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Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
September 13
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Today's Pathway:
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At the end of verse 22 Paul wrote,
"even so in Christ shall all be made alive".
In verse 23 he adds that although every person who is "in Christ" will be made alive, there is still an order for those who will be resurrected. As we have already seen, Jesus is the Firstfruits because He was the first to resurrect with a glorified body and never die again. All other believers will be resurrected with their immortal bodies when Jesus Christ returns. Although this is not the place for a lengthy discussion of the topic, suffice it to say that those who received Christ as Savior will be raptured immediately before the beginning of the Tribulation Period (I Thessalonians 4:13-17, II Thessalonians 2:7-8). This will include both those believers which have already died and those who are still alive. Both groups will receive their immortal bodies at that time. Old Testament believers will apparently be resurrected at the end of the Tribulation Period and near the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom (Ezekiel 37:12-14; Daniel 12:1-2, Job 19:26), although some do believe that the Old Testament saints will receive their resurrected bodies at the rapture. Whichever view is correct concerning the Old Testament believers, the resurrections of both New and Old Testament believers occur when Christ returns; be it in the air at the rapture or to the earth at the end of the Tribulation.
In verse 24 Paul teaches some additional prophetic truth. Once Christ returns to the earth He will establish His kingdom. This will occur after He has defeated His enemies at the end of the battle of Armageddon (Revelation 19:11-21). During the Millennium, Satan will be bound in the bottomless pit (Revelation 20:2-3) and Jesus will subdue all other kingdoms. In Psalm 2:8-9 God says to His Son,
"Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."
At the close of the one thousand year Millennium Satan will be set loose and will lead one final rebellion against Jesus (Revelation 20:7-9). He will be defeated and sent to the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:10), and all his followers will be destroyed (Revelation 20:9). So at that point Jesus will have "put down all rule and all authority and power" (verse 24) and will have put all His enemies "under His feet" (verse 25). Following that will be the Great White Throne Judgment, when all unbelievers are cast into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:11-15). According to verse 24, when this has all been completed, Jesus will hand over the kingdom to God the Father.
John MacArthur preached it this way:
"In chapter 5 of Revelation, John is looking at a vision in Heaven and somebody says, 'Who is worthy to take back the earth?' And they look around, and they can’t find anybody. And all of a sudden, the Lamb comes forth, and they begin to cry, 'He is worthy; He is worthy.' And Jesus Christ takes the assignment from the Father to redeem the earth, and He goes about and does it. And when He’s all finished – He’s finished coming as a baby; He’s finished living as a man. He’s finished dying, rising, coming back. He’s finished fighting the enemies of Satan and all the other world enemies. He’s finished with all the rebellions; He’s squelched all the enemies; He’s crushed all the foes. It’s all done, and He reigns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And He’s got all the redeemed, and they’re all gathered together, and all the ones who were unbelieving are judged and gone away. And all that’s left are the redeemed. Then He gives it all to God and says, “Here, I did My task.” He gives it to the Father. And then we enter the eternal state: the new heaven and the new earth."
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
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