Through the Bible with Les Feldick
LESSON 3 * PART 2 * BOOK 29
RESURRECTED INTO THE KINGDOM – PART 2
My little wife just asked me if we would finish Chapter 15 today. I told her it would probably take four lessons after today, because this is such a tremendous chapter. It’s sort of like Romans Chapter 8. I don’t remember how long we spent in that great chapter, but this is also such a great chapter that we’re not going to hurry through it. I’m not on a set schedule that I have to get all the way through the Bible before The Lord comes back for us.
II Timothy 2:15
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
It doesn’t say to just read your Bible, but rather study it, and that of course is what we try to get people to do. Buy a good cross-reference study Bible with some good footnotes. That always helps, and learn how to study. Now I Corinthians Chapter 15, and we’ve pretty much covered verse 23. Now that the resurrection of the Just has been completed, the Kingdom is now set up, and everything is ready to go for the thousand year rule and reign of Christ. Remember that’s going to be on the earth. A lot of people don’t have a concept of that, but remember the Kingdom is the Kingdom is the Kingdom, and the reason I say that is because it’s the only valid Kingdom in Scripture. Now if it were speaking of some Gentile Kingdom, or the Kingdom of Babylon, then that’s something totally different. But when the Bible speaks of the “Kingdom” then it’s this final thousand year reign of Christ, this Kingdom on the earth when He will finally, as we’re going to see in this lesson, be King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and that’s not the end. Remember that the thousand year reign is just the introduction to the eternal state. All of this comes into focus then, as we look at the Scripture concerning this earthly Kingdom. Now for review let’s look at verse 23 again.
I Corinthians 15:23
“But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.”
That is all the believers of all the ages from Adam and Eve on up through the end of the Tribulation, which we covered as the resurrection of the Church, the Rapture, the great resurrection day of the major harvest of God’s reaping. Then the bringing together of the Old Testament saints, and the Tribulation saints as we saw in our last lesson in Daniel Chapter 12. Now verse 24:
I Corinthians 15:24,25
“Then cometh the end, (time as we know it, human history) 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. (now let’s read verse 25, and then we’ll come back to verse 24) For he (Christ) must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.”
Turn for a moment to Psalms Chapter 110. A lot of people don’t look at the psalms as prophetic writings, but they are. There is so much prophecy in the Book of Psalms, and someday I’m hoping to have an in-depth study just on this Book. Now verse 1, and this verse is alluded to so often throughout Scripture.
Psalms 110:1
“The LORD (now that’s all in capital letters) said unto my Lord, (with just a capital L) `Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool,'” Now what we have here is God the Father speaking to God the Son, because we have all these other references with regard to Christ sitting at the Father’s right hand.
The enemies that will be the footstool of Christ are all of the forces of opposition. I think I made a point in one of my seminars, that just as soon as God revealed to Satan back there in Genesis 3:15 that even though man had fallen, the day was coming when the Seed of the woman would deal with the powers of Satan and defeat them and crush them. We know this happened at the Cross, so far as the potential But even after Christ was raised from the dead victoriously over a defeated Satan, yet we know that Satan is still the god of this world, and he is still destroying lives. So Satan is not yet under Christ’s feet. Now look at the verse again. We find that Christ is to:
Psalms 110:1
“…Sit thou at my right hand, until (now there’s your time word) I make thine enemies thy footstool.”
Now let’s go to the Book of Hebrews Chapter 1, and we see that epitomized, because Christ has now accomplished the work of the Cross. He has risen from the dead, and that’s why we’re spending so much time in I Corinthians Chapter 15. Do you realize that there is not another single religion (now Christianity is not a religion, but that’s the only way I can refer to it in this statement.) anyway, there’s not a religion on earth, not even in the religions of the cults, with a doctrine concerning resurrection. Oh, they have reincarnation, but that’s not the same. Only our Christian faith promotes the resurrection as we understand it. And that’s what makes it unique. We’ll see that as we go on though the rest of Chapter 15, resurrection is the whole hope for the believers. And that’s why the Apostle Paul makes so much of resurrection in this chapter. But coming back to Hebrews Chapter 1, and I might as well start in verse 1 because I like to pick up the flow, and not just jump on one verse.
Hebrews 1:1,2a
“God (the Triune God of Heaven, of creation) who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers (that is the forefathers of Israel) by the prophets, (through the Old Testament writings.) Hath…” (past tense) You know there are still people who come up with grand visions that they have special revelations. They now have something above and beyond that which is between these two covers. Listen, that flies in the face of this verse. And this is the way I refute them. I will say you cannot tell me that you’ve had a special revelation because my Bible tells me, “It’s finished!” So there is no further revelation, and here it is in verse 2.
Hebrews 1:2a
“Hath (past tense) in these last days spoken (remember `spoken’ indicates a past tense finished transaction) unto us by his Son,…”
Think about that for a moment. We normally just reckoned the Scriptures as being Holy Spirit inspired, and they are, no doubt about it. But yet over and over the Apostle Paul will say that The Lord Jesus Himself appeared unto him and revealed these things. The Holy Spirit was instrumental, but it was The Lord Jesus Who was speaking it. And it’s the same way in the Book of Revelation when John writes that great Book of revealing things that had been unknown. Who reveals it to him? The ascended Lord! Continuing in verse 2.
Hebrews 1:2b
“…whom he hath appointed heir (the Son) of all things, by whom also he (the Triune God of which the Son is a part) made the worlds;” Now these are some of the verses I use showing that Christ was the Creator, and there are many. One of the best is John 1:1-3 then John 1:14. Now verse 3 of Hebrews Chapter 1.
Hebrews 1:3a
“Who (speaking of God the Son) being the brightness of his glory,…”
Let’s go back a few pages to Colossians. We’ve got to make all these things fit because these are questions that come up in our mail, and phone conversations, and I know that they are things that we have to address, and we might as well do it here for the benefit of everybody.
Colossians 1:13-15
“Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who (speaking of the Son up in verse 13.) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: “
Now Who is the invisible God? The Triune! The Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. They’re Spirit, and they were invisible, but out of that invisible Triune God stepped the Son, and He became visible. In the Old Testament economy it was a temporary thing, and then He would disappear, but in our New Testament account He became visible, tangible, touchable, He lived in the flesh by virtue of His Bethlehem birth. All right, it’s the same God now manifested in the flesh by the Son. Now verse 16:
Colossians 1:16
“For by him (God the Son) were all things created, (see most folks won’t give Christ the credit for that. But He is the Creator, He’s the Sustainer of the universe.) that are in the heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him and for him:” Keeping these things in mind, come back to Hebrews 1:3:
Hebrews 1:3a
“Who (God the Son) being the brightness of his glory, (of the Godhead) and the express image of his person, (whose Person? The Godhead Whom He’s representing) and upholding all things by the word of his power,…”
Think about that for a moment. This vast universe with it’s billions upon billions of celestial bodies. Why don’t they ever crash into one another? Why don’t some of them drop out of orbit, and cause a tremendous calamity? Because Christ has them all under control. I know this is beyond our comprehension. We can use that example for you and I. How do I know that God is aware of everyone of us as an individual? Because He knows every single celestial body, He knows everyone of them. At any given moment He knows exactly where they are in their orbit. Now listen, there’s many more celestial bodies than there are people. And if He knows all of them individually then He won’t have any trouble keeping track of you and I. I know that’s mind-boggling, but this is what this Book teaches, and this Book is true.
Hebrews 1:3b
“…when he had by himself (this same Creator) purged our sins, (this is the One that died on Calvary’s Cross, and arose from the dead) sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;”
That’s just what Psalms said. But Psalms was speaking of it in the future. Now Paul can write it as past tense. It’s accomplished. Prophecy in that regard, is already fulfilled. Come back to I Corinthians 15. The Kingdom has just been ushered in and God has put everything under the power of the King of this Kingdom, Who is the Messiah of Israel, the Son of God, the Savior of mankind, the Head of the Body, our Lord Jesus Christ. I’ve always made a point in my teaching that Christ is not the King of the Church. He’s the Head of the Body. And if we were under a Kingship, then we could never be called joint-heirs because then we would be subjects. Remember that in His Kingship, that is over the Nation of Israel, over the rejuvenated earth and over everything that’s in His domain, which includes the Kingdom of God under which the Kingdom of Heaven operates. As members of the Body of Christ, we are in a unique position as being under the Headship of Christ and we are joint-heirs with Him.
I Corinthians 15:24,25
“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, (as King of Kings) till he hath put all enemies under his feet.”
We pretty much understand that after the seven years of the tribulation has run it’s course (and remember, I always divide it 3 1/2 and 3 1/2), that Christ returns. The Second Coming. And He comes to the Mount of Olives and He will stand there according to Zechariah, and He sets up this glorious Kingdom on earth. All the Old Testament speaks of it as on the earth. Zechariah 14 and Daniel 2 and Isaiah 11, and all these others speak of this glorious Kingdom on earth over which He will rule and reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. But while He’s reigning during this 1,000 years, old Satan is still alive. Satan is merely bound up in an abyss of some kind. And he will be held there under spiritual chains of one order or another until this 1,000 years has run it’s course. But, according to God’s own sovereign way of doing things, Satan will once again be released and will once again cause the nations to follow him and reject the sovereignty of the King and of God. Now this is why Paul has been led by the Spirit to put in these words in verse 25.
I Corinthians 15:25
“For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
Now we understand that from the onset of His rule and reign in the thousand years He is absolute King of Kings and Lord of Lords. There will be nothing of Satanic power to oppose Him, but remember Satan is still alive at that time. He hasn’t been put away forever, and so this final setting away of Satan cannot take place until the thousand years are finished. We might look at that for a moment in Revelation so that we see the Scriptures certainly teaches this. We find this in Chapter 20, and let’s begin with verse 7.
Revelation 20:7,8a
“And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, (he’s been incapable of causing mayhem up here in the Kingdom, but now he’s going to be set free)And shall go out to deceive the nations…” (plural)
And that’s why I teach that after the judgment of Matthew Chapter 25, the survivors (believers) of the Tribulation will probably go back to their original homeland. Those will be Gentiles in Matthew 25. And as they go back to their original homeland they will be the progenitors of the nations that are once again in full bloom at the end of the thousand years. Satan goes out once again, and once more he’s going to try thwart the very plans of God.
Revelations 20:8,9a
“And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: (it’s sort of of like another battle of Armageddon)the number of whom (these nations that have been under Christ’s rule, but Satan leads them together around Jerusalem attempting to defeat Christ and His throne) is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, (they come from every nation on earth) and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: (Jerusalem.)
But this time God’s not going to fool around with them, and with one short swift stroke, He’s going to do what I’ve often thought He must now at times consider, seeing what’s going on in the world today of the wickedness, and ungodliness, and rebelliousness of mankind. Why doesn’t He just zap the whole lot of them. Well, it’s because we’re living in the Age of Grace, but Grace won’t be operating here. This is going to be judgment. So with one quick swoop then:
Revelation 20:9a,10
“…and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. And the devil (Satan) that deceived them (these nations) was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast(Anti-christ) and the false prophet are, (the religious leader of the Tribulation. They’re still there even after a thousand years) and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”
And then in the succeeding verses, we have the judgment of the lost and their doom. Now coming back to I Corinthians again. After the consummation of the Tribulation, the King comes and sets up His Kingdom. The Nation of Israel will finally enjoy all those Covenant promises. They’re going to enjoy a territory that will go clear out to the Euphrates river. Not desert sand, but rather like the Garden of Eden, and all the earth will come under Christ’s rule and reign. And then after He has shown His authority and His power He has to defeat that final enemy.
I Corinthians 15:26
“The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”
And we’ll see a little more about that when we get toward the end of this chapter. But all of these things have to be consummated in order for Christ to bring to the epitome of the understanding of all of us as believers, of the angelic host, of Who He is. Now remember that was the whole downfall of the Nation of Israel in His earthly ministry. They were to have understood from His signs and miracles, and His teachings, His compassion, His wisdom, Who He was. That He was the promised Messiah, that He was the Son of God, but you see they just never comprehended it. But once all this has been accomplished, and He has poured out His wrath on the nations of the world as well as Israel; He has returned and set up His glorious Kingdom, He has brought in the resurrected of all the ages to reign and rule with Him; He has ruled over a whole new generation of human beings that have repopulated the earth during this thousand years of perfect rule.
But in order again to prove the rebelliousness of the Adamic nature, in all those new children that have been born during this thousand-years reign to the believers who made it through the Tribulation. These children never had to make a choice like you and I did, and their parents did, and that’s why Satan has to be released. So when Satan is released at the end of the thousand year Kingdom rule it’s for that specific purpose. Satan will try and test this new generation who before never made a choice, and again they’re going to follow Satan.