But each in his own rank [the] first-fruits, Christ; then those that are the Christ's at his coming.
The verse answers a question the rest of the chapter presses: if the dead in Christ rise, when? Paul's answer is not one great rising of everyone at once. It is a sequence with fixed places: Christ first, His own next.
Everything here turns on the word translated "order."
"Each" will be "in his own rank," as it would be better rendered. Each rank will come forth at its appointed time; only "they that are Christ's, at His coming." There is no confusion.
The gap between the first rank and the second is already huge. That raises a question about a later gap.
Christ has risen — the firstfruits. A blessed pledge of certainty! Then "afterward." Who would have thought that 1800 years were in that word "afterward"? At least 1800 years have come between the resurrection of Christ, the Head, and the resurrection of the body — those who are His. May there not, then, be 1000 years between the resurrection of the saved, the first resurrection, and the rest of the dead, who do not live again until the 1000 years are finished? That is certain.
C. Stanley (older translation: "afterward they that are Christ's at his coming")
"Firstfruits" is a harvest word.
This word "firstfruits" has a great deal of meaning in it. It carries us back to the book of Leviticus. There, when the harvest was ripe and before anyone gathered it in, the people had to cut a sheaf and take it to the temple. The priest would wave it before the Lord. And notice the day for waving it — the morning after the Sabbath, the first day of the week. Surely that points forward to the resurrection... The sheaf was only part of the one great harvest. The sheaf of firstfruits and all the other sheaves were much alike. And so it is here.
Verse 22 has just said that all die in Adam and all are made alive in Christ. Verse 23 tells you how far each "all" reaches.
There are two families characterised by their respective heads. The Adam family is all mankind, and they all die. The Christ family is all that are Christ's, and they shall all be made alive — that is, raised... You cannot separate "all" in either case from its representative head. But "all" in Adam's case takes in the whole race, while "all" in the case of Christ must attach to His family alone... So the verse shows plainly that all who are made alive through the Christ are those who are His, and none else.
Christ rose by what He was in Himself. His people rise on another footing.
Countless thousands shall be there, all the elect from the beginning to that moment... Like the earlier resurrection of the firstfruits, it will be a resurrection from the dead, a victorious resurrection. But one thing separates it from the other. This victory over death is not won by this multitude; it is given to them. It is not owed to them, but granted to them in infinite grace... They rise from the dead, or in victory, simply because "they are Christ's," as we read here. He had risen in His day just because He was who He was and what He was. They now rise just as simply, and just as merely, because they are whose they are.
Who is included in this phrase — and what of believers still alive when He comes?
I see no reason to doubt that all the saints who have died will be raised when Christ comes and changes us — the living who remain to the moment of His presence... "They that are Christ's," in 1 Corinthians 15:23, seem to me a class stated in purposely wide terms. The phrase takes in the saints who lived before the church as well as those who make it up. Compare Hebrews 11.
The verse names no third rank of persons. What follows in verse 24 is a point in time, not a class.
Notice that the apostle brings in, not the rising of the wicked dead, but "the end" — when Christ delivers up the kingdom in which He is to come and appear... So the resurrection of the wicked is not stated here, only implied. It does not belong to the blessed life-giving resurrection which is for His own. It belongs to that display of His power which marks His kingdom.
- Rank — the verse sets ranks in a fixed sequence, and each comes forth at its appointed time. There is no confusion, and no single rising of everyone at once.
- First — Christ is the waved sheaf of the harvest law, cut on the first day of the week. The sheaf and the rest of the field are of one kind.
- Family — "all die" covers the whole race, since Adam heads it. "All made alive" covers those who are Christ's, since He heads them, and none else.
- Gift — He rose by what He was; they rise because they are His, a victory not won by them but given to them.
- Reach — the phrase is wide enough to take in believers from before the church, all of them, at His coming — and no rank of the wicked is named here at all.
Then the end, when he gives up the kingdom to him [who is] God and Father; when he shall have annulled all rule and all authority and power.
This verse draws a boundary line: the point where Christ's reign as Man ends and eternity begins. It raises three questions. When is "the end"? Which kingdom does He hand back? And what does the Son lose when He gives up a throne He was given?
It does not mean the close of the present age. Kelly ties the timing to the act: the kingdom Christ hands over is the kingdom in which He judges. So the handover cannot come before the judging is finished.
Far from being a sad closing note, this moment is the target of everything that went before it.
Reference to "the end" in 1 Corinthians 15:24 most surely indicates that to be the great moment which God Himself ever had in view, and to which His eternal purpose, His counsel and His ways have ever pointed.
The chapter is about a Man raised from the dead, and the kingdom in view is one He holds as Man. Darby adds that giving up this rule takes nothing away from who He is.
"Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father" — that is, the kingdom He has received as Man, which the whole chapter is about… "that God may be all in all," not Christ as Mediator. Right now Christ is all in all; but the rule He holds as Mediator will be given up once its purpose is reached… For God as Man to exercise supreme rule and jurisdiction adds nothing to His Godhead; His giving it up takes nothing from it.
He never held the throne for Himself. The reign is service with a set purpose, and that is why it comes to an end.
The special kingdom put into His hands as Man is to be handed back. In fact, He takes it only to bring everything into subjection to God… It is not for eternity; it is not even for a long stretch of time… The One who takes it is, through it all, the Servant, as He always was. He takes it, not for His own glory, but for the Father's glory.
Bellett points to a King no one removes — and who alone can answer for what He was given.
He can give an account of His stewardship, even though He turns out to be the only One who has ever been able to answer such a challenge. No one will take the Kingdom from Him. He will "deliver it up" as One who has been infinitely faithful — faithful down to the last detail — to Him who appointed Him.
And what He returns is better than what He received.
He receives the kingdom from God (Luke 19:12), and after ruling it for a thousand years He hands it back to God (1 Cor. 15:24) — not only in the perfection in which He received it, but with greater glory.
The three words are not a vague sweep. Davison gives each one a face, and puts them in order.
Rule here would be that of the kings of the earth. Authority would be that of Satan. And power would be the power of death. Christ will deal with them in that order… He brings in that kingdom to carry out the reconciliation of all things. When that is done, at the end of His reign, He will hand that authority back to God.
Handing the kingdom to "God the Father" does not narrow the scene to one Person. And it does not end righteousness — it ends the need to enforce it.
The purpose is that God — not the Father alone, but Father, Son and Holy Spirit — should be all in all, in place of the kingdom of man in Christ exalted and reigning… First, man in Christ governs everything; then, at the last, God is all in all, where righteousness does not need to rule, but can dwell in endless blessing and peace.
For anyone worn down by the world as it stands, the opening words of the verse carry the weight.
"THEN COMES THE END." Hallelujah! The end of sin and sorrow, of blood and tears, of pain and death, of loss and loneliness, of sickness and isolation… the end of unjust power on the throne while righteousness sits persecuted and in prison.
- Received — the kingdom is one Christ takes as Man, a trust placed in His hands, not something added to His Godhead.
- Used — He holds it to clear the field: earthly rule, then Satan's authority, then death's power, in that order.
- Returned — no one removes Him; He hands it back as the one steward who was faithful, and hands it back improved.
- Timed — "the end" is absolute. It comes after all judging is done, at the line where the reign closes and eternity begins.
- Result — God all in all. Father, Son and Spirit fill everything, and righteousness no longer has to rule; it dwells in endless peace.
For he must reign until he put all enemies under his feet.
Paul has just spoken of Christ handing the kingdom back to God the Father. Here he says why the kingdom must first run its course, and that raises two questions: has this reign begun, and how can it end?
The wording here comes from the Psalms. One writer warns us not to mix up the two psalms Paul uses.
We must carefully distinguish the words of the two psalms applied to Him in verses 25 and 27: verse 25 uses Psalm 110, verse 27 uses Psalm 8. In Psalm 8, God subjected all things to the Son of Man, once humbled, now risen. This takes in the whole universe as put under Christ, so completely that God alone is left out. But in Psalm 110, the glorified Messiah sits on the throne on high until Jehovah makes Messiah's enemies His footstool. He is waiting until that moment. Then Jehovah will send out the rod of Messiah's strength from Zion, and He will rule among His enemies.
Does this reign begin at the resurrection, or is it still ahead? One writer answers by asking what Christ is doing right now.
On 1 Cor. 15:25 one need say little; for it is agreed that the verse speaks of Christ reigning. But not a word implies that it "has already begun." The verse does imply that God will have set Christ's enemies as a footstool for His feet to trample down. Is anyone seriously arguing that Christ is subduing His enemies now, as He will when the kingdom comes? As to actually defeating them, He is quiet now. All His activity is grace: converting foes and feeding His friends. This is so because the members of His body, the church, are not yet complete... But the reigning is when the power given to Him is in full and public operation before the universe.
Some read the subduing of enemies as their gradual conversion. One writer says that reading empties the words of meaning.
He reigns, says the apostle — until when? "Until He has put all His enemies under His feet." Is that conversion? If it is, words have no meaning. No; power subjects those whom grace could not subdue.
The word "until" sets a limit. Christ takes the kingdom for one aim, and gives it up when that aim is reached.
The special kingdom put into His hands as Man is to be delivered up. In fact, He takes it only for the purpose of bringing everything into subjection to God. What He taught His disciples to pray — that the Father's kingdom might come — is what He accomplishes in power by taking the kingdom Himself. It is not for eternity, it is not even for a long period of time... The One who takes it is, in it all, the Minister, as He ever was. He takes it, not for His own glory, but for the Father's glory. God must indeed honor the One who has glorified Him, and will put every enemy under His feet. That is right and necessary.
Because this reign closes, some fear the verse lowers Christ. One writer answers that the kingdom He gives up is one He holds as man, and that giving it up changes nothing in who He is.
The man Christ will subject all things and set all in order. Then He will yield up the kingdom to the Father, and God will be all in all. Giving up the kingdom makes no change in His divinity — note this carefully. Up to that time man had held the kingdom according to the counsels of God. This mediatorial kingdom comes to an end. Christ is neither more nor less God. He was God on the earth and in His humiliation. He will be so in the glory of the kingdom which He will hold as man.
Christ Himself is waiting. Believers wait with Him, though not in the same conditions.
Hebrews 10:12-13 also teaches that Christ is seated at the right hand of God, waiting until His enemies are made His footstool. We may well wait if Christ is waiting; but we wait in suffering and conflict. He is waiting to reign. Then He will cause full blessing to flow out for His own, whether in heaven or on earth, and He will banish evil from both.
- Seated — Christ is at God's right hand now, waiting; the reign of this verse has not yet started in public power.
- Sent — When the moment comes, He rises to rule. Power puts down the enemies that grace did not win.
- Scope — The subjection reaches the whole universe. God alone stands outside it.
- Surrendered — He takes the kingdom for the Father's glory, not His own. When all is subject to God, He hands it back.
- Same — Giving up that kingdom alters nothing in Him: He was God in humiliation, God in the kingdom, God for ever.
[The] last enemy [that] is annulled [is] death.
Paul is tracing the order of Christ's reign. In the middle of that list of beaten powers he names one that still stands: death. Calling it "the last enemy" raises two questions. Why is death an enemy at all? And why does God leave it standing until the very end?
Most people treat dying as simply part of life. The verse calls it an enemy. One writer describes it as a fortress no human power has ever taken:
Death is the last great enemy to be destroyed. No one has ever been able to stand against it — not the wisest, not the greatest, not the most powerful of men. No man of science has ever found a cure for it. It stood there from the day Adam fell, like a fortress of the enemy's power that no one could storm. Then the Lord Jesus Christ died. By His death He set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death.
The word "last" marks a place in a sequence. It does not fix the date of any believer's death. One commentator sets out three separate victories over death:
Death is not the last enemy "to each individual soldier of Christ," for Scripture plainly says, "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed." But death is the last enemy in the order of God's dealings, which is how the words were meant to be read. There are three stages here. First, the conquest over death at Christ's resurrection, when life and incorruptibility were brought to light through the gospel. Second, the conquest over death at the resurrection of Christ's people at His coming, before the reign. Third, the annihilation of death at the end of that reign, when He shall have put all enemies under His feet.
Later in the same chapter Paul says death is swallowed up in victory. One writer argues that swallowing death up is not the same event as destroying it, and draws a picture:
Picture an enemy who has long had the upper hand. He has laid his cruel grip on the rightful subjects of some great prince. Then the prince's armies swallow him up in victory and set all his captives free. Even so, the prince may spare the tyrant's life. He may leave him alive to serve as jailer to the prince's enemies. That is just how it is here. Death has held the bodies of God's beloved people in his grip. At the coming of the Lord, the Prince of life, death will have to give up every captive... Still, death is not destroyed. For a thousand years longer it is the jailer of those who lived and died in sin.
So when does death itself finally fall? One writer points to the moment when death gives up its dead:
He reigns, says the apostle — until when? "Till He has put all enemies under His feet." Does that mean His enemies are converted? If it does, words have no meaning. No; He is subduing by power those who would not yield to grace. Death is among these enemies, and "death, the last enemy, shall be destroyed." When? When death and hell (hades), having delivered up their dead, shall be cast into the lake of fire.
The destruction of death is still future. But one writer says the believer's account with death is already closed, and that death now works only under God's hand:
No enemy of God escapes destruction, and this general destroyer is destroyed last. For the believer, both death and sin, which causes it, are already at an end... When Jesus Christ rose from the dead, He claimed His victorious title as the Captain of Salvation. By dying once for all to sin, He had abolished death and destroyed the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil! While people are still mortal, this enemy is still in force — but only as an instrument in the hand of the Lord of the living and the dead.
Because the title is already won, the Christian can look at the same enemy and give it a different name:
Death will make a glorious change for a believer. It is only crossing the Dead Sea, and he will be with Christ... Though death is a bitter cup, there is sugar at the bottom. The flesh calls death the last enemy (1 Cor. 15:26), but faith calls it the best friend. It brings a man to Christ, which is far better.
- Enemy — Death is not nature's arrangement. It is a hostile power. It has stood since Adam's fall, a fortress no man has ever taken.
- Last — The word marks a place in a sequence, not a personal timetable. Some believers will never die at all, for not all will sleep.
- Stages — Three conquests, not one. Christ rose first. His people rise at His coming. Death itself is annihilated at the close of His reign.
- Destroyed — The final blow falls when death and hades give up their dead and go into the lake of fire. Power subdues what grace could not win.
- Friend — Since Christ has already won the victory, the enemy the flesh dreads is the friend faith uses to reach Christ.