He shall surely reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.

 

He shall surely reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.

 

1 Corinthians 15:23-26: “But each in his own order: first Christ, the firstfruits; then those who belong to Christ at His coming (en te parousia ἐν τῇ παρουσίᾳ); then the end, when He will destroy all dominion and all authority and power and present the kingdom to God the Father. He shall surely reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death (thanatos).”

 

"In order" signifies resurrection. It means that Jesus is the firstfruits of the resurrection, followed by those who are in Christ, and finally, there is the resurrection of judgment.

 

“En te parousia” is a compound word of “para” (beside) + “ousia” (to exist: the English verb of be); it does not refer to a coming, but rather to the Lord being beside me. Therefore, it is expressed as the presence of Jesus (in the spirit).

 

When the Kingdom of God is established on this earth, the enemies who follow Satan are destined to kneel at the feet of Christ, the King. Thanatos (θάνατος) signifies death in sin. In other words, it signifies the second death.

 

1 Corinthians 15:27 states, "He has put all things under his feet. When he says that he has put all things under him, it is clear that the one who has put all things under him is not included among them."

 

All things will be placed under the feet of the resurrected Jesus. Therefore, the one who has put all things under his feet is not included within all things. Jesus is the One who is above all things, not the One who is within all things.

 

Jesus intends to make all things subject and fill them, but all things still do not submit. If the church community does not focus on the work of making all things subject, it will become like the Laodicean church. In Ephesians 1:22-23, it says, "And He put all things under His feet, and made Him head over all things for the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all things in all things."

 

The church community is the fullness of Him who fills all things in all things. Is the church today full? This does not mean that the church must become this way, but that the church is originally this way. However, if it is not like that, it means that it is not submitting to the Lord, who is the head of the church. Therefore, it is dead in transgressions and sins. Even if one is within the church community, if one is dead in transgressions and sins, one cannot be saved as a child of wrath. It means that one has never repented. Even if one claims to have repented, it is repentance based on one's own standards.

 

Jesus is the head of the church. Although Jesus is over all things, all things in the world today are not yet submitting to Him. Hebrews 2:8 states, "He has put all things under His feet." Since He has put all things under His feet, there should be nothing that is not subject to Him; yet now we do not see all things subject to Him.

 

Why do we not see them yet? Hebrews 1:13 asks, "To which of the angels did He ever say, 'Sit at My right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet'?" Here, the answer is "until your enemies become a footstool for your feet." The reason Jesus ascended is to put all things under His authority.

 

Through Jesus, the Head of the Church who is above all things, the Church within all things fills all things. This is because the Church is the body of the Lord. It means that all things are filled with heavenly things through the Church. This is not true for all churches, but for the Church of those who repent.

 

Those who repent become the Church within all things. Only those who died with Jesus on the cross become the Church. Therefore, each and every saint becomes the church. Through the unity among the saints, all things are filled with the fullness.

 

He tells us that even today, no matter how much one lives a life of worship or possesses biblical knowledge, those who merely listen with their ears and are not united with the death of Jesus Christ can end up like this. If God's people in this world become obsessed with worldly things, this may happen. When the Israelites sinned in Canaan, God delivered them to Babylon. However, if they obey God's word, God will be with them "until He makes your enemies a footstool for your feet." In Ephesians 2:1, it says, "He has made alive you who were dead in trespasses and sins." In the Greek Bible, it reads Καὶ ὑμᾶς ὄντας νεκροὺς τοῖς παραπτώμασιν καὶ ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ὑμῶν, which means "you were dead in trespasses and sins." Regarding "being dead," Chapter 2, Verse 2 states, "In those days you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience."

 

The message is that all who follow the trends of the world are dead. This is because the one who causes people to follow the ways of the world is the one who holds the power of the air (Satan). Today, the world is almost entirely following the trends of the world. It is in this situation that Christians, the body of the church, exist.

 

However, if one follows the trends of the world while claiming to be a Christian, one is by nature a child of wrath. God remains wrathful until one repents. Repentance is not merely confessing the consequences of living that way, but abandoning such a life and turning away from it. Therefore, repentance is denying oneself. It is the death of the old self that followed the trends of the world. What would happen if the church were to first say, "God loves you," to someone who does not even know whether or not they are following the trends of the world? It would result in speaking unlawfully.

 

God's love is conveyed to those who repent. In Ephesians 2:4-6, it says, "But God, who is rich in mercy, for the great love with which He loved us, made us alive together with Christ when we were dead in our transgressions (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together and seated us together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus."

 

Those who are born again and resurrected with Christ are in heaven with Christ. This is because, while their bodies remain in this world, they are in Jesus Christ, who is seated at the right hand of God. This is impossible to understand through human knowledge and experience. Therefore, Christians living in this world receive authority, pray in the name of Jesus, and fill all things. The church that fills all things becomes the church only for those who are united with Jesus in death on the cross. Those who pray in the name of Jesus are those who are in Christ, who is seated at the right hand of God; authority is given only to those who pray and are seated at the right hand of God.

 

God makes all things fill through those who are born again in all things. He does so only for those who are united with Jesus in death on the cross. However, the reality is utterly devastating. This is because believers, who are supposed to fill all things, cling to the world themselves, while also considering themselves holy saints who fill all things.