In 1 Corinthians 15:28 we read the following:
“Now, whenever all may be subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also shall be subjected to Him Who subjects all to Him, that God may be All in all.”
Concerning the meaning of the awe-inspiring words with which this verse concludes, the NIV Study Bible (1995) provides the reader with the following explanatory comment:
“The triune God will be shown to be supreme and sovereign in all things.”
The first problem with the above comment is its description of God as “the triune God.” By the use of this description, the author of the study note likely meant that God essentially exists “in” (or as) three distinct, divine “persons.” However, earlier in his letter to the believers in Corinth, Paul made it clear that “there is no other God except One” (1 Cor. 8:4), and that this “one God” is “the Father” (v. 6). This is in accord with the fact that the divine being who is Jesus’ Father is also Jesus’ God (John 20:17; Rev. 3:12).
Since Jesus’ God and Father is one God (and not two or more gods) and is the Father alone – and since the one God who is Jesus’ God and Father is undoubtedly the same God who shall be “All in all” – it necessarily follows that the God who shall be “All in all” is the Father alone. That is, the God who shall be All in all is the same God whom Christ addressed in prayer as “the only true God” (John 17:3).
The immediate context in which the concluding words of 1 Cor. 15:28 are found further confirm that the God who will be “All in all” is the Father alone. In v. 24 we read that Christ will be “giving up the kingdom to His God and Father.” Since there’s only one God being referred to by Paul in 1 Cor. 15:28 – and this one God is the same God to whom Christ is going to be “giving up the kingdom” (and is thus the one God to whom Christ shall be subjected) – it follows that the one God who’s going to be “All in all” is a single divine person (i.e., the Father alone).
The second problem with the NIV Study Bible’s comment on 1 Cor. 15:28 is its “explanation” of the expression “All in all.” The interpretation that’s provided in the study note (i.e., that God “will be shown to be supreme and sovereign in all things”) is almost certainly based on a doctrinal need to reconcile what Paul wrote in this verse with the commonly-held Christian view that a large number of both human and non-human celestial beings are going to be “eternally separated from God” in “hell.” In any case, the NIV’s view that Paul was trying to communicate the idea that God “will be shown to be supreme and sovereign in all things” is not supported by either the larger context in which the expression “All in all” occurs or the expression “All in all” itself.
Let’s first consider the meaning of the words, “that God may be All in all.” Here, again, is how 1 Cor. 15:29 reads in the CLNT:
“Now, whenever all may be subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also shall be subjected to Him Who subjects all to Him, that God may be All in all.”
Contrary to the NIV Study Bible’s interpretation, Paul didn’t say anything about God being “shown to be” anything at this future time. It’s not that God is simply going to be manifesting something that’s already true, or will be showing himself to be something that he already is (i.e., “supreme and sovereign in all things”). Rather, at the future time that Paul had in view in 1 Cor. 15:28, something is going to become true concerning the way in which God is present in creation that isn’t true at this present time. A new state of affairs involving God and his creation is going to be brought about at this future time.
Notice, also, that it’s not merely “all things” in which God is going to be “All.” The “all” in which (or rather, in whom) God is going to be “All” is clearly defined by Paul in the verse itself: according to Paul, the “all” in whom God shall be “All” is comprised of all who, in the future, shall be subjected to Christ. But what does it mean for God to be “in” those who comprise the “all” of whom Paul wrote here? And what does it mean for God to be “All” in those who comprise this “all?”
To help us answer these questions, let’s first consider what Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:6. In this verse we read that there is “one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” Whom did Paul have in mind by his use of the word “all?” It needs to be kept in mind when reading Scripture that the scope of the word “all” has to be determined by the context in which this word is used. For example, the “all” that Christ said Elijah will be restoring (Matt. 17:11) is limited to that which was written of him (Mal. 4:5-6:10), while the “all” whom Christ said shall be taught of God (John 6:45) is limited to everyone who will comprise “all Israel” during the eons to come (Isa. 54:13; cf. Rom. 11:26). In contrast, it’s evident from the immediate context that the “all” of 1 Tim. 2:6 is much broader in scope, and includes all mankind (1 Tim. 2:4-5). Even broader in scope is the “all” of 1 Cor. 8:6, Eph. 3:9 and Rev. 4:11 (which includes every created being, whether terrestrial or celestial).
But what about the “all” of Eph. 4:6? Since Paul was emphasizing the unity of those who are members of the body of Christ here (i.e., those who comprise the “one body” referred to in v. 4, and who have been called “with one expectation of [our] calling”), it’s likely that the word “all” in this verse refers to all believers (and not all mankind). This isn’t to say that God isn’t “over” all mankind (he is). It’s just that Paul’s focus in this passage isn’t all mankind but rather all who are in the body of Christ. This understanding of the scope of the “all” in Eph. 4:6 is further supported by the fact that, in the verse that immediately follows, Paul went on to write, “Now to each one of us was given grace in accord with the measure of the gratuity of Christ.” Those to whom Paul was referring when he wrote “each one of us” are those who comprise the “all” of v. 6. Since “each one of us” refers to believes only, it follows that the “all” of v. 6 includes only believers as well.
The next point that can be made concerning Eph. 4:6 is that Paul made a clear distinction between God’s being “over all,” “through all” and “in all.” The words “over all” likely express the truth of God’s supremacy and authority, while the words “through all” express the truth that’s found in Phil. 2:13. There we read that God “is operating in [us] to will as well as to work for the sake of His delight.” Contrast the truth affirmed in this verse with Eph. 2:1-2 (where Paul wrote that the one who’s now “operating in” unbelievers is “the chief of the jurisdiction of the air” – i.e., Satan).[i]
Since Paul made a distinction between God’s being “in all” and God’s being “over all” and “through all” – and since the words “over all” and “through all” are most likely expressing the truths of God’s supremacy and operation (to bring about conduct that’s pleasing to him) – we can conclude that the expression “All in all” does not mean what the NIV Study Bible claims it means. That is, Paul was not expressing the idea that God will “will be shown to be supreme and sovereign in all things” in 1 Cor. 15:28. Rather, he was expressing a similar idea to that which is being affirmed in the last words of Eph. 4:6. A comparison of these two verses will make this point clear:
Eph. 4:6
“…one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
1 Cor. 15:28
“…that God may be All in all.”
Later in this article it will be demonstrated that the “all” of whom Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 15:28 (and in whom God is going to be “All”) includes far more than just believers, and refers to all created, personal beings without exception (including, but not limited to, all mankind). But the point that needs to be emphasized now is this: When we understand each of the above verses in light of the other, the implication is that God is presently in the “all” of Eph. 4:6 to a lesser extent than he’s going to be in the “all” of 1 Cor. 15:28 in the future. Although God is in the “all” of Eph. 4:6 now, he’s going to be in the “all” of 1 Cor. 15:28 to the fullest extent possible at the future time that Paul had in view in this verse (thus making God “ALL in all,” and not just “in all”).
But in what sense is God “in” the “all” of Eph. 4:6 now? That is, in what sense is God “in” all believers now? Answer: God is in believers through the indwelling of his holy spirit. In Romans 8:9-11 we read the following:
Yet you are not in flesh, but in spirit, if so be that God’s spirit is making its home in you. Now if anyone has not Christ's spirit, this one is not His. Now if Christ is in you, the body, indeed, is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is life because of righteousness. Now if the spirit of Him Who rouses Jesus from among the dead is making its home in you, He Who rouses Christ Jesus from among the dead will also be vivifying your mortal bodies because of His spirit making its home in you.[ii]
Paul affirms the same truth in 1 Cor. 3:16 and 6:19:
Are you not aware that you are a temple of God and the spirit of God is making its home in you?
Or are you not aware that your body is a temple of the holy spirit in you, which you have from God, and you are not your own?
Although God is in all believers now (through his holy spirit “making its home in us”), he is not “All” in us. That is, God’s spirit is not in us to the fullest extent possible. This won’t occur until we undergo the instantaneous, vivifying change of which Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 15:51-53. At this future time, we’ll cease to be mortal and “soulish” (i.e., dominated by our soul, or sensory experience) and will be immortal and “spiritual” (i.e., dominated and energized by God’s spirit within us). Then, that which is presently true of Christ alone (in whom it can be said that God is “All”) will be true of us as well.
Now, since the way in which God is presently in the “all” of Eph. 4:6 is through the indwelling of his holy spirit, it follows that, when God is “All in all,” God’s holy spirit will be indwelling the “all” whom Paul had in view here. And not only this, but his spirit will be present within all in the fullest sense possible (as is presently the case with Christ, and will be the case for us when we’re vivified).
For the remainder of this study I’m going to be showing that, based on the larger context of 1 Cor. 15:28, we can conclude that the “all” in whom God is going to be “All” – i.e., the “all” in whom God’s spirit will ultimately dwell and fill to the fullest extent possible – includes all created, personal beings without exception (including, but not limited to, all mankind).
In 1 Cor. 15:20-22 (which can be considered the start of a parenthetical section in 1 Corinthians 15 that concludes with the words of verse 28) we read the following:
“Yet now Christ has been roused from among the dead, the Firstfruit of those who are reposing. For since, in fact, through a man came death, through a Man, also, comes the resurrection of the dead. For even as, in Adam, all are dying, thus also, in Christ, shall all be vivified.”
When Paul referred to Christ as “the Firstfruit of those who are reposing,” the implication is that Christ’s resurrection was unique. That is, with regard to its nature, Christ’s resurrection should be understood as distinct from any previous resurrections (such as the resurrection of Lazarus, or of Jairus’ daughter). Although Christ isn’t the first human to have been restored to life after being dead for a period of time, he is the first human who, after being “roused from among the dead” by God, can no longer die. Those who were previously resurrected eventually died again (since their resurrection involved being restored to the same mortal condition in which they existed before they died). Christ’s resurrection, in contrast, involved his being introduced into a state that’s beyond the reach of death; when Christ was roused from among the dead, he was given what the author of Hebrews referred to as “the power of an indissoluble life” (Heb. 7:16).
Thus, the nature of the resurrection of the dead that Paul said comes “through a Man” (i.e., through Christ) – and of which Christ is “the Firstfruit” – should be understood as a resurrection that is of the same nature as Christ’s resurrection. And this means that, for those who have died, being vivified in Christ will not just mean living again. It will mean being introduced into the same immortal, deathless state into which Christ was roused by God (and which, as is evident from 1 Cor. 15:54-55, will involve “putting on incorruption/immortality”).
That being vivified in Christ means to be given the same kind of “indissoluble life” that Christ was given when he was vivified by God is further confirmed from 1 Cor. 15:42-44. In these verses Paul described the kind of body that those vivified in Christ will have, as follows:
”Thus also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is roused in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor; it is roused in glory. It is sown in infirmity; it is roused in power. It is sown a soulish body; it is roused a spiritual body.”
Notice the words, “thus also is the resurrection of the dead.” No one who was resurrected before Christ received the kind of body that Paul had in view in these verses. It therefore follows that the kind of resurrection that Paul had in mind here (and of which he was writing throughout this chapter) is the kind of resurrection that only Christ has, so far, undergone. It’s a resurrection that will involve people being roused with an incorruptible, glorious, powerful and spiritual body. But the kind of resurrection to which Paul was referring in these verses is not going to be limited to believers. Here, again, is 1 Cor. 15:22:
“For even as, in Adam, all are dying, thus also, in Christ, shall all be vivified.”
Most Christians seem to believe that it was Paul’s intent to express the following idea in this verse: Just as all who are “in Adam” are dying, so all who are “in Christ” shall be vivified (or “made alive”). According to this interpretation, Paul was merely revealing the destiny of all who are presently “in Christ” (i.e., believers), and was not revealing the destiny of all who, in Adam, are dying. However, this interpretation fails to take into account what Paul actually wrote.
The parallelism of v. 22 clearly indicates that the same individuals who are included within the first “all” (i.e., all who, in Adam, are dying) are included within the second “all.” That is, the individuals referred to by the two uses of the word “all” are identical, and the scope of the first “all” thus determines the scope of the second “all.” And since the first “all” is comprised of all descendants of Adam – all of whom can be referred to as dying “in Adam” (and into whom “death passed through,” according to Rom. 5:12) – it necessarily follows that all mankind shall be vivified “in Christ.” And because all mankind shall ultimately be vivified in Christ, it follows that all mankind will ultimately receive the same “power of an indissoluble life” which, in Heb. 7:16, is said to be possessed by Christ.
One cannot, therefore, attempt to argue that all won’t be vivified by appealing to the fact that all are not presently “in Christ.” For according to what Paul wrote, the vivification of all who are dying “in Adam” is a future certainty. All who are dying in Adam shall be vivified. Being vivified “in Christ” is, therefore, by no means restricted to the relatively small number of humans who are later referred to as “those who are Christ’s in his presence” (i.e., believers). Rather, it embraces the same individuals who, in 1 Tim. 2:4, we’re told God wills to save (i.e., “all mankind”).
Moreover, when Paul wrote “in Adam, all are dying” and “in Christ, shall all be vivified” the word translated “in” (ἐν) likely means “by means of” (when ἐν is used with the dative case – as it is here – it can carry this meaning).[iii] We know that it’s by means of Adam’s transgression that all mankind was condemned to die (Rom. 5:12-17). In other words, it’s by means of (or “in”) Adam that “all are dying.” Conversely, it will be by means of (or “in”) Christ that the same “all” who are condemned to die because of Adam’s transgression will, in the future, be justified. As we read in Romans 5:18-19, the same group of humans who have been condemned because of Adam’s transgression – i.e., “all mankind”/“the many” – shall be justified (and thus vivified) because of Christ’s obedience. That is, everyone condemned to die by means of Adam shall be vivified by means of Christ.
Now, after revealing that the same “all” who are dying in Adam shall, in Christ, “be vivified” (i.e., made immortal, and thus placed beyond the reach of death), Paul went on to write the following in 1 Corinthians 15:23-28:
Yet each in his own class: the Firstfruits, Christ; thereupon those who are Christ’s in His presence; thereafter the consummation, whenever He may be giving up the kingdom to His God and Father, whenever He should be nullifying all sovereignty and all authority and power. For He must be reigning until He should be placing all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy is being abolished: death.
Paul likely had in mind two distinct (but related) future events when he referred to the second “class” of people who are going to be vivified by means of Christ as “those who are Christ’s in His presence.”[iv] In any case, it’s evident that Paul was referring to a future event that will involve the resurrection (and vivification) of deceased believers here (and not an event involving all mankind). Believers, however, constitute only a tiny fraction of the entire number of those belonging to the “all” who are dying in Adam (and who, in Christ, shall be vivified). So what about the rest of mankind?
Answer: The rest of mankind is included in the event that Paul had in mind when he went on to write, “thereafter the consummation.” The word translated “consummation” (telos) means “end” “conclusion” or “goal.” Paul’s use of this term should raise the following question: “The end/conclusion/goal of what?” And when we allow the immediate context to inform our understanding of what Paul had in mind in 1 Cor. 15:24, we can reasonably conclude the following: The “consummation” of which Paul wrote here is the consummation of Christ’s vivifying work (as referred to in v. 22). That is, the consummation is the event by which Christ’s death-abolishing work will be completed, and reach its goal (with the goal being the vivification of all mankind). And according to Paul, the consummation of this death-abolishing work of Christ will occur “whenever [Christ] may be giving up the kingdom to His God and Father.”
That “the consummation” is the final event by which the vivification of all who are dying in Adam will be completed is evident from what we read in verses 25-26:
“For He must be reigning until He should be placing all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy is being abolished: death.”
The word “until” in v. 25 indicates that the duration of time for which Christ is going to be reigning is not endless or “eternal.” Rather, Christ’s reign is going to continue for the future period of time that Paul referred to as “the oncoming eons” (Eph. 2:7), and will then end when “all [Christ’s] enemies” are placed “under His feet.” Since Christ will be reigning “until” all of his enemies have been defeated, it follows that Christ’s reign will end when he has defeated the last enemy. And since “the last enemy” is “death” – and this enemy is going to be “abolished” – it follows that Christ’s reign will end when death is abolished (for there will be no other enemies in existence after the “last enemy” has been abolished). But how, exactly, will death be “abolished”?
Answer: death can only be abolished through the vivification of all who are either dead or dying. When the last people who are either dead or dying are vivified by Christ (and can thus no longer die), death – the “last enemy” – will no more. And since death is the “last enemy” (and its abolishment is the event with which Christ’s reign ends), it logically follows that “the consummation” will coincide with the abolishing of death. That is, the consummation will occur when death, the last enemy, is abolished.
Thus, the sequence of events that we find being revealed by Paul in this passage is as follows:
1. Christ, the Firstfruit, is vivified by God (this event occurred nearly 2,000 years ago).
2. Those who are Christ’s in His presence (i.e., believers) are vivified by Christ (this is the next event to occur).
3. After some unspecified period of time (“thereafter”), the consummation of the event referred to in 1 Cor. 15:22 will occur, and death will be abolished by Christ.
According to this revealed sequence of events, the vivification of “those who are Christ’s in His presence” will be occurring before death is abolished. Thus, contrary to the view of many Christians, it’s logically impossible for the vivification of believers (“those who are Christ’s in His presence”) to constitute the abolishing of death.[v] Again, the abolishing of death (which is “the last enemy”) is inseparable from “the consummation,” and the consummation is going to take place sometime after believers have been vivified (as is indicated by the words, “thereafter the consummation”). And anyone who will be dead just before death is abolished – i.e., those who will have to undergo the second death – cannot remain dead when death is abolished (for otherwise it wouldn’t be the case that death was abolished). They’ll be vivified in Christ, in accord with what we read in 1 Cor. 15:22.
We can thus conclude that Christ’s reign will end when he completes his work of vivifying all who are dying in Adam. And since the giving up of the kingdom to his God and Father refers to end of Christ’s reign, we can conclude that the abolishing of death (which brings about “the consummation”) is precisely how Christ will be giving up the kingdom to God. According to this understanding, Christ will cease to reign when he completes his God-given work of vivifying all (such that the former event is directly brought about by the latter).
We go on to read the following in 1 Cor. 15:27-28:
For He subjects all under His feet. Now whenever He may be saying that all is subject, it is evident that it is outside of Him Who subjects all to Him. Now, whenever all may be subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also shall be subjected to Him Who subjects all to Him, that God may be All in all.
The subjection of Christ to God is equivalent to the end of Christ’s reign (i.e., the delivering up of the kingdom to God by Christ). And as we’ve already seen, the end of Christ’s reign will occur when he abolishes death. This means that Christ will subject himself to God by defeating the last enemy of his reign (death), and thus completing the work of vivifying all (which, again, is “the consummation” of which Paul wrote in v. 24). Since it is this action that ends Christ’s reign, it is by performing this action that Christ subjects himself to God. Thus, since death is abolished when Christ subjects himself to God, it logically follows that God becomes All in all when Christ abolishes death.
Moreover, according to what we read in 1 Cor. 15:27, the only being who’s not included in the “all” who are to be subjected to Christ is God himself (i.e., the Father). The fact that God is the only exception to the “all” of 1 Cor. 15:27-28 means that every created, personal being without exception is going to be subjected to Christ. Moreover, the same term translated “subjected” in v. 28 is used in reference to both the “all” who are to be subjected to Christ and to Christ himself. Since Christ’s subjection to God will involve his becoming a subject of the kingdom over which he will have been reigning, we can conclude that being subjected to Christ will involve becoming a subject of the kingdom over which Christ will be reigning before he abolishes death. And since the subjection of all to Christ will coincide with the abolishing of death, it follows that all will be subjected to Christ when all are vivified by him.
Further confirmation for this understanding of how (and when) Christ will subject all to himself can be found in Philippians 3:20-21. In these verses we read the following:
For our realm is inherent in the heavens, out of which we are awaiting a Savior also, the Lord, Jesus Christ, Who will transfigure the body of our humiliation, to conform it to the body of His glory, in accord with the operation which enables Him even to subject all to Himself.
The focus of these verses is the expectation of believers (i.e., all who are in the body of Christ). We know that Christ will “transfigure the body of our humiliation, to conform it to the body of his glory” when he vivifies us (which, according to 1 Cor. 15:51-52, will occur at “the last trump”). And according to Paul, this future event (i.e., the vivification of “those who are Christ’s in his presence”) will be “in accord with the operation which enables Him even to subject all to Himself.” Paul is telling us how Christ is going to subject all to himself. Christ will accomplish this by doing for all that which he’s going to do for believers when we’re vivified. That is, Christ is going to subject all to himself by vivifying all.
After the kingdom has been given up to God, the Father alone will reign over the then-universal kingdom, and all other personal beings – including Christ himself – will be his subjects and his children. We can therefore conclude that all who are going to be subjected to Christ (which is all personal beings) are going to become subjects of the kingdom that Christ is going to be delivering up to God through the abolishing of death and the subjection of all to himself.
Notice, also, that the “all” that is going to be subjected to Christ when he becomes subjected to God will be the same “all” in which God is going to be “All.” Consider the following argument:
1. Both Christ himself and the “all” who will be subjected to him will comprise the “all” in whom God is going to be “All” when Christ delivers up the kingdom to God.
2. The “all” who will be subjected to Christ when he delivers up the kingdom to God will include everyone who has died in a state of unbelief and estrangement from God.
3. The “all” in whom God is going to be “All” will include everyone who died in a state of unbelief and estrangement from God.
Thus, God is going to be “All” in everyone who has ever died (or ever will die) in a state of unbelief and estrangement from him. And as argued earlier in this study, the only way in which God can be “All” in someone is for his holy spirit to fill/indwell them completely (i.e., to the fullest extent possible). At this present time, God’s spirit completely fills Christ. When, at the “last trump,” “those who are Christ’s in his presence” are vivified by Christ, God’s spirit will completely fill everyone in the body of Christ (such that what is presently true of Christ alone – in whom it can be said that God is “All” – will be true of us as well). And when, at the end of his reign, Christ abolishes death and thus completes the work of vivifying all (which, again, is “the consummation” of which Paul wrote in v. 24), God’s spirit will completely fill everyone else (including everyone who has ever died in unbelief).
[i] Of course, it’s also true that God is “operating all in accord with the counsel of His will” (Eph. 1:11); however, there is a special sense in which God is presently “operating IN” believers, but not in unbelievers (in whom Satan is said to be “operating,” as stated in Eph. 2:1-2).
[ii] Some have understood “God’s spirit” to be distinct from “Christ’s spirit” in this passage. However, we know that God’s spirit can be referred to in different ways depending on what its function is (see the following article from BiblicalUnitarian.com for a defense of this point: https://www.biblicalunitarian.com/verses/1-peter-1-11).
It should also be kept in mind that (1) Christ is the first man in whom God’s holy spirit has “made its home” and permanently indwells, and (2) Christ is the one through whom God gives his spirit to the believer. This being the case, there’s no good reason why the same spirit of God couldn’t be referred to by Paul as both “God’s spirit” and “Christ’s spirit” in this passage.
This doesn’t, of course, mean that Christ doesn’t have his own personal spirit (i.e., the spirit that he committed to God right before he died). It’s simply that we need not understand Paul to have been referring to this spirit when he wrote what he did in Romans 8:9-11.
[iii] Here’s a link to a good article that I think persuasively argues that the word “in” in 1 Cor. 15:22 should be understood to mean, “by means of”: https://www.concordant.org/expositions/human-destiny/crucial-questions-resurrection/
[iv] The first event that Paul likely had in mind is that which we find referred to several times in his first letter to the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 2:19; 3:12-13; 4:15-17; 5:23). In 1 Thess. 4:15-17 we read the following:
For this we are saying to you by the word of the Lord, that we, the living, who are surviving to the presence of the Lord, should by no means outstrip those who are put to repose, for the Lord Himself will be descending from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the Chief Messenger, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall be rising first. Thereupon we, the living who are surviving, shall at the same time be snatched away together with them in clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.
At this present time, Christ’s presence is in heaven. However, at the future time that Paul had in mind in the above verses, Christ will descend to a certain atmospheric location above the earth (and will thus be present in this atmospheric location). And shortly after Christ comes to be present here, every member of the body of Christ who has ever lived (including Paul and those to whom Paul was writing) is going to be snatched away to meet Christ there.
The resurrection of the “dead in Christ” that’s prophesied by Paul in 1 Thess. 4:18 isn’t the only prophesied resurrection that will be occurring in Christ’s “presence” (and which will involve the vivification of a certain company of deceased saints). In John 6:39-40 we read the following:
“Now this is the will of Him Who sends Me, that all which He has given to Me, of it I should be losing nothing, but I shall be raising it in the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who is beholding the Son and believing in Him may have life eonian, and I shall be raising him in the last day.”
When Christ spoke of raising those who are “beholding the Son and believing in Him,” he was referring to the resurrection that will be occurring after he has returned to earth at the end of this eon. Christ referred to this event elsewhere as “the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:14; cf. 20:34-35), while John referred to it as “the former resurrection” (see Rev. 20:4-6; the implied “latter” resurrection with which the “former resurrection” is being distinguished is that which is referred to in v. 5 and implied in Rev. 20:12-13).
In referring to the day in which this resurrection is going to occur as “the last day,” Christ had in mind a specific prophecy that’s found at the very end of the book of Daniel. In Dan. 12:11 we read,
“And from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290 days.”
Here Daniel is told of a period of 1,290 days which will follow the midpoint of the prophesied “70th heptad” (or “week” of seven years) that was referred to earlier in Dan. 9:27 (where we’re told that a certain individual – i.e., “the coming prince” or “coming governor” – will “put a stop to sacrifice and offering,” and “the abomination of desolation” will be set up “on a wing of the temple”). In other words, the 1,290 days referred to in Dan. 12:11 will comprise the last half of the future seven-year period prophesied in Dan. 9:27 plus an additional 30 days (1,260 days + 30 days = 1,290 days).
In the next verse (Dan. 12:12), we read:
“Blessed is he who waits and arrives at the 1,335 days. But go your way till the end. And you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days.”
These “1,335 days” refer to the last half of the future seven-year period of time plus an additional 75 days (1,260 days + 75 days). Apparently, something of great importance – something those who are alive at the time will be blessed to see – is going to take place on the 1,335th day. But what event could this be? Notice what the messenger’s next words to Daniel are:
“And you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days.”
It should be noted that the word translated “resurrection” in the Greek scriptures (anastasis) literally means, “to stand up” or “to stand again.” And since the words “you shall rest” refer to Daniel’s death (i.e., his being “put to repose”), it follows that, in this verse, we’re being told that Daniel would die and then be resurrected in the land of Israel (his “allotted place”) at the end of the days being referred to here.
We thus see that the resurrection of Israel’s saints will take place 75 days after Christ’s return to earth – i.e., the last day of the 1,335 days spoken of by the messenger (the “end of the days”).
[v] Some understand Paul’s words in 1 Cor. 15:51-55 as being inconsistent with the view that the abolishing of death will be occurring sometime after believers have been vivified. In these verses we read the following:
Lo! a secret to you am I telling! We all, indeed, shall not be put to repose, yet we all shall be changed, in an instant, in the twinkle of an eye, at the last trump. For He will be trumpeting, and the dead will be roused incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal put on immortality.
Now, whenever this corruptible should be putting on incorruption and this mortal should be putting on immortality, then shall come to pass the word which is written, Swallowed up was Death by Victory. Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?
According to Paul, the “word that is written” shall “come to pass” (ginomai, to come to be, or to occur) “whenever” an individual is vivified. That Paul is speaking with regard to individuals here is evident from the words “this corruptible” and “this mortal”; Paul evidently had his own corruptible, mortal self in mind when he wrote these words. Moreover, although Paul likely had Isaiah 25:8 and Hosea 13:14 in mind when he referred to “the word which is written,” Paul wasn't talking about the fulfillment of what we read in these verses. Had Paul intended to express the idea of fulfillment, he would’ve used the Greek word pleroo (which is elsewhere translated “fulfilled” or “filled up” in connection with certain verses of Scripture; see, for example, Matthew 2:23; 4:12-16; 13:14-15; 27:6-10; Luke 24:44; John 13:18; 17:12; 19:36; Acts 1:16; 3:18; 13:27; James 2:23). Instead of being “fulfilled,” the “word which is written” will “come to pass” any time (“whenever”) a deceased or mortal person (or a group of such persons) is vivified.
It is at “the last trump” that believers (the deceased saints in the body of Christ) shall be roused incorruptible, and the still-living saints will be changed into immortal beings. At this time, death will be “swallowed up by victory” for us. However, although the vivification of “those who are Christ’s in his presence” is the next “phase” in Christ’s work of vivifying all mankind (and thus abolishing death), it is not the event through which the last enemy is abolished. For the majority of those who are dead/dying, the “word which is written” will “come to pass” at the end of Christ’s reign. And when this word comes to pass at this time, the word will then be “fulfilled.” For – as has been demonstrated – it is at this future time that death, the last enemy, shall be abolished.
