From Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him
be the glory forever! (Romans 11:36 NIV)
It is necessary that we should be quite clear
that, in the Bible, there are not two distinct things, as represented by the two
Testaments, the Old and the New, or even more, if the Old Testament is
subdivided into eras. There may be two, or more, methods of expression, but
throughout the Bible, from its beginning to its close, there is only one thing
expressed. Our habit of handling the Bible by dispensations, and emphasizing the
different characteristics of different times, may have had the effect of making
us mechanically minded, just as can a preoccupation with typology and symbolism.
I want, therefore, to underline this anew: that, in these several and varied forms
of expression, God is actuated, from beginning to end, by one thought, and one
thought alone: that everything throughout, at all times, shall express and
be subservient to His Son.
HE governs everything, in the realities
of His Person and of His redemptive and perfecting work. It is one Person and
one Work, from the first book of the Bible to the last. The change from the Old
Testament to the New is simply and only the change from the indirect to the
direct; from the symbolic to that which is symbolized; from the temporal
representation to the spiritual reality. That is all. It is not a change of
purpose or object, not a change of basis or foundation; it represents no change
of principle in any way. Perhaps you feel you know all that; but there is very
much more in it than any of us have yet realized. For example, all God’s
dealings with the patriarchs were, in principle, as much upon the basis of His
Son as are His dealings with you and me. That was true also of Israel. Israel in
the Old Testament was dealt with as much upon the basis of God’s Son as we are
in this dispensation. God has never, at any time, by any means, worked on any
other ground than that of His Son. His creative activities were on the ground of
His Son. “In Him, through Him, by Him, unto Him, were all things created” (Col.
1:16); and from then everything has proceeded on that basis, and will be
consummated in Christ. By whatever means, in whatever way God has worked, His
ground has always been the same. And on into the ages to come, that ground will
be unchanging. It is the ground of Christ. It is very important that we should
remember this and be quite clear about it.