The Good Of The Father (All In All)

 

Now, whenever all may be subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also shall be subjected to Him Who subjects all to Him, that God may be all in all 

Paul to the Corinthians (1) 15: 28, Concordant New Testament 

What does it mean to know God?  I pondered that question the other day after writing my previous post.  Is knowing God simply knowing "Of" Him?  Or is there something more involved?  Most well meaning believers simply know of the Father.  That is, they know of that which they read in the scriptures.  That was me at one time as well.  I read and studied about God, thinking that I really knew Him.  Some years ago, the author Henry Blackaby wrote his book Experiencing God.  This changed a lot of ways that I had been looking a the Father.  I began to see my walk with God as more of a relationship with Him.  Granted, I would not realize fully this relationship for a few more years, but the seed had been planted in me.  For me, the God I now know is in everything that I see.  This is God all in all.  God encompasses all that we will ever know, and more.  It is God who has created all we will ever know {Genesis 1:1}.  Too many people understand that God created the heavens and the earth, yet fail to understand that His fingerprints are on everything else as well.  Again, I've been there.  How is it that we can know the Father and yet question the wickedness in the world around us?  Is He not responsible for this as well?  If we know God all in all, we understand that He is everything we experience.  To know the Father is all in all is to understand that it is indeed His creation in which we were created and live {Genesis 1:27}.  There is nothing that is out of His influence.  

For in Him the entire compliment delights to dwell, and through Him to reconcile all to Him (making peace through the blood of His cross), through Him, whether those on earth or those in the heavens 

Paul to the Colossians 1: 19-20, Concordant New Testament 

Nobody enjoys prayers that are not answered in our favor.  When I was in the mainstream church, those moments were all too often seen as God being angry or upset and thusly punishing us for something.  After the passing of my mother, I admit that I was angry with God for a time.  Here I had lifted prayers to Him for a few years that He would heal her and relieve her pain.  My first thought as I sat there waiting for them to come retrieve her body that night was why God had forsaken me.  Why had He punished me like this?  Obviously, at this point in my life I did not understand the all in all concept.  After her passing I realized that the Father had indeed answered my prayer, my mother was no longer in pain or suffering.  I will never know what prayers were offered up by my mother in her final days.  In my heart I know that she was a believer.  What if God was honoring her prayer?  Even through this personal pain, I know that the Father was bringing all things unto Him {Paul to the Colossians 1:19-20}.  Contrary to what some believers might think, it's not all about us.  We're not the stars of this show.  For it is God who is reconciling all of His creation unto Him.  We are created out of Him, and live in Him {Paul to the Romans 11:36}.  In the Father can be found all which has ever been or will be.  

~Scott~