The Kingdom of Christ
(part 1)Arthur Pink, January, 1938
In our "Covenant" articles in the current issues (Studies in the Scriptures – January and February 1938) it has been pointed out that one of the dominant characteristics of Christ's throne and kingdom, distinguishing it from all human and earthly ones, is its everlastingness. This particular feature is repeatedly emphasized in the Scriptures, in fact it is found in almost every passage where His kingdom is mentioned: see 2 Samuel 7:16; Isaiah 9:6, 7; Daniel 2:44; Luke 1:32, 33; 2 Peter 1:11; Revelation 11:15.
Now this fact that Christ's throne is "forever and ever" at once refutes the idea of dispensationalists, whose assertions concerning Christ's kingdom are mainly confined (in most cases entirely so) to what they term His "millennial reign," which lasts for a thousand years only. In the past the writer has himself been misled by this fantasy and erred in some of his earlier writings thereon: therefore we here humbly make this acknowledgment and renounce what we now believe is an error.
There is, however, one passage which appears to clash with those verses which affirm the eternality of Christ's kingdom, and which at the same time seems to offer some support to the pre-millennialists; and therefore a separate consideration of its contents is called for. "For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the first fruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he "has put everything under his feet." Now when it says that "everything" has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all. " (1 Corinthians 15:22-28).
The above has been a favorite passage with errorists of various types: Unitarians, dispensationalists, and Universalists have all appealed to it in support of their fallacies and have interpreted, or rather misinterpreted, it according to their particular views. It therefore behooves us to approach it with double care and caution, praying that the Holy Spirit will graciously guide us in its exposition. That this passage presents difficulties in translation, punctuation, and interpretation is freely granted, but that they are far from being insuperable we shall seek to show. Our first inquiry must be: What bearing do these verses have upon their context—why should this reference to Christ's delivering up the kingdom and His being subject to the Father be introduced into a description of the resurrection?
Then: what particular "end" is referred to? Which "kingdom" is it that Christ delivers up? And what "death" is destroyed?
We begin by considering the scope of our passage. There were some at Corinth who were saying "that there is no resurrection of the dead" (1 Corinthians 15:2), and this chapter was written in refutation of that serious error.
First, the Apostle pointed out that such a denial involved the repudiation of the Gospel itself and excluded all hope of salvation. He shows that if there be no resurrection, then Christ Himself is still in the grave (verses 12-19). Then he proceeded to argue that since Christ is risen from the dead, His people also must be raised—the resurrection of the unsaved nowhere falls within the compass of this chapter. According to the great principles of the economy of redemption, the resurrection of the Head guaranteed the resurrection of Christ's mystical body. The security which the resurrection of Christ gives for the resurrection of His people, as here unfolded, is twofold: arising both from its procuring and from its final cause.
The resurrection of the holy dead rests on the procuring cause, or what led up to the resurrection of Christ Himself. This was His becoming obedient unto death in the room and stead of His people. As the sin of Adam produced not only his own death, but also the death of all who were in him as their federal head—so the obedience unto death of Christ procured not only His own resurrection, but will also produce the resurrection of all who are united to Him as their federal Head (verses 20-23).
Again, the resurrection of the saints rests on the final cause, or what the resurrection of Christ led onto, and this was that He rose to reign (verses 24-28). All power in Heaven and earth has been given to Him for the express purpose of subduing all the enemies of Himself and His Father, and this secures the abolition of death in the glorious resurrection of all His people.
Before proceeding further we call attention to what we are now convinced is a most misleading mistake in the punctuation. But lest any should think we are acting in an arbitrary manner or taking unwarranted liberties with the text of the Authorized Version, let it be pointed out, first, that in any version the punctuation is entirely a matter for the translators to decide (for the original Greek is not broken up into either paragraphs or verses, sentences or clauses), and this upon grammatical or doctrinal considerations, which leaves room for considerable difference of opinion; and second, what we are about to advance is so far from being novel and original, that many before us (from Theophylact to Herinsius, and down to our own times) have adopted this construction.
That to which we have referred in the above paragraph is the opening clause of verse 24, which we believe concludes verse 23; in other words "then comes the end" does not begin a sentence, but completes one. Instead of connecting the "then comes the end" with what follows in verses 24-26, and thereby understanding it to signify "then comes the termination of all mundane affairs," the end of the world's history, we regard it as meaning, "Then is the conclusion of the resurrection." This is obviously the more natural construction, for it not only removes the necessity for the supplement "comes" which has been inserted by the translators (there being nothing in the Greek to warrant it), but it also furnishes a more fitting completion to the sentence, "Christ the first fruits—then they that are Christ's at His coming—then the end," that is, the grand completion of the harvest.
What follows in verses 24-26 introduces no new subject, but amplifies what has been said in verses 20-23. If verse 25 be placed in a parenthesis, and the supplementary (italicized) words of verse 26 be omitted, the sentence will be much simpler and more perspicuous. "When He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when He shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and power (For He must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet), the last enemy shall be destroyed—death." Let it be steadily borne in mind that the great object throughout the whole of this chapter is to show the absolute security which Christ's resurrection gives for the resurrection of His people. That this subject is continued by the Apostle after the passage we are now considering is clear from verses 29-32, where further and supplementing arguments are advanced, namely the case of those who are baptized, and his own conduct.
Verses 24-26 are brought in here to assure the hearts and strengthen the confidence of believers. We understand their central purpose to be something like this: There are many and powerful enemies of Christ seeking to oppose Him and destroy His people, but their efforts shall prove utterly futile, for being endowed with all power and authority from God Himself, Christ shall completely triumph over them all. Not only shall Christ reduce to impotency all human and demoniacal foes, but death itself shall be abolished. It is death which stands in the way of the full manifestation of Divine wisdom, power, and grace, in the complete holiness and happiness of the redeemed family. While their bodies remain in the grave Christ's triumph over sin and Satan is incomplete, and He does not see the entire fruit of "the travail of His soul," in which He is to find full satisfaction.
Death, then, is here called "the last enemy" because when the appointed time for the resurrection arrives it alone stands in the way of the consummation of Christ's mighty work of full and eternal deliverance.
A right understanding, then, of verses 24-26 definitely fixes the meaning of "then the end," proving it belongs to verse 23. Verses 24-26 illustrate and demonstrate that at the coming of Christ there will be an end or completion of the resurrection: it is to be by the destruction of the last enemy—death. There will be no more resurrection (of saints) after the coming of Christ, for there will be no more to die, and so no more to be raised. It will then be fully evidenced that Christ has subdued all foes unto Himself, which was the grand purpose for which the Father delegated all power unto the Redeemer. He must reign until all His enemies are put under His feet, for He rose again for this purpose; wherefore it follows that the last enemy—death, must be destroyed, and when it is, the resurrection of the saints must have come to "the end!"
For a closer consideration of the details of these verses we must first ascertain the precise signification of "When He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God." Now it is self-evident that no explanation of those words can possibly be true which asserts that the throne of Christ's glory shall ever be vacated.
Shall Christ lay down the reward which the Father gave Him for His unspeakable humiliation and obedience unto death? Surely His recompense is not to cease as soon as He has completed His great commission—destroying the works of Satan and subduing His Father's foes. Shall He cease to be Lord and King at the very time when every knee begins to bow to Him and every tongue confesses His name? What! Are the saints to be crowned with an eternal reward, and the King of saints with only a temporary one? Will the redeemed "reign forever and ever" (Revelation. 22:3) and the Redeemer for only a thousand years?
If it be strange that pre-millenarians interpret this clause as the ending of Christ's millennial kingdom, it is stranger still that some post-millenarians understand by it the termination of His mediatorial kingdom, for the perpetuity of that is affirmed again and again in Scripture. But if it refer to neither of them, what other alternative remains? The "kingdom" or dominion of Christ is a threefold one. First, that which belongs to Him as the second Person of the Godhead, namely, His absolute authority over all creatures. Second, that which pertains to Him as the incarnate Son, the Mediator, namely, His rule over His own people. Third, that to which He was exalted after His resurrection, when "all power was given Him in Heaven and earth," namely, His dominion over all His enemies, so that He might triumphantly conclude the work of redemption by subjugating every opposing force. It is the third which 1 Corinthians 15:24 has reference to.
The duties of a king may be summed up in these two things:
to rule righteously over his subjects,
to subdue his and their enemies.The subjugation of all who oppose is an essential part of Christ's reign. This He accomplishes now by setting bounds to their power, making even their wrath to praise Him; and ultimately by reducing them to complete impotency when sentence of punishment is passed upon them and they are all securely and eternally shut up in their own place. All things fell by sin into an enmity against God and the salvation of the Church. Christ as the Vice-regent of the Father has received commission for the removal of this enmity and the destruction of all His gainsayers. This He was to variously and gradually accomplish in the exercise of all His offices. He did so at the Cross by the exercise of His priesthood, when, He (judicially) removed the enmity between God and His people (Ephesians 2:14-16).
He does so now by the exercise of His prophetic office, in effectually causing the Gospel to experimentally reconcile His people to God (Psalm 110:2, 3). He will yet do so by the exercise of His kingship, when He destroys finally the impenitent.
Christ has received commission to put down that revolt which commenced in the sin of angels, and has been carried on through the Fall of man, with all its fearful consequences, so that the Divine supremacy shall again be effectually manifested and universally acknowledged.
In the universe there is now a kingdom of darkness (Matthew 12:26 and Colossians 1:13) as well as a kingdom of light; there is "the throne of iniquity" (Psalm 94:20), as well as the throne of righteousness. But this state of things cannot be permitted to continue forever. True, God had a wise end in permitting it, but He shall in His own good time end it. This work has been entrusted to Christ, partly as a reward of His humiliation, partly for the furtherance of His redemptive work.
This, as we have said above, is accomplished by Him through a twofold process:
by converting some of the rebels into loyal subjects;
by depriving the others of all power to work any further evil.The finalization of the one shall be seen when Christ presents the Church to Himself "a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle" (Ephesians 5:27); the finalization of the other will be demonstrated when Revelation 19:11 to 20:15 is fulfilled.
There is, then, a "kingdom" which has been usurped by God's enemies, and which Christ has been appointed to restore unto Him. In order to His successful discharge of this appointment, Christ has been endowed with unlimited power: see Psalm 2:6-9; 45:3-6; Acts 2:36 and 5:31; Ephesians 1:20, 21; Philippians 2:9-11; 1 Peter 3:18-22. This recovery by Christ of that kingdom usurped by Satan and his hosts, is intimated in our passage by "when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, "for the same Greek word is found in such verses as Matthew 19:17; 24:9; Acts 3:13; Romans 8:32, where it is an assigning over to judicial powers for judgment. This enables us to perceive clearly what kingdom it is which Christ renders to the Father; it is not the resignation of His own Lordship, but the arresting of His foes in order to their eternal incarceration in the Lake of Fire.
We trust it has been made quite plain to the reader that the central thought of 1 Corinthians 15:22-26 is that the resurrection of Christ Himself is connected with such a state of power and authority as is at once sufficient for securing the resurrection of all who are savingly connected with Him. That there are powerful adversaries at work seeking to prevent this seems clearly implied, but that their efforts shall prove utterly vain is here emphatically declared. The abolition of death will be the crowning act of Christ's triumph over Satan and his hosts. The reason why the Apostle brought in the parenthesis of verse 25 was to explain how Christ is to recover unto God the usurped kingdom—by putting down all hostile forces. He quotes from Psalm 110:1, "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit at My right hand," which means that at His ascension Christ was invested with the government of the universe; "until I make Your enemies Your footstool" promised Him full victory over them, and that promise must be fulfilled.
Another few paragraphs seem to be required for the further elucidation and amplification of what has already been advanced in our exposition of 1 Corinthians 15:22-28, the more so as we have yet said nothing upon the last two verses. We have endeavored to show that the contents of this passage introduce nothing that is not strictly pertinent to the theme which the Apostle is discussing in this chapter, both before verse 22 and after verse 28—namely, the resurrection of the saints. Instead, as we have seen, it supplies a striking and valuable contribution to that important subject, by furnishing proof that there is no possibility of any enemy of Christ and His people being able to prevent that glorious event. Furthermore, it has been shown that the whole passage is one connected and consistent whole, and not a number of individual statements having little or nothing in common.
In verse 22 the assertion is made that "in Christ shall all be made alive." This at once intimates that the elect only are in view, for the non-elect never were and never will be in Christ—compare verses 45-47, where further contrasts between the first and last Adam are in view. In verse 23 the statement made in the second half of verse 22 is particularized: "But every man (every one) in his own order." The Head and His members are not made alive simultaneously. No, in this, as in all things, Christ has the pre-eminence, consequently there is an interval between "Christ the first fruits"—which not only denotes precedence, but pledge of the future harvest. "Afterward (Greek, "then") they which are Christ's (again showing that only the holy dead are here in view) at His coming." But will there not be the raising of other believers at a still later period: no, for "then the end"—the promise in verse 22 is now completely made good.
Two important questions are naturally raised by the contents of verses 22, 23: how and when shall Christ bring this to pass? Each is answered in what follows. "For He (God) has put all things under His (Christ's) feet" (verse 27). This is only another way of saying that God has exalted the crucified but risen Redeemer to the place of supreme authority and power—carefully compare Ephesians 1:19-23 and observe the same words in verse 22. God has not only entrusted unto the Mediator the saving of His own people, but the subduing of all His enemies—note the double claim He makes in John 17:2. This is the answer to His prayer,
"Father, glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You" (John 17:1). In the new creation, from beginning to end, "all things" are of the Father, yet "all things" are by Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 8:6).
How glorious is the Christ of God! What dignity, majesty, and might are His! Alas, how vastly different is that wretched caricature presented from the modern pulpit, wherein Christ is referred to as needing the help of His puny creatures in order to bring His work to a successful conclusion. How perversely man inverses the Divine order: it is we who are in sore need of His help, and not He of ours. Christ has received commission from the Father, to "destroy the works of the Devil" (1 John 3:8): not only to bring good out of all the evil which sin has created, but also to bring to an end all the confusion and dishonor to God which Satan has brought into the universe. Therefore, "He must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet" (1 Corinthians 15:25).
"When He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father"—that is, the kingdom which Satan has usurped, the kingdom of darkness, "when He shall have put down all rule, and all authority and power"—which explains the previous clause, meaning when He shall have subdued every creature and force which is hostile to God; "the last enemy shall be destroyed—death." Thus the two "whens" of verse 24 correspond to the two "thens" of verse 23—we showed earlier that the closing clause of verse 24 (in the Authorized Version) completes verse 23, while the destruction of death answers to, confirms the fact, that "the end" (of the resurrection of the saints) has come. If any shadow of doubt remains upon this point of our interpretation, verse 54 completely removes it: "So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory," for "death" is "destroyed."
What has just been pointed out not only refutes the Pre-millennial interpretation of this particular passage, but it seems to completely overthrow their entire position. Their contention is, first, that Christ does not receive the kingdom until His second advent—arguing that He is now seated on the Father's throne (Revelation 3:21), and that He will not occupy His own throne (Matthew 25:31) until the beginning of the Millennium. Second, that instead of all God's enemies being completely and finally subdued at the time of Christ's coming, this will not occur until after the Millennium is over—appealing to Revelation 20:7-10 to bolster up their theory. Third, most of them insist that the coming of Christ and His raising the Church take place before the "tribulation period," and that it is not until several years later He makes alive those who were slain by "the antichrist." A worse turning of things upside down could scarcely be imagined—alas that in the past we ourselves have been guilty of it.
As we have shown, so far from the second advent of Christ being the time when His kingdom is inaugurated and that the putting forth of His mighty power for the subduing of His enemies is commenced, it is then that He delivers up the kingdom to the Father because every foe has been reduced to a state of utter impotency—it is quite clear from Luke 19:13 that Christ went to Heaven "to receive for Himself a kingdom and to return," and not to return and then receive a kingdom! Again—so far from Christ's subjugation of His enemies taking place at a date long after His second coming, our passage places it before, or at least makes it to synchronize with, the destruction of death, the last enemy—note the same order in Matthew 13:1, 41-43. And the emphatic and unequivocal statements at the close of 1 Corinthians 15:24, "then comes the end" entirely excludes all idea of any saints being raised after Christ's coming.
Far more serious is the view taken by many of the closing portion of our passage. Those who have regarded the "Then (comes) the end" as referring to the end of time, the termination of this world, consider verses 27, 28 as illustrative of Christ's then delivering of the kingdom to the Father, following which the Son is to become in some new way subject to the Father—thus does one error logically involve and lead up to another. Whatever be the meaning of verse 28 we may rest fully assured that there is nothing in it which in any ways clashes with the plain teaching of other Scriptures, and therefore no interpretation of it can be valid which supposes that Christ will yet suffer a second humiliation, or cease to be an Object of worship. Most certainly there is nothing in it which casts the slightest cloud upon the Godhead of the Redeemer, or intimates that the second Person in the Trinity is inferior to the First. Equally certain is it that there can be nothing in the verse which signifies Christ will ever abdicate His mediatorial throne.
Obviously, we must turn to the context for a right understanding of verses 27, 28. Nor does that present the slightest difficulty so far as the ascertaining of its leading thought be concerned: the man Christ Jesus possesses such authority and power that nothing can possibly prevent His raising in Glory the whole of His people: the risen Christ has been invested with such majesty and might that no hostile power can stand before Him.
The dominion of Christ is a supreme, universal, and uncontrollable one, so far as creatures are concerned; yet it is a subordinate one so far as essential Deity is concerned. Now the purpose and purpose of verses 27, 28 is to illustrate the delegated character of that dominion and authority, in the exercise of which the Son brings back the kingdom to the Father by putting down all opposing rule. This brings before us a subject of no small importance.
The expression "when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father" implies that, in some sense, the kingdom has departed from the Father. But there is a real sense in which the kingdom never has departed, and never can depart, from the Father. His right to reign and His power to assert that right, are indubitable and infinite, immutable and eternal. There is no being, and there is no event, that is or can be beyond His control; ay, there is no being nor event which shall not be made ultimately to subserve the purpose of His wise and righteous government. Yet it is an undeniable fact that a considerable portion of His creatures have renounced their allegiance, and have individually, and collectively, set themselves in opposition to Him, refusing to obey His holy, righteous, and good laws, and to yield their cooperation in working out the wise and benevolent designs of His administration. To this rebel portion of God's subjects belong the whole of the fallen angels, and the whole too of fallen men, with the exception of those who are reclaimed by the Son.
"An important portion of God's dominions is in a state of revolt. The standard of rebellion, first erected on the very battlements of Heaven, has since been erected on earth; and for nearly six thousand years its inhabitants almost with one consent, have rallied around it, scornfully rejecting the claims of their Maker, and obstinately refusing to return to their allegiance, and acknowledge Him as their rightful King. Earth and Hell are leagued in one grand conspiracy against the throne of the Most High. Christ is exalted to the throne to put down these enemies and opposing powers, and thus recover the kingdom from the usurpers" (Van Valkenburgh).
Now the way in which this usurped kingdom is restored to the Father is Christ's putting down of all opposing rule and power. All power, whether diabolical or human, exercised by individuals, or embodied in institutions, or order of things, must be overthrown, so that this kingdom will be brought back to Him whose absolute right it is to reign in and over us. The "rulers of the darkness of this world" (Ephesians 6:12) must be dethroned—stripped of their power to deceive and destroy. Everything inimical must be destroyed by the God-man in His administration of that kingdom entrusted to Him by the Father. True, these all "make war with the Lamb," but "the Lamb shall overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings" (Revelation 17:14). He will "break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel" (Psalm 2:9). Satan with his rebel hosts, and those of our race who clung to his dominion, shall be cast into the Lake of Fire.
The object of verses 27, 28 is to show us that the power Christ wields over His enemies is a delegated one. Christ's authority is not distinct from the Divine: rather is it the exercise of that power which is common to the Father and the Son as Divine Persons; just like, "As the Father has life in Himself, so has He given to the Son to have life in Himself" (John 5:26). It is as though the Apostle said, in referring to Psalm 110:1, stated that Christ must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet (1 Corinthians 15:25), yet let me now remind you it is Jehovah who secures this, as the first verse of that Psalm affirms. "For He has put all things under His feet" (verse 27) is a quotation from Psalm 8:6, as a further corroboration of the truth that it is Jehovah who gave the Mediator dominion over all His creatures.
Let it be remarked that this ancient oracle is again quoted by our Apostle in Hebrews 2. That which fills us with wonderment in Psalm 8 is that it is of man this is predicated. That Psalm begins by contemplating the ineffable majesty of Jehovah: "O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth! Who has set Your glory above the heavens" (verse 1). Next he asks "What is man that YOU are mindful of him? . . . for You have made him a little lower than the angels" (verses 4, 5). Then he exclaims "You made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet" (verse 6).
After quoting the whole of this passage, the Apostle says, "But now we see not yet all things put under him: but we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor" (Hebrews 2:8, 9)—thereby proving that the unlimited power Christ is now wielding is the power of God.
"But when He says, All things are put under Him, it is manifest that He is excepted, which did put all things under Him" (1 Corinthians 15:27). When in the eighth Psalm it is said that Jehovah subjected all things to man, it is very obvious that He who should subject them to Him—who gave supremacy to Him, sovereignty over them—does not, in so doing, denude Himself of His own power or authority: that power necessarily remains supreme. As the Apostle here declares, "it is manifest that He is excepted." And how is it "manifest?" Why, because a delegated authority necessarily implies a supremacy in Him who confers it.
The Father will be greater than the Mediator: Christ's kingdom, though in reference to creatures, supreme, is, in reference to essential Deity, delegated; and this statement is made that it may be obvious that all things are of God.
"And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all" (verse 28). Yet let it be said very emphatically that this subjection of the Son to the Father is no new thing which exclusively characterizes that order of things which shall obtain upon His restoring of the usurped kingdom.
No, no—the Father's word to the Son, "Your throne O God, is forever and ever" (Hebrews 1:8) is not to be rescinded in the eternal state. The subjection of the Son to the Father marks the whole mediatorial economy. "That economy, throughout proceeds on the principle that, while essentially the Son and Spirit are equal with the Father, being one with Him in the economy of grace, They are subordinate to the Father, who sustains the majesty of Divinity. The Father is greater than They. He sends, They come; He appoints, and They execute. All things are of Him by Them" (John Brown).
The principal design of verse 28, then, is to teach us that the present subjection of the Mediator unto the Father will continue after the consummation of His glorious victory. It in nowise signifies that Christ's Divine Person shall withdraw from His humanity, or that as the God-man He will no longer be an Object of worship. On the other hand, the glorified humanity of Christ, notwithstanding all the honor and authority conferred upon it, is but a creature, and in the Eternal State this will be made evident.
Let it be said emphatically that verse 28 must not be understood to mean that the Second Person in the Godhead, as such, will, throughout eternity, be under subjection to the First, for on the new earth there is "the throne of God and of the Lamb" (Revelation 22:1). Nevertheless, the man Christ Jesus will yet resign unto the Father His government of the wicked. Verse 28 refers to the re-assumption by God Himself of that power and authority delegated to the Mediator in connection with His rule over His enemies.
Before the ascension of Christ, God reigned as God; since that event, He reigns through the Mediator; when Christ has delivered up the usurped kingdom to the Father, then "God"—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—will be all in all. Yet even then Christ will still be the Head of His Church and reign upon His mediatorial throne. At the conclusion of his exposition of 1 Corinthians 15:24 the renowned Puritan, John Owen, said, "I declared that all the state of things which we have described shall then cease, and all things issue in the immediate enjoyment of God Himself. I would extend this no further than as unto that which concerns the exercise of Christ's mediatory office with respect unto the Church here below and the enemies of it. But there are some things which belong to the essence of this state which shall continue unto all eternity, as:
First, I do believe that the Person of Christ, in and by His human nature, shall be forever the immediate Head of the whole glorified creation.
Second, that He shall be the means and way of communication between God and His glorified saints forever.
Third, that the Person of Christ, and herein His human nature, shall be the eternal Object of Divine glory, praise and worship."
As a concluding summary of what has been before us, we cannot do better than quote from John Brown's "The Resurrection of Life" (through which we have received much help in preparing this article) wherein he gives the following analysis of 1 Corinthians 15:24-28. "The passage, thus expounded, teaches us the following principles:
First, that the risen Savior is invested with unlimited power and authority: He 'reigns'—'all things are subjected to Him.'
Second, the design of His being thus invested with unlimited power and authority is, that He may 'restore the kingdom to the Father.'
Third, in restoring the kingdom to the Father, He will 'put down all opposing rule, and authority, and power.'
Fourth, in the accomplishment of this, the destruction of death as an opposing power is necessarily involved.
Fifth, all this is to be accomplished by Divine power, administered by the Son, that the whole glory of the bringing back of the kingdom may be seen to belong, and be ascribed, to Him, 'of whom are all things, and through whom are all things' and to whom, therefore, it is most meet that all things should be—whose glory ought to be the end, as His will is the cause and the law, of the universe."
The Kingdom of Christ
(part 2)Arthur Pink, February 1938
Another article seems to be required for the further elucidation and amplification of what has already been advanced in our exposition of 1 Corinthians 15:22-28, the more so as we have yet said nothing upon the last two verses. We have endeavored to show that the contents of this passage introduce nothing that is not strictly pertinent to the theme which the Apostle is discussing in this chapter, both before verse 22 and after verse 28—namely, the resurrection of the saints. Instead, as we have seen, it supplies a striking and valuable contribution to that important subject, by furnishing proof that there is no possibility of any enemy of Christ and His people being able to prevent that glorious event.
Furthermore, it has been shown that the whole passage is one connected and consistent whole, and not a number of individual statements having little or nothing in common.
In verse 22 the assertion is made that "in Christ shall all be made alive." This at once intimates that the elect only are in view, for the non-elect never were and never will be in Christ—compare verses 45-47, where further contrasts between the first and last Adam are in view. In verse 23 the statement made in the second half of verse 22 is particularized: "But every man (every one) in his own order." The Head and His members are not made alive simultaneously. No, in this, as in all things, Christ has the preeminence, consequently there is an interval between "Christ the first fruits"—which not only denotes precedence, but pledge of the future harvest. "Afterward (Greek, "then") they which are Christ's (again showing that only the holy dead are here in view) at His coming." But will there not be the raising of other believers at a still later period: no, for "then the end"—the promise in verse 22 is now completely made good.
Two important questions are naturally raised by the contents of verses 22, 23: How and when shall Christ bring this to pass? Each is answered in what follows. "For He (God) has put all things under His (Christ's) feet" (verse 27). This is only another way of saying that God has exalted the crucified but risen Redeemer to the place of supreme authority and power—carefully compare Ephesians 1:19-23 and observe the same words in verse 22. God has not only entrusted unto the Mediator the saving of His own people, but the subduing of all His enemies—note the double claim He makes in John 17:2. This is the answer to His prayer, "Father, glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You"
(John 17:1). In the new creation, from beginning to end, "all things" are of the Father, yet "all things" are by Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 8:6).
How glorious is the Christ of God! What dignity, majesty, and might are His! Alas, how vastly different is that wretched caricature presented from the modern pulpit, wherein Christ is referred to as needing the help of His puny creatures in order to bring His work to a successful conclusion. How perversely man inverses the Divine order: it is we who are in sore need of His help, and not He of ours. Christ has received commission from the Father, to "destroy the works of the Devil" (1 John 3:8): not only to bring good out of all the evil which sin has created, but also to bring to an end all the confusion and dishonor to God which Satan has brought into the universe. Therefore, "He must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet!" (1 Corinthians 15:25).
"When He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father"—that is, the kingdom which Satan has usurped, the kingdom of darkness—"when He shall have put down all rule, and all authority and power"—which explains the previous clause, meaning when He shall have subdued every creature and force which is hostile to God; "the last enemy shall be destroyed—death!" Thus the two "whens" of verse 24 correspond to the two "thens" of verse 23—we showed last month that the closing clause of verse 24 completes verse 23, while the destruction of death answers to, confirms the fact, that "the end" (of the resurrection of the saints) has come. If any shadow of doubt remains upon this point of our interpretation, verse 54 completely removes it: "So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory," for "death" is "destroyed."
What has just been pointed out not only refutes the Premillennial interpretation of this particular passage, but it seems to completely overthrow their entire position. Their contention is:
first, that Christ does not receive the kingdom until His second advent—arguing that He is now seated on the Father's throne (Revelation 3:21), and that He will not occupy His own throne (Matthew 25:31) until the beginning of the Millennium.
Second, that instead of all God's enemies being completely and finally subdued at the time of Christ's coming, this will not occur until after the Millennium is over—appealing to Revelation 20:7-10 to bolster up their theory.
Third, most of them insist that the coming of Christ and His raising the Church take place before the "tribulation period," and that it is not until several years later He makes alive those who were slain by "the antichrist." A worse turning of things upside down could scarcely be imagined—alas that in the past I myself have been guilty of it.
As we have shown, so far from the second advent of Christ being the time when His kingdom is inaugurated and that the putting forth of His mighty power for the subduing of His enemies is commenced, it is then that He delivers up the kingdom to the Father because every foe has been reduced to a state of utter impotency—it is quite clear from Luke 19:13 that Christ went to Heaven "to receive for Himself a kingdom and to return," and not to return and then receive a kingdom!
Again—so far from Christ's subjugation of His enemies taking place at a date long after His second coming, our passage places it before, or at least makes it to synchronize with, the destruction of death, the last enemy—note the same order in Matthew 13:1, 41-43. And the emphatic and unequivocal statements at the close of 1 Corinthians 15:24, "then comes the end" entirely excludes all idea of any saints being raised after Christ's coming.
Far more serious is the view taken by many of the closing portion of our passage.
Those who have regarded the "Then (comes) the end" as referring to the end of time, the termination of this world, consider verses 27, 28 as illustrative of Christ's then delivering of the kingdom to the Father, following which the Son is to become in some new way subject to the Father—thus does one error logically involve and lead up to another.
Whatever be the meaning of verse 28 we may rest fully assured that there is nothing in it which in any ways clashes with the plain teaching of other Scriptures, and therefore no interpretation of it can be valid which supposes that Christ will yet suffer a second humiliation, or cease to be an Object of worship. Most certainly there is nothing in it which casts the slightest cloud upon the Godhead of the Redeemer, or intimates that the second Person in the Trinity is inferior to the First. Equally certain it is that there can be nothing in the verse which signifies Christ will ever abdicate His mediatorial throne.
Obviously, we must turn to the context for a right understanding of verses 27, 28. Nor does that present the slightest difficulty so far as the ascertaining of its leading thought be concerned: the man Christ Jesus possesses such authority and power that nothing can possibly prevent His raising in Glory the whole of His people: the risen Christ has been invested with such majesty and might that no hostile power can stand before Him.
The dominion of Christ is a supreme, universal, and uncontrollable one, so far as creatures are concerned; yet it is a subordinate one so far as essential Deity is concerned. Now the purpose and purpose of verses 27, 28 is to illustrate the delegated character of that dominion and authority, in the exercise of which the Son brings back the kingdom to the Father by putting down all opposing rule. This brings before us a subject of no small importance.
The expression "when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father" implies that, in some sense, the kingdom has departed from the Father. But there is a real sense in which the kingdom never has departed, and never can depart, from the Father. His right to reign and His power to assert that right, are indubitable and infinite, immutable and eternal. There is no being, and there is no event, that is or can be beyond His control. Yes, there is no being nor event which shall not be made ultimately to subserve the purpose of His wise and righteous government. Yet it is an undeniable fact that a considerable portion of His creatures have renounced their allegiance, and have individually, and collectively, set themselves in opposition to Him, refusing to obey His holy, righteous, and good laws, and to yield their cooperation in working out the wise and benevolent designs of His administration. To this rebel portion of God's subjects belong the whole of the fallen angels, and also the whole of fallen men, with the exception of those who are reclaimed by the Son.
"An important portion of God's dominions is in a state of revolt. The standard of rebellion, first erected on the very battlements of Heaven, has since been erected on earth; and for nearly six thousand years its inhabitants almost with one consent, have rallied around it, scornfully rejecting the claims of their Maker, and obstinately refusing to return to their allegiance, and acknowledge Him as their rightful King. Earth and Hell are leagued in one grand conspiracy against the throne of the Most High God. Christ is exalted to the throne to put down these enemies and opposing powers, and thus recover the kingdom from the usurpers" (Van Valkenburgh).
Now the way in which this usurped kingdom is restored to the Father, is Christ's putting down of all opposing rule and power. All power, whether diabolical or human, exercised by individuals, or embodied in institutions, or order of things, must be overthrown, so that this kingdom will be brought back to Him whose absolute right it is to reign in and over us. The "rulers of the darkness of this world" (Ephesians 6:12) must be dethroned—stripped of their power to deceive and destroy. Everything inimical must be destroyed by the God-man in His administration of that kingdom entrusted to Him by the Father. True, these all "make war with the Lamb," but "the Lamb shall overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings!" (Revelation 17:14). He will "break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel!" (Psalm 2:9). Satan with his rebel hosts, and those of our race who clung to his dominion, shall be cast into the Lake of Fire.
The object of verses 27, 28 is to show us that the power Christ wields over His enemies is a delegated one. Christ's authority is not distinct from the Divine: rather is it the exercise of that power which is common to the Father and the Son as Divine Persons; just like, "As the Father has life in Himself, so has He given to the Son to have life in Himself" (John 5:26). It is as though the Apostle said, in referring to Psalm 110, I stated that Christ must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet (1 Corinthians 15:25), yet let me now remind you it is Jehovah who secures this, as the first verse of that Psalm affirms.
"For He has put all things under His feet" (verse 27) is a quotation from Psalm 8:6, as a further corroboration of the truth that it is Jehovah who gave the Mediator dominion over all His creatures.
Let it be remarked that this ancient oracle is again quoted by our Apostle in Hebrews 2. That which fills us with wonderment in Psalm 8 is that it is of man this is predicated.
That Psalm begins by contemplating the ineffable majesty of Jehovah: "O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth! Who has set Your glory above the heavens" (verse 1). Next he asks "What is man that YOU are mindful of him? . . . for You have made him a little lower than the angels" (verses 4, 5). Then he exclaims "You made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet" (verse 6). After quoting the whole of this passage, the Apostle says, "But now we see not yet all things put under him: but we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor" (Hebrews 2:8, 9)—thereby proving that the unlimited power which Christ is now wielding, is the power of God.
"But when He says, All things are put under Him, it is manifest that He is excepted, who did put all things under Him" (1 Corinthians 15:27). When in the 8th Psalm it is said that Jehovah subjected all things to man, it is very obvious that He who should subject them to Him—who gave supremacy to Him, sovereignty over them—does not, in so doing, denude Himself of His own power or authority: that power necessarily remains supreme.
As the Apostle here declares, "it is manifest that He is excepted." And how is it "manifest"? Why, because a delegated authority necessarily implies a supremacy in Him who confers it. The Father will be greater than the Mediator: Christ's kingdom, though in reference to creatures, is supreme, is, in reference to essential Deity, delegated; and this statement is made that it may be obvious that all things are of God.
"And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all" (verse 28). Yet let it be said very emphatically that this subjection of the Son to the Father is no new thing which exclusively characterizes that order of things which shall obtain upon His restoring of the usurped kingdom. No, no—the Father's word to the Son, "Your throne O God, is forever and ever!" (Hebrews 1:8) is not to be rescinded in the eternal state. The subjection of the Son to the Father marks the whole mediatorial economy. "That economy, throughout proceeds on the principle that, while essentially the Son and Spirit are equal with the Father, being one with Him in the economy of grace, They are subordinate to the Father, who sustains the majesty of Divinity. The Father is greater than They. He sends, They come; He appoints, and They execute. All things are of Him by Them" (John Brown).
The principal design of verse 28, then, is to teach us that the present subjection of the Mediator unto the Father will continue after the consummation of His glorious victory. It in nowise signifies that Christ's Divine Person shall withdraw from His humanity, or that as the God-man He will no longer be an Object of worship. On the other hand, the glorified humanity of Christ, notwithstanding all the honor and authority conferred upon it, is but a creature, and in the Eternal State this will be made evident. Let it be said emphatically that verse 28 must not be understood to mean that the Second Person in the Godhead, as such, will, throughout eternity, be under subjection to the First, for on the new earth there is "the throne of God and of the Lamb" (Revelation 22:1). Nevertheless, the man Christ Jesus will yet resign unto the Father His government of the wicked. Verse 28 refers to the re-assumption by God Himself of that power and authority delegated to the Mediator in connection with His rule over His enemies.
Before the ascension of Christ, God reigned as God; since that event, He reigns through the Mediator; when Christ has delivered up the usurped kingdom to the Father, then "God"—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—will be all in all. Yet even then Christ will still be the Head of His Church and reign upon His mediatorial throne. At the conclusion of his exposition of 1 Corinthians 15:24-28 the renowned Puritan, John Owen, said, "I declared that all the state of things which we have described shall then cease, and all things issue in the immediate enjoyment of God Himself. I would extend this no further than as unto that which concerns the exercise of Christ's mediatorial office with respect unto the Church here below and the enemies of it. But there are some things which belong to the essence of this state which shall continue unto all eternity, as:
First, I do believe that the Person of Christ, in and by His human nature, shall be forever the immediate Head of the whole glorified creation.
Second, that He shall be the means and way of communication between God and His glorified saints forever.
Third, that the Person of Christ, and herein His human nature, shall be the eternal Object of Divine glory, praise and worship."
As a concluding summary of what has been before us, we cannot do better than quote from John Brown's "The Resurrection of Life" (through which we have received much help in preparing these two articles) wherein he gives the following analysis of 1 Corinthians 15:24-28. "The passage, thus expounded, teaches us the following principles:
First, that the risen Savior is invested with unlimited power and authority: He 'reigns'—'all things are subjected to Him.'
Second, the design of His being thus invested with unlimited power and authority is, that He may 'restore the kingdom to the Father.'
Third, in restoring the kingdom to the Father, He will 'put down all opposing rule, and authority, and power.'
Fourth, in the accomplishment of this, the destruction of death as an opposing power is necessarily involved.
Fifth, all this is to be accomplished by Divine power, administered by the Son, that the whole glory of the bringing back of the kingdom may be seen to belong, and be ascribed, to Him, 'of whom are all things, and through whom are all things' and to whom, therefore, it is most meet that all things should be—whose glory ought to be the end, as His will is the cause and the law, of the universe."