1 Corinthians 15:25-26 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Verse 25 moves towards v. 26. Paul quotes a portion of Psalm 8:6. Paul does not elaborate in what way or for how long Christ will reign. It is obvious from other passages, such as Philippians 2:10-11 and Ephesians 1:20 that Jesus is exalted right now, but not everyone recognizes this. In fact, there are many people who mock Jesus and the whole Christian religion. The news is full of stories like this. The darkness fights the one who is the Light of the world. Every enemy of Jesus will be held accountable when he comes to judge. This should have two affects upon us. One is to celebrate if we are one of Jesus followers and have put our full faith in him. The other is to cry out in fear because we do not have faith in him and will some day face judgment for this.
The last enemy will be death. Death is the key topic of this chapter. Paul is showing that our worst enemy has already been conquered. This should give us hope. Paul is attempting to correct the wrong thinking of the Corinthians and at the same time giving them hope in Christ. Because Jesus rose from the dead, he is able to give eternal life to those who put their faith in him. Verse 26 also emphasizes the importance of the doctrine of resurrection for Christian theology. Without resurrection, the Christian message is confined only to morality in this life. Other religions have many of the same moral teachings. The primary difference among religions is that Christianity has the claim of resurrection from the dead.
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