1 Corinthians 15:24-28 - Homiletics

Christ resigning his administration.

"Then cometh the end," etc. By the "end" here, I presume, is to be meant the redemptive reign of Christ. It means that when Christ, in the exercise of his mediatorial government, has subjugated all the powers of moral evil, he will deliver up his commission to God, who will then be acknowledged as the absolute Ruler of all. The following are some of the truths that the passage suggests:—

I. That THE GOVERNMENT OF OUR WORLD IS ADMINISTERED BY CHRIST . The New Testament is full of the doctrine that Christ reigns over our world. This doctrine explains several otherwise inexplicable things in the history of man.

1. The perpetuation of the human race on the earth. Death was threatened on Adam the same day on which he should sin. He sinned, and died. not that day, but lived for centuries, and became the father of an immense and ever multiplying family. And why? The Biblical doctrine of mediation is the only principle that explains it.

2. The coexistence of sin and happiness in the same individual. Under the government of absolute righteousness, we should antecedently expect that such an association would never exist. We are told that there is perfect happiness in heaven, and we can understand it, because perfect holiness is there. But here there are sin and happiness, comparative holiness and great suffering. The mediative government is the only principle that explains this.

3. The offer of pardon and the application of remedial influences to the condemned and corrupt. Under a righteous government how is this to be explained? It is explicable only on the ground that "he is exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour," etc.

II. That Christ conducts the government of our world IN ORDER TO PUT DOWN ALL HUMAN EVILS . There are two classes of evil referred to here.

1. Moral. "All rule, all authority and power." Sinful principles are the moral potentates of this world. Christ's government is to put them down from governments, Churches, books, hearts, etc.

2. Physical. "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." Death is the totality of physical evils. Christ will destroy this.

III. That when these evils are entirely put down, CHRIST WILL RESIGN HIS ADMINISTRATION INTO THE HANDS OF THE EVERLASTING FATHER . The time will come when moral evil shall be entirely exterminated from the earth, and when death shall be swallowed up in victory. Christ, having finished the work that was given him to do, resigns his office. "Then cometh the end."

IV. That when Christ shall have resigned his administration, GOD " WILL BE ALL IN ALL ." What does this mean?

1. He will treat all men after this on the ground of their own moral merits. From the Fall up to this period, he had treated them on the ground of Christ's mediation; but now, the mediation removed, each man shall reap the "fruit of his own doings."

2. All men after this will subjectively realize the absolute One as they have never before. The atmosphere of their nature purified, he shall appear within them as the central orb, making the finite manifest and glorious in the conscious light of the Infinite.