To the children of God....

Thank you most kindly for these words. I was just crying terribly as my husband is dying of brain cancer and the saddness of it all is just more than I can handle anymore. So while my 10 year old daughter is on an overnight retreat with her pony club, it all came out. All the emotions I keep bottled in for fear of upsetting her any more than she already is, they came pouring out. Feeling disraught from it all I came accross this at Godlike Productions(plenty of us lonely souls here on this website)
So thanks for these comforting words. I just wonder how this is all going to come about?
Any more words like this? I feel like this is for me to read and ingest.
Thanks

It is difficult to accept a message from someone that calls himself a messenger from God that thinks of himself as 'the cherished one' and rides a white horse and portrays himself as a hero.

pride and vanity.
ever see the movie 'devils advocate'?

it certainly makes one wonder which God he is representing.

Do you feel a natural disaster or a nuclear bomb will be the Rapture in disguise?

…GET READY MY SONS... GET READY GET READY GET READY.. BE STRONG IN THE LORD

…AND THE POWER OF HIS MIGHT!

…AND GO FORTH IN MY NAME..

FOR I AM

WITH YOU.

I AM..

ALWAYS

AS YOU..FROM NOW ON.. WALK IN MY GLORY

FOR I HAVE GIVEN MY GLORY

I have been given this as an "understanding" a while back. That the Rapture will be shrouded as a Nuclear event, and or Naurral event. We will be changed in the twinkling of an eye.

While the preparatory features of God's plan of the ages have all been related to the one harmonious program, they have varied in detail. This means that in our study of the Bible it is necessary properly to apply its promises and prophecies, else there will be seeming contradictions. That part of the divine plan which was developed prior to Christ's first advent was different from that which God has been doing since. His plans for the ages yet to come are again different from what is being done today.

An example or two will help to illustrate this point. In the second Psalm there is a prophecy which applies to Christ. Here the heavenly Father says to His beloved Son, "Ask of Me, and I shall give You the heathen (nations) for Your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; The shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel" (Ps. 2:8-9). When Jesus came in the flesh, He did not ask for the nations of the world at all. Instead of that He said, "I pray not for the world, but for them which The has given Me out of the world" (Jn. 17:9). Does this mean that the prophecy of the second Psalm is not in harmony with what the Christ came to do? Not at all! It simply means that the fulfillment of this prophecy belongs to a different epoch in God's plan of the ages.

In Rev. 2:26-27 Jesus quotes a portion of the second Psalm and applies it to the overcomers out of the Church age, promising that they are to share with Him in ruling the nations with a rod of iron when the time comes for Him to ask for and receive the nations for an inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession. "And he that overcomes ... to him I will give power over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of My Father." This is in harmony with numerous other New Testament promises to the overcoming saints of God, which show that they are to be joint-heirs with Him in His inheritance of the nations (Rom. 8:17; II Tim. 2:12). It is in harmony also with Jesus' prayer on behalf of His disciples, wherein He reveals that His purpose in calling them to be associated with Him in the Father's work is that the world might believe on him through them. Can we not see by this that when the time element is properly understood Jesus is to possess and rule the nations, but first there is the great task of calling and preparing those who will be partners with Him in that universal rulership which will bring the triumph of His Kingdom in all realms from pole to pole!

In the true and eloquent words of another: "The plan and order of God for this age was stated by the apostle James with clearness, brevity and eloquence when he, speaking to the apostles and brethren at Jerusalem with the anointing of the Spirit upon him, uttered this remarkable statement: 'Simon has declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles (nations) to take out of them a people for His name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this (that is, after He has taken out a people for His name) I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up; that the residue of men (the rest, the remainder of men) might seek after the Lord and all the Gentiles (nations) upon whom My name is called, says the Lord, who does all these things. Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world (ages)' (Acts 15:14-18).

"Once God's plan for this age, outlined above by the inspired lips of the apostle James, has gripped your heart and laid hold upon your understanding, then you will clearly see that everything - yes, absolutely everything in this entire age - is working out just exactly as the omniscient God intended that it should. God is taking out a people. He is not calling all people now. He is taking out a people for His name. Jesus is the Christ. To be in Christ means that you have taken His name. To be in Christ is to be a Son of God, born of incorruptible seed as Jesus is a Son of God. To be in Christ is to be a member of the body of Christ . To be a member of the body of Christ is to be a king, a priest, a royal generation, an holy people. To be a sharer of His glorious name is to be prepared by God for the ages to come in which those chosen ones shall show forth the praises of Him who has called them out of darkness into His marvelous light. Being thus called to bear His name is to be prepared to reign with Him in the ages to come, in which ages the Lord will gather the residue of mankind and eventually all the Gentiles whosoever and wheresoever they may be. That is the true purpose of the ministry of the Sons of God for which all creation groans and travails. Once you see the clearness of this plan, confusion drops away like a millstone into the depths of the sea and the order of the plan of God begins to take its place.

"The reason God's children make such frantic, though futile, efforts to compass land and sea to get the whole world converted in this age is because they cannot see that God is first calling out a people for His name that through them in the dispensation of the fullness of times He will gather all things into Christ. Be it known that in this age God's special purpose and program is to take out a people for His name - that is, a people to bear the name of Christ, the in-Christed - that in ages yet to come (and there are several of them) these elect saints shall rule the world and gather all things in earth and heaven into our wonderful Lord and Saviour (Eph. 1:10) "

These "called out" people are, also call the "firstfruits" company. "Of His own will begat He us with the Word of truth, that we should be a kind of FIRSTFRUITS of His creatures" (James 1:18; Rom. 8:23; 11:6). Those who stand on Mount Zion with the Lamb are called "the FIRSTFRUITS unto God and the Lamb" (Rev. 14:4). Praise God! Just as, year after year, a sheaf of grain (Lev. 23:10) was waved before the Lord as a token of the coming crop, so the members of Christ's body in their triumph over the power of sin and death are but a beginning of what God shall gather unto Himself, to be followed in due course by the whole harvest of all the grain in the field - "the field is the world " (Mat. 13:38). It is an obvious fact that there can be no "firstfruits" except there be a great HARVEST to follow! But before God's salvation can be realized by "the residue of men," there must first come forth the "firstfruits" (a redeemed, holy people) through whom this reconciliation might be ministered.

God not only chose the members of the body of Christ, He not only predestinated them to the adoption of Sons, but He also did for them exactly what He did with Christ. He has "quickened us together with Christ, and has raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:5-6). God has given the body of Christ the highest standing that it is possible to give, in Christ, to be like Him, and to sit upon His throne. But that is not just to honor those who have been transformed by His grace. It is part of God's program for the Sons of God "in the ages to come."

What is that program? Here it is: "That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Jesus Christ" (Eph. 2:7). "That He might show ..." "Show" is from a Greek word meaning "to exhibit, to put on display like a work of art, to demonstrate."

The Amplified Bible reads, "He did this that He might clearly DEMONSTRATE through the ages to come the immeasurable (limitless, surpassing) riches of His free grace in kindness and goodness of heart toward us in Christ Jesus."

Kenneth Wuest translates, "In order that He might EXHIBIT ... in the ages that pile themselves upon one another in continuous succession the surpassing wealth of His grace in kindness to us in Christ Jesus." Show ... demonstrate ... exhibit the riches of His grace - to whom? Not to those who already know it - that would be useless nonsense. But to those who do not know it! And not as an expression of God's scorn, ridicule, or cynicism, saying to the multitudes of hopelessly lost men and women, "Just look at what you missed!" That would be no demonstration of the riches of grace nor would it be an exhibit of His unsurpassed kindness! But, praise His name, in the ages to come He shall put His grace and kindness toward us on display that the entire creation may walk across the stage of His cosmic theater and behold and see and finally come to understand what God has provided for all men in Christ.

But the objection will be made that "in the ages to come" men will not deserve an opportunity to accept Christ. Of course there will be countless billions there who have never had an opportunity for salvation, who never heard the name of Christ, whose hearts were never touched by His gracious Spirit. But there will be other countless millions who have heard the message and have rejected it. So men who ought to know better say, "Let them go to hell! They will be getting just exactly what they deserve!" Alas, how many so-called Sons of God I meet across the land who actually fear that some poor, lost, hell-bent sinner might not get everything he deserves! God have mercy upon them.

May I now state that I do not deserve the grace of God. And without any thought of being insulting, but just to state the fact according to God's estimation, you do not deserve the grace of God, either! All men are undeserving sinners. That is why it takes grace to save. "For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast" (Eph. 2:8-9). Have you noticed that these beautiful verses follow immediately the statement, "That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Jesus Christ?" And why do these verses begin with the word "for?" The word "for" shows a relationship between what precedes and what follows. In the ages to come He will demonstrate and exhibit His grace, for He has already shown it to us, the members of His body, whom He will use as the demonstration!

So God chooses a "firstfruit," a few undeserving sinners in this age; calls them, saves them, sanctifies them, transforms them into the image of Christ, fills them with His mind, clothes them with Ms glory, that through them He may demonstrate His grace to other undeserving sinners "in the ages to come." And the demonstration will be convincing, too. It will accomplish what God intends that it shall accomplish, praise His wonderful name!

One of the grandest passages of Scripture to be found in all the pages of God's wonderful Word is in I Cor. 15:20-28 and is accentuated by this remarkable proclamation: "...as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." Would God that I had the voice of a trumpet that I could sound from the highest mountain peak this message that "as in Adam ALL die, even so in Christ SHALL ALL be made alive!" Just what does it mean for ALL to be "made alive?" First we must understand what it means for ALL to "die." I will speak very plainly about that condition or state of being that we call death. Who are the dead? Of course some one will say that is a foolish question because it is so obvious that the dead are those who have departed this life, their bodies lie buried in the earth.

But far more than our decease was brought in by Adam, and something which affects our souls much more than the sleep which ends our earth consciousness. God did not say to Adam, "In the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die" (Gen. 2:17). If He had, Adam would have fallen over dead in the very day he sinned. He would then have had no progeny of sinners. In the precise language of the Hebrew He said, "And dying, you shall die." That is, there would be a process of dying as well as a condition of death. As we now know, there is a long process of disintegration, with which we are all acquainted, even though we are accustomed to calling it life! Ever since Adam sinned, he and his descendants have been dying. It isn't that death "catches up with us." Death is a part of us, from the very moment of conception until the day it triumphs over us. Like ripe fruit plucked from the tree, our bloom soon passes away. In Adam, all are dying, even while they walk about on two feet. That is the "life" that we inherited from our disobedient parent.

But death is much more than this! No more precise definition of death can be given than the one provided by God Himself : "For to be carnally minded IS DEATH; but to be spiritually minded IS LIFE and peace" (Rom. 8:6). This is the process of death, descending from the purity of the realm of the spiritual, to thus awaken to the realm of the flesh, to mind the things of the flesh. And as long as we remain carnally minded, we remain in the state of death. It is not speaking of dead bodies, but of a dead-consciousness of God. Those who are not in any sense conscious of God, or His life, or what God is doing about them. They know not God or His will or His work, it is as foreign to them as though they were far away in some other part of God's universe. The sad part of it is that many of the dead are professing Christians. The apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians and said, "Awake you that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light." Were these words directed to bodies in the cemetery? How foolish! It was written to professed Christians in the Church at Ephesus. Can we not see that in God's sight, death is not so much concerned with the fleshly body as with the consciousness of God's life.

The carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be, for it minds only the things of the flesh, and fulfills the desires of the self-will, all of which perishes. Paul describes this natural state this way, "And you - who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others" (Eph. 2:1-3). The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23), and death has passed upon ALL MEN, for that ALL HAVE SINNED.

This inworking of the mystery of iniquity has brought every man into the death of the carnal mind, terminating our consciousness of the spiritual realm, and causing us to become very self conscious in the flesh realm. Anybody apart from God in Christ is dead, whether in this life, or in any other. "He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life" (I Jn. 5:12). Physical death is only one of the results of a previous spiritual death. When Adam sinned, fellowship was broken between himself and the realm of God. It was not merely his physical demise after 930 years that constituted his death, but his separation from God on the very day he sinned was the inner reality of his death. That is the real death! And all the sorrows, frustrations, heartaches, pains, sicknesses, sufferings, disappointments, tragedies, and torments of this poor mortal existence are all part and parcel of the realm of death - truly the condition and state of being of all men "in Adam."

Let us now see how it is that "in Christ" all shall be made alive. The verse under consideration is found in I Cor. 15:22, and this whole chapter deals with resurrection. The word resurrection is so inadequate to express the true thought or idea that the Holy Spirit is conveying to us. The common conception of this word carries with it the idea of opening all the graves in the world and the arising out of them of the physical bodies of those who have died. But since death is something more than dead bodies, you can be assured, dear ones, that resurrection is something far beyond bringing bodies out of tombs. To have a false or limited view of the resurrection is to have a false and limited view of God's work throughout the ages until now. If our view of the resurrection is dwarfed, then our whole view of God's plan is dwarfed.

So we read that in Christ all shall be made alive. The contrast is not between corpses and walking bodies, but between the dying process and the life process in God. The Greek text actually reads, "As in Adam all are dying , so in the Christ shall all be made alive." The terms "are dying" and "shall be made alive" are in the incomplete tense in the original, which denotes an action in progress. The long drawn out activity of death in dragging men down to sin, death, and the grave is put in contrast with the endless activity of life imparting holiness, power, incorruption, and glory. All who endured the first shall enjoy the second. Here is a message for mankind which should lift it above its misery! The process of His life, and hence, the process of resurrection has already commenced with us! Truly "He hath quickened Us together with Christ...and hath raised us up " so that "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above" (Eph. 2:5-6; Col. 3:1).

To be "made alive" is more than some instantaneous event to take place some time in the distant future. "Made alive" is not a blasting open of graves and the coming forth of the bodies that have been buried in them. "Made alive" does not point to some event when people will go soaring off into the heavens. When Jesus stood before the tomb of Lazarus, He rebuked Martha for looking for some manner of event in the far distant future and told her that the resurrection and the life was standing there before them. "I am the resurrection and the life." Oh, saints of God, do you not see that the eternal Father within the Christ was and is the resurrection? "I live by the Father," Jesus declared. The resurrection was not some thing that happened to Jesus, not some event of which He was a partaker, not some day marked by the calendar. The resurrection was and is A MAN! "I AM" - there it is! "I AM the resurrection and the life." To possess the Man, to put on the Man, to come into union with the Man is to have resurrection, for the Man IS the resurrection. "In Christ shall all be made alive."

This is what Paul is speaking of in the fifteenth chapter of I Corinthians. He bases his argument on the fact of whether or not the Christ has risen from the dead. In verse sixteen we read from the Diaglott, "For if dead persons are not raised up, neither has Christ been raised." Please notice, and most other translations bear this out, Paul says, "If dead persons are not (present tense) raised up." He did not say, "If dead persons will not (future tense) be raised up." He placed it in the present, that if the dead are not raised up, then Christ is not raised! If Jesus the Christ is the only one so far raised from the dead, He is most surely having a lonely time of it, and He too is looking with wistful eyes into the unknown future, waiting for the graves to open. But there is a note of triumph in Paul's epistle, and that epistle comes right out of Paul's own personal experience when he proclaims in verse twenty, "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept." Ah, the word "sleep" is in the past tense, them that slept. This can but mean that they are not sleeping now, and Christ has already led forth from the dominion of death an unknown host who are with Him in the life of the resurrection!

Truly the resurrection is not a future hope - it is a present reality. As those in Adam "are dying" so in Christ men "are being made alive." Receiving of His life we find it to be a resurrection life. The word "resurrection" is from the Greek word ANASTASIS meaning a standing or rising up. It denotes much more than our English word resurrection which we term to mean a restoring to life again. The Greek word means the whole process of advancing and rising up until the highest possible realm is reached, and our goal is nothing short than full conformation into the image of God; that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him.

Resurrection is the process of standing up and advancing, it is arising from the dust and the low realm of the earthy, to bear the image of the heavenly. Resurrection is the process of having our life lifted up from the earth, to be raised to the heavenlies, joined in one with the fullness of the Spirit of God. Our alienation and separation from God, with all the dreadful attending sorrows, are already beginning to end in this life as through Christ we ARE MADE ALIVE! And, blessed be His name, in Christ shall ALL be made alive!

In the face of a hope so blessed and glorious as this, some have raised an objection, contending that not ALL who die in Adam will be made alive in Christ. These assert that in each case the "all" is limited, so that it is only all who are in Christ that shall be made alive. The idea is that it is not the same all who die in Adam that are made alive in Christ. All who have ever lived were "in Adam" and therefore died, they say, but only a few have by faith come to be "in Christ" - and only "all in Christ" are given life. If that were true, this booklet would be a short one and our story soon told. I do not hesitate to say that that is indeed a crafty and cunning - but devious - argument. It reveals the crass ignorance of those who employ it. It shows that either they have not read the Scripture, or they have read it but, like the Ethiopian Eunuch, understand not what they read and need "some man to teach them."

It has been said that if the average Christian knew what his Bible is talking about, he would burn it as a dangerous and heretical writing. There is much more truth to this statement than most of us would like to admit. False doctrine is founded on error. While professing to believe and teach the Word, yet it can do nothing but contradict it. Most of its efforts are therefore an attempt to make the Word conform to its own ignorant imaginings. While it loudly proclaims the Bible to be true and professes to believe it, yet it must continually change and explain its truths in such a way as to make them uphold its own reasonings. God's true ministers are those who have come to the place where they dare to believe God, though it makes all men liars. And anyone who will serve the Lord faithfully by declaring His truth is bound to be unpopular with all the ministers in apostasy, because he must then continually expose their shame.

And the assertion that all who die in Adam will not be made alive in the Christ is very sly and cunning and deceptive. It is a flat contradiction of the Word of God. Furthermore, it is a Christ dishonoring blasphemy straight out of the pit. The simple truth is that the argument is a subtle play on words, while missing or ignoring altogether what Paul really said. His statement in I Cor. 15:22 can be made to say what these deceivers make it say only when it is taken out of context. It must be read in connection with all the verses surrounding it. As soon as this principle is faithfully followed, it becomes plain.

Here is what Paul says in the verse under consideration: "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" -but that is not the end of the matter! Paul does not drop his thought or change his subject at the end of that sentence. The very same thought is continued in the next verse where the apostle states, "But every man in His own order." That is, all who shall be made alive in the Christ will be made alive by an order, in sequence, according to a progressive arrangement, determined by group, position, degree or rank. The Scriptures make it very plain that all are not saved at the same time. "Who gave Himself a ransom for all; to be testified in due time " (I Tim. 2:6). At the present time God is saving only those He has called unto the special salvation of the ages (I Cor. 1:26-30; 1 Tim. 6:12). He will use these to bring about the salvation of the rest (Eph. 1:9-12; 2:6-10; Rom. 8:18-23).

The Greek word translated "order" is TAGMA and means a "group," or "rank," or "band," or "company." TAGMA actually comes from a root word meaning to appoint, determine, or set in array, as used in Acts 13:38, "and as many as were ordained (set in array) to eternal life believed." The thought is of soldiers marching in bands, companies, regiments or battalions. As in times of war the country calls age groups and forms them into companies of men, so in like manner the Spirit of God calls to resurrection and life every man in his own time, order, and rank. Man holds no power to hasten that order even for an hour; neither has he power to delay it.

While men who understand nothing of the plan of God go rushing far and wide, desperately trying to convert the world "before it is eternally too late, " the Almighty God in matchless serenity sits on His glorious throne, beholding with joy His on-going purpose of the ages as it develops in magnificent harmony, and sends forth His Spirit at just the proper time to call "every man in his own order. "

As one has so beautifully written,"Jesus clearly taught that No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him,' giving indication that the initiative is God's, as He causes us to come in His time, to be in that order, that rank that He has determined for us. But He also made it clear, that regardless of the timing of our call, when the Father draws us to Himself, the process continues until ALL have been brought to Him, for He said, 'And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me' (Jn. 12:32). 'Every man in his own order' is also very reassuring, for it promises that in His own time and calling for each one, He will bring them into the fullness of His life. The Spirit draws, awakens, illumines, imparts life - according to the will of God for each individual. Each in his own rank. There is no merit upon man for this choosing - 'It is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, BUT OF GOD that shows mercy' (Rom. 9:16). And when He draws us we can only bow in humble thanksgiving for this expression of His love toward us, and receive Him, yield to Him, and follow after Him with our whole heart." - Gospel Echoes.

And now, let us see what the order is. "In Christ shall all be made alive - but every man in his own order." And then the apostle lists three unmistakable and successive orders in which EVERY MAN is made alive. Hear it! "But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming. Then comes the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For He hath put all things under His feet ... 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" (I Cor. 15:23-28). Let me present the three orders:

1. Christ the firstfruits

2. Afterwards those who are Christ's at His coming

3. Then the end ... all enemies ... all things subdued ... until God is ALL IN ALL.

Those who insist that only the small handful of saints who during this age find life in Christ make up the "all" who will be made alive fall short for they fail to get past the first two companies. These believe that the Christ was Himself made alive, and they further believe that those who are now His are being made alive, but in their terrible blindness they miss entirely the third order in which all men and things, including God's very worst enemies, are subjected and subdued unto Him and then delivered up in His Kingdom unto God, even the Father, that God may then be "all in all"! Ah, beloved, it takes not two, but all three of these "orders" to constitute the ALL who are made alive in Christ. And to say that "all" is anything short of this is to horribly distort and impiously wrest the Word of God!
What a demonstration of love and grace and power! The mighty working of HIS LIFE in this third group shows us that the impetus given to God's purpose by the resurrection of Christ from the dead does not expend itself until all others are made alive in Him; until all sovereignty and authority and power in opposition to Him is broken; until all enemies are placed under Christ's feet, subdued unto Him; until the last enemy, death itself, is abolished and there is no more death abiding in any creature anywhere; until all in the universe is included in the Kingdom of the Son; until the Son Himself has handed over the Kingdom and all its subjects to the Father and God has become All in all - everything to everyone everywhere! What an impetus! The resurrection of Christ from the dead sets in motion a chain of happenings which carry on and do not stop until God's great purpose in the ages is fully consummated.

What love! What wondrous love! The might of God's strength which operated in Christ, raising Him from the dead, was sufficient to exalt Him to the highest pinnacle of the universe, thus ensuring that all His enemies would be reconciled to Him, that every opposing power would .be made subordinate to Him, that all sin and death in every realm and in every man and in every creature throughout all the unbounded heavens would be so swallowed up of His life until God would be all in all, bless His glorious name! The gospel of the grace of God! May it flood our hearts that they may, indeed, be illuminated with the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

After "Christ the firstfruits" and "those who are Christ's at His coming" notice the words - "then comes the end." Paul is talking about the "order" in which all are to be made alive. As I have pointed out, the word "order" means a group, or rank, or band, like succeeding groups or bands in a parade. "Christ the firstfruits" is the first order; "they that are Christ's" are the second order; and the Greek says, "Then the end," an expression that is not unlike "bringing up the rear." It constitutes the "end rank" or the last order to be made alive in Christ. Paul is writing about three orders or classes of mankind to be made alive in Christ, and these three orders constitute ALL of mankind. Paul seems to pile up words to make clear his meaning that all things in the universe are to be brought into subjection to God.

In I Cor. 15:22-28 he uses the word "all" twelve times, and in just the last two verses he repeats the idea of subjection six times. One wonders what else He could have written to make men understand his meaning. He is saying as clearly as words can say that the ultimate goal of God is the bringing into subjection of all beings in the universe, in heaven, in earth, and in the underworld!

"Then comes the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all enemies UNDER HIS FEET. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For He hath put all things under His feet. But when He says all things are PUT UNDER Him, it is manifest that He is excepted, 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" (I Cor. 15:24-28).

In the 27th and 28th verses one single verb meaning "put in subjection" is used six times. It is variously translated as "put under," "subdues," and "be subject." Paul chooses this word to make clear his meaning that all things in the universe are to be brought into subjection to God. To bring into subjection is to bring into obedience. There can be no reconciliation, no harmony, no orderly Kingdom, no "God all in all" without a subjugation; and as God accepts nothing but a willing obedience, He plans to bring ALL to a willing obedience to His will. God does not make anyone do anything. But He certainly knows how to "make" us WILLING! God didn't "make" Jonah go to Nineveh, but He did make him willing to go!

"Who will transform the body of our humiliation into a conformity with His glorious body, according to the energy by which He is able to subject all things to Himself" (Phil. 3:21). The power that transforms our bodies into the likeness of His glorious body, is the same power that will subdue ALL THINGS unto Him. They will become His subjects, and own Him as their King. Some erroneously teach that THINGS does not mean people, that it only means nature, thrones, governmental positions, etc. If so, God loves the created inanimate THINGS more than man who was made in His image! That is but another of Babylon's infamous lies, a deceitful smokescreen to keep the Lord's precious people from the truth. The Scriptures plainly repudiate such an untenable position.

Of course ALL THINGS includes ALL PEOPLE! Numerous passages could be cited, but I share only two briefly, to establish the point.

"Therefore let no man glory in men. For ALL THINGS are yours; whether PAUL, or APOLLOS, or CEPHAS, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; ALL are yours" (I Cor. 3:21-22). It should be plain to anyone that people Paul, Apollos, and Cephas - are among the ALL THINGS that Paul enumerates as belonging to the saints. Such other items as "the world" and "life" are included with them as "things." No less illustrious a personage than our blessed Lord Jesus Christ is called in Scripture a "thing." "The angel answered and said unto her ... that HOLY THING which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" (Lk. 1:35).

The real proof, however, lies right within the passage under consideration. "For HE hath put ALL THINGS under His feet. But when He says ALL THINGS are put under Him, it is manifest that HE is excepted, which did put ALL THINGS under Him" (I Cor. 15:27). Now, I am sure that all will admit that GOD is a person. God is not an inanimate object or an abstract governmental position. He is a living being! And He is the only thing, according to Paul, that is not subdued unto the Christ. Thus the internal evidence in our text reveals beyond any shadow of a doubt that within the scope of the "all things" subdued unto Christ and delivered up to the Father are ALL LIVING BEINGS other than God Himself. None can contradict this fact but those so bound in the darkness of error that they no longer care what the Word of God says - they will fight to the end for their man-made traditions!

The description, moreover, of this consummation in the verses quoted is so sweeping that words and terms mean nothing at all if it does not set forth total and universal homage paid by willing hearts to Christ, and thus to God. Some have the idea that the subjection referred to is something like the subjection of the Jews in the Nazi concentration camps during the second world war. Those who hold that view envision billions of people confined to the lake of fire screaming, cursing, hating and blaspheming God in their torments, but subjected, confined, held by force, unable to escape, or to ever again be free to spread their sin and rebellion through God's universe - but never changed. But notice, precious friend of mine, the very same Greek word that suffices to describe the complete and loving subjection of the Son to the Father, is used to declare what is the nature of the submission of all things under the Son's rule and reign. There will be nothing anywhere that is any longer antagonistic to God, therefore the reason why Christ's redemptive reign comes to an end, and He hands over to God all the subjugated and loyal realms of heaven and earth and hell that He may become "All in All." The same word for "subdue" is used in other places for the kind of subjection that Christ yielded to His parents, that the Church gives to Christ, and that God's children render to their Father - the identical subjugation into which Christ will bring all things when the consummation of His reign arrives.

This kind of total subjugation to God is that which is being wrought in the "firstfruit company" in this hour. Have you totally surrendered yourself to God? This is what God demands. In numerous places, in various ways, in different words, God says the same thing over and over again. And yet, sometimes it seems that we fail to get the message: Yield yourselves to God. Submit yourselves to Christ. Offer your bodies as living sacrifices. Die to self. Lay down your life. Present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead. Yield not your members as instruments of unrighteousness but as instruments of righteousness unto God. Put off the old man. Put on the mind of Christ. Walk in the Spirit. Over and over again, God says the same thing. And what He now requires of us, His firstfruits, He ultimately requires of the whole creation! He wants us to yield ourselves to Him. Andrew Murray, in a great monograph on this subject, calls our attention to the encounter that King Ahab had with Ben-hadad, king of Syria. From that encounter, Murray draws a very significant lesson. Perhaps you recall the situation.

Ben-hadad ruled over Syria, located to the north of Israel. The wicked King Ahab was the monarch reigning over the Northern Kingdom from the capital city of Samaria. Ben-hadad gathered together his hosts which he described as more numerous than all the dust of Samaria. He, along with thirty-two other kings, attacked and devastated the countryside of Israel. Finally they surrounded the capital of Samaria. And here they stood in a vast unnumbered seriate array of tanks, thousands upon thousands of foot soldiers, chariots, and horsemen - all with their bright and beautiful shields and spears and armor shining in the sun. Totally surrounding the city for as far as the eye could see, they "warred against Samaria," we are told.

Just how long the battle continued, we are not told. It may have been an extended period of time, but one thing is certain. The rebellious King Ahab of Samaria was brought to complete submission to Ben-hadad. All hope for King Ahab fled. There was to be no victory for him. There was to be no conditional surrender. Instead, he lost everything. The message came from Ben-hadad: "Thus says Ben-hadad, Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine. " When Ahab received this message he didn't resist - and curse and blaspheme Ben-hadad. No! He responded, "My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am yours, and all that I have." Now, what Ben-hadad demanded was absolute and total surrender. And what Ahab gave was total surrender: "I am yours, and all that I have." Ah, here is a picture of that which God demands of us, who are in rebellion against Him, the just and only Potentate. God comes to us and demands that we surrender to Him. He demands it of the whole creation! This is what it means when it says that He subjects to Himself ALL RULE AND ALL AUTHORITY AND POWER AND ALL THINGS. Glory to His name!

The last several weeks have been “revealing” to say the least, but one subject keeps coming up, over and over. I will not go over the details or the outcome, but will say this…There is going to be a choice to be made by every single person on this planet. You will only have a matter of seconds to make this decision…please, for the love of God chose wisely dear souls….That is all I can tell you at this point.