Death, the Last Enemy

The arrival of Jesus at the end of the age will mean the resurrection and the end of the Last Enemy, namely, Death - 1 Corinthians 15:24-28. Certain members of the Corinthian congregation denied the future resurrection of the righteous. Paul responded by stressing how necessary our resurrection is and by appealing to the past Death and Resurrection of Jesus. His resurrection is the precedent for our future resurrection and everlasting life in the coming New Creation.

We will be raised bodily when Jesus “arrives,” and his appearance will mean the end of Death itself. But Paul also revealed something new when defending the resurrection. Believers who are alive when Christ returns will be transformed and receive immortal bodies. They will not first experience death.

[Sunlight - Photo by Richard Bell (Cheltenham, UK) on Unsplash]

The Apostle also described several key events that will precede the ‘Parousia’ (παρουσια) or “arrival” of Jesus. Paul begins his argument with a rhetorical question:

• “If Christ is proclaimed that he has been raised from among the dead, how say some of you there is no resurrection of the dead?” – (1 Corinthians 15:12).

The heart of the matter is the absolute necessity for our bodily resurrection. All of Paul’s arguments support this proposition, and the basis of our future resurrection is the past resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.

If there is no future resurrection, then “not even Christ has been raised,” and if that is so, then the Gospel is void. Thus, our coming resurrection is based on the past resurrection of the Son of God, and it is central and vital to our hope of salvation.

Paul goes on to argue that “all will be made alive, but each in his own rank” or “order.” Jesus was the “first fruits” - He rose first – and the rest will follow, “at his arrival.” That event will constitute “the end when he will deliver the Kingdom to God and bring to nothing all rule, authority, and power.” Thereafter, “God will be all in all.”

The raising of the dead began with Jesus Christ, the “firstborn of the dead,” and at his future “arrival,” this process will be completed when we are resurrected and receive our immortal bodies - (1 Corinthians 15:23).

HIS ARRIVAL

Paul uses the Greek noun ‘Parousia’ for the “coming” or “arrival” of Jesus. For example, in his first letter to the Thessalonians, he also links the resurrection of dead believers to the “arrival” of Jesus from Heaven - (1 Thessalonians 4:12-15, 5:23, 2 Thessalonians 2:1, 2:8).

Christ’s ‘Parousia’ will mean “the end” of the present age, the subjugation of all his enemies, and the end of Death, both as a reality and process. And Death is the “Last Enemy” that must be destroyed. Only then will Jesus deliver his now completed "Kingdom” to his God and Father - (1 Corinthians 15:24-28).

Paul’s purpose is not to describe in detail all the events that will accompany the return of Jesus. Specific subjects are introduced because they support his argument for the bodily resurrection of the righteous dead.

Jesus was raised as the “first fruits” of those who “sleep,” their forerunner and the guarantor of their own resurrection. Dead believers will participate in the same kind of resurrection that he did, only at the appointed time. In the conclusion of his argument, Paul returns to the subjects of the resurrection and the end of Death:

• (1 Corinthians 15:51-58) - “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed <…> During the last trumpet, for it shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”

The end of death will coincide with the “arrival” of Jesus. That day will mark the final overthrow of all God’s enemies. After that, there will be no more enemies to conquer, and death will be no more. The curse of Adam’s sin will be invalidated forever, and therefore, Christ’s resurrected saints will shout in triumph:

• “Death is swallowed up by victory! Oh, Death, where is your victory? Oh Death, where is your sting?” – (1 Corinthians 15:54-55).

The bodily resurrection does not mean the resuscitation of corpses. Our mortal bodies will be transformed into another kind of body, one that is equipped for life in the Spirit. It will not be subject to disease, decay, or death. The evidence for this hope is the glorified body of Jesus Christ. We, likewise, will inherit glorified bodies - (1 Corinthians 15:35-50).

The “mystery” that is revealed in Paul’s discussion is that believers who remain alive when Jesus returns will be physically transformed and receive immortal bodies. They will not die.

The salvation hope of the Church is based on belief in our future resurrection and life in the New Creation, which, in turn, is based on the past Death and Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.

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SEE ALSO:

• King and Saviour - (The name ‘Jesus’ means “Yahweh saves.” In this man, the Salvation promised by the God of Abraham has arrived)

• The End - (Revelation moves from Christ’s Death and Resurrection to the final day when God judges the wicked and vindicates the righteous)

• Good News for all Nations - (The Good News announced by Jesus of Nazareth provides salvation and life for men and women of every nation and people)

• Coming on the Clouds - (Portions of Daniel’s vision of the Fourth Beast and the Little Horn are applied to Jesus and his saints in the New Testament)