Greetings! Welcome back to our study of the Doctrine of the Resurrection of the Dead. This is our fourth post on the study of the Resurrection of the Dead. In the last post, we began our study of what the apostle Paul had to say about the resurrection of the dead. This post is a continuation of his teaching of the resurrection of the dead. Let’s continue…

THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD

Fourth in a Five-Part Series
By Karen Thompson

PAUL’S TEACHING ON THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD

The King of Kings and His Millennial Reign

24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. (1 Cor. 15:24–25 NIV)

The next verses are interesting in that they jump from the apostle Paul’s time to a couple thousand years into the future. Verse 24 starts out with Paul saying, “Then the end will come.” The end he’s talking about is the end of Christ’s millennial reign. At this point, Paul begins to teach about Christ’s millennial reign on the earth. And it seems like he stopped teaching about the resurrection of the dead and took a side trail teaching about how Christ will rule and reign. But don’t let it throw you off. He’s taking this path to get to a certain point about death. 

Verse 24 goes on to describe what happens at the end of Christ’s thousand-year reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords: “when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.” First, the “he” being talked about is, of course, Jesus Christ. Second, at the end of Jesus’ thousand-year reign, He will hand over the kingdom of men to God the Father. But before He hands over the kingdom to God the Father, the last part of verse 24 tells us what Jesus must accomplish during His millennial reign. At the end of the thousand years, the task He must accomplish is “to destroy all dominion, authority, and power.” As King of Kings, Jesus will be commissioned to bring the nations under His rule, and He will have a thousand years to get it done.

To get a clear understanding of the monumental task at hand, you must realize what condition the earth will be in at the beginning of His reign. Even though Satan will be locked away in the bottomless pit for the entire length of Jesus’ millennial reign, that doesn’t mean there will be “peace on earth and good will toward man.” Mankind doesn’t need the influence of Satan to sin, to get angry, to fight, and to lust after power and control. So even though Satan will be locked up, the nations will still be in turmoil.

The book of Revelation reveals the state of the nations at the time of the tribulation: “The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come” (Rev. 11:18). The phrase, “the nations were angry,” means they are at war with each other. The result will be untold death and destruction at their hands, provoking God to wrath. God will pour out His wrath on the nations, “to destroy those who destroy the earth” (Rev. 11:18). Christians refer to the outpouring of God’s wrath on the nations in the last days as the “tribulation.” At the end of this time, Jesus will return.

The first thing Jesus will do at His Second Coming will be to wrest the Jewish people out from under the control of the Antichrist. Jesus will destroy Antichrist in the battle of Armageddon, setting free the Jewish people. After that, Jesus will set up His government and begin His millennial reign. Many people have the wrong idea that everything on earth will be Shangri-La when Jesus rules the nations. But that will not be the case. Not at first anyway. As you could imagine, the nations will still be engulfed with war upon His arrival. His commission will be to bring these warring nations under His control and to bring an end to the strife among them.

Psalms chapter two tells us what the attitude of the nations will be toward Jesus and His rule. The entire chapter is about the Messiah’s triumph and the kingdom He will inherit from God: “The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel’” (Psalms 2:7–9 NKJV). In these verses, we see God the Father giving Jesus all the nations of the earth as His inheritance to possess. But due to the many years of wars, many of the nations will be in a state of ruin and destruction, still having a warlike mentality and in a state of rebellion. All this makes His inheritance not seem so great. Jesus has to turn the kingdom of men, a colossal mess, into something worth handing over to God the Father at the end of His thousand-year reign.

The first couple verses of Psalms chapter two reveal the state of the nations. They will not want to be under the rule of Jesus: “Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.” (Ps. 2:1–3 NKJV)

When Jesus comes to take the reins of control, the nations will stop fighting each other and join together to fight against the King of Kings. Let’s look at these verses, phrase by phrase. Verse one says, “Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing?” The nations are enraged and are making plots. The first part of verse two tells us who the angry plotters are: “The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together.” It will be the kings and rulers of these warring nations who are in a rage and are plotting together.

The rest of verse two tells us who they are angry at: “against the Lord and against His Anointed.” They will be directing their anger at God and “His anointed,” which is Jesus, King of Kings. Then verse three tells us why they are angry at God and His anointed: “Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.” All these rebellious and lawless nations will buck against the authority of the King of Kings who will put them in “bonds” and “cords.” Bonds and cords are symbolic of Jesus bringing an end to their endless wars and fighting, to clamp down on their nefarious activities. Their plots will be for the purpose of escaping the control of the King of Kings. They will resist His power over them.

There is one other thing I want to draw your attention to in verse one: “Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing?” The Lord says their plotting is a “vain” thing. The word vain means something that is “ineffectual or unsuccessful; futile: vain hopes; a vain effort; a vain war.” ¹

No matter how enraged these kings and rulers are or however many plots they devise, they will not be able to break out from under Messiah’s control. Psalms 2:9 tells us why: “You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Jesus will rule over them with a rod of iron. The “rod of iron” being described as the weapon Jesus will use to keep these rebellious leaders in line symbolizes His calling as a shepherd. The rod of iron was the shepherd’s weapon he used as a means of defending his flock from every kind of enemy. Jesus is the Good Shepherd. In John 10:11, He described Himself as such: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep” (NKJV). With His rod of iron, He will break the power of these plotting kings and rulers like a “potter’s vessel,” meaning a clay pot. Protecting His flock with His rod of iron, He will bring to an end their endless wars, bringing an end to death and destruction. The book of Revelation gives us a powerful and mighty picture of Jesus returning with His army to rule the nations with a rod of iron: 

11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.  (Rev. 19:11–16 KJV)  

Death Is the Last Enemy

26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. (1 Cor. 15:26 NIV)

Now we come to the reason why Paul began to teach about Jesus and His millennial reign. Verse 26 says, “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” This verse says death is an enemy, yet, nobody really looks at death as an “enemy.” Death and dying are just part of nature. Death comes to everyone. Isn’t that what they say? Death came to mankind because of Adam’s disobedience. Now this verse of scripture is saying death will be destroyed! Death has been the experience of all of mankind since… forever. As a result, it’s looked upon as just part of life. It’s become normalized. But that’s not what God intended.

The Ultimate Goal Is So That “God May Be All in All”

27 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. 28 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 Cor. 15:27–28 NIV)

After Jesus has destroyed “all dominion, authority and power” and has successfully “put all His enemies under His feet,” the last enemy, death, will be destroyed. When that happens, Jesus hands over the kingdom of men to God the Father. And after that, there is no more death. The book of Revelation confirms to us that death is, indeed, the very last enemy to be destroyed. Death is destroyed by the lake of fire: “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:14 KJV). In the book of Revelation, we see death is the last thing that is thrown into the lake of fire; when that happens, the kingdom of God will come down to earth. 

Now let’s look verses 27–28: “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.”

In these verses, Paul clarifies what he meant when he said Jesus “has put everything under His feet.” Teachers and preachers alike will tell you that no matter how carefully they teach about something, there will be somebody who will misunderstand what they’re trying to say. For that reason, Paul wanted to make sure no one misunderstood what he was trying to say. He wanted to clarify that “everything” did not include God the Father. After the 1,000 years, Jesus will hand over the kingdom to God the Father, after which Jesus Himself will be subject to God.

The ultimate goal and purpose is “so that God may be all in all.” God will become our “all and all and our everything.” The Amplified says, “so that God may be all in all [be everything to everyone, supreme, the indwelling and controlling factor of life].”

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