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April 1927
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
istered successfully, to the entire satisfaction of the Father, to whom the Son will deliver up the Kingdom, perfect and complete (1 Cor. 15:22-28; Rev. 21:1-6). This purpose of God concerning Christ and the Church presents to us the great subject of “Headship and Admin istration” : the long-drawn-out issue, now nearing its final stage, of “Divine Government versus Man’s Lawlessness.” If we take two passages of Scripture, such as Psa. 2 : 1-3, and 2 Thess. 2 :l-8, and contrast with them Eph. 1 :10, we see at once how great the issue is. What we find described in the first two passages necessitates the inter vention of God as Moral Governor of the Universe. God has His purposes, arid man has his purposes. Fallen man claims Headship and Administration. Who is to prevail? The rejected Man, Christ Jesus, is destined to he King of kings and Lord of lords, and man must finally submit to Him, whatever may be the blatant boast of infidels and apostates. God will strike terror into their inmost being, and pursue them into the outer darkness. The message now is : “God commandeth all men every where to repent” (Acts 17:3.0, 31). O ld and N ew A dm in istra tion s The Headship and Administration of 'this earth was committed to Adam, Eve being brought afterwards into association with him—a most wonderful type of Christ and the Church. There was an unmistakable glory attaching to the First Adam, for which evolution cannot account. He was endowed with powers of administration; and he mani fested knowledge and wisdom in his assigning names to every creature brought to him. God rtever puts a man in a place of responsibility without bestowing on him the necessary qualifications. The fact that Adam was a type of Him that was to come (Rom. 5:14), the Second Man, suggests something of his perfection, as made in the image and after the likeness of God (see Gen. 1 :26-28 ; 2 :19, 20 ; Psa. 8). This headship, however, was lost through Adam’s fall, and the Headship and Administration was promised to another Head. Man is not fit to rule, and his whole ¿ourse has been marked by failure. The truth is, not that man has risen, front'd lower to a higher state, but that man has sunk into a lower from a higher state. Fallen man is a ruin, retaining some blurred marks of his former glory. The moment having arrived, in the purpose of the Father, for the Son to claim His Bride -for which He and the Church have been waiting—the Lord Himself will descend into the air, immediately above this earth, and in a moment His redeemed, asleep or awake, will be tr a n s formed and translated : “Caught up together . . . to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thess. 4:17). The Church is then presented to the Father in the Father’s House. A glorious Church (John 14:1-3; Eph. 5:27; Jude 24). The next is a majestic scene. A door was opened in heaven that the Apostle John might behold the wonderful vision. The Church, conducted from the Father’s House to the Great Council Chamber, the seat of Universal Gov ernment, is installed in the place of administration, repre sented by twenty-four elders seated on thrones (Rev. 4). The Church is there to witness the formal handing- over. of the administration of God’s future purposes to thé Lamb. To Him alone is entrusted the administration; and He then formally receives the Title Deeds (see Luke 19:11-27; Rev. 5). What exultant joy will fill the heart
of the Bride as she.beholds the honor bestowed on the One who bought her! What joy in the Bridegroom’s heart to see her there at last, after the long wilderness-journey! The glory He receives as the Mighty Victor, He shares with her. This session in the Council Chamber closes with the great worship service. Christ and the Church leading the heavenly choirs in a great Service of song. The saints will have their own exclusive note of adoration to the Lamb who died for them. Evidently, all that concerns the Church must be com pleted before the Lord is seen in manifested glory by Israel and the Nations. One has said, “The Jewish train has been shunted, to let the Church express through.” This period in heaven, marked by these heavenly scenes, is probably the “day of Christ” ; “that day” ; “the day of the Lord Jesus”) to which the Apostle Paul refers in his Epistles. A day of reward, of rejoicing, when his mo tives and service would be seen in their true light. He had his eye on “that day” in contrast to the present season, which is “man’s day” (1 Cor. 4:3; R. V. marg.). T h e O ne O utstand ing F igure We have concluded our study of these four great Cycles in God’s purposes relating to time, and have we not seen one great outstanding Figure—one glorious' and unique Person before us in each of these Cycles—God’s center: the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Word made flesh, the Second Man, the Last Adam? We have seen Him coming at the appointed time, the Redeemer, enduring the Cross, triumphing over sin and death. We have seen Him, the Head over all things in the Church, which is His body, waiting for the “Fulness of the Gentiles” to come in. We have seen Him, the Stone cut out without hands, coming at the destined hour to smite the rebel Gentile Powers and their head—the Antichrist. We have seen Him, the One who is to take over the final administration, and wield universal sway, subduing all His enemies, carrying out the judgments: and after all has been satisfactorily and successfully accomp lished, He will deliver up the Kingdom to God, even the Father. The New Creation will be consummated, never again to be marred by sin. The Son in the Father’s House with “His blood-bought spotless Bride” at_ His side, brought through the desert by the Holy Spirit, who rejoices with the Son in His deep new-found joy. Now we can read the significance of that wonderful, title—the Last Adam. In Christ, finality, has been reached in the eternal counsels and purposes of tbe Godhead. There is no higher pinnacle to reach. There is nothing more that lies beyond, but eter nal satisfaction in the Person and Work of the Glorified Man, Jesus Christ our Lord, King of kings, and Lord of lords, “On His head were many crowns” (Rev. 19:12). m The Proposed “Fixed” Easter It may well be that from 1931 onwards the date of the celebration of Easter will be no longer “movable,” but “fixed.” For some time past a sub-committee of the League of Nations has been devoting itself to the proposed reform of the calendar in this respect. Apparently the precise date to be fixed on for the celebration of the Easter festival will be the second Sunday in April. The sugges tion of a “fixed” Easter appears to have elicited a fairly general approval: Industrial organizations have pro nounced in favor of the change.
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