Why Christ Must Reign Until All Enemies Are Under His Feet

Hello, and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick. An Oklahoma rancher and farmer, Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. Okay, good to have everybody, and once again, we're going to jump right back into where we left off in 1 Corinthians 15. My little wife just asked me if we'd finished chapter 15 today, and I think, if I'm not mistaken, it'll probably take another whole four programs after today, because this is such a tremendous chapter, sort of like Romans chapter 8. You know, I don't know how long we spent in Romans 8 back there, but this is a chapter that is so loaded with one thing after another that we're not going to hurry through it. We're going to take our time, because I'm not on a set schedule that I have to finish all the way through Revelation before the Lord comes. I'm just hoping that before I even get halfway finished, we won't need it anymore. But anyway, until then, we're just going to keep on teaching as far as we can. Now, for those of you, again, on television, you have probably just caught our program. Remember that everything is available on videotapes, on audiotapes, as well as the printed page, and if you're interested in any of that, you call us on our 800 number, and we will send you the information. All right, let's get right back into the text, because after all, that's what we're here for is to study. And that's one of my benchmarks of living, is that the Scripture says, study to show thyself approved unto God. It doesn't say read your Bible, it says study it. And that, of course, is what we try to get people to do, is get into the book and not just read it, but study it. Buy a good cross-reference Bible. I don't particularly care which one you use, but get a good study Bible with your cross-references, some footnotes always help, and learn how to study. My, it's so much better time well spent than watching television, believe me. First Corinthians chapter 15, and we've just 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. And remember that's going to be on the earth, a lot of people don't have a concept of that. But remember the Kingdom, somebody in Indiana asked me the other day, why do you say the Kingdom is the Kingdom is the Kingdom? Because it's the only valid Kingdom in Scripture. Now if it speaks of a Gentile Kingdom, or the Kingdom of Babylon or something, that of course is different. But when the Bible speaks of the Kingdom, then remember that it's this final thousand year reign of Christ, this Kingdom on the earth, when He will finally be King of kings and Lord of lords, and that's not the end of course. Remember that the thousand years is just an introduction to the eternal state. Now all of this comes into focus then as we look at the Scriptural teaching concerning this earthly Kingdom. Now verse 23, we'll just read it for review, but every man is going to be resurrected of course, every man in his own order, or in his own company, 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 to the end of the Tribulation, which of course we covered then as the resurrection of the Church, the rapture, the great resurrection day of the major harvest of God's reaping, and then of course the bringing together of the Old Testament Saints and the Tribulation Saints as we saw in our last program in Daniel chapter 12. Now verse 24, 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 all power, for he must reign until he hath put all enemies under his feet. Turn back with me a minute if you will to Psalms 110. Now 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, someday I'm hoping to, at least in my classes here in Oklahoma, have an in depth study just on the Book of Psalms. I haven't gotten there yet, but someday in the future if the Lord cherishes. Now in Psalms 110 verse 1, and this verse is alluded to so often throughout Scripture, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy footstool. Now I think what we have here of course 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. Now then the enemies that will be the footstool of Christ are all of the forces of opposition. Now I think I made a point in one of my seminars or something, that just as soon as God revealed to Satan 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. Which of course was 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. He is still destroying lives, and he is still just that, the God of this world. So he is not yet under Christ's feet. Now look at the verse again, that Christ is to sit at the Father's right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. Now let's go all the way back into the New Testament a minute, and let's look at Hebrews chapter 1. Now we see that Hebrews is 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 1 Corinthians 15. As I was thinking on the way up, I've mentioned the program so often. We've got a 90 mile drive up to Tulsa, and for that 90 miles coming up for the taping, I don't really spend much time conversing with my little wife. The reason is I'm still mulling all this over in my mind. I was thinking again on the way up, and I've said it before. Do you realize there is not a single religion. Now Christianity is not a religion, but that's the only way I can refer to the rest of the beliefs of the world. Do you know there is not a religion on earth? Not a one. Not in Greek mythology, not in the Eastern religions, not in any of the religions of the cults, or anything else. Is there 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. As we're going to see as we go on through the rest of chapter 15, it's the whole hope for the believer is the resurrection, and that's why Paul makes so much of it in this chapter. But alright, coming back to Hebrews chapter 1, and I guess I might as well start with verse 1, because I always like to pick up the flow and not just jump on one verse. But God, the triune God of heaven, of creation, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in times past unto the fathers, that is the forefathers of Israel, by the prophets through the Old Testament writings. Verse 2. Now I've got to stop. Whenever I come to a thought I have to stop. You know there are people who still come up with grandiose visions that they have special revelation. They now have something above and beyond what's between these two covers. Listen, that flies in the face of this verse, and this is the way I refute them. I will say, Now look, you cannot tell me that you've had a special revelation, because my Bible says it's finished. There is no further revelation. And here it is in verse 2. God who did speak in the times past through the prophets, hath past tense in these last days, and again the word spoken indicates a past tense finished transaction. Alright, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son. Now think about that for a moment. We usually just sort of reckon the Scriptures as being Holy Spirit inspired, and they are. No apostle Paul will say that the Lord Jesus Himself appeared unto him, and revealed these things. No, the Holy Spirit was instrumental, but it was the Lord Jesus who was speaking it. In the same way in the book of Revelation, when John writes that great book of revealing things that had heretofore been unknown. Who reveals it to him? The Ascended Lord. Now come back to Hebrews 1 again, and so he hath appointed the Son heir of all things, by whom also He, the triune God of which the Son is a part, remember, He also made or created the world. Now these are one of the verses I use showing that Christ was a creator. Absolutely He was. Alright, but let's go on to verse 3. Who, of God the Son, being the brightness of His glory. Oh my, do we stop again? Yeah. Keep your hand in Hebrews. Let's go back a few pages to Colossians, because we've got to make all these things fit, because these are questions that come up in our mail, in our phone conversations, and I know that there are things that we have to address, and we might as well do it here for the benefit of everybody. Come back a minute from Hebrews, we're going to go over there again, don't worry. But come back to Colossians chapter 1, and drop down to verse 15. Colossians 1 verse 15, and again we have the pronoun who, speaking of the Son up in verse 13. You see it? Take a look at it. So what you see, that He hath delivered us from the power of darkness, translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son, in whom we have redemption. Now verse 15, who? It's the Son. Is the image, or the visible, tangible, evidence of the invisible God. Alright, now who is the invisible God? The triune, see the Trinity. God the Father, God the Son, and God the 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 temporarily, and then He would disappear. But in our New Testament account, He became visible, tangible, touchable. He lived in the flesh by virtue of Bethlehem. Alright, it's the same God, now manifested in the flesh by the Son. And so He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn, or He is the first of everything that has ever been created. He was there first. Now verse 16, for by Him, by God the Son, were all things created. See now, most people won't give Christ the credit for that, but He is. He's the Creator. He's the sustainer of the universe. Everything that's in heaven, that are in earth, visible, invisible, thrones, dominions, principalities, and so on and so forth. All things, everything, were created by Him and for Him. Alright, now keep all these things in your thinking. Now come back again to Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 1, verse 3. So God the Son, being the brightness of the glory of the Godhead, and the express, visible, tangible image again. See, the same word, the tangible express image of His person. Well, whose person? The Godhead. See, who He's representing. The express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power. Think about it a minute. That vast universe out there, with all of its billions upon billions of celestial bodies. Why don't they ever crash into one another? Why don't at least one or two of them drop out of orbit, and cause a tremendous calamity in space? Because Christ has them all under control. Now this is beyond our comprehension, but I use this example over and over when I come down to the very here and now for you and I. How do I know that God is aware of every one of us as an individual? Because He knows every single celestial body. He knows every one of them. At any given moment, He knows exactly where they are in their orbit. And now listen, there are jillions and jillions upon times of celestial bodies as there are people. And if He knows all of them individually, then He won't have any trouble keeping track of you and I. And so this gets mind-boggling. I know it is, but this is exactly what our Book teaches us, and this Book is true. And so upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself this same Creator, this Sustainer of the universe, by Himself He purged our sins. In other words, this is the One who died on Calvary's cross. This is the One who arose from the dead. And then had by Himself purged our sins, He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. Exactly what Psalms said, exactly. Only Psalms was speaking of it in the future. Now Paul can write of it as a past tense. It's now accomplished. Prophecy in that regard already fulfilled. Well let's come back again to I Corinthians 15. Now the Kingdom that has just been ushered in, and He has put everything under the power of the King of this Kingdom, who of course is the Messiah of Israel, the Son of God, the Savior of mankind, the Head of the Body. Now 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. And always 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 of course the Kingdom of God in which the Kingdom of Heaven operates. But 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. Now let's read verse 24 again. I Corinthians 15. Now maybe I should go to the board and clarify a little bit. We pretty much understand, I think those of you who have seen me teach now for ever so long, that after the seven years of the tribulation has run its course, and remember I always divide it three and a half and three and a half, that Christ returns, Second Coming, and He comes to the Mount of Olives, and His feet will stand there according to Zechariah, and He sets up this glorious Kingdom on earth. And 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 thousand years, old Satan is still alive, and Satan is merely bound up in an abyss of some kind, and he will be held there under spiritual chains of one sort or another, until this thousand years has run its 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 then, this is why Paul has been led by the Spirit to put in these words in verse 25, for he must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet. Now of course 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, and there will be nothing of Satanic power to oppose Him. But remember, Satan is still alive. He hasn't been put away forever, and so this final setting away of Satan cannot take place until the thousand years have finished. Let's look that up a minute in Revelation, so that we see that the Scripture certainly teaches this. Come back with me to Revelation chapter 20, beginning in verse 7. Revelation chapter 20, beginning with verse 7, and this is at the end of this thousand years when He has been ruling and reigning in complete power and control. But this is not the rule and reign that I think Paul is referring to in I Corinthians, but rather it's this one now in Revelation chapter 20, beginning at verse 7. And when the thousand years are expired, they've finally run their course, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. He's only been held and incapable of causing mayhem up here in the kingdom, but now he's going to be set free. And where does he go? Right back to his old domain, planet earth, where Christ has been ruling for a thousand years. And he shall go out and deceive the nations. And that's why I teach that after the judgment of Matthew 25, the survivors of the kingdom age will probably go back to their original homeland. And those are Gentiles, remember, in Matthew 25. And as they go back to their original homeland, they will be the progenitors then of the nations that are once again in full bloom at the end of the thousand years. And Satan goes out once again, and once more he's going to thwart the very plans of God, and he deceives the nations, Gog and Magog, and he's going to gather them together to battle. Another battle of Armageddon so to speak. And the number of these nations that gather around to defeat Christ and His throne near Jerusalem will be as the sand of the sea. Verse 9. They went up on the breadth of the earth, they come from every nation on earth, and they come past the camp of the saints about the beloved city that is Jerusalem. But this time God's not going to fool around, and in one short swift stroke He's going to do what I've often thought He must do. I don't like to use the word tempted, but He must at times consider when I look at the wickedness, and the ungodliness, and the 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. And so with one fell swoop, see, fire comes down from God out of heaven and devours them. Alright, now verse 10. Here's where I had to get to. Verse 10. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast, or the antichrist, and the false prophet, the religious antichrist, and the false prophet are going to continue on then to be tormented day and night forever. And then of course in the succeeding verses, which we will look at at a later time, when we have the judgment of the lost and their doom. Now coming back to verse 25 in I Corinthians again. After the consummation of the tribulation, the King comes and sets up His Kingdom. 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 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, then He has to defeat that final enemy. And which one is that? That's death. And we'll see a little more of that when we get toward the end of I Corinthians chapter 15. But all of these things have to be consummated in order for Christ to bring to the epitome of understanding, I think, even of all of us as believers of the angelic hosts 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 His miracles, and His teachings, His compassion, His wisdom. They should have known who He was, that He was the promised Messiah, that He was the Son of God. But you see they never comprehended it. But once all this has been accomplished, 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 rule and reign with Him. He has ruled over a whole new generation of human beings that are repopulating the planet. And He has gone for a thousand years of a perfect rule. No poverty, no war, no depressions, nothing that's amiss. But in order again to prove the innate rebelliousness of the Adamic nature, all those new children that have been born to the believers who came in at the front end, and have never had to make a choice, that's why Satan has to be released. And so when Satan comes back at the end of the tribulation, it is for that specific purpose to try and to test these new generations who have before never made a choice. And again they're going to follow Satan. Box 760, Kinta, Oklahoma, 74552. That's Route 1, Box 760, Kinta, Oklahoma, 74552. Through the Bible with Les Feldick is viewer supported and your gift is appreciated. Thank you and be sure to tune in next time for Through the Bible with Les Feldick.