Title: The End and the
Beginning
Text: 1 Cor 15: 24-28
Date: Dec 30, 2018
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
This is the last service before
the years end. This is the time when we
look back over the year—we thank God for all the blessings he gave us. We thank him for the blessings that we deem good
and we thank him for those blessings that brought us great sorrow. We know that God is working all things
together for the good of his people according to his eternal purpose. Therefore, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you” (1 Thess 5: 18).
At the
same time, we look ahead to the New Year—we set new goals. I do not make New Year’s Resolutions but one
of my continuous resolutions is the same as the apostle Paul, “I determined [resolved] not to know
anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor 2: 2). I
am resolute in knowing Christ more and preaching only him.
But each year, when we come to the
year’s end, I begin thinking of THE end—the
end after the end. No man knows the time
when the end shall come. It could be
1000 years from now or it could be today.
But this we know, as surely as this year has come to its end—so too this
world and God’s eternal purpose will come to its end.
1 Corinthians 15: 19: If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men
most miserable. 20: But now is
Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that
slept. 21: For since by man came death, by man came also
the resurrection of the dead. 22: For as in Adam all die, even so in
Christ shall all be made alive. 23: But every man in his own order:
Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. 24: THEN COMETH 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. 25: For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his
feet. 26: The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
27: 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. 28: 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
When Christ has finished everything
God determined from the beginning then cometh the end. When all the saints are called, when Christ
has returned, when the resurrection is complete, when judgment is over then
cometh the end.
The end is what Acts 3: 21
calls “the times of the restitution of all
things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the
world began” (Acts 3:21).
In Ephesians 1: 10 the end is called “the dispensation of the fulness of times,” in which the Lord God
will “gather together in one all things
in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him.”
Proposition: The end is when our Lord Jesus Christ shall
have put all his enemies under his feet and delivered up the kingdom to the Father.
Divisions: 1) The
Lord Jesus must reign until the end—v25: For he must reign, till he hath
put all enemies under his feet. 2) The end will come, when Christ has delivered
up the kingdom unto the Father—v24:
Then cometh the end, when he
shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; 3) Then every believer will behold the
end for which God made and accomplished all things—v28: 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.
HE MUST REIGN
1 Corinthians 15: 25:
For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 26: The last enemy that shall
be destroyed is death.
The Lord Jesus Christ must
reign until the end comes. Christ
Jesus—the GodMan—our Mediator—MUST REIGN!
One, our Lord Jesus Christ is
God and GOD MUST REIGN!
Psalms
115:3: But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased."
Psalms
135:6: Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the
seas, and all deep places.
Two, Christ must reign because his dominion is the
reward of his obedience. He accomplished
everything he promised the Father in eternity.
Our faithful Savior fulfilled the prophets and the law. He lived and died as the servant of God, glorifying
his Father—declaring him just and the Justifier. Our Substitute lived and died as the Mediator,
Surety, and Head, of all the elect the Father gave him in eternity by which he purged
our sins and made us righteous by his blood.
Therefore, God our Father exalted his Son, Christ Jesus, the GodMan, to sovereign
dominion overall as the reward of his obedience
Psalms
2:8: Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the
uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
Romans
14:9: For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be
Lord both of the dead and living.
Ephesians
1: 20…he raised him from the
dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, 21
Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and
every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to
come: 22 And hath put all things under his
feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23
Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
Three, our Lord and Savior must
reign because the salvation of God’s elect and the glory of God depend upon it—and
these are connected.
John
17:2: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal
life to as many as thou hast given him. 3:
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and
Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. 4: I
have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me
to do.
Right now all rule is under his
power—“for he hath put all under his
feet.” And very soon our all-powerful Head “shall put down all rule, and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all
enemies under his feet.”
The end will only come when
Christ has graciously, effectually conquered the hearts of all his elect: he
will make us bow to him as our Lord and our Savior: in faith, hope and love. Also, all who refuse to walk in the light God
has given them, shall be conquered by his wrath. “At the
name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things
in heaven, and things in earth,
and things under the earth; And
that every tongue should
confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Php 2: 10-11).
Brethren, by conquering his
enemies, he conquers ours: our flesh, satan, sin, the world, and “the last enemy that shall be destroyed is Death!”
He destroyed our judicial death by making
us righteous. Christ destroyed our spiritual
death by making us holy! At last he shall destroy physical death by
resurrecting us. Then cometh the end. Each time we come to the end of a year
like this, it should remind us that one day soon, the end is coming. Christ shall return!
HE SHALL DELIVER UP THE KINGDOM
1 Corinthians 15: 24: Then cometh
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….28: 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,…
Christ shall deliver up the
kingdom to God the Father. When it says
“then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under
him” it does not mean that Christ is not God.
John
1:1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God…
It does not mean that the Son
of God is in any way inferior to the Father.
1 John
5: 7: For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and
the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
Nor does it mean that Christ
will cease to be Prophet, Priest, and King over his Church and Kingdom.
Hebrews
1:8: But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a
sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
Verse 24 explains it. Christ shall deliver up the kingdom unto God,
even the Father as he promised. This
will be his final work as Jehovah’s Servant, as Surety and Mediator of the
covenant. The Shepherd will present his
sheep; the Savior will present his Church; the Son will present his brethren; the
King will present his Kingdom to God the Father.
Ephesians
5:25:…Christ…loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26: That he might
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27: That he
might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or
any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Christ will say to the Father, “Behold I and the children which God hath given
me” (Heb 2:13). He will say, “Of all thou hast given me, I
have lost none! I have redeemed, regenerated,
resurrected and glorified each one. Here they are righteous and holy,
unblamable, unreprovable in your sight. All
the law and the prophets are fulfilled as I promised. Every covenant promise is fulfilled. The counsel of peace is accomplished. All your purpose is finished. Grace reigns through righteousness unto
eternal life!”
Christ’s high priestly prayer
is, “Father, I will that they also, whom
thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which
thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world” (Jn
17:24).
God the Father will say to his
Son and to all his people conformed to his image, “Well done my good and faithful servant!” (Mt 25: 23)
THE END PURPOSE FOR ALL THINGS
1 Corinthians 15: 28:…that
God may be all in all
This is the end purpose for
which God made all things. This is the
end determined from the beginning. It is
the end for which God the Father sent forth his Son into this world.
When the end comes, the triune
God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—shall be seen in the everlasting Person of the
God-Man—and he shall be “ALL IN ALL.” It
is only in the glorified GodMan that we will see and know the invisible triune
God. “For
in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Col 2: 9). Then “in
the ages to come he [shall] show the exceeding riches of his grace in his
kindness toward us through Christ Jesus" (Eph 2:7).
Brethren, he has bestowed so
many riches of his grace on us that he will be ages and ages and ages showing
it to us.
Then our triune God in Christ
shall be all in all: all our Food, Clothing and Shelter; all our Life, Joy, Peace,
Glory, and Satisfaction; all our Sun and Moon and Light Forever! God shall be all in all things, in all his
people. Then God’s predestinating
purpose shall be accomplished—"we shall
praise his glory who first trusted in Christ” (Eph 1:12).
Sinner, would you enjoy all this
with God’s people? Repent and believe on Christ now! Every year that comes to an end is a witness
to you that the end is coming! Prepare
to meet God—believe on Christ! Seek him
while he may be found!
Psalm 90: 1: Lord, thou hast
been our dwelling place in all generations. 2:
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth
and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. 3:
Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men. 4: For a thousand years in thy sight are
but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. 5: Thou carriest them away as with a
flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which
groweth up. 6: In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening
it is cut down, and withereth. 7: For we are consumed by thine anger,
and by thy wrath are we troubled. 8: Thou hast set our iniquities before
thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance. 9:
For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that
is told. 10: The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and
if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their
strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. 11:
Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is
thy wrath. 12: So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our
hearts unto wisdom. 13: Return, O LORD, how long? and let
it repent thee concerning thy servants. 14: O satisfy us early with thy mercy;
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. 15:
Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and
the years wherein we have seen evil. 16:
Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. 17:
And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work
of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.
For you and I who believe,
remember, the time is short.
1
Corinthians 7:29: But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth,
that both they that have wives be as though they had none; 30: And they that weep, as though they wept
not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as
though they possessed not; 31: And they that use this world, as not abusing it:
for the fashion of this world passeth away."
As surely as this year is
ending and will be no more, everything in this world shall come to an end. It is all temporary. Time will soon end. This world will soon end. God made us for the purpose of finding in him
our all in all and glorifying him both now and forever.
Tuesday will be a new year—but really
everything will be the same. But after THE
end, then all things will truly be new:
Revelation 21: 1: And I saw a new heaven and a new
earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was
no more sea. 2: And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from
God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3:
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is
with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God
himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4:
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more
death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for
the former things are passed away. 5: And he that sat upon the throne
said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words
are true and faithful. 6: And he said unto me, It is done. I
am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is
athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7:
He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he
shall be my son. 8: But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and
murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall
have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the
second death.
Amen!