Many so-called “Oneness” believers are slightly confused by 1 Cor. 15.27-28, which says that in the culmination of all things the Son Jesus shall be subject to the Father so that “God [the Father] may be all in all.” They cannot reconcile the passage with Luke 1.33: “And he [Jesus] shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”
In order to get our scholastic teeth into this question, please study the chart below:
Comparing Man’s Final Destiny with That of Jesus
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Jesus Christ |
Average Human |
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1. Birth |
1.Birth |
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2.Life |
2.Life |
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3.Death |
3.Death |
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4.Resurrection |
4.Resurrection |
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5.Glorified Body |
5.Glorified Body |
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6.Final Disposition of Jesus’ Glorified Body |
6.Final Disposition of Man’s Glorified Body – NA |
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“For he [the Father] hath put all things under his [Jesus’] feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he [the Father] is excepted, which did put all things under him [Jesus]. “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 [the Father] may be all in all.” (1Co 15:27-28) |
Item #6, the disposition of the human glorified body, is not applicable to humanity as there will be no change in the human glorified body. It will be an unchanging, everlasting body.
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You will note that the first five stages of the existence of the human Jesus and that of all saved persons is practically identical. However God has reserved something more for the human Jesus than for Him to reign forever in a body, even a glorified one. Humankind was created with a need for a body, but God does not require one.
“(23) But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
(24) God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4.23, 24)
When the Father has brought all enemies literally and fully into subjugation to Christ, then Jesus will Himself be subject to the Father “that God may be all in all.”
You have a problem with the scripture in 1Co 15:28 – although it very plainly states that GOD shall be all in all. “What shall we do,” you ask, “with the passage in Luke 1.31-33 in which the angel of annunciation tells Mary that her Son Jesus shall reign forever?”
(31) And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
(32) He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
(33) And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. (Luke 1.31-33)
We should simply take both passages literally. In neither one is there a symbolism intended. In Luke 1.31-33 the meaning is clear: Jesus will indeed reign forever; and in 1Co 15:27-28 God will reign supreme over His creation forever. In saying “…then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all,” the meaning is that the glorified body of Jesus will be absorbed into the Godhead (the preceding clause is only my explanation of verse 28). We know however God will reign supreme and alone, leaving only the Spirit of God for humans to worship – and that Spirit will still be called Jesus, the Jesus who suffered much for our salvation, the One we love and adore today.
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