085-Prop. 82. This Kingdom is a complete restoration in the person of the Second Adam or Man, of ...

Prop. 82. This Kingdom is a complete restoration in the person of the Second Adam or Man, of the dominion lost by the First Adam or Man. THE REIGN OF CHRIST AS “THE SON OF MAN” POINTS US BACK TO THE FALL IN WHICH HUMANITY WAS SO SADLY INVOLVED, AND THEN FORWARD TO THE PERIOD WHEN HUMANITY, THROUGH THIS MANIFESTATION OF THIS SON OF MAN, IS FULLY RESTORED TO THE BLESSINGS FORFEITED BY THE FALL. AMONG THESE BLESSINGS A RIGHT ROYAL ONE IS GROUNDED IN THE DEVELOPING PLAN OF REDEMPTION, BY WHICH MAN SHALL AGAIN BE RESTORED TO THE DIGNITY OF DOMINION THROUGH HIM, WHO BY VIRTUE OF HIS RELATIONSHIP TO THE HUMAN IN THE COVENANTED LINE, HAS OBTAINED THE FORFEITED RIGHT ORIGINALLY GRANTED TO MAN, AND WHICH, AS KING ON DAVID’S THRONE, WILL BE MOST GLORIOUSLY EXERTED, BEING SUBLIMELY AND IRRESISTIBLY AIDED BY THE DIVINE UNITED WITH HIM.

Obs. 1. What the dominion forfeited by sin was to be, is clearly announced, e.g. by the Psalmist and Paul. We leave others inform us of its meaning and extent. Thus e.g. Barnes (Com.Hebrews 2:6) says it constituted man “Lord of all things,” that “all things were placed under the control and jurisdiction of man,” that “all things were subject to Him and all obeyed. Man was made a little lower than the angels, and was the undisputed Lord of the lower world,” etc. Kurtz (Sac. His., p. 39), states, that “he (man) is appointed to have dominion over nature, as the representative of God, and to conduct it to its highest development.” “The powers of man were intended, agreeably to the divine appointment, to be engaged in exercising dominion over all the earth.” So also (Secs. 9 and 11, “Bible and Astron.” His. of Old Cov.) he was to be “ruler of all creation, of its varied forces and creatures.” “The commencement was to lead to the goal, man’s dominion over the whole earth.” Hodge (Sys. Div., vol. 2, p. 102) says: “God constituted him (man) ruler over the earth. He placed, as the Psalmist said, all things under his feet.” “It was therefore as a ruler that he wore God’s image, or represented Him on earth.” “It was therefore an absolutely universal dominion, so far as creatures are concerned, “with which man was invested.” (Comp. Commentaries on Hebrews 2:6-7; Psalms 8:5-8.) These writers then tell us that, as the Scriptures affirm, this dominion was, in a great measure, lost, and that man, shorn of his power, could no longer act as the representative of God.

Such testimony, as the student well knows, could be endlessly multiplied, seeing that on this point there is a uniform teaching running from the Apostolic Fathers down, through the Reformers, to the present time. But alas! while fully admitting the fact, thousands are utterly unprepared to receive the logical result which Redemption in its restorative process introduces as the goal intended. Consistency requires, that if we believe in perfect Redemption, then we also must accept of the legitimate result following as indicated in these pages, viz.: an actual, real restoration of the dominion forfeited, through the Messiah, and not some other dominion in the third heaven or universe substituted in its place. The forfeiture and the restoration must, logically and Scripturally, refer to the same. We append the pertinent statements of a recent writer, as illustrative of much that might be quoted. Fairbairn (Typology, vol. 1, p. 308-9) says: “Man’s original inheritance was a lordship or dominion, stretching over the whole earth.” … “When he fell, he fell from his dominion,” …“the inheritance departed from him; he was driven from Paradise, the throne and palace of his Kingdom.” And then follows a vivid portrayal of how “Satan was permitted to enter and extend his usurped sway over the domain, from which man has been expelled as its proper lord,” etc. But then he vitiates his own concessions by making, in various places, the promises of a restoration to this forfeited dominion typical of something else. Multitudes make it equivalent to a reign in the third heaven, and religious literature is full of such erroneous conclusions.

Obs. 2. In the next place, all Christian writers on the subject inform us that this dominion is restored to man again through Jesus Christ, the second Adam. But, with the exception of Millenarian writers, they somehow confine it to Jesus in His Divine Sovereignty, overlooking what they themselves assert respecting its being given to the Man Jesus, and ignoring the fact taught that this dominion is relegated from and through Him to His brethren (the co-heirs). Such spiritualize the dominion, and do not allow its ultimate realization in the very place where it was forfeited, i.e. they refuse to believe in man’s restored dominion over the earth, and make thus an imperfect Redemption. We hold that, as Scripture plainly teaches, this dominion is restored through the Son of Man; that those who inherit with Him share in its exercise; that it is manifested here on earth (being a forfeited dominion pertaining only to the earth); and that thus completed Redemption is experienced. To illustrate how writers, in no doctrinal sympathy with us, insist upon the restoration of this dominion in Jesus as man, we quote Barnes (Com.Hebrews 2:6, comp. Stuart’s Com. on Heb. and Excurs. IX.): “It was not true (Hebrews 2:8) that all things were subject to Him, and the complete truth of that declaration would be found only in the jurisdiction conferred on the Messiah-the man by way of eminence-the incarnate Son of God.” After showing that Paul’s argument is based on man’s losing the control or power originally given, which is restored in Christ, he adds: “It is found complete only in the second man, the Lord from heaven (1 Corinthians 15:47), the Lord Jesus, to whom this control is absolutely given.” It is true that some endeavor to weaken Paul’s reasoning in favor of the restoration of this dominion, by making Psalm 8 refer to man in general, and that Paul employs the language only by way of illustration or accommodation. But to this we reply: (1) Paul directly applies the Psalm to Christ; (2) the spirit and intent of the Psalm contains more than is applicable to man in general; (3) the apostle teaches us that the Psalm is not yet fulfilled in the pre-eminent man, saying: “but now we see not yet all things put under Him;” (4) the abundant references in other places of a forfeited dominion and the same restored under the Messiah sustains this interpretation; (5) the incarnation and subsequent exaltation of Christ confirms the delineation thus given; (6) the dominion under the whole heaven given at a future period to this man and His associated saints, shows that Paul, under the Spirit’s guidance, saw a force and depth in the predictions which alone can be realized in and through the Son of man. Hudson (Debt, and Grace, p. 6) correctly observes: “The passage (in Psalm 8) can only be explained as a prophecy of Christ. This is required by the true sense of one important word, and is so understood by the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews.” Fairbairn (Typology, vol. 1. p. 313), after advocating that “the renovated earth” is “the ultimate inheritance of the heirs of salvation,” remarks: “And of what else can we understand the representation in the 8th Psalm, as interpreted by the pen of inspiration itself, in the Epistle to the Hebrews 2:5-9, and 1 Corinthians 15:27-28? These passages in the New Testament put it beyond a doubt, that the idea of a perfect and universal dominion, delineated in the Psalm is to be realized in the world to come, over which Christ, as the head of redeemed humanity, is to rule, in company with His redeemed people.” (So compare Dr. Moll, Lange’s Com. Hebrews, p. 54-5.)

Obs. 3. This dominion, here on earth, will be exerted by Jesus, the Man, through the re-establishment of the Theocratic ordering. It is the restored Theocratic Davidic throne and Kingdom, in its organized and associated capacity, under the leadership of the covenanted King that constitutes the leverage for the exertion of this dominion. The saints, made like unto Christ and associated with Him in His power, largely participate in it, all nature being brought into subjection to them. Thus the Scriptures will be amply fulfilled.

Obs. 4. Hence, while this dominion is even now lodged in the Son of Man, yet it is held in abeyance until the period of its manifestation in and through this Kingdom. This has already been shown by various considerations, and will appear still more conclusively as we proceed. Therefore it is erroneous (as a multitude of writers, including Hodge, Barnes, etc., just quoted), to say that this dominion was fully attained and realized by the incarnation and the exaltation of the Son of God. It certainly belongs to Him; but we must leave the Scriptures to decide respecting its actual realization. From the Covenant thus far provisionally fulfilled, the most glorious portion remaining in a state of abeyance, we can already see that it is a wrong inference to suppose an existing realization when the same is related with the restored Theocratic Kingdom. So long as the Davidic tabernacle is in ruins, this dominion cannot and will not be exerted. The dominion is given to Him as “the Son of Man” (John 5:27; Psalms 8:7; Hebrews 2:6, etc.), and this at a pre-ordained time (next Prop.). He is constituted the absolute Lord over all because He is “the Son of Man;” but this dominion pertaining to Him as the promised seed, related both to God and man, He did not fully (only on some occasions to indicate His power), exercise while on earth; He does not now as “the Son of Man” put forth the power with which He is invested, for He has not yet been revealed as the King, the Judge, the Maker of all things new, the Repealer of the curse-we see not yet all things put under Him, and He is awaiting the time when His enemies shall be made His footstool. But the period of time is coming when this will be done, and the dominion, held in restraint for purposes of mercy and love, will be exhibited with God-like power and glory. As the Son of Man, the Second Adam, He becomes the Lord of the world, but that Lordship is not yet manifested, it remaining veiled until certain preparatory purposes are accomplished and the time arrives for its blessed appearance through the covenanted Theocratic-Davidic throne;-for just as at the First Advent by the Incarnation the Christ is brought into direct relationship with humanity and from thence sustains His covenanted position in this particular, so also at the Second Advent by the Incarnation, as continued in “the Son of Man,” “the Christ,” in the inherited throne and Kingdom, is brought into direct Theocratic relationship with humanity, and from this revealed position exerts His power in behalf of that humanity with which He is identified.

Man, during the past ages, has sought to recover this dominion unaided and through his own power, and the Word represents it as a struggling of “beasts” for sovereignty, resulting in a mutual rending and destruction. Is this picture true? Let history attest with its constant wars, overthrow of states and kingdoms, man being the “prey of man,” bloodshed and slaughter, murder and rebellion, etc. The Scriptures teach us that this Jesus, appointed for the express purpose, alone can, and will ultimately, restore it. In this connection the student will observe that this second headship in Christ restores the human family to its destined but forfeited Theocratic rulership or dominion, and, therefore, to confine this headship simply to relationship to man and salvation from sin (which it includes), is to leave out a specific and most precious blessing. (Comp. e.g. Props. 120, 202, 204, and Conclusion.)

Obs. 5. It is only in the Millennial age, when this Theocratic Kingdom is established, that this forfeited dominion is fully restored. This is evident from the vivid descriptions, not only of the universal and absolute rule of Christ, but also of the dominion and glory of the saints. Hence this era must be preceded by the Coming of “the Son of Man” (Prop. 119-121).

Such a restored dominion involves, as a matter of course, the personal presence and rule of the Second Adam here on the earth, where the First Adam would have exerted it. It teaches us that it is not a dominion exercised in the third heaven, for it is one committed to man and pertains to this earth. It is not to be sought in this dispensation, for down to the very end wickedness will abound. It is not to be found in the Church as at present existing, for down to the Advent the believer himself is under the pressure of the curse. It is, therefore, future, and associated with “the appearing and Kingdom,” and with “the world to come.”

Obs. 6. If such an external, outward dominion is lacking in the history of the earth, then an important restitution is wanting, and we receive an imperfect Redemption; with its restoration we obtain an important element of perfected Salvation. Writers abundantly admit that this dominion would have been witnessed here on earth if Adam had not fallen, but somehow they overlook the fact, that as the Redeemer is given to recover us from all the effects of the fall, it must, under the auspices of the restoring Second Adam, again be witnessed on earth when Redemption is completed. Simple consistency, the perfection of Redemptive work, the efficiency and honor of the Redeemer, the ability of God to save and the worthiness of the Saviour-all require this restored dominion. The prevailing view, derived from the Origenistic, limits this dominion to a present reign of Christ in heaven; but this, aside from other considerations, vitiates even their own representations of its original design, viz.: to be “representative of God on earth,” “a ruling for God over all the earth,” “a dominion exercised over all things, bringing nature into subjection,” etc. Taking their views of the original grant, none of these things are witnessed here on the earth; the Ruler is in heaven, and not on the earth, His followers are suffering and chastened, His rights as “the Christ” are unacknowledged by multitudes, etc.

Obs. 7. This dominion, promised, predicted and restored, is corroborative of the Biblical account of man’s noble origin and high destiny, forming quite a contrast to the ignoble theories of recent scientists. And may we not suggest, that as the period of this restoration draws near, the efforts that are so persistently made by able men to degrade the origin of man to the lowest scale, is not altogether one of chance or fortuitous circumstances, but to the student and believer have a deeper and more significant meaning-being in accordance with the predicted characteristic of the times just preceding the restitution.

What the Roman Catholic writer, Schlegel (Phil. of His., s. 1), says, in opposition to the idea of man’s low origin, we, in view of the Divine unity of Purpose thus manifested, can repeat: “We may boldly answer, that man, on the contrary, was originally, and by the very constitution of his being, designed to be the lord of creation, and, though in a subordinate degree, the legitimate ruler of the earth and the world around him; the vicegerent of God in nature.” God will not allow sin to triumph in the utter destruction of this grant, but will evince that grace in Jesus, the Christ, that will secure the victory in this, as well as in all other, respects. Tholuck (Com.Romans 5:12) produces a Jewish Rabbi, who remarks: “The secret of Adam is the secret of the Messiah,” “As the first man was the one that sinned, so shall the Messiah be the one to do sin away.” (Comp. p. 55, Lange’s Com. Hebrews.)