"And the world passeth away."

God's words concerning His sons shall certainly be fulfilled in detail. They shall rule in glory with Christ.

All things have not as yet been placed under the feet of redeemed man, but they shall be!

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. (Hebrews 2:9)

"But we see Jesus." What are we implying here? We are emphasizing that the Lord Jesus is the Firstborn of a company of brothers who will inherit all that God has created.

Two facts must be considered. First of all, although the Lord Jesus is the Firstborn among many brothers He still is the Logos from eons past—that which is true of none of the rest of us. God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ. He is the lawful Head of the Church.

Second, while we are called to be sons of God, if we would inherit the Divine promises we must "overcome." Many forces strive continually to tear us down from the high place to which we have been appointed. We can overcome all of these by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of our Spirit-filled testimony to the truth of God's Word, and by loving not our life to the point of death. If we come short in one of these three areas we then are neither authorized nor competent to be a member of the royal priesthood or a participant in the first resurrection from among the dead.

The Scriptures declare that the rewards go to the conquerors. The Scriptures will stand when the earth and the heaven flee from the face of God.

We have been taught in the churches that every believer regardless of his behavior will inherit the Divine promises of glory and rulership on the basis of mercy and grace. We have been taught a lie.

The immortal Jesus became a mortal and died on our behalf. Now He is crowned with glory and honor. Through Him we too can obtain immortality, honor, and glory.

For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. (Hebrews 2:10)

All things are for the Father and exist by Him. He is bringing many sons to glory. This is part of His eternal purpose in Christ.

Christ is the captain of the salvation of the many sons. God made the eternal Logos a mortal and exposed Him to the sufferings of the present world in order that He might be made perfect.

It appears the rulers of the world to come cannot be made perfect in obedience to the Father except by suffering. If such suffering were available in the spirit world, the Logos would have been made perfect at some distant point in the past. But we see that it was necessary for Him to become a mortal and thereby experience the pains and pressures that accompany mortality.

He, the Lord Jesus, the Logos, Christ, was made a perfect Leader of the many sons by the process of suffering.

To be continued.