1Cor 15:28 | KingComments | STEP | The verses you just read actually form a sort of parenthesis. Some translations indicate that by putting this section in brackets. The verse next to this section, , is connected to the verse preceded by this section, . I will get back to that when we get to it. A parenthesis runs the risk to be overlooked, as if it is not that important. That is not the case with the Bible. The parenthesis here, for example, gives an excellent overview of the course of history from the resurrection of Christ to the eternal glory, when time will have ceased. Though this parenthesis is brief, you feel how the radiation of the future encounters you. It is as if Paul has to stop for a moment from summarizing more arguments to demonstrate the foolishness of the error because he must first present the excellent and positive consequences of the resurrection of Christ. . After he had made the desperate conclusion, in the case that Christ had not been raised, the first verse you have read sounds like a cheer: “Christ has been raised”! He has been raised from the dead. That is quite different than if He had been raised out of the power of death. The latter means that He couldn’t be detained by death and that He was made alive again. This is how both the believers in the Old Testament and also the disciples believed in the resurrection of the dead. They believed that the dead, who died in faith, would be made alive again. But when the Lord at a certain moment spoke about His resurrection from the dead , His disciples did not understand what He meant by that ( ). What does it mean then that He has been raised from the dead ? It means that He, of all the dead, was the only One Who has been raised, while all others have remained at the grave. He is called the First fruits, for He is the first Who has been raised with a resurrection body. Later others will follow. In Paul continues his explanation. Those who will follow later are the believers, for there it is spoken of ‘those who are asleep’, and the word ‘asleep’ is only used for believers. That will also be made clear in . . But Paul, first of all, indicates what God means by the resurrection. The impressive thing about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus is that death has been conquered by a Man! Death also entered the world by a man, Adam. God said to Adam: ‘The day you eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you will die.’ Adam was disobedient and that’s why death entered the world. But now through another Man the resurrection of the dead has become a reality. It looked like death had the final say and that God’s plans could not be executed. No one has ever escaped the consequences of Adams deed, for all have died. [That, through the power of God, Enoch and Elijah went to heaven without dying ( ; ), is not included here, but it only confirms that God’s power is necessary to escape from death.] Opposite to Adam is Christ. Because Christ rose from death, all who belong to Him will be made alive. . Here you see that there is an order in the resurrection. There is no such thing like a general resurrection. The First fruits, Christ, has already been raised. All who, from Abel, the first believer who died, have died in faith, are still in the graves. That will be changed when Christ returns. Then He will call all up who are in the graves and belong to Him, from the graves, as He did with Lazarus ( ). . Then He will establish His kingdom in this world and rule over it for a thousand years. That is not specifically mentioned in this section, but you can derive it from and the verses that follow. What a wonderful time of peace and righteousness that will be. This period is comprehensively mentioned in the prophecies of the Old Testament. You also find sections in the New Testament that are about the public government of the Lord Jesus. After that wonderful time He will hand this kingdom over to God the Father. Then the end of all temporary things comes, and eternity starts. With Him things have not happened like they did with all other rulers over the kingdoms of the earth, from whom the government was taken away by enemies or who handed their government over to other (failing) rulers. He will hand His kingdom over in an undamaged condition, purified from all evil, to God. His government is a fully righteous government that has no room for wrong. It is not possible for His enemies to enter into power anymore. They will be fully controlled by Him and they will never be able to revolt again. That is embedded in the expression “has put … under His feet”. . This doesn’t only apply to the earthly powers, but also to the last enemy, death, that will be abolished. Job called death “the king of terrors” ( ). Through death satan is still exerting his terror over all whom he keeps in bondage ( ). Death will be entirely removed from creation at the very end of time only. Thus, also through the power of the Lord Jesus the dead unbelievers will be called up from the graves, wherever they may be, and be judged according to their works. That moment is poignantly described in Revelation 20 ( ). . Therefore there is not the slightest doubt about the predominating and eternal government of Christ: everything is put, without exception, under His feet. Still, it is obvious that when God has “put all things in subjection under His feet”, God Himself is not included. Therefore God is excepted from “all things”. But still there is another exception from ‘all things’, which is a great wonder, and that is the church. This exception is mentioned in Ephesians 1 ( ). There it is also said that God has subjected all things to the Lord Jesus, which makes the Lord Jesus “head over all things”. And, as you read there, it is in this position as ‘Head over all things’ that He is given to the church, “which is His body”. The church forms one body with the Lord Jesus. You have seen that already in an earlier section of this letter. Therefore, when the Lord Jesus reigns, He will do that together with the church, for a head and a body are connected inseparably with each other. After the period that the Lord Jesus has ruled His kingdom perfectly and has handed the kingdom over to God the Father, then eternity can begin. In His millennial kingdom He, as Man, has fulfilled all the desires of God, without any mistake. The first man failed when he received the government over creation, but the Lord Jesus will show as the second Man how God purposed everything. In all things He gives God the glory. He always did that and He will always do it. He did that when He was on earth in weakness as Man, from His birth till His death. He will do that when He, still as Man, will reign in glory and power during His millennial reign, when God subjects all things to Him. He will still do that when there is no mention of ruling anymore when eternity has started. . When it is written that the Son Himself also will be subject to God, then that is meant in relation to eternity. How should you imagine that? The Son is God, isn’t He? Is God subjected to God? This is an inconceivable mystery. The wonder of the Person of the Son consists of the fact that He is God and Man in one Person: He is fully God and fully Man. He was eternally God and became Man, without ceasing to be God ( ). The Son became Man and therein subject to the will of God. He fully accomplished that will. He became Man to remain that forever. As Man He also will eternally execute everything according to God’s will. He, the eternal Son, became Man forever, “so that God may be all in all”. When that moment has become a reality, all plans of God are accomplished. The eternal rest for God has begun. The love and power of God have conquered in every respect on all areas. God may rest in His love. Everything that surrounds Him will be for Him and everything that is, will rejoice in Him. God will be seen everywhere and in everything and nothing else. All the desires of His heart will then be perfectly fulfilled…. Now read 1 Corinthians 15:20-28 again. Reflection: What impresses you most when you think about eternity?

‏ 1 Corinthians 15:28

The Government of Christ

The verses you just read actually form a sort of parenthesis. Some translations indicate that by putting this section in brackets. The verse next to this section, 1Cor 15:29, is connected to the verse preceded by this section, 1Cor 15:19. I will get back to that when we get to it. A parenthesis runs the risk to be overlooked, as if it is not that important. That is not the case with the Bible.

The parenthesis here, for example, gives an excellent overview of the course of history from the resurrection of Christ to the eternal glory, when time will have ceased. Though this parenthesis is brief, you feel how the radiation of the future encounters you. It is as if Paul has to stop for a moment from summarizing more arguments to demonstrate the foolishness of the error because he must first present the excellent and positive consequences of the resurrection of Christ.

1Cor 15:20. After he had made the desperate conclusion, in the case that Christ had not been raised, the first verse you have read sounds like a cheer: “Christ has been raised”! He has been raised from the dead. That is quite different than if He had been raised out of the power of death. The latter means that He couldn’t be detained by death and that He was made alive again. This is how both the believers in the Old Testament and also the disciples believed in the resurrection of the dead. They believed that the dead, who died in faith, would be made alive again.

But when the Lord at a certain moment spoke about His resurrection from the dead, His disciples did not understand what He meant by that (Mk 9:9-10). What does it mean then that He has been raised from the dead? It means that He, of all the dead, was the only One Who has been raised, while all others have remained at the grave. He is called the First fruits, for He is the first Who has been raised with a resurrection body. Later others will follow. In 1Cor 15:23 Paul continues his explanation. Those who will follow later are the believers, for there it is spoken of ‘those who are asleep’, and the word ‘asleep’ is only used for believers. That will also be made clear in 1Cor 15:23.

1Cor 15:21-22. But Paul, first of all, indicates what God means by the resurrection. The impressive thing about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus is that death has been conquered by a Man! Death also entered the world by a man, Adam. God said to Adam: ‘The day you eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you will die.’ Adam was disobedient and that’s why death entered the world.

But now through another Man the resurrection of the dead has become a reality. It looked like death had the final say and that God’s plans could not be executed. No one has ever escaped the consequences of Adams deed, for all have died. [That, through the power of God, Enoch and Elijah went to heaven without dying (Heb 11:5; 2Kgs 2:11), is not included here, but it only confirms that God’s power is necessary to escape from death.] Opposite to Adam is Christ. Because Christ rose from death, all who belong to Him will be made alive.

1Cor 15:23. Here you see that there is an order in the resurrection. There is no such thing like a general resurrection. The First fruits, Christ, has already been raised. All who, from Abel, the first believer who died, have died in faith, are still in the graves. That will be changed when Christ returns. Then He will call all up who are in the graves and belong to Him, from the graves, as He did with Lazarus (Jn 11:43).

1Cor 15:24-25. Then He will establish His kingdom in this world and rule over it for a thousand years. That is not specifically mentioned in this section, but you can derive it from 1Cor 15:24 and the verses that follow. What a wonderful time of peace and righteousness that will be. This period is comprehensively mentioned in the prophecies of the Old Testament. You also find sections in the New Testament that are about the public government of the Lord Jesus. After that wonderful time He will hand this kingdom over to God the Father. Then the end of all temporary things comes, and eternity starts.

With Him things have not happened like they did with all other rulers over the kingdoms of the earth, from whom the government was taken away by enemies or who handed their government over to other (failing) rulers. He will hand His kingdom over in an undamaged condition, purified from all evil, to God. His government is a fully righteous government that has no room for wrong. It is not possible for His enemies to enter into power anymore. They will be fully controlled by Him and they will never be able to revolt again. That is embedded in the expression “has put … under His feet”.

1Cor 15:26. This doesn’t only apply to the earthly powers, but also to the last enemy, death, that will be abolished. Job called death “the king of terrors” (Job 18:14). Through death satan is still exerting his terror over all whom he keeps in bondage (Heb 2:14-15). Death will be entirely removed from creation at the very end of time only. Thus, also through the power of the Lord Jesus the dead unbelievers will be called up from the graves, wherever they may be, and be judged according to their works. That moment is poignantly described in Revelation 20 (Rev 20:11-15).

1Cor 15:27. Therefore there is not the slightest doubt about the predominating and eternal government of Christ: everything is put, without exception, under His feet. Still, it is obvious that when God has “put all things in subjection under His feet”, God Himself is not included. Therefore God is excepted from “all things”.

But still there is another exception from ‘all things’, which is a great wonder, and that is the church. This exception is mentioned in Ephesians 1 (Eph 1:22-23). There it is also said that God has subjected all things to the Lord Jesus, which makes the Lord Jesus “head over all things”. And, as you read there, it is in this position as ‘Head over all things’ that He is given to the church, “which is His body”. The church forms one body with the Lord Jesus. You have seen that already in an earlier section of this letter. Therefore, when the Lord Jesus reigns, He will do that together with the church, for a head and a body are connected inseparably with each other.

After the period that the Lord Jesus has ruled His kingdom perfectly and has handed the kingdom over to God the Father, then eternity can begin. In His millennial kingdom He, as Man, has fulfilled all the desires of God, without any mistake. The first man failed when he received the government over creation, but the Lord Jesus will show as the second Man how God purposed everything.

In all things He gives God the glory. He always did that and He will always do it. He did that when He was on earth in weakness as Man, from His birth till His death. He will do that when He, still as Man, will reign in glory and power during His millennial reign, when God subjects all things to Him. He will still do that when there is no mention of ruling anymore when eternity has started.

1Cor 15:28. When it is written that the Son Himself also will be subject to God, then that is meant in relation to eternity. How should you imagine that? The Son is God, isn’t He? Is God subjected to God? This is an inconceivable mystery. The wonder of the Person of the Son consists of the fact that He is God and Man in one Person: He is fully God and fully Man. He was eternally God and became Man, without ceasing to be God (Jn 1:1-3 ; 14). The Son became Man and therein subject to the will of God. He fully accomplished that will. He became Man to remain that forever. As Man He also will eternally execute everything according to God’s will.

He, the eternal Son, became Man forever, “so that God may be all in all”. When that moment has become a reality, all plans of God are accomplished. The eternal rest for God has begun. The love and power of God have conquered in every respect on all areas. God may rest in His love. Everything that surrounds Him will be for Him and everything that is, will rejoice in Him. God will be seen everywhere and in everything and nothing else. All the desires of His heart will then be perfectly fulfilled….

Now read 1 Corinthians 15:20-28 again.

Reflection: What impresses you most when you think about eternity?