The Christian Life Part 2 Volume 2, Section 11
SECT. XI. Concerning the conclusion and surrender of the Kingdom of Christ.
WHen our Saviour hath finished that last and most glorious act of Royalty, viz. Iudging the World, and hath finally condemned to everlasting fire the irreclaimable enemies of God, and crowned all his faithful subjects with eternal Glory and Beatitude; the Apostle tells us, He shall deliver up the Kingdom to God even the Father, 1 Cor. 15.24. For our better understanding of which, we are to consider that the Kingdom of Christ is twofold: First, Essential, as he is God Essential, and doth subsist in the divine Essence; by the supereminent perfections of which he being exalted above all things, hath an essential Right of Dominion over all things; and this is Co-eternal with himself, and is as inseparable to him as his Being; this he can no more deliver up than he can his Godhead, which without ceasing to be can never cease to be supreme over all things. But then in the second place, there is his Mediatorial Kingdom, which is that of which we have hitherto been treating, and this, as hath been shewn before, was by solemn compact and agreement conf…r'd upon him by the Father, upon condition that he should assume our Nature, and therein make expiation for our sins, in consideration whereof the Father obliged himself to grant a Covenant of Grace to the sinful World, and to constitute him the Mediator of it; by which Mediatorial Office he is authorized to rule for God according to the tenour of that gracious Covenant, as well as to intercede for us; and in ruling for God according to that Covenant, he is to crown and reward all such as return to, and persevere in their duty, with everlasting happiness, and to render eternal vengeance to all such as obstinately persist in their rebellion. So that when this is done (as it will be in the conclusion of the day of Judgment) the whole business of his Mediatorial Kingdom is at an end; then the Covenant of which he is now Mediator will be completely executed, and consequently his Mediation will cease, as being of no farther use, and having no farther part to act. For now God and Man being made completely one, the Office of a Mediator ceases of its own accord; for a Mediator is not a Mediator of one, Gal. 3.20. and therefore the two parties being perfectly united, there is no farther use of a Mediator between them. Wherefore as our beatifical Vision will supercede the necessity of his prophetick Office, to teach and instruct us; as our perfection and intire fruition will supercede the necessity of his Priestly Office to offer and intercede for us; so the security of our possession of both will supercede the necessity of his Kingly Office to protect and defend us; and therefore when our Affairs are once reduced to this happy issue, his Kingly Office as well as all other parts of his Mediatorship will for ever cease. But since this great Mystery is no where expresly delivered in Scripture, but only in that forecited, 1 Cor. 15. I shall endeavour to give a brief account of the whole passage, which lies in vers. 24, 25, 26, 27, 28. Then cometh the end when he shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God even the Father, when he shall put down all Rule and all Authority, and all Power, for he must reign till he hath 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 saith 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 which did put all things under him, that God may be all in all; the whole sense and meaning of which passage, I shall cast into these Propositions:
First, That the Kingdom or Dominion here spoken of, was committed to him by God the Father.
Secondly, That he is to possess this Kingdom and Dominion so long and no longer, as till all things are actually subdued to him.
Thirdly, That during his possession of it, he is subject to the Father.
Fourthly, That after his delivering it up to the Father, he will be otherwise subject to him than he is now.
Fifthly, That he being thus subjected to the Father, all Power and Dominion shall from thenceforth be immediately exercised by the Deity.
I. That the Kingdom or Dominion here spoken of, was committed to him by God the Father; and this is expresly affirmed, vers. 27. For he (i. e. the Father) hath put all things under his feet, which words are a quotation of Psal. 8. ver. 6. Thou madest him to have Dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet; which words are to be understood literally of the first Adam, but mystically of the second; as is evident not only because 'tis here applied to Christ by S. Paul, but also by the Author to the Hebrews, Heb. 2.7, 8. where he expresly tells us, that it was God the Father that crowned Christ with Glory and Honour, and that did set him over the works of his hands, and put all things in subjection under his feet; and accordingly our Saviour himself declares, that all Power in Heaven and Earth was given him, i. e. by the Father, and that it was the Father that committed all judgment to him; and the Apostle expresly tells us, that it was God that exalted him with his own right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, Acts 5.31. From all which it is evident that the Dominion which the Apostle here treats of, is not the Essential Dominion of Christ, which as he is God Essential, is Co-eternal with him; but that Mediatorial Dominion which was committed to him by the voluntary disposal of his Father, and which once he had not, and will hereafter cease to have.
II. That he is to possess this Kingdom or Dominion so long as, and no longer than till all things are actually subdued unto him. So vers. 24. you see the time of his delivering up this Kingdom, is then, when he shall have put down all Rule, and all Authority and Power, i. e. till he shall have converted or destroyed all those Powers of the Earth that oppose themselves against him; for so vers. 25, 26. For he must reign till he hath put all Enemies under his feet, the last Enemy that shall be destroyed is Death; which plainly implies, that when he hath conquered all Enemies, and destroyed Death, which is the last Enemy, by giving a glorious Resurrection to his faithful Subjects, then, and not till then his Mediatorial Reign is to conclude: For so, Psal. 110.1. to which the Apostle here refers; the Psalmist brings in Iehovah the Father, thus bespeaking Iehovah the Son, The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand until I make thine Enemies thy footstool; now to sit at the Right Hand of God, when ever 'tis applied to our Saviour, doth in Scripture always denote his possessing and exercising this his Mediatorial Kingdom; so that the meaning of the Psalmist is this; the Father hath Commissioned his Son to continue the exercise of his Mediatorial Dominion, till such time as either by the dint of his Almighty Vengeance he hath trampled all his Enemies under foot, or by the power of his Grace reduced them voluntarily to prostrate themselves before him: and indeed, the end for which this Kingdom of our Saviour was erected was to subdue the Rebellious World to God, and either to captivate men into a free submission to h…s Heavenly Will, which is its first intention; or if they will not yield, to make them the Triumph of his everlasting vengeance; which end at the day of Judgment will be fully accomplished; for then the fate of all the rational World will be fixed and determined; then the faithful Subjects will be crowned, and the incorrigible Rebels condemned and executed; and so, one way or t'other all things will be subdued unto him. So that from hence-forth the end and reason of this his Mediatorial Dominion will cease, and when the end of it ceaseth, he who never doth any thing in vain, will immediately deliver it up into those hands from whence he received it. For when he shall have put down all Rule, and all Authority and Power, i. e. conquered and subdued all that resisted and opposed him, then cometh the end when he shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God even the Father.
III. That during his possession of this Kingdom, he is subject to the Father. So Ver. 27. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he (i. e. the Father) is excepted which did put all things under him. As if he should say; Do not mistake me, for when I say all things are put under him, my meaning is, all things except God the Father, for it was he that did put all things under him; and it's manifest that he who gave him this superiority over all things, must himself be superior to him; and indeed, considering Christ as Mediatorial King, he is no more than his Fathers Viceroy, and doth only act by deputation from him, and rule and Govern for him; and hence the Father stiles him his King, Psal. 2.6. Yet have I set my King upon my holy Hill of Zion. So that now he is subject to the Father in the capacity of a Vice-King to a supreme Sovereign, and whatsoever he doth in this capacity he doth in his Fathers Name and by his Authority; for he Mediates as for men with God, in doing which he is our Advocate; so for God with men, in doing which he is our King. Gods part is to Govern us, and our part is to sue to him for favour and protection, and both these parts our Saviour acts as Mediator between God and us: He acts our part for us in being Advocate, and Gods part for him in being King. So that in that Rule and Government which he now exercises over us, he is only the supreme Minister of his Fathers Power and Dominion, and as the Father reigns by his Ministry, so he reigns by the Fathers Authority. But tho now while his Mediatorial Kingdom doth continue, he is subject to the Father in the Admistration of it, yet from this passage of S. Paul it is evident
IV. That when he hath delivered it up to the Father, he will be otherwise subject to him than he is now; for so ver. 28. and when all things shall be subdued unto him, that is, actually, and as they will be at the day of Judgment, when the good are Crowned, and the wicked consigned to that fearful Execution, Then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that did put all things under him, which necessarily implies that then he should enter into a different state of subjection to the Father, from that wherein he was before. Why Then shall the Son himself be subject to him? Was he not subject to him before? Yes, doubtless he was, and therefore either this then must be impertinent, or then he shall be so subject to him as he was not before; before he was subject to him as he was his Mediatorial King or Viceroy, as he reigned under him and by his Authority, but then he is to be subject to him after a different manner. For the explication of which it is to be considered, that now the Son considered as Mediator, reigns under God in the right of what he did and suffered in his human Nature Hypostatically united to his God-head; for it was because he humbled himself and became obedient to the death, even the Death of the Cross that God highly exalted him, Phil. 2.8.9. Now 'twas as he was Man, that he became obedient to death, and 'twas in the right of that obedience that God exalted him to his Mediatorial Kingdom; so that now as Mediator he not only reigns in his human Nature, but in right of the passion of his human Nature; his Mediatorial Kingdom is the purchase of his Blood, by which he both obtained the new Covenant for us, and Regal Power to execute it upon us. When therefore he hath executed it to the full (as we are sure he will do at the day of Judgment) this Regal Power of his which he purchased with his Blood, will cease, as having fully accomplish'd that for which it was given and intended. And now he being to Reign no longer in right of the sufferings of his human Nature, his human Nature will be subject to the Father in a more different manner than it was before: Before it was subject to him as Authorized in consideration of its passion to reign and govern under him, but then having delivered up its Reign and Government, it will be subject to him in a more private capacity, as the Presidents of the Roman Empire were subject to Caesar while they governed under him, but when they rendered back their Character, they became his Subjects in a more private station. Not that the humanity of Christ shall be any way depressed, or degraded by his delivering up his Mediatorial Kingdom; but as an Embassador after he is discharged of the burthen of his Embassie doth still retain the honour and dignity of it, so the Human Nature of Christ after he hath surrendered up its Mediatorial Dominion, shall still remain as highly exalted in Honour, Dignity, and Beatitude as ever; and Angels and Saints shall for ever render to it the same religious respect and veneration as they did before he surrendered it; for it shall still remain Hypostatically united to his Godhead, and so God shall for ever reign in it, tho it shall not for ever reign with God: so that it being still the Temple of the Deity, and all the glorious atchievements it made during its Humiliation and Mediatorial Reign, reflecting still the same honour and praise and glory upon it, it will to eternity be as great and glorious throughout all the Heavenly World as ever it was in the full splendor of its Kingdom; so that in this respect what the ancient Fathers added to the Nicene Creed is most true, his Kingdom shall have no end, because, without possessing it, he shall for ever enjoy the Glory and Honour and Beatitude of it.
5. And lastly, That the Son being thus subjected to the Father, all Power and Dominion shall from thenceforth be immediately exercised by the Deity, that is to say, by God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost; for so ver. 18. Then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that did put all things under him, that God may be all in all. Where the variation of the Person is very observable, for it is not said, that the Son shall be subject to him that did put all things under him (i. e. the Father) that he may be all in all, but that God may be all in all, that is, the Triune Godhead subsisting in three Persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for had he meant the Father only, he ought according to the common rules of speech to have said he, or the Father, of whom he had been before speaking, instead of God, nor can it be reasonably supposed that after the resignation of the Mediatorial Kingdom the Father only shall act and reign, and the Son and Holy Ghost sit still for ever and do nothing, but the meaning is, that this Mediatorial Kingdom ceasing, in which the Son as Man as well as God now reigns, there shall from thenceforth be no other Kingdom or Dominion exercised in that Celestial State, but what is essential to the Godhead, in which the Son and Holy Ghost subsisting together with the Father shall for ever reign together with him: for this I take to be the meaning of that phrase, that God may be all in all, that is, that he may rule and govern all things immediately by himself, that his immediate Will may reign alone in all, and be the proximate guide of all that blessed world, that there may be no mediate or Mediatorial Governour between him and us to exact our obedience, and convey to us his favours and rewards, but that we may render all our duty immediately to him, and derive all our happiness immediately from him; so that as now Christ the Theantropos or God-man is all in all, Col. 3.11. because the Father doth all things, and governs all things by him, having given him all power in heaven and earth; so when this Oeconomy ceases, God alone, or the Triune Godhead shall be all in all, because he shall do all things, and govern all things by himself immediately. Thus when the Son of Man is subjected to him that did put all things under him, that one divine Essence whence all things did proceed, and in which the Father, Son and Holy Ghost subsist, shall from thenceforth resume all Rule and Dominion to it self, and only the Son of God together with the Father and the Holy Ghost shall reign. But yet in this purely divine Government there is no doubt but those divine persons will still continue to act in subordination to each other, according to that natural subordination in which they are placed by their personal properties. For the Godhead being communicated from the Father to the Son, the Father in the order of nature must necessarily be Prior to the Son, and the same Godhead being communicated to the Holy Ghost from the Father and the Son, both Father and Son must also in order of nature be Prior to the Holy Ghost. So that between these Sacred Three there is an internal necessary subordination that can never be altered or inverted; and therefore there is no doubt but that as they will always be subordinate, so they will always act subordinately. The Father as the first, the Begetter and the Fountain of Divinity will be always first and supreme in the divine Monarchy; the Son, as begotten by him, will still reign in subordination to him, and the Holy Ghost, as proceeding from both, will continue to reign in subordination to both. Thus to everlasting Ages only the Trinity in Unity shall reign, and by its own immediate Will and Influence rule and bless all that Heavenly World over which it spreads its Almighty Wings, and so it shall be all in all.