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| Chapter XII. He confirms what has been already said, by the parable of the rich man who went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom; and shows that when the Son delivers up the kingdom to the Father, we must not regard the fact that the Father is said to put all things in subjection under Him, in a disparaging way. Here we are the kingdom of Christ, and in Christ's kingdom. Hereafter we shall be in the kingdom of God, where the Trinity will reign together.
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Chapter XII.
He confirms what has been already said, by the parable
of the rich man who went into a far country to receive for himself a
kingdom; and shows that when the Son delivers up the kingdom to the
Father, we must not regard the fact that the Father is said to put all
things in subjection under Him, in a disparaging way. Here we are
the kingdom of Christ, and in Christ’s kingdom. Hereafter
we shall be in the kingdom of God, where the Trinity will reign
together.
145. In divine
fashion has He represented that parable of the rich man, who went to a
far-off country to receive a kingdom, and to return,2708
thus describing Himself in the
substance of the Godhead, and of His Manhood. For He being rich
in the fulness of His Godhead, Who was made poor for us though He was
rich and an eternal King, and the Son of an eternal King; He, I say,
went to a foreign country in taking on Him a body, for He entered upon
the ways of men as though upon a strange journey, and came into this
world to prepare for Himself a kingdom from amongst us.
146. Jesus therefore came to this earth to
receive for Himself a kingdom from us, to whom He says:
“The kingdom of God is within you.”2709
This is the kingdom which Christ
has received, this the kingdom which He has delivered to the
Father. For how did He receive for Himself a kingdom, Who was a
King eternal? “The Son of Man therefore came to receive a
kingdom and to return.” The Jews were unwilling to
acknowledge Him, of whom He says: “They which would not
that I should reign over them, bring hither and slay
them.”2710
147. Let us follow the course of the
Scriptures. He Who came will deliver up the kingdom to God the
Father; and when He has delivered up the kingdom, then also shall He be
subject to Him, Who has put all things in subjection under Him, that
God may be all in all.2711
If the Son
of God has received the kingdom as Son of Man, surely as Son of Man
also He will deliver up what He has received. If He delivers it
up as Son of Man, as Son of Man He confesses His subjection indeed
under the conditions of the flesh, and not in the majesty of His
Godhead.
148. And dost thou make objections and
contemn Him, because God has put all things in subjection under Him,
when thou hearest that the Son of Man delivers up the kingdom to God,
and hast read, as we said in our earlier books: “No man can
come to Me, except the Father draw him; and I will raise him up at the
last day”?2712
If we
follow it literally, see rather and notice the unity of honour each
gives to other: The Father has put all things in subjection under
the Son, and the Son delivers the kingdom to the Father. Say now
which is the greater, to deliver up, or to raise up to life? Do
we not after human fashion speak of the service of delivering up, and
the power of raising to life? But both the Son delivers up to the
Father, and also the Father to the Son. The Son raises to life,
and the Father also raises to life. Let them create the fiction
of a blasphemous division where there is a unity of power.
149. Let the Son then deliver up His kingdom
to the Father. The kingdom which He delivers up is not lost to
Christ, but grows. We are the kingdom, for it was said to
us: “The kingdom of God is within you.”2713
And we are the kingdom, first of
Christ, then of the Father; as it is written: “No man
cometh to the Father, but by Me.”2714
When I am on the way, I am
Christ’s; when I have passed through, I am the Father’s;
but everywhere through Christ, and everywhere under Him.
150. It is a good thing to be in the kingdom
of Christ, so that Christ may be with us; as He Himself says:
“Lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the
world.”2715
But it is
better to be with Christ:
“For to depart and be with Christ
is far better.”2716
Though we
are under sin in this world, Christ is with us, that “by the
obedience of one man many may be made just.”2717
And if I escape the sin of this
world, I shall begin to be with Christ. And so He says:
“I will come again, and receive you unto Myself;”2718
and further on: “I will
that where I am, there ye may be also with Me.”2719
151. Therefore we are now under
Christ’s rule, whilst we are in the body, and are not yet
stripped of the form of a servant, which He put upon Him, when He
“emptied Himself.” But when we shall see His glory,
which He had before the world was, we shall be in the kingdom of God,
in which are the patriarchs and prophets, of whom it is written:
“When ye shall see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the
prophets in the kingdom of God;”2720
and shall thus acquire a deeper knowledge of God.
152. But in the kingdom of the Son the
Father also reigns; and in the kingdom of the Father the Son also
reigns: for the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father;
and in whomsoever the Son dwells, in him also the Father dwells; and in
whomsoever the Father dwells, in him also the Son dwells, as it is
written: “Both I and My Father will come to Him, and make
Our abode with Him.”2721
Thus as
there is one dwelling, so also there is one kingdom. Yea, and so
far is the kingdom of the Father and of the Son but one, that the
Father receives what the Son delivers, and the Son does not lose what
the Father receives. Thus in the one kingdom there is a unity of
power. Let no one therefore sever the Godhead between the Father
and the Son.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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