Thus far, we’ve examined the application of Psalm 110 in light of how it relates to the judgment of Christ’s enemies, when and how He was enthroned, the repercussions of that ascension, and the glorious work for the salvation of His people. Now, let us take a moment to explore the 110th Psalm in relation to the future and how this Psalm helps us understand what the world will look like just prior to the end of history.
This investigation really needs to come down to two primary texts: 1 Corinthians 15:20-28 and Hebrews 10:12-14. Both of these passages indicate for us the timetable of the duration of His reign based upon the text in Psalm 110 and what we can expect to happen during His reign upon the earth. In the latter passage, we read as followed:
but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. (Hebrews 10:12-14)
According to the text, after Christ ascended into heaven following the offering of Himself as a sacrifice, His initial action was to sit down. The main thrust of this text is to demonstrate that the one sacrifice for sin for all time was sufficient to cleanse and perfect those who are being sanctified, and in return, there is no longer a need for a sin offering (v.18). But what we often miss is that within this text, there is something else that Christ is doing other than sitting down and interceding. He is waiting. But what is Christ waiting for? He is waiting for the time to be completed when God is finished making His enemies a footstool. That day when we will all see the final victory of God over Jesus’ enemies for which He is eagerly awaiting. This might also serve as a warning to the recipients of the letter not to return to the Old Testament sacrificial system, because if they do, they will fall into the category of Christ’s enemies who will be put under His feet. What this is telling us is that there will be a time, while Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God, and prior to coming to the earth with salvation and judgment, that God’s enemies will be placed under His feet or conquered on His behalf.
The End of Enemies
The next verse is unquestionably the most crucial for our study in the application of Psalm 110 and in return, to have a proper understanding of eschatology in general. One can’t truly grasp what the end of history will look like without having a proper understanding of this passage. The text is found in 1 Corinthians 15:
But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. For He has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15:20-28)
We have here the classic text on the subject of the resurrection of Christ in relation to the believer’s physical resurrection at the end of history. It begins with presenting Christ as the guarantee of the hope of the believer’s resurrection. If Christ is raised from the dead, then we can be assured that believers will be as well. To further the argument, Paul moves into the sequence of that resurrection. Christ the first fruits, then those who are his at His coming, and then comes the end. Now, what Paul meant by the end has been hotly debated. The dispute stems on whether the end happens simultaneously with the resurrection of believers or if there is a gap between them seeing that there is a large break in time between the resurrection of Christ and that of the believer. While there is certainly much disagreement, one thing we can all agree on is that this end has not yet come. Interestingly enough, Paul doesn’t leave us in ignorance as to what he means by this expression and goes on to explain the end, and what will occur when that end is upon this world. At the end, Christ hands over the kingdom to God. Whatever eschatological position one wants to affirm, this is clear. But prior to handing over the kingdom, there is another event that occurs mainly that all rule, authority and power is abolished, a theme reiterated throughout the New Testament. Paul then defines and substantiates this abolishment of rule by quoting Psalm 110:1. The Psalm is brought in to substantiate His rule but at the same time, it answers the question of how long Jesus reigns. He reigns until all His foes are in subjection to Him. The enemies of God and of His Christ are all put under Christ’s feet by the Father while Christ is reigning (present tense) and then the end comes. Keeping in mind the original meaning of Psalm 110, we should remember that it was the “I” (1st person personal pronoun- referring to God) who would put the enemies of the King under His feet. This subduing is an on-going and timely work of the Father on behalf of the Son which began the moment that Christ sat at His right hand. So, if the end is simultaneous with Christ giving the Kingdom to the Father, which He states He will do after he has abolished all rule, authorities and power, and all enemies are placed under His feet, then what enemies exist at Christ’s return? Will Christ returns to a world full of rebels or have all mutineers been fully subdued? Truly, all His enemies will be under His subjection.
After this subjugation of His enemies occurs, there will be one final enemy left that the King will personally come to deal with. One last foe to be placed under His feet, and that enemy is death. So, to answer the question of when does the end occur, and when does Christ give the kingdom to the Father, we must point to the time when all enemies are vanquished, and He returns to kill the last enemy. So, when does Christ come to vanquish death? When does death die at the hands of Jesus? Paul deals with this question in vs. 50-57.
Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Death dies when the perishable will become the imperishable. It will be the time when we are changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. The last trumpet signifying that there are no other trumpets to come and at its sound, will be the raising of the dead into immortality. It’s at that time that death is swallowed up in victory, subdued and destroyed, never to raise its ugly head again. It is truly the last enemy to be conquered by the reigning King Jesus.
When Christ returns to raise the dead, death will cease. All His enemies will have been subdued, When Jesus returns, He doesn’t come to a world in rebellion, but to a world where all His enemies are under His feet. The nations will have been won to Christ, and He will come to abolish death.
A Premillennial Fulfillment?
Of course, some may be shocked by these statements since it goes against what they’ve been taught their whole lives. For those who believe that Christ will return to save the earth from a total collapse prior to the millennium, this is altogether foreign. When we consider this text, and in return the fulfillment of Psalm 110, in light of Premillennialism, there are numerous problems that we need to address. We must believe that in the end spoken of in 1 Corinthians 15, Christ comes to set up the kingdom on earth, in a world of chaos, and death continues for at least a thousand years afterwards. There will be people who survive the great tribulation and who enter His millennial kingdom with natural bodies walking among those who have resurrected bodies. These same people have physical children, and all who have natural bodies must at some point die a natural death. If at Christ’s return, He destroys the last enemy, death, in the action of raising the dead, as 1 Corinthians 15:50-57 states, then how can we have people dying post-second coming?
A Final Word
The enemies of God, as we saw in a previous post, include rebellious Israel but are associated by and large with the Gentile nations. It is the families/nations of the earth who are being subdued in a takeover of this world by the Kingdom of God. The taming of rebels on this earth will happen in a twofold way: Either (1) The enemies of Christ will be made into believers by the power of the Holy Spirit through conversion and in return become followers of Christ, or (2) God will destroy them through judgment. Either way, there will no longer be enemies of Jesus when He returns and we as believers can know that if the victory of Christ is assured in history, then we can be certain that ours is guaranteed as well. All because of the victory of Jesus through His death, resurrection and ascension.
In our next segment, we will look further at the plan of God for the future of the nations through the gradual growth of the Kingdom.
The Moncton Herald 