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.