1 Corinthians 15:25 - Printer Friendly

ESV: For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

NIV: For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

NASB: For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.

CSB: For he must reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet.

NLT: For Christ must reign until he humbles all his enemies beneath his feet.

KJV: For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

NKJV: For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.

Paul is sketching out, with very little detail, the events that will be set in motion during what Christians often call the "end times." First, when Christ returns, all who belong to Him will be physically resurrected from the dead, which is Paul's larger point in this passage.

Paul has added though that, after that incredible moment, Jesus will dethrone every rulership, power, and authority on earth to take full control of the world as His own kingdom, which He will immediately hand over to the Father. Now Paul emphasizes that Jesus will not hand it over to the Father until He has "put all of his enemies under his feet" or defeated them absolutely and irrevocably. Until that moment, Christ Himself will reign.

The separate roles of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the Trinity are difficult to comprehend. All are one as God, and yet they maintain separate enough identities that Christ the Son will reign until He delivers what He has conquered to the Father.

First Corinthians 15:12–34 describes all the implications for Christians if there is no resurrection, at all. Most importantly, that would mean that Christ was not raised from the dead. If Christ was not raised, then Paul's preaching of the gospel was false, and the faith of those who believed it was worthless. All remain in their sins. Christ, though, was raised from the dead, and when He returns for those who are His, all who have died in Christ will be resurrected to new life, as He was after the crucifixion. Finally, Christ will reign on earth before delivering the kingdom to the Father.

Paul provides thorough teaching about the resurrection of Christians from the dead. This is a direct counter to some group of Corinthians who did not believe in such a resurrection. He shows that natural death is not the end of life for Christians; it is the last step before receiving a glorified, resurrected body like that of the risen Christ. That ''spiritual'' body will be as different from our current bodies as a star is from a fish. In that moment, for all who have believed in Christ, living and dead, death will be defeated for good.

In chapters 12, 13, and 14, Scripture focused on the concept of spiritual gifts and how best to use them. This follows several other ideas where Paul corrected errors in the Corinthians' thinking. Chapter 15 contains extensive teaching on one last issue about which some Corinthians were confused or misled. Apparently, they harbored some doubts about the physical resurrection of Christians from the dead. After clearing up these confusions, Paul will address various other items, of a less doctrinal nature, and close out his letter.

First Corinthians is one of the more practical books of the New Testament. Paul writes to a church immersed in a city associated with trade, but also with corruption and immorality. These believers are struggling to properly apply spiritual gifts and to resist the ungodly practices of the surrounding culture. Paul's letter gives instructions for real-life concerns such as marriage and spirituality. He also deals with the importance of unity and gives one of the Bible's more well-known descriptions of love in chapter 13.

Accessed 5/4/2024 3:41:28 AM