God's purpose of the eons [ages] is to lead all mankind and all creation into His all so that He
may be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:28).
In the fullness of times, also called
the consummation of the eons
, all things in heaven and on
earth will be fully subjected to Christ, and He will deliver up the Kingdom to the God and
Father, so that God may be all in all. In that day, all things will be new in fulfillment of God's
purpose:
Behold, I am making all new
(Revelation 21:5)!
Glory to God! This is the good news of the Kingdom of God.
God has established a plan to achieve this purpose and all the details of His plan are working
toward this end, which is actually a new beginning. The purpose is the goal, and the plan is a
multi-faceted, and often complex, scheme (actions, arrangements) to accomplish this purpose.
To achieve His purpose, God has put into motion an almost unbelievable project that
transcends the mind of man. The best script writer in Hollywood or the most gifted novelist
never could have written such a plan. Who could even fully sum up His plan? After all, His plan
involves a multitude of nations and billions of lives, each with their own history with God, not
to speak of all in the heavens that we know so little about.
Headship of Christ
At the center of God's plan is His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, whose mission is to head up all
things in Himself, things in the heavens and on the earth.
(8) In all wisdom and prudence (9) making known to us the secret of His will (in accord with
His delight, which He purposed in Him) (10) to have an administration of the complement of
the eras, to
head up all in the Christ
—both that in the heavens and that on the earth….
(Ephesians 1:8b-10 CV)
Other translations express the phrase
to head up all in the Christ
as
to gather together in one all
things in Christ
(KJV)
,
to sum up all things in Christ
(ASV)
,
or
to bring into one the whole in the
Christ
(YLT).
In the Greek, the expressions
head up
,
gather up
, or
sum up
are translated from the word
1
#37
Head Up All Things in the Christ
March 2012
ana
kephal
aiomai
, which is comprised of two primary words with the first meaning "up" and the
second meaning "to strike on the head." For comparison, the Greek word often used to
describe Christ as the Head of the Body is
kephale
, which has a primary meaning of "seizing"
with "the head being the most readily taken hold of." Thus,
to head up
seems to be the closest
in meaning to the Greek.
The secret revealed through Paul has to do with the Headship of Christ and not simply a
gathering together. A gathering together or a summing up of all does not tell us much about the
purpose for such a thing. However, heading up all things in Christ tells us volumes, for it reveals
that everything in the heavens and on the earth will be brought under the Headship of Christ.
The Son of God is the Head or the authority over all things, and He must reign until He has put
all His enemies under His feet, and then He will abolish all rule and authority and power.
Heading up all things means to bring all in subjection to His rule and authority and power, so
that, at the consummation of the eons, all things in the heavens and on the earth will be put in
subjection to the Kingdom of God.
(23) But each in his own order
[troop]
: Christ the firstfruits
[anointed firstfruits]
, then at his
coming those who belong to Christ. (24) Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom
to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. (25) For he
must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. (26) The last enemy to be destroyed
is death. (27) For "God has put all things in subjection under his feet." But when it says, "all
things are put in subjection," it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection
under him. (28) When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be
subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.
(1
Corinthians 15:23-28 ESV)
All
is a comprehensive and inclusive word. Absolutely everything in God's creation will
ultimately be brought under the Headship of Christ and be subjected to His rule. Christ will
progressively lead
all
of mankind into the Kingdom of God, each according to his own troop
(order), in what could be called a mighty harvest. Just as barley, wheat, and grapes are each
harvested in different seasons, so too will all the troops of mankind be harvested.
Head Up Things in the King
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