Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father….

1 Corinthians 15:24a

While correcting the erroneous belief that there is no resurrection of the dead, Paul points out that Christ was raised from the dead, never to die again (15:3-8, 12-19).  In doing so, Jesus became “the firstfruits” – an agricultural term which describes the first reaping of a harvest yet to come – of those “who belong to Christ,” who would also come back to life and live eternally (15:20-23).

This would occur “at (Christ’s) coming” (15:23), an event which Paul describes in greater detail in his first letter to the Thessalonians.  On the day Jesus comes back, he will “descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God” (1 Thess. 4:16a), at which point “the dead in Christ will rise first” (v. 16b).  They will not only rise from the dead, but will also rise in the air into the clouds, immediately followed by the saved who are still alive on that day, “to meet the Lord in the air” (v. 17).

Paul now tells Corinth that this resurrection of the dead at Christ’s coming will immediately precede “the end” (15:24a).  He had already informed these Christians that “the end of the ages” had come upon them, just as Peter and the writer of Hebrews had also informed the first century Christians that they were in the last days (10:11; Heb. 1:2; 9:26; Acts 2:17; 1 Pet. 1:20)…thus showing to us in the 21^st century A.D. that the last age of earth’s history has been in existence since the beginning of the church two thousand years ago.  So what will happen at “the end” (15:24a) of “the end of the ages” of the history of the world (10:11)?  Scripture describes how the end of the world and universe, which is also called “the day of the Lord” in reference to Christ coming again, will come with no warning (Matt. 24:35-25:30; 1 Thess. 4:13-5:9; 2 Pet. 3:3-14).  On that day this planet and the whole universe will come to a fiery end (2 Pet. 3:10-12), ushering in the age of eternity which will begin after judgment (Matt. 25:31-46; Rev. 20:11ff; Dan. 12:2; Rom. 2:5-9; 6:23; 2 Cor. 5:10; Eccl. 12:13-14; Eph. 1:21b).

The apostle also informs Corinth that it will be at “the end” when Christ “delivers the kingdom to God the Father” (15:24b).  Daniel had prophesied of the coming of the kingdom during the days of the Roman Empire (Dan. 2:44), at which time Jesus and John both continually preached that it was coming soon (Matt. 3:2; 4:17; Mk. 9:1).  After the church began on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, the New Testament always speaks of the kingdom as presently existing and Christians being a part of it, thus showing that the church is the present manifestation of the kingdom (Col. 1:13; 1 Thess. 2:12; Heb. 12:28; Rev. 1:6, 9).  At the end of time, Jesus will give his kingdom – his church – to his Father.  It will be during the judgment at the end of time that all within the kingdom who unrepentantly let sin reign in their lives will be taken out of the kingdom and cast into hell; those who remain in the kingdom will be the righteous who are saved (Matt. 13:40-43).

This is why Christians are continually urged to penitently prepare themselves for “the end” (Matt. 24:35-25:30; 1 Thess. 5:1-11; 2 Pet. 3:10-14).  Brethren, are we ready for that day to come?

— Jon