"Then Cometh The End"

I Cor. 15:24-28

When everything that must be has come to pass, when everything that shall be has been, "then cometh the end." Wise men seek to know the end of things and determine their actions accordingly. If you would be wise, learn these five facts and live in the light of them.

1. EVERYTHING IN THIS WORLD MUST SOON COME TO AN END (I Cor. 7:29-31). Time is not infinite. The world is not eternal. Everything in this world had a beginning and shall have an end. God made all things, including you and me, for a specific purpose. And when God's purpose is accomplished, "then cometh the end." Everything under the sun, in the light of eternity, is vanity. In the end, nothing will matter but eternity.

2. THE BEGINNING, THE ACCOMPLISHMENT, AND THE END OF ALL THINGS ARE OF GOD (Isa. 45:2-13; 46:9-13; Rom. 11:36; II Cor. 4:18; Eph. 1:11). God predestinated all things, created all things, rules all things, disposes of all things, and shall have the glory of all things, according to his own wise, holy, and sovereign will.

3. THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, GOD'S SON, OUR SAVIOR, MUST REIGN UNTIL THE END COMES (I Cor. 15:25). That Man who lived and died for us, to save us and bring us to heaven, is the God who rules all things. He forever possesses the right of sovereignty, because he is God. And he earned the right as a Man, as our Surety and Mediator, to rule the universe by his obedience to God as our representative(Psa.115:3; John 17:2-4; Psa.2:8).

4. WHEN THE END COMES CHRIST SHALL DELIVER UP THE KINGDOM TO THE FATHER (I Cor. 15:24, 28). All of God's elect, all of those given to Christ in the covenant of grace, he will save and present to the Father in the perfection of holiness and everlasting glory (Eph. 5:25-27; John 6:37-40). Nothing shall prevent Christ from saving his redeemed ones!

5. IN THE END GOD SHALL BE ALL IN ALL (I Cor. 15:28). Our God has ordained all that comes to pass to make himself an everlasting and glorious name (Isa. 63:12, 14), that in all things Christ might have pre-eminence forever (Col. 1:18). And in the end God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as revealed, known, and loved in the Person and work of Christ, the Mediator, shall be all things in all his people for all eternity.

Don Fortner