1 Cor. 15:28—“But when all things shall have been subjected to him, then also the Son himself
will be subjected to him that subjected all things to him, that God may be all in all.”
That is:
But when all things shall have been subjected to him, then also [that is, ‘at that time also,’ as
always] the Son himself [the Son in manhood] will be subjected to him [the Father] that subjected
all things to him, that God [the Triune God, not the Father only, but Father, Son and Holy Spirit]
may be all in all.
As perfect man Christ has a human will, held in inscrutable union with His divine will. His human will
was, and always will be, in absolute and perfect submission to the Father. “For I am come down from
heaven, not that I should do My will, but the will of Him that has sent Me.” “Lo, I am come (in the
book-roll it is written of Me) to do Thy will, O God.” “Though being Son, He learned obedience from
the things which He suffered.” “For let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus; who,
subsisting in the form of God, did not esteem it an object of rapine {as something to be snatched at or
seized to His own advantage or enrichment} to be on an equality with God; but emptied Himself,
taking the form of a bondman, taking His place in the likeness of men; and having been found in
figure as a man, humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, and that the death of the
cross.” It is in this connection that we may appropriately, and reverently, speak of subordination,
of higher and lower ranks. “My Father is greater than I.” (Cf. also 1 Cor. 11:3, “the Christ is the head
of every man, but woman’s head is the man, and the Christ’s head God.”) As Son in manhood
He took a subordinate, dependent place, taking the form of a servant, subject to the Father’s will—
though being, as ever, “God over all, blessed forever” (Rom. 9:5).
“Perhaps the word ‘Son’ is found in 1 Cor. 15:28 to give those who desire to lower His glory [or assert
that ‘Son’ indicates inferiority] some mere show of proof of their insubject notion. I do believe the
Word is so written as to confirm unsubject hearts in their disbelief of truth, a solemn thing for each of
us to think about. . . . The next thing we note is the context. It is about the second man and last
Adam, not about Sonship in deity. It is about the reign as man. Thus, to claim that Sonship in deity is
meant is to go against the context. And what the text does show is that He will eternally retain the
manhood. . . . He was subject [as man] before the eternal state is brought in, but here we see that, as
man, He will be subject in the eternal state also, but God [the Triune God]—Father, Son, and Spirit—
will be all in all.” (R.A. Huebner [RAH])
“But how are we to understand the words in the same chapter, ‘Then shall the Son also Himself be
subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all’ (1 Cor. 15:28)? Does not
this mean, it is asked, that some change will take place in the relationship of Christ to the Father? Or
that His humanity will, in some unexplained way, be reabsorbed into the Godhead? No, it means the
very opposite. The Lord has for ever ‘taken upon Himself the form of a servant,’ and as such He
became subject to the Father. He is ‘the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever’ and can never change.
The order of the words in the Greek, as the late Dr. Dale, of Birmingham, has pointed out, is
important. They should read, not ‘’Then shall the Son also,’ but ‘Then also shall the Son’ be subject.
‘Also’ qualifies the word ‘then’ not ‘the Son.’ The words, far from denoting a change, preclude it. Then
no less than before shall the Son [as man] continue to be the servant of Jehovah, and as such reign
over the new heaven and the new earth.” (W. Hoste)
“When the time comes that the Lord will deliver back the kingdom to the Father [15:24], all will have
been fulfilled in new creation. Creation will be brought back to God in a perfect condition, and every
trace of the serpent’s work will be removed. The expression here [in 15:28] has perplexed some . . .
In what sense shall the Son be subordinate? When the Son of God came into this world, He entered,
He took, a subordinate place, and He will retain it always. The thought is that, having accomplished
the work of redemption and restoration for which He became man, He will not give up, but retain the
subordinate place in incarnation that He took. The thought is exceedingly precious. Think of it: if the
Lord should cease to be man after having brought to pass all that God has purposed and designed,
the very link that brings God and man together would be gone! . . . We see, then, that Christ has
assumed a subordinate position that Deity might be displayed. It is His delight thus to glorify God.” (C.
Crain)
Now compare the following for the significance of His name and eternal relationship to the Father—
that is, the Son of God, eternal Son of the eternal Father, co-equal in every way in the eternal
relations of the Triune Godhead:
“And as they went to bring his disciples word, behold also, Jesus met them, saying, Hail! And
they coming up took him by the feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus says to them, Fear not;
go, bring word to my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there they shall see me. . . But the
eleven disciples went into Galilee to the mountain which Jesus had appointed them. And when
they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. And Jesus coming up spoke to
them, saying, All power has been given me in heaven and upon earth. Go therefore and
make disciples of all the nations, baptising them to the name [not ‘Names,’ but the singular
Name of the fully revealed God, the Triune Name] of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Spirit. And behold, I am with you all the days, until the completion of the age” (Matt.
28:9-10, 16-20)
“But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto and I [the Son] work. For this therefore
the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he had not only violated the Sabbath, but also said
that God was his own Father [in such a manner as to be] making himself equal with God.”
(John 5:17-18)
“That all may honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He who honours not the Son,
honours not the Father who has sent him.” (John 5:23)
“I [the Son] and the Father are one. The Jews therefore again took stones that they might
stone him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewn you of my Father; for which
work of them do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, For a good work we stone thee not, but
for blasphemy, and because thou, being a man, makest thyself God. Jesus answered them, Is
it not written in your law, I said, ‘Ye are gods’? If he called them ‘gods’ to whom the word of God
came (and the scripture cannot be broken), do ye say of him whom the Father has sanctified
and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest, because I said, I am Son of God? (John 10:30-
36)
“The Jews answered him, We have a law, and according to our law he ought to die, because
he made himself Son of God.” (John 19:7)
“He that beholds me [the Son], beholds him [the Father] that sent me.” (John 12:45)
“Jesus says to him, Am I so long a time with you, and thou hast not known me, Philip? He that
has seen me [the Son] has seen the Father; and how sayest thou, Shew us the Father?”
(John 14:9)
“I [the Son] came out from [Gr. para, from with] the Father and have come into the world
[‘being the Son, He both willed and submitted to be sent, and being sent, He did the will of Him
that sent Him’]; again I leave the world and go to the Father.” (John 16:28)
“And now glorify me, thou Father, along with thyself, with the glory which I [the Son] had
along with thee before the world was [i.e., in eternity past, before the beginning of
time/creation].” (John 17:5)
“Father, as to those whom thou hast given me [the Son], I desire that where I am they also may
be with me, that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me, for thou [the Father]
lovest me [the Son] before the foundation of the world [i.e., in eternity past, before the
beginning of time/creation, in the eternal communion and intimacy of the Godhead the
Father’s love ever dwelt in complacent affection upon ‘the Son of His love.’ ].” (John 17:24)
“Grace shall be with you, mercy, peace from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of the Father, in truth and love.” (2 John 3)
“That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes; that which we contemplated, and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life; (and the
life has been manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and report to you the eternal life
[the eternal Son], which was with the Father, and has been manifested to us). . . . And we
know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding that we should know
him that is true; and we are in him that is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God
and eternal life. Children, keep yourselves from idols.” (1 John 1:1-2, 5:20-21)
“God [God as such, the (now fully revealed) Triune God] having spoken in many parts and in
many ways formerly to the fathers in the prophets, at the end of these days has spoken to us in
the person of the Son [the Son become flesh, the Son in manhood], whom he [the personal God
as such] has established heir of all things, by whom [by the Creator-Son] also he made the
worlds [Gr. aiones, lit. “ages,” meaning the Son made ‘the whole created universe of time
and space’; and since the Son created the ages of time, the Son is therefore timeless, the
eternal Son]; who being [inherently being in His Divine Person in manhood; the God-Man being]
the effulgence of his glory [the radiance of God’s intrinsic splendor and perfections, the
outshining of Divine excellence in display] and the expression of his substance [the exact
expression and representation of the essential nature or being of God], and upholding all things
by the word of his power [i.e., upholding ‘ALL things’ by the Son’s own word of power, and thus
His own Omnipotent, Almighty utterance of power!], having made by himself the purification of
sins, set himself down on the right hand of the greatness on high.” (Heb. 1:1-3)
“But as to the Son [the Father says in Ps. 45:6], Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, and a
sceptre of uprightness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. . . . And [as to the Son, the Father says in
Ps. 102:25-27], Thou in the beginning, Lord [Jehovah, the Self-Existent, Uncreated, Ever
Existing, Eternal One, who caused the ‘beginning’ of all things to begin], hast founded the
earth, and works of thy hands are the heavens. They shall perish, but thou continuest still; and
they all shall grow old as a garment, and as a covering shalt thou roll them up, and they shall be
changed; but thou art the Same [another Divine title of the only true God, Jehovah, meaning
‘the self-existent one who does not change,’ in contrast to all creatures who are such as
are indeed changeable], and thy years shall not fail.” (Heb. 1:8, 10-12)
“Though he were Son [i.e., ‘notwithstanding the fact that he was the Son,’ and thus not in
a place of obedience or subjection, but co-equal in every way in the eternal relations of the
Triune Godhead], he learned obedience from the things which he suffered [on earth as the God-
Man].“ (Heb. 5:8)
“For this Melchisedec, King of Salem, priest of the most high God [recorded in Genesis 14], who
met Abraham returning from smiting the kings, and blessed him; whom Abraham gave also the
tenth portion of all; first [‘Melchisedec’] being interpreted is King of righteousness, and then also
King of Salem, which is King of peace; [who is further ‘interpreted’ as being] without father,
without mother, without genealogy; having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but
[that is, the Holy Spirit designed the inspired historical record of Gen.14 to omit any such
references, so that Melchisedec’s person and priesthood would serve as a type and thus be]
assimilated to the Son of God, abides a priest continually [our Lord, in regard to His
Manhood, did have ‘mother,’ ‘genealogy,’ ‘beginning of days’ and ‘end of life,’ but absolutely not
so in regard to His deity as the eternal Son of God, who as such has neither beginning nor end,
being Himself the Eternal Life in His Person, who in this sense was thus ‘without father’ too, i.e.,
in the sense of being without any derivation or source of origin/life/existence, but is Eternal,
Timeless and Self-Existent].” (Heb. 7:1-3)
“Herein as to us has been manifested the love of God, that God has sent his only-begotten
[monogenes, meaning only, unique, one-of-a-kind and most-deeply-loved] Son into the
world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us,
and sent his Son a propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:9-10)
“No one has seen God at any time; the only-begotten [monogenes, meaning only, unique,
one-of-a-kind and most-deeply-loved] Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath
declared him.” (John 1:18)
The eternal Sonship of Christ is not dependent on the notion of the “eternal generation” of the Son,
which latter I reject. But the truth of His eternal Sonship itself is absolutely vital!
“While I hold to eternal relationships in the Godhead, I reject the metaphysical speculations about ‘the
eternal generation of the Son,’ ‘begotten before all worlds,’ eternal procession’ of either the Son or the
Spirit, or any thought of subordination within the Godhead. The notion that when one rejects ‘eternal
generation of the Son,’ therefore he must also reject the eternal Sonship, is absurd. The eternal
Sonship is not dependent on metaphysical speculations based on misunderstanding of certain
scriptures and confusion about ‘only begotten Son.’ ” (RAH)
Note on “only-begotten” (Gr. monogenes): Monogenes occurs a total of nine times in the NT, five
of which are used in reference to Christ (and only in the writings of John: John 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18; 1
John 4:9). It means only, unique, one-of-a-kind and most-deeply-loved, and as such speaks of God
the Son’s underived, unacquired, unique, eternal relationship with the Father. Monogenes carries no
inherent notions of being “generated” or “begotten” (which are entirely different words in the
original Hebrew and Greek, and never used of Christ as to His eternal Sonship in the
Godhead, but only in relation to the manhood taken into His Person as, e.g., in Psalm 2:7 and
Luke 1:35). This is evident from the fact that our Saviour is and always remains the Monogenes Son
even with the myriad of believers who have indeed been “begotten” as children of God through the
new birth and given the place of sonship as “sons of God.” Moreover, compare the use and meaning
of monogenes in Heb. 11:17—along with the Hebrew equivalent in Gen. 22:2 (on which Heb.
11:17 is based)—in regard to Isaac in relationship to Abraham: “By faith Abraham, when tried, offered
up Isaac, and he who had received to himself the promises offered up his only-begotten
{monogenes}” (Heb. 11:17). “And he [God] said [to Abraham], Take now thy son, thine only son,
whom thou lovest, Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and there offer him up for a burnt-
offering on one of the mountains which I will tell thee of” (Gen. 22:2). But Abraham clearly had more
than one son; in fact, Ishmael was his first son, born 13 years earlier! Isaac was thus Abraham’s
“only-begotten” in the sense of being the unique, one-of-a-kind and most-deeply-loved son in
relationship with his father Abraham!
Christ is “the Son in the highest possible character, the only-begotten Son, distinguishing
Him thus from any other who might, in a subordinate sense, be son of God. ‘The only-begotten
Son, which is in the bosom of the Father.’ Observe: not which was [nor ‘which came to be’], but ‘which
is’ [‘the one being’]. He is viewed as retaining the same perfect intimacy with the Father, entirely
unimpaired by local or any other circumstances He had entered. Nothing in the slightest degree
detracted from His own personal glory, and from the infinitely near relationship which He had had with
the Father from all eternity…. Under all changes, outwardly, he abode as from eternity the only-
begotten Son in the bosom of the Father.” (William Kelly)
