by Arthur W. Pink
by Arthur W. Pink
Philologos Religious Online Books
Philologos.org
by Arthur W. Pink
January, 1938
THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST.
In our “Covenant” articles in the current issues it has been pointed out that one of the dominant characteristics of Christ's throne and kingdom, distinguishing it from all human and earthly ones, is its everlastingness. This particular feature is repeatedly emphasised in the Scriptures, in fact it is found in almost every passage where His kingdom is mentioned: see 2 Samuel 7:16; Isaiah 9:6, 7; Daniel 2:44; Luke 1:32, 33; 2 Peter 1:11; Revelation 11:15. Now this fact that Christ's throne is “forever and ever” at once refutes the idea of dispensationalists, whose assertions concerning Christ's kingdom are mainly confined (in most cases entirely so) to what they term His “millennial reign,” which lasts for a thousand years only. In the past the writer has himself been misled by this fantasy and erred in some of his earlier writings thereon: therefore we here humbly make this acknowledgment and renounce what we now believe is an error.
There is, however, one passage which appears to clash with those verses which affirm the eternality of Christ's kingdom, and which at the same time seems to offer some support to the pre-millennialists; and therefore a separate consideration of its contents is called for. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But everyone in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterwards they that are Christ's at His coming. Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and power. For He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy which shall be destroyed is death. For He (God) hath put all things under His (Christ's) feet. But when He saith all things are put under Him, it is manifest that He is excepted, which did put all things under Him. And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all” (1 Cor. 15: 22-28).
The above has been a favourite passage with errorists of various types: Unitarians, dispensationalists, and Universalists have all appealed to it in support of their fallacies and have interpreted, or rather misinterpreted, it according to their particular views. It therefore behooves us to approach it with double care and caution, praying that the Holy Spirit will graciously guide us in its exposition. That this passage presents difficulties in translation, punctuation, and interpretation is freely granted, but that they are far from being insuperable we shall seek to show. Our first inquiry must be, What bearing do these verses have upon their context—why should this reference to Christ's delivering up the kingdom and His being subject to the Father be introduced into a description of the resurrection? Then: what particular “end” is referred to? Which “kingdom” is it that Christ delivers up? And what “death” is destroyed?
We begin by considering the scope of our passage. There were some at Corinth who were saying “that there is no resurrection of the dead” (1 Cor. 15:2), and this chapter was written in refutation of that serious error. First, the Apostle pointed out that such a denial involved the repudiation of the Gospel itself and excluded all hope of salvation. He shows that if there be no resurrection, then Christ Himself is still in the grave (vv. 12-19). Then he proceeded to argue that since Christ is risen from the dead, His people also must be raised—the resurrection of the unsaved nowhere falls within the compass of this chapter. According to the great principles of the economy of redemption, the resurrection of the Head guaranteed the resurrection of Christ's mystical body. The security which the resurrection of Christ gives for the resurrection of His people, as here unfolded, is twofold: arising both from its procuring and from its final cause.
The resurrection of the holy dead rests on the procuring cause, or what led up to the resurrection of Christ Himself. This was His becoming obedient unto death in the room and stead of His people. As the sin of Adam produced not only his own death, but also the death of all who were in him as their federal head, so the obedience unto death of Christ procured not only His own resurrection, but will also produce the resurrection of all who are united to Him as their federal Head (vv. 20-23). Again; the resurrection of the saints rests on the final cause, or what the resurrection of Christ led onto, and this was that He rose to reign (vv. 24-28). All power in Heaven and earth has been given to Him for the express purpose of subduing all the enemies of Himself and His Father, and this secures the abolition of death in the glorious resurrection of all His people.
Before proceeding further we call attention to what we are now convinced is a most misleading mistake in the punctuation. But lest any should think we are acting in an arbitrary manner or taking unwarranted liberties with the text of the A.V., let it be pointed out, first, that in any version the punctuation is entirely a matter for the translators to decide (for the original Greek is not broken up into either paragraphs or verses, sentences or clauses), and this upon grammatical or doctrinal considerations, which leaves room for considerable difference of opinion; and second, what we are about to advance is so far from being novel and original, that many before us (from Theophylact to Herinsius, and down to our own times) have adopted this construction.
That to which we have referred in the above paragraph is the opening clause of verse 24, which we believe concludes verse 23; in other words “then cometh the end” does not begin a sentence, but completes one. Instead of connecting the “then cometh the end” with what follows in verses 24-26, and thereby understanding it to signify “then cometh the termination of all mundane affairs,” the end of the world's history, we regard it as meaning, “Then is the conclusion of the resurrection.” This is obviously the more natural construction, for it not only removes the necessity for the supplement “cometh” which has been inserted by the translators (there being nothing in the Greek to warrant it), but it also furnishes a more fitting completion to the sentence—“Christ the firstfruits—then they that are Christ's at His coming—then the end,” i.e., the grand completion of the harvest. What follows in verses 24-26 introduces no new subject, but amplifies what has been said in verses 20-23. If verse 25 be placed in a parenthesis, and the supplementary (italicized) words of verse 26 be omitted, the sentence will be much simpler and more perspicuous. “When He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when He shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and power (For He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet), the last enemy shall be destroyed—death.” Let it be steadily borne in mind that the great object throughout the whole of this chapter is to show the absolute security which Christ's resurrection gives for the resurrection of His people. That this subject is continued by the Apostle after the passage we are now considering is clear from verses 29-32, where further and supplementing arguments are advanced, namely the case of those who are baptised, and his own conduct.
Verses 24-26 are brought in here to assure the hearts and strengthen the confidence of believers. We understand their central purport to be something like this: There are many and powerful enemies of Christ seeking to oppose Him and destroy His people, but their efforts shall prove utterly futile, for being endowed with all power and authority from God Himself, Christ shall completely triumph over them all. Not only shall Christ reduce to impotency all human and demoniacal foes, but death itself shall be abolished. It is death which stands in the way of the full manifestation of Divine wisdom, power, and grace, in the complete holiness and happiness of the redeemed family. While their bodies remain in the grave Christ's triumph over sin and Satan is incomplete, and He does not see the entire fruit of “the travail of His soul,” in which He is to find full satisfaction. Death, then, is here called “the last enemy” because when the appointed time for the resurrection arrives it alone stands in the way of the consummation of Christ's mighty work of full and eternal deliverance.
A right understanding, then, of verses 24-26 definitely fixes the meaning of “then the end,” proving it belongs to verse 23. Verses 24-26 illustrate and demonstrate that at the coming of Christ there will be an end or completion of the resurrection: it is to be by the destruction of the last enemy—death. There will be no more resurrection (of saints) after the coming of Christ, for there will be no more to die, and so no more to be raised. It will then be fully evidenced that Christ has subdued all foes unto Himself, which was the grand purpose for which the Father delegated all power unto the Redeemer. He must reign till all His enemies are put under His feet, for He rose again for this purpose; wherefore it follows that the last enemy—death, must be destroyed, and when it is, the resurrection of the saints must have come to “the end”!
For a closer consideration of the details of these verses we must first ascertain the precise signification of “When He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God.” Now it is self-evident that no explanation of those words can possibly be true which asserts that the throne of Christ's glory shall ever be vacated. Shall Christ lay down the reward which the Father gave Him for His unspeakable humiliation and obedience unto death? Surely His recompense is not to cease as soon as He has completed His great commission—destroying the works of Satan and subduing His Father's foes. Shall He cease to be Lord and King at the very time when every knee begins to bow to Him and every tongue confesses His name? What! Are the saints to be crowned with an eternal reward, and the King of saints with only a temporary one? Will the redeemed “reign forever and ever” (Rev. 22:3) and the Redeemer for only a thousand years?
If it be strange that pre-millenarians interpret this clause as the ending of Christ's millennial kingdom, it is stranger still that some post-millenarians understand by it the termination of His mediatorial kingdom, for the perpetuity of that is affirmed again and again in Scripture. But if it refer to neither of them, what other alternative remains? The “kingdom” or dominion of Christ is a threefold one. First, that which belongs to Him as the second Person of the Godhead, namely, His absolute authority over all creatures. Second, that which pertains to Him as the incarnate Son, the Mediator, namely, His rule over His own people. Third, that to which He was exalted after His resurrection, when “all power was given Him in Heaven and earth,” namely, His dominion over all His enemies, so that He might triumphantly conclude the work of redemption by subjugating every opposing force. It is the third which 1 Corinthians 15:24 has reference to.
The duties of a king may be summed up in these two things: to rule righteously over his subjects, to subdue his and their enemies. The subjugation of all who oppose is an essential part of Christ's reign. This He accomplishes now by setting bounds to their power, making even their wrath to praise Him; and ultimately by reducing them to complete impotency when sentence of punishment is passed upon them and they are all securely and eternally shut up in their own place. All things fell by sin into an enmity against God and the salvation of the Church. Christ as the Vice-regent of the Father has received commission for the removal of this enmity and the destruction of all His gainsayers. This He was to variously and gradually accomplish in the exercise of all His offices. He did so at the Cross by the exercise of His priesthood, when, He (judicially) removed the enmity between God and His people (Eph. 2:14-16). He does so now by the exercise of His prophetic office, in effectually causing the Gospel to experimentally reconcile His people to God (Psa. 110:2, 3). He will yet do so by the exercise of His kingship, when He destroys the finally impenitent.
Christ has received commission to put down that revolt which commenced in the sin of angels, and has been carried on through the Fall of man, with all its fearful consequences, so that the Divine supremacy shall again be effectually manifested and universally acknowledged. In the universe there is now a kingdom of darkness (Matt. 12:26 and Col. 1:13) as well as a kingdom of light ; there is “the throne of iniquity” (Psa. 94:20), as well as the throne of righteousness. But this state of things cannot be permitted to continue forever. True, God had a wise end in permitting it, but He shall in His own good time end it. This work has been entrusted to Christ, partly as a reward or His humiliation, partly for the furtherance of His redemptive work. This, as we have said above, is accomplished by Him through a twofold process: by converting some of the rebels into loyal subjects; by depriving the others of all power to work any further evil. The finalization of the one shall be seen when Christ presents the Church to Himself “a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle” (Eph. 5:27); the finalization of the other will be demonstrated when Revelation 19:11 to 20:15 is fulfilled.
There is, then, a “kingdom” which has been usurped by God's enemies, and which Christ has been appointed to restore unto Him. In order to His successful discharge of this appointment, Christ has been endowed with unlimited power: see Psalms 2:6-9, 45:3-6; Acts 2:36 and 5:31; Ephesians 1:20, 21; Philippians 2:9-11; 1 Peter 3:18-22. This recovery by Christ of that kingdom usurped by Satan and his hosts, is intimated in our passage by “when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, “for the same Greek word is found in such verses as Matthew 19:17; 24:9; Acts 3:13; Romans 8:32, where it is an assigning over to judicial powers for judgment. This enables us to perceive clearly what kingdom it is which Christ renders to the Father; it is not the resignation of His own Lordship, but the arresting of His foes in order to their eternal incarceration in the Lake of Fire.
We trust it has been made quite plain to the reader that the central thought of 1 Corinthians 15:22-26 is that the resurrection of Christ Himself is connected with such a state of power and authority as is at once sufficient for securing the resurrection of all who are savingly connected with Him. That there are powerful adversaries at work seeking to prevent this seems clearly implied, but that their efforts shall prove utterly vain is here emphatically declared. The abolition of death will be the crowning act of Christ's triumph over Satan and his hosts. The reason why the Apostle brought in the parenthesis of verse 25 was to explain how Christ is to recover unto God the usurped kingdom—by putting down all hostile forces. He quotes from Psalm 110:1, “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at My right hand,” which means that at His ascension Christ was invested with the government of the universe; “until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool” promised Him full victory over them, and that promise must be fulfilled. Verses 27, 28 we leave for our next article on the kingdom of Christ in the February issue.—A.W.P.
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