Father hath are mine ...."
1 Corinthians 15:27:
"For he [the
Father) hath put ALL THTNGS under
his [Christ's] feet. But when he saith
ALL
THINGS are put under him, it is
manifest that be [the Father] is ex–
cepted, which did put ALL THINGS
under him. And when ALL THINGS
shall be subdued unto him, then
shall the Son also himself be subject
unto him that put ALL THINGS under
him, that God may be all in all."
And - incredible, yet true! - we,
in Christ, are made co-heirs with
Christ in this ultimate supreme ru le.
lncidentally,
1
Corinthians
15:27-
28, along with verses 22-26, in–
dicates that our reign over the uní–
verse shall follow the thousand
years' reign on the earth.
Must GROW During Gestation
Human life
starts
with what the
Bible terms "corruptible seed" -
physical male sperm. Divine life
starts
with that which is in–
corruptible - the Holy Spirit of
God entering the human person.
But as the human embryo must
GROW till it becomes a fe tus, which
must GROW to the point of being
born into the human family.
so
the
Christian in whom divine life has
been started by the gift of God's
incorruptible
Spirit must GROW to–
ward perfection to be born into the
Goo family. He wiU
then
be perfect,
unable to sin.
Peter gives an analogy of this:
"Being born again ..."
(I
Pet.
1
:23).
Being
-
in process of - not
having
been
-
not yet an immortal
person - but
being
"born again, not
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