But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 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. 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.
- 1 Corinthians 15:20-28
Paul has presented the case of Jesus Christ being raised from the dead in this chapter. Now he affirms that fact and explains what that means for believers – that Jesus Christ is the guarantee that we, too, will be raised from the dead one day.
The Greek phrase translated as “But… indeed” at the start of verse 20 is a common one for Paul. He uses it in his letters multiple times when he makes a conclusive point about something. We don’t always see it translated that same way in English, but he uses this in 1 Corinthians 13:13, Romans 3:21, Romans 6:22, and Colossians 1:22 just to name a few. It is a certain fact that Christ has been raised from the dead, and Paul has proven that through his discussion earlier in this chapter.
But then we see the phrase “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” in the second half of verse 20. What does that mean? In the Old Testament, the firstfruits are the first part of a harvest that would be offered to God as an offering (see Leviticus 23:9-14). This offering was to happen before they worked on the main harvest, and it was a promise that the rest of the harvest was coming. So in that way, Jesus’ death and resurrection happened before the full “harvest” of all the believers in Christ who were going to die and be raised again. Christ’s resurrection came first before the believers, and it was also a promise of the resurrection that all believers will experience one day.
Verses 21-22 sound very similar to the points Paul made in Romans 5:12-21 about the first and second Adam. Adam brought death to all mankind by introducing sin into the world, and Jesus Christ was the second Adam who brought life to all mankind through His death and resurrection. One man brought sin and death, and one man brought resurrection and life. The entire human race experiences sin because of Adam, but those who have faith in Jesus Christ will experience life through Him.
Then, Paul gets into some concepts that are a bit harder to work through. In verses 23-24, Paul presents a timeline of sorts. First, Jesus Christ was resurrected as the firstfruits, which is like that offering that happens before the main harvest. Next, those who belong to Christ will be resurrected; that phrase can be translated more literally as, “Then the ones of Christ in the second coming of him.” The Greek word for “second coming” is parousia. This term can simply mean a person being present, but when used to refer to Christ, it means His second coming. The next event is handing over the kingdom of God. This is a total conquest of the entire world by Jesus Christ, including everything that is visible and invisible, all earthly and spiritual powers and authorities.
Everything will be under Christ’s feet (verse 25 and verse 27), meaning that He is the one true ruler and authority over everything because of His resurrection. This verse alludes to Psalm 110:1, which says, “The Lord says to my lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’”
The final enemy that needs to be destroyed is death (verse 26). We know that Jesus has already conquered death because He died and then was raised again. He was not simply resuscitated to live longer and then die a second death like humans who were raised (Lazarus, for example) but Jesus is permanently alive and will never die. Death has no power over Him because He already defeated it! He will never again experience death.
There is a caveat mentioned in verse 27, that “everything” being under Jesus’ feet does not mean that God is under Jesus’ authority, because God is the one who gave that authority to Jesus in the first place. This is where the doctrine of the Trinity comes into play, that Jesus and the Father (and the Spirit) are all the same God yet separate persons within God.
Verse 28 continues this thought by explaining that Jesus (the Son) will be subject to God the Father (the one who put everything under Him). This is part of the interaction of the Trinity, but this verse also reinforces that God is one God – “so that God may be all in all.” But there is a process to it. The world was created by God, it fell into sin because of man, then was restored to order through Jesus’ death and resurrection and then His second coming, which we are still waiting for today. One day, God will truly be recognized by all as the sovereign one (see Revelation 22:3-5).
Essentially, the main idea is that Jesus’ resurrection was a really big deal. Not only does it grant us as believers eternal life forever in Him, but it will bring the whole world into restoration and under Jesus’ power and authority. That idea of authority can either be a comfort if you’re on the “good side” of that authority, or it can be terrifying if you’re on the “wrong side.” While we are all on the wrong side because of our sin, we have the opportunity through the love of God to have faith in Jesus Christ and live our lives for Him. We can experience God’s forgiveness for all our sins through Jesus’ righteous death, which then puts us on the “good side.” Which side are you on?
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