I Corinthians 15:20-28; " But at this moment the Messiah stands risen from the dead, the first one offered in the harvest of those who have died. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also came through a man. For as in Adam all die, so also in the Messiah will all be made alive. However, this will happen to each person in the proper order: first the Messiah, then those who belong to the Messiah when he comes. Then the end will come, when after he has done away with every ruler and every authority and power, the Messiah hands over the kingdom to God the Father. For he must rule until God puts all the Messiah's enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be done away with is death, for "God has put everything under his feet." Now when he says, "Everything has been put under him," this clearly excludes the one who put everything under him. But when everything has been put under him, then the Son himself will also become subject to the one who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all." (ISV) (Bold emphasis mine)
These scriptures have caused a considerable amount of dialogue and confusion for over two thousand years. The dialogue has been over the statement that “Messiah hands over the kingdom to God the Father”, and “the Son Himself will also become subject to the one who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.” For some these scriptures seem to be alluding to the fact that Yeshua (Jesus) is a lesser god than God the Father, or that Yeshua is not God, or yet, that Yeshua and God the Father or not the same, and that Yeshua will put Himself under God the Father one day and will be subject (lesser god) to the Father from henceforth and forever more.
I would like to offer what I consider a foundational teaching at this point, which I hope will help to explain these scriptures in the proper context.
To begin, we must go back to the beginning.
In the beginning God created human beings (male and female) and He called them “Adam”. Adam means “human being”.
Genesis 5:1-2; “This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; male and female created he them, and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.” (KJV)
The first human beings were made in YHVH's image and were without sin. Then they fell because of disobedience and sin entered the world. The results of that sin brought death. Since that time, death has reigned over the world, not only with human beings but with all of creation.
Genesis 1:17 - “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” (KJV)
Romans 5:12 - “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” (KJV) The Greek word for “man” in this scripture is anthropos which means “human being.” It is equivalent to the Hebrew word adam. Hence, in the beginning God called both male and female adam; then it took both the male and female to be disobedient before sin would have entered the world, and it would take both the male and female species to reverse the curse of the fall. Both the male and female will now play a part in the restoration. This precise teaching falls outside the scope of this lesson. I hope to explore this topic in future teachings.
Because of their disobedience (sin), we ALL must face death. EVERY HUMAN BEING ever born and every human being that will ever be born, in this age, will face death because of the sin of the first Adam. Therefore, man lives in slavery to the fact of death. We CANNOT, WE HAVE NO MEANS by which to overcome death!
Hebrews 9:27 - “And inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment;” (ASV)
Hebrews 2:15 - “and might free those who were slaves all their lives because they were terrified by death.” (ISV)
Romans 6:23 - “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in union with the Messiah Jesus our Lord.” (ISV)
What will be the LAST enemy that is destroyed? DEATH !
1Corinthians 15:26 - “The last enemy that shall be abolished is death.” (ASV)
At what point will this enemy be destroyed?
Rev 20:11-15 “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, even the lake of fire. And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.” (ASV)
This enemy (death and the grave) will not be destroyed until Yeshua has defeated all of His enemies, until He has made all things subject to Himself. Just after we read these scriptures we find that the Re-Newed Heaven and the Re-Newed Earth come down out of Heaven. It is at this point that all things have been restored as in the beginning. Notice that the Re-Newed Heaven and the Re-Newed Earth cannot exist until all things have been put under Yeshua's feet.
When Adam (male and female) sinned human beings lost many things but two of the most important were:
...they lost the ability to now pro-create in the perfect image of God.
...they lost the ability to have supreme authority over all of creation.
After the fall, man no longer pro-created in the image of God but he pro-created in a fallen, sinful nature. In Genesis 5:3 we read: “After Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son just like him, that is, according to his own likeness, and named him Seth.” (ISV) (bold emphasis added by me) After the fall, mankind begot mankind in their own fallen, sinful nature. This curse from sin needed to be reversed.
Adam and Eve understood from the very beginning that a “son” would be born that would reverse the curse of their sin. They understood this from the words spoken over Eve by God, after the fall. In Genesis 3:16 we read: “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy pain and thy conception; in pain thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” (ASV) This scripture has a deeper meaning than what has been traditionally taught. It is much deeper. Its discussion is outside of this lesson. Suffice to say that they understood it to mean that “a woman” would bear “a male child” that would reverse their sinful, fallen state. When Eve bore Cain, they thought he was the one. This is also known from the words that she spoke over him (when studied in Hebrew). However, when Cain turned out not to be the one, they thought Seth was the one at his birth (by the Hebrew words spoken over him at birth). Seth was not the one either even though “the one” will come from him.
Ever since this statement to the woman was made over Eve, Hebrew women have anticipated giving birth to the Messiah, the one that would reverse the curse.
Mankind was the crown of creation. In Genesis 1:28 we read: “God blessed these humans by saying to them, "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it! Be masters over the fish in the ocean, the birds that fly, and every living thing that crawls on the earth!" (ISV)
And again in Psalms 8:3-9 - “When I look at the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you established—what is man that you take notice of him, or the son of man that you pay attention to him? You made him a little less than divine, but you crowned him with glory and honor. You gave him dominion over the work of your hands, you put all things under his feet: Sheep and cattle—all of them, wild creatures of the field, birds in the sky, fish in the sea—whatever moves through the currents of the oceans. LORD, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth!” (ISV)
In this verse from Psalms, David IS NOT TALKING about the Messiah which was to come, he was talking about mankind. The phrase “son of man” when used in the Bible is not always speaking about Messiah Yeshua. Although it can refer to Him, correct contextual scriptural interpretation must be used. The prophet Ezekiel was called “the son of man”. It simply means a human being born into this world; in Hebrew a bane of Enosh.
When mankind sinned he/she gave up their rights to have dominion over creation. Satan took these keys from mankind. That is why we read at the temptation of Yeshua in Luke chapter 4, that Satan has the ability, upon showing him “all the kingdoms of the world”, to declare to Yeshua “all this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish, therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” (NKJV)
In Hebrews 2:5-10 we read: “For he did not put the coming world we are talking about under the control of angels. Instead, someone has declared somewhere, "What is man that you should remember him, or the son of man that you should care for him? You made him a little lower than the angels, yet you crowned him with glory and honor and put everything under his feet." Now when God put everything under him, he left nothing outside his control. However, at the present time we do not yet see everything put under him. But we do see someone who was made a little lower than the angels. He is Jesus, who is crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might experience death for everyone. It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering as part of his plan to glorify many children,” (ISV) (bold emphasis added)
The writer of Hebrews is quoting from Psalms 8:3-9 to bring out a point. The point is this: in the beginning God created mankind to have dominion over all of creation, however, mankind lost that dominion when they sinned and by doing so, Satan took that dominion from them. That is why the author can say, “at the present time we do not yet see everything put under his feet.” The writer goes on to explain that “in the world to come” which is “what we are talking about” the world will once again be under the subjection of mankind. Now, he tells us how this is going to happen. It is going to happen through Yeshua (Jesus). How? Yeshua is going to conquer death by living a sinless life. “The wages of sin is death”. Death cannot ever be conquered by a human being that bears sin. Only a sinless individual can accomplish this task. The word “perfect” in verse 10 is the Greek word teleioo and it means “to complete, to finish, to consummate, to reach the goal”. In other words, through Yeshua's sufferings, He reached the goal that was required to “bring many sons to glory”. In so doing, He took back the keys of authority from Satan, He conquered death, and reversed the curse that happened in Genesis.
Yeshua had no sin. That is why He could proclaim as they came for Him in the Garden of Gethsemane: “I will no more speak much with you, for the prince of the world cometh: and he hath nothing in me;” John 14:30 (ASV)
Satan was the prince of the world but Yeshua is about to take back that authority when He conquers death, through His sinless life. When He takes back that authority then He will own the keys and deed to the earth, then He can give those keys and authority to whomever He chooses. To whom will He give it? To the sons of glory, the sons of God! To mankind that He has restored to Himself. When will he turn all things back over to mankind – in the world to come! Since mankind lost their authority, only mankind can reverse the curse, YHVH does this by taking on flesh. He becomes the Second Adam, Yeshua, or He manifests Himself as YHVH YESHUA, God our Salvation.
Revelation 1:18 declares that Yeshua now holds the keys to “death and the grave”. The scroll that He holds in Revelation is the deed to the earth. He is awaiting the time when He comes to take His possession.
Once He brings all things back into subjection to Himself, then He will no longer be needed as the “Son of God”, the “Messiah who brings salvation” or “the firstborn of God”. Throughout the ages YHVH has revealed Himself to man in many forms. YHVH is invisible. In order for mankind to relate to YHVH He must take a physical form. As Hebrews 1:1-4 tells us: “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.” (NKJV)
In these last days, YHVH, who can be all places at the same time, came in flesh as the second Adam, to reverse the curse. When this goal has been completely finished by Yeshua then YHVH will no longer need to reveal Himself to mankind as YHVH YESHUA, God our Salvation. This is why the Apostle Paul could make the statement that Yeshua would hand all things back over to the Father, so that God may be all in all and that Yeshua would then be made subject to the Father.
Here we shall see that YHVH has diminished, at that time, the need for revealing Himself as salvation. No distinction will be needed for the ONE GOD. They are one (echad in Hebrew).
David Stern states in his New Testament commentary regarding I Corinthians 15;28:
"These verses give specifics of the period spoken of in the Tanakh at Zechariah 14:9 ("Adonai will be king over all the earth; on that day Adonai will be One and his name One") and Daniel 7:14, referring to the Messiah ("His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away"). In his various books the conservative Christian scholar George Ladd contrasted the inbreaking of the Kingdom of God at Yeshua's first coming two thousand years ago with the fullness or consummation to come, when God will be everything in everyone (KJV: "all in all"). Using different terminology and making a different emphasis to say somewhat the same thing, the Orthodox Jew Pinchas Lapide and the Christian scholar Juergen Moltmann speak of the present era as a preparatio messianica (Jewish Monotheism and Christian Trinitarian Doctrine, Philadelphia: Fortress, 1981, pp. 80-81). At the end of history the Messiah's eternal rulership, in which the Messianic Community participates, is to merge with that of God the Father. Thus does Sha'ul sum up the final outworking of resurrection".
In Revelation 21:22-23 we read: “And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God the Almighty, and the Lamb, are the temple thereof. And the city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine upon it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb.” (ASV) And in Revelation 22:5 - “ And there shall be night no more; and they need no light of lamp, neither light of sun; for the Lord God shall give them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.” (ASV)
Notice how this all happens after the renewed heaven and earth come down out of heaven. In verse 21:22-23 it states that there is no temple for “the Lord God and the Lamb are the temple”. And there is no light for God lightens it and the Lamb is the lamp.” In Revelation 22:5 it states that they need no light for the Lord God shall give them light. In this verse the Lamb is not mentioned separately because they are one and the same when all things have been restored. When the Renewed Heaven and earth are present things will be just like they were in the Garden of Eden before the fall. YHVH will be ever present, YHVH Shamma, with his “sons of glory” and He will always be dwelling among them. In the Garden of Eden before the fall, there was no need for YHVH to become YHVH YESHUA because man had no sin. Likewise, when YHVH YESHUA completes the entire goal of the second Adam, then He will no longer need to take the physical form of a human being; as salvation.
When it states in Genesis that “God walked in the garden with them” (Genesis 3:8) that verse does not mean that a physical being “walked” in the garden with them. A careful examination of the Hebrew phrase means that His presence was there with them in a tangible way in which they were very much aware, but not as a physical man.
There are many names by which YHVH has used to “reveal” Himself to mankind down through the ages. There are many forms that YHVH has taken down through the ages; some of these were in a human form. However, in these last days YHVH has chosen to take a physical form as YHVH YESHUA, God our salvation. Again, when the task has been completed, all things restored as in the beginning, He will no longer have need to reveal Himself in that way. So, having said that one should be able to better understand why “the Son” as salvation, will then be subject to the Father. He will no longer be needed in that form.
YHVH is so much bigger than our finite minds can imagine! How many FORMS could YHVH take at once, in thousands of places all over the earth? The number is infinite!!!!
Leisa
