In 1 Cor 15:20-28, Paul moves away from ‘unreal speculation’ about what the consequences would be if Christ had not been raised from the dead to declare unequivocally the consequences of His resurrection! The ‘BUT’ at the beginning of this section is vital, showing us how God’s intervention makes all the difference (see other examples of this in Gen 50:20, Ps 73:26, Rom 5:7-8, Acts 2:22-24, Acts 3:15, Eph 2:4-5, 1 Pet 2:9-10).
Christ was not raised from the dead in isolation, but ‘as the firstfruits of those who are asleep.’ (1 Cor 15:20) Firstfruits means ‘the first instalment of the crop which foreshadows and pledges the ultimate offering of the whole.’ (C. K. Barrett, P 350) Because Christ has been raised from the dead, the resurrection of the rest of those in Christ is assured. Paul contrasts Adam, the first man, whose sin led to death, with Jesus, the ‘last Adam’, whose death and resurrection lead to everlasting life (see also Rom 5:1-21). As Leon Morris puts it, ‘Adam’s sin brought disaster not only on himself, but also on all of posterity. But if Adam’s sin had far-reaching consequences, so had Christ’s resurrection. It concerned not only Himself, but also all those who should believe on Him.’ (Leon Morris, P 214)
Resurrection in one sense applies to all (see John 5:29), but this does not mean that all will be saved. Paul is here primarily concerned with the resurrection of believers, and shows us that there may well be a different timescale involved (see 1 Thess 4:13-18), but he is keen to stress the complete sovereignty of God in this all. Every rule, authority and power will ultimately bow the knee to Jesus and God will be all in all. After the resurrection, God will finally resolve all of history according to His will, and death, the ‘last enemy’, is destroyed. Interestingly, the verb ‘is in the present tense, and the use of this tense for future action strikes a note of vividness and certainty.’ (Leon Morris, P 216) Whilst we may see death as an enemy now, we can be sure that death will not have the final word, because Jesus has overcome death!
C. K. Barrett summarises this section by saying, ‘The Son has been entrusted with a mission on behalf of his Father, whose sovereignty has been challenged, and at least to some extent usurped by rebellious powers. It is for him to reclaim this sovereignty by overcoming the powers, overthrowing his enemies, and recovering the submission of creation as a whole. This mission he will in due course execute, death being the last adversary to hold out, and when it is completed he will hand the government of the universe back to His Father.’ (‘A Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians’, P360) Once more, we see the voluntary subordination of the Son to the Father, the Godhead working in complete unity to achieve the purposes of God. God’s will will definitely be done and death will no longer have the final word.