Lessons #551 and 552
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New American Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
+ 4. Text is based on 1984 edition of the NIV +
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Resurrection Related Matters (1 Cor 15:20-28)
…25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 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.
Recall the message of this section of 1 Corinthians 15:20-28 that we have been considering for some time is that Christ’s resurrection ensures orderly future resurrection and successful conclusion of God’s plan in relationship to creation. In our last study, we focused on Apostle Paul’s quotation from the eighth chapter of Psalms to support the basis or his explanation regarding the activities of Christ that will terminate human history in keeping with God’s plan. Specifically, the apostle quoted Psalm 8:6 (English Bible, verse 7 in the Septuagint) with a slight modification of the Septuagint as in the clause of 1 Corinthians 15:27 For he “has put everything under his feet.” We started to consider the apostle’s further explanation of this first clause in the second clause Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, but we ran out of time. So, it is with this clause we begin our study this morning.
The apostle wanted to ensure that there is no misunderstanding of the word “everything” in the first clause of 1 Corinthians 15:27 that he went on to elaborate what he meant in a contrasting manner what he did not mean when he used the word “everything.” Of course, in our last study, we had interpreted the word “everything” in the first clause of the verse as a reference to all created beings – humans and supernatural. Our interpretation is bolstered by what the apostle wrote in the sentence of 1 Corinthians 15:27 it is clear that this does not include God himself who put everything under Christ. Literally, the Greek reads (it is) clear that (it is) except the (one) having subjected everything to him. This is due to the Greek words used.
The expression this does not include is the way the translators rendered a Greek preposition (ektos) used that may mean “outside” in the sense of the outside surface of something as in the case of cup and dish Jesus referenced in denouncing the Pharisees for hypocrisy in Matthew 23:26:
Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
The word may mean “outside” in the sense of a position not contained within a specific area as it is used of Apostle Paul’s out of body experience, he described in third person in 2 Corinthians 12:2:
I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows.
The word may mean “except” or “unless” as it is used to provide guidance to Timothy and so all pastors regarding proper response to an accusation against an elder in 1 Timothy 5:19:
Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 15:27, the word means “except” as a marker of exception.
The exception to the word “everything” used in the first clause of 1 Corinthians 15:27 For he “has put everything under his feet” is given in the NIV in the clause of 1 Corinthians 15:27 God himself, who put everything under Christ while the literal Greek reads the (one) having subjected everything to him so immediately it is evident that the word God does not appear in the Greek Text but added in the NIV and such other English versions as the NCV and the TEV.
Anyway, the word “put” or literally “subjected” is translated from a Greek word (hypotassō) that literally means “to order oneself under a leader” and so means “to submit” although such a meaning is not always communicative in many contexts of the Scripture. The Greek word has a range of meanings that fit a given context. We examined this word in our last study but for completeness, I will review briefly what we studied about it. The word may mean “to obey” when there is the concept of authority involved. In other words, the meaning “to obey” can be used in all passages where our Greek word appears that involve authority figure. Let me give you examples to substantiate this statement. The word is used in describing the relationship of Jesus to His parents in Luke 2:51:
Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.
The verbal phrase was obedient to them is more literally was submitting to them. The translators of the NIV correctly captured the meaning of our Greek word as meaning “to obey” since that is the way to understand a child being submissive to the parents. The word is used to describe the relationship that should exist between the Corinthians and Stephanas, the first convert in Achaia, who is presumed to be a spiritual leader according to 1 Corinthians 16:16:
to submit to such as these and to everyone who joins in the work, and labors at it.
The apostle meant that believers in Corinth should obey him and other spiritual leaders as they are those described in the clause such as these and to everyone who joins in the work. The examples we cited where our Greek word is used to describe the relationship of a subject to an authority figure reveals that whenever that is the case, the meaning of our Greek word that is translated “to submit” should be understood to mean “to obey.” The word may mean “to place” as Apostle Paul used it to communicate that everything is under the control of Jesus Christ in Ephesians 1:22:
And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church.
The word God does not appear in the Greek text, but it is added by translators for clarity since the Greek reads and He placed all things under His feet. While there is nothing wrong with inserting the word God, but it is probably better to use the phrase God the Father to indicate that the member of the Godhead that is the focus in this passage is God the Father, given that He is the One the apostle addressed his prayer as reflected in Ephesians 1:17:
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
The Greek word may mean “to put” as it is used in the quotation from the eighth chapter of psalm by the human author of Hebrews in support of the superiority of Jesus over angels as stated in Hebrews 2:8:
and put everything under his feet.” In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him.
Again, the word God does not appear in the Greek of this verse, but its insertion is based on what is stated in Hebrews 2:4:
God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 15:27, the word has the sense of “to subjugate,” that is, “to cause to be in a submissive relationship” or “to bring something under the firm control of someone.”
The question is who does the apostle mean when he wrote literally in 1 Corinthians 15:27 the (one) having subjected everything to him or in the NIV who put everything under Christ? The answer is that it is a reference to God the Father. There are at least two reasons for this answer. First, Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry either referred to the fact that God the Father put everything under Him, or the Holy Spirit communicated to us about Jesus’ thought regarding this matter. Matthew records an account where Jesus Christ asserted that all things have been committed to Him by His Father in Matthew 11:27:
“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
This passage in Matthew is a direct assertion of the fact that the Father had committed all things to the Lord Jesus but there are instances where the Holy Spirit through human authors asserted this fact. The Holy Spirit directed Apostle John to write what was in the mind of Christ as He approached the last supper with His disciples. The thought of Jesus Christ was revealed in what Apostle John wrote in John 13:3:
Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God.
Notice what John wrote Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power. There is no way that John would have known what was in the mind of Jesus Christ unless the Holy Spirit revealed that to him. It is for this reason we believe that the Holy Spirit revealed to John that Jesus was aware that the Father had put all things under His power or control. This same thing happened with Apostle Paul when the Holy Spirit directed him to write what is recorded in a passage we previously referenced, that is, in Ephesians 1:22:
And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church.
Let me repeat that the word God does not appear in the Greek text, but it is added by translators for clarity since the Greek reads and He placed all things under His feet. We have already commented on this verse previously to indicate that it is better to use the phrase “God the Father” instead of “God.” The second reason for interpreting the expression who put everything under or the literal expression having subjected of 1 Corinthians 15:27 as God the Father is that the context demands such interpretation. The apostle had already stated that the Son would eventually hand over authority related to Christ’s redemptive work to God the Father in 1 Corinthians 15:24:
Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.
Hence it makes sense that the One that subjected everything under Christ is God the Father.
By way, the literal expression the (one) having subjected everything to him is rendered in the NIV as God himself, who put everything under Christ. The NIV is explicit in that instead of the pronoun “him” used in the literal translation, the translators put the word “Christ.” This interpretation is correct based on the context, but this interpretation argues for not using the phrase God himself in the clause God himself, who put everything under Christ.
Many of our English versions reflect the use of the phrase God himself in the clause God himself, who put everything under Christ in their translations. However, the literal Greek as we have indicated reads the (one) having subjected everything to him. We argued that once the pronoun “him” is correctly interpreted as a reference to Christ then the phrase God himself should not be used because it could cause problem for the English reader as to how God and Christ are related. There are several reasons we contend that the word “God” should not be used in the clause.
First, the word “God” when used in the NT may refer to the three members of the Godhead although that may not be explicitly stated but may be inferred from the NT Scripture. Take for example, we read of God giving life in Romans 4:17:
As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.
God in this passage could refer to all three members of the Godhead because each member of the Godhead is said to give life. God the Father is said to give life as implied in John 5:21:
For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.
The Lord Jesus as the bread of God is said to give life as we may gather from John 6:33:
For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
A person may argue that Jesus Christ is said to give life to the world, but the “world” refers to human beings that are on the planet earth not the planet itself. Besides, the Lord Jesus asserted that He gives eternal life as we read in John 10:28:
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
The Holy Spirit is said to give life according to John 6:63:
The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.
The Holy Spirit giving life is also implied in 2 Corinthians 3:6:
He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
Take another example of where the word “God” is used that although not explicitly, may be understood as a reference to the three members of the Godhead as it pertains to resurrection of Christ as in 1 Corinthians 15:15:
More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised.
God the Father is said to raise Jesus Christ from the dead in Galatians 1:1:
Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—
Jesus Christ is involved in His resurrection as He stated prior to dying on the cross according to John 10:17:
The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again.
The Holy Spirit is said to resurrect Jesus Christ as conveyed in 1 Peter 3:18:
For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit.
So, the use of the word “God” in some contexts may refer to the three members of the Godhead.
Second, in some context, God may refer to God the Father either directly stated or implied. Take the example of Jesus Christ praying to God prior to the choosing of the twelve apostles as we may read in Luke 6:12:
One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.
It is difficult to understand who is meant by God here without referring to the priestly prayer of Jesus Christ where it is clear that He directed His prayer to God the Father as we may gather from the record of John 17:1–2:
1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.
Take another example, Jesus is stated to be at the right hand of God as He intercedes for us according to Romans 8:34:
Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
God here refers to God the Father as we may conclude from what the Holy Spirit stated through Apostle Paul as he penned in Ephesians 1:20:
which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms.
The phrase at his right hand is a refence to God the Father as we may gather from Ephesians 1:17:
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
By the way the phrase God of our Lord Jesus Christ is the way the apostle stated the deity of Jesus Christ. For detailed explanation of this phrase, you may go to Berean Bible Church website and listen to lessons #29 and 30 of Ephesians study. Anyway, the point is that God in some passages although not directly stated may refer to God the Father.
Third, God in certain passages may be a reference to Jesus Christ either directly stated or can be shown to be true by considering the grammatical construction involved in the passage. There are passages where God is clearly identified as Christ. Apostle Paul indicated that God he meant as he discoursed on the privileges of Israel is Jesus Christ as we read in Romans 9:5:
Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.
The same direct assertion is made in Titus 2:13:
while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
However, there are several passages where it is implied that Christ is God applying a Greek grammar rule known as the Granville Sharp Rule. This rule is a grammatical maxim stating that when two or more personal, singular nouns that are not proper names are joined by a Greek word καί that translates into “and” in the English and governed by a single article, they refer to the same person. Application of this rule in several passages enable us to assert that God in some passages may be a reference to Jesus Christ. Let me illustrate from several passage of the Greek NT. Apostle Paul gives a charge to Timothy regarding the preaching of God’s word as stated in 2 Timothy 4:1:
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge:
In the Greek there is a definite article before the word God and the word “God” is joined to the word Christ with the Greek word that may be translated “and” in the English. Thus, applying the Granville Sharp rule indicates that God refers to Christ so that the phrase In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus may be translated In the presence of God, that is, of Christ Jesus. This being the case God here refers to Christ since He is the One that is responsible for all judgment as stated in John 5:22:
Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son.
Peter in the greeting of his second epistle writes 2 Peter 1:2:
Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
The phrase the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord is literally in the Greek the knowledge of the God and of Jesus our Lord. The literal translation fits the Granville Sharp rule because of the word “Lord” that qualifies “Jesus” so that the phrase the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord may be translated the knowledge of God, that is, of Jesus our Lord to convey that the knowledge of God in view is the knowledge of Jesus our Savior. There is a passage that although does not fit the Granville Sharp rule, but the Greek conjunction (kai) used translated “and” lends to the interpretation similar to the rule. I am referring to James who in the introduction of his epistle writes in James 1:1:
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.
The phrase a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ is literally in the Greek a slave of God and of Lord Jesus Christ. The Greek conjunction translated “and” is sometimes used for explanation and so may be translated “that is.” This meaning fits well in the literal phrase a slave of God and of Lord Jesus Christ so that it may then read a slave of God, that is, of Lord Jesus Christ. This interpretation makes sense in that James who did not believe in Jesus prior to His death on the cross would have later recognized that He is God after He appeared to Him following His resurrection. Thus, we see from the examples we have cited that the word “God” may be used as a reference to Jesus Christ.
Fourth, the word “God” when used in certain passages may be a reference to the Holy Spirit. A good example of where the word “God” may refer to the Holy Spirit is what Peter said as he preached the gospel to those who witnessed the miracle of God healing a crippled man through him. Peter explained the miracle and, in the process, stated what is recorded in Acts 3:18:
But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer.
The sentence he had foretold through all the prophets implies prophecy. The Holy Spirit is usually the member of the Godhead involved in prophecy as we may gather from 1 Peter 1:10–11:
10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.
Of course, there is no mention of Holy Spirit in this passage in 1 Peter so one may wonder why we said that Holy Spirit is concerned with prophecy in this passage. The concept of Holy Spirit is given in the clause which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ. The One responsible for prophecy regarding the suffering of Christ is described in the phrase the Spirit of Christ. This phrase refers to the Holy Spirit. We can prove that easily by noting what is written in Acts 16:6–8:
6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.
In verse 6, it is the Holy Spirit that kept Apostle Paul and his apostolic team from entering the province of Asia but in verse 7 it is the Spirit of Jesus that kept them from entering Bithynia, a region in Asia. Hence, it is clear that Holy Spirit is the same as the Spirit of Jesus or the Spirit of Christ used in 1 Peter 1:11. Another example of where “God” refers to the Holy Spirit is in the judgement Apostle Peter pronounced on Ananias for lying to the apostles that was interpreted first as lying to the Holy Spirit that is then described as God in Acts 5:3–4:
3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.”
Anyhow, the point is that the word “God” in certain passages may refer to God the Holy Spirit.
Fifth, when the word “God” is used with “Christ or Jesus,” the writers of the NT epistles often qualified the word “God” if two different members of the Godhead are in view. So, Apostle Paul qualified “God” with the word “Father” in his greetings to believers in Rome since there is also a reference to the Lord Jesus as recorded in Romans 1:7:
To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Peter did the same in the introduction of his epistle as we read in 1 Peter 1:3:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Apostle John followed the same approach in his greeting to the recipient of his epistle as we may gather from 2 John 3:
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.
Jude kept to the same pattern of describing God with the word “Father” to distinguish the first member of the Godhead from the second in the introduction his epistle according to Jude 1:
Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ:
Thus, it should be clear that most often when God is used with Jesus Christ that there is usually a qualifier that differentiates the two members of the Godhead.
Sixth, the phrase of 1 Corinthians 15:27 God himself actually appears only once in the Greek NT, that is, in 1 Thessalonians 5:23:
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Unlike in the NIV of 1 Corinthians 15:27, the word “God” indeed appears in the Greek text of this verse. However, the word “God” here is subject to two possible interpretations. The word “God” in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 could refer to God the Holy Spirit since He is often associated with sanctification. This we may learn from sanctification work being associated with the Holy Spirit in 2 Thessalonians 2:13:
But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
The phrase through the sanctifying work of the Spirit is literally by the sanctification of the Spirit. Apostle Paul also referred to the Holy Spirit being involved in the sanctifying of Gentile believers as stated in Romans 15:16:
to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
Hence, “God” in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 may refer to the Holy Spirit. But it could also refer to God the Father. This is because of the priestly prayer of Jesus Christ that was addressed to God the Father involved a petition for Him to sanctify believers as recorded in John 17:17:
Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
Anyhow, we can see that the clear passage in the Greek NT where the phrase of 1 Corinthians 15:27 God himself actually occurred that God may refer either to God the Holy Spirit or God the Father as we have demonstrated.
Seventh, the functional relationship between the Father and the two other members of the Godhead as it pertains our redemption requires the interpretation that the One who subjected everything under Christ is God the Father. The Lord Jesus stated that the Father is greater than He as recorded in John 14:28:
“You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.
Some use this passage to deny the deity of Christ without paying close attention to the context of the gospel of John that helps in understanding what Jesus Christ meant in asserting that the Father is greater than He. The Lord did not mean greater in essence or authority as God, for if that was the case, He would not demand that the same honor given to the Father should be given to Him according to John 5:23:
that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
This aside, to understand what Jesus Christ meant by stating that the Father is greater than He, one has to remember His statement recorded in John 13:16:
I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
Jesus Christ was sent by the Father as He declared in record of John 12:49:
For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it.
Thus, when Jesus Christ stated that the Father is greater than He, He was speaking of the functional relationship between Him, and the Father since the Father sent Him. So, the Father is greater in the sense that He sent the Son. This same functional relationship is evident in the sending of the Holy Spirit who is said to be sent by the Father as the Lord Jesus promised in John 14:26:
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
The Lord Jesus also promised to send the Holy Spirit as we read in John 15:26:
“When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.
Thus, in functional relationship the Son will be greater than the Holy Spirit although that is not stated anywhere but implied by declaration of Jesus Christ in His functional relationship to the Father. This being the case, it would be proper to exclude the Holy Spirit as the member of the Godhead that put everything under the control of Jesus Christ.
The reasons or facts we have given support our assertion that it would be improper to use the word “God” as used in sentence of 1 Corinthians 15:27 it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. It is best to translate the sentence in such a way to reflect the literal translation. Such translation as used, for example, in the NET that reads 1 Corinthians 15:27 as it is clear that this does not include the one who put everything in subjection to him. If one wants to replace the phrase the one who with an interpretative translation, it is best then to use the word “God the Father” as that is better supported by the context. Of course, no English version that I consulted followed this.
In any case, the apostle having stated the exception to what is put under the authority of Christ presents a contrasting statement that makes clear of the exception he had in mind. This we assert because the Greek of 1 Corinthians 15:28 used as part of the beginning phrase of the verse, a Greek conjunction (de) not translated in the NIV that may be used to connect one clause to another, either to express contrast or simple continuation but in certain occurrences the marker may be left untranslated. Although it is often translated “but” in the English when there is a perceived contrast between two clauses, but it has other meanings such as “now,” “then,” “and,” “so” when it is used to link segments of a narrative. It can also be used to indicate transition to something new or to resume a discourse after an interruption. In the verse we are considering, it is used as a marker of contrast meaning that what follows in verse 28 contrasts what preceded it in verse 27. In other words, in contrast to the One who subjected everything under Christ, it is Christ who would be concerned with subjugation as will be explained in the verse we are considering.
Having introduced the concept of contrast, the apostle then tells us what would happen the time when Christ completes His work of subjecting everything under Him. He begins, of course, by asserting what will precede the final action related to Christ in His redemptive capacity in the clause of 1 Corinthians 15:28 When he has done this. This clause refers to the completion of all things being subjected to Christ since literally the Greek reads when all things are subjected to him. Thus, the apostle described the last action of Christ that must take place before the final event that concludes human history especially in connection with salvation history.
The last event is Christ relinquishing to God the Father His authority related to redemption work. It is this that is given in the clause of 1 Corinthians 15:28 then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him. This clause has also been used by some to deny the deity of Christ but that could not be if one understands what we have already considered as to why the word “God” should not be used in verse 27.
In any case, the word “Son” conveys the concept of the uniqueness of Christ as both human and God. You see, the word “Son” is translated from a Greek word (huios) that has a range of meanings or usages in the Greek. The word may refer to “son” as a male who is in a kinship relationship to someone either biologically or by adoption. It is used for one that is related to a man who is biologically the father of the individual described as son in describing the two sons of Abraham in Galatians 4:22:
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.
It is in the sense of adoption that the word is used to describe Moses as a son of Pharaoh’s daughter in Acts 7:21:
When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son.
Our Greek word can mean “a pupil, a follower” or “a spiritual son of someone.” Thus, the disciples or followers of the Pharisees are described as their sons in Luke 11:19:
Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.
The phrase your followers is literally your sons. It is with the meaning of “a spiritual son” in the sense of endearment or a younger associate in the ministry that Apostle Peter used it to describe Mark in 1 Peter 5:13:
She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark.
Mark was not Peter’s biological son so that what he meant in describing him as his son is that Mark was a younger associate or a spiritual son in the sense that he might have led him to Christ.
Another use of the Greek word is to describe a person of certain class so that the Greek word has the sense of “kind of”, as it is used to describe unbelievers as a class or believers in Christ as a class as stated in the parable of the Shrewd Manage in Luke 16:8:
“The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.
The phrase people of this world is literally sons of this age and the phrase the people of the light is literally the sons of light so that Luke describes persons who belong either to this world or who belong to God. Still another usage of our word is of one whose identity is defined in terms of a relationship with a person, so it is used to describe those who are bound to a personality by close but non-material ties so that the ones described have the same characteristic that defines the personality. Thus, because Abraham was the first person whose relationship to God is defined in terms of faith then those who have relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ are described as Abraham’s sons in Galatians 3:7:
Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham.
The phrase children of Abraham is more literally sons of Abraham. The word may mean “descendants” as it is used to describe male descendants of Levi in Hebrews 7:5:
Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, their brothers—even though their brothers are descended from Abraham.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 15:28, the word is used in the sense of “one whose identity is defined in terms of a relationship with a person.” Thus, the fact Christ is described as “Son” in the passage we are studying implies that He is God since the word “son” defines His identity with God in which there is a unique relationship between Him and God. Such a relationship is not like anything we humans have when it comes to father-son relationships. Christ is, no doubt, truly human, but His most important identity is one that associates Him with God.
Be that as it may, at the conclusion of human history Christ would then relinquish His authority related to redemption as that is the meaning of the sentence of 1 Corinthians 15:28 the Son himself will be made subject. The expression “made subject” is translated from the Greek word (hypotassō) we examined in verse 27 that in our verse has the sense of “to be subjugate,” that is, “to be brought under the dominion or authority of another.” The voice used in the Greek may be interpreted in one of two ways. It could be understood as passive voice implying that it is God or God the Father is the subject of the action. Another interpretation is that the middle voice is used in the Greek implying that Jesus Christ acts in that He subjects Himself to God. Anyway, it is God the Father to whom Christ relinquished the authority related to His redemptive work as that is implied in the clause of 1 Corinthians 15:28 who put everything under him.
The relinquishing of Christ’s redemptive authority has a purpose or results in something taking place because of the phrase so that of 1 Corinthians 15:28. The expression “so that” is translated from a Greek conjunction (hina) that may be used as a marker of purpose with the meaning “in order that, that, so that” or it can be used as a marker of result so that it may be translated “that, so that, as a result.” Often, it is difficult to differentiate purpose from result in which case the Greek conjunction is used for the result that follows according to the purpose of the subject. This notwithstanding, the Greek conjunction is used in our verse to express the purpose that emerges with result of Christ relinquishing His redemptive authority.
The purpose that leads to a result is to demonstrate the equality of authority of the persons of the Godhead as in the clause of 1 Corinthians 15:28 so that God may be all in all or literally so that God may be all things in all. This clause means that the relinquishing of authority by Christ related to redemption finally removes any distinction in the Godhead as it relates to human history so from then onwards, God will function as all the members of the Godhead did prior to the incarnation of Jesus Christ. You see, the incarnation added something to the second member of Godhead because of His redemption work. This is evident in Christ’s priestly prayer of restoration of His preincarnate glory as recorded in John 17:5:
And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
Thus, when human history concludes everything that distinguishes Christ from the other members of the Godhead would be removed so He functions only as God does. So then, God will be sovereign over all creation as that is what is meant by the literal phrase all things in all. In effect, Christ would no longer be said to function under the umbrella of God as that was what is meant when it is stated that the head of Christ is God in 1 Corinthians 11:3:
Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
Christ will no longer do any mediatorial work such as pleading for sins of believers and serving as our high priest that He is at the present as we read, for example, in Hebrews 7:24–25:
24 but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
The point is that the unique God will function without any reference to Christ as still involved with redemption. We use the phrase “unique God” because the apostle used the definite article before God in the Greek of 1 Corinthians 15:28 so that God may be all in all or literally so that the God may be all things in all to speak of the unique God that exists in three persons as he did when he described the two members of the God head in 1 Corinthians 8:6:
yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
In our previous study of this passage, we indicated that the word “one” has the sense of unique in 1 Corinthians 8:6. Hence, the apostle’s use of definite article to describe God in 1 Corinthians 15:28 is His way of conveying the uniqueness of God who exists in three persons. In any event, the apostle concludes his discourse regarding events that would conclude human history especially as it is related to our eternal salvation. So, we end by reminding you once more the message that we have expounded with reference to 1 Corinthians 15:20-28 which is that Christ’s resurrection ensures orderly future resurrection and successful conclusion of God’s plan in relationship to creation.
09/01/23