Scripture speaks of "age-times" (II Tim. 1: 9; Titus 1: 2; Rom. 16: 25), and of what was

done "before" and "since" those times began; we also read of what God ordained "before

the ages" (I Cor. 2: 7). The ages have their characteristics, their beginning, and their

consummation; they pass one by one before the eye of faith as revealed in the Word with

their burden of sin and death, and their burden of grace and glory.

Three distinct creations of "heaven and earth" (II Pet. 3: 5, 7, 13) carry us from

before the ages on to the time when the ages cease, spanning, with the creation of six

days, the present evil age; these provide, as it were, the platform for the working out of

the purpose of redemption. The ages develop the unveiling of that purpose and witness

the growing accomplishment of all its parts. Christ is the centre of the purpose, and by

Him God made the ages; within the compass of the ages sin is dealt with and passes

away, rebellion and conflict give place to harmony and love. Christ as king reigns

supreme, heaven and earth, reconciled and united in Him, the heir of all things, brings the

glorious consummation of the ages to pass.

May we rejoice in that marvellous wisdom which has placed the whole conduct of the

ages and their purpose in the hands of Him who for our sakes died and rose again.

There is in these opening verses a simple alternation in the theme that divides the

subject into two portions, (1) What God is, (2) What God does. Some may be disposed

to object and say, No, it is rather (1) What Christ is, and (2) What Christ does, for the

subject, as suggested in the sub-title of this very article is not the glories of God, but the

glories of the Son. We attempted to point out that the Scripture makes a decided

difference between the idea of God speaking in or by the prophets, using them as

instruments merely, and the idea of God speaking to men in Son. The Son, however

glorious, must not be looked upon merely as an instrument in the hand of God, but as

God Himself, setting aside all the previous instrumentality of prophets and angels,

coming among men as man, and that the Son is as much a title of the Most High God as

is Jehovah, El-Shaddai, and other names; therefore we repeat, the subject is (1) What

God is, and (2) What God does.

This is not to be taken as a literary structure, it is only intended to show the relation

which our present study has to the context. What Scripture intends us to understand in

the statement that God now speaks "in Son", or as it may be expressed "as a Son", is