The Bible Is One Grand Story:
The Restoration of Eden's Kingdom
March 16, 2014
MF Blume
Jesus was raised from the dead.
- Death is the last enemy that shall be destroyed.
Let's return to Psalm 110 today as we studied in times past.
Psalm 110:1 A Psalm of David. The
LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine
enemies thy footstool.
As we said many times, this Old Testament verse is used in the New Testament more than any other one.
Paul took this and got many revelations from God about it.
1Co 15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Corinthians 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
1Corinthians 15:24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have
delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have
put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Corinthians 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Corinthians 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
Look what Paul heard from God about this verse.
- Of all the enemies that David said would come under Jesus feet,
telling us how long He must rule, Paul explained that the least one was
death.
- Psalm 110 did not say that.
- Paul had a revelation from God about that.
- Not only that, but putting death under His feet meant that death would be destroyed.
- Paul used the word "destroyed".
- Psalm 110 did not say that either.
Paul also stated that the point in time when the final enemy is put
under His feet, as the Psalm said they'd all be put under Him, is when
the resurrection occurs.
- Psalm 110 did not say that either.
The resurrection involves two main points in time.
- There is a certain order of timing in which everyone who will ever resurrect in a positive manner will indeed resurrect.
- (There is a resurrection of the unjust also called that of damnation, as well)
Act 24:15 And have hope toward God, which they themselves also
allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just
and unjust.
John 5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
John 5:29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the
resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the
resurrection of damnation.
First the resurrection is that of Jesus which already occurred three days after He died.
- The next and final one is the resurrection that occurs at His coming.
- Then the end occurs.
- It's over.
- Nothing more.
- The Son then delivers up the kingdom to the Father.
- So, Jesus rules UNTIL all enemies are put under his feet.
- And we find out that the last one is death.
So, we know several additional things about Psalm 110's information now.
- The enemies are put under His feet until the END occurs.
- The last one is death.
- And the Son gives up the kingdom to the Father at that point.
- When enemies are put under His feet they are destroyed.
It is interesting to note that the resurrection's two major PARTS
include Christ's resurrection in the past and our resurrection in the
future.
- And it is wonderful to learn that Christ already dealt with death
at His resurrection as well as satan who had the power of death!
- And the second part of our resurrection also sees death dealt with a second time as well as satan.
The greatest of all the enemies that will ever be put under His feet
were already dealt with by Jesus in His resurrection at the start of
the New Testament era... the cross.
Death is said to be like a set of keys in the bible.
- It was the power satan had.
- He held the keys.
Revelation 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am
alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
So that is the reason wee read of Jesus saying that He resurrected and
is alive forevermore now, as well as saying he holds the keys of death
and hell.
- Holding the keys of death is having conquered death by resurrecting from it.
- To resurrect from the dead is to take the greatest enemy you'll ever face and showing that you have power over it!
- satan had the power of death, threw all that he could do at Jesus by killing Him, and then Jesus rises from it.
- What else could satan do?
- That single resurrection showed total power over all the works of the devil!
Watch this.
Jesus overcame death.
1Corinthians 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
Jesus destroyed the devil:
Hebrews 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh
and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through
death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the
devil;
He not only is said to destroy death when he puts it under his feet but he destroyed, past tense, the devil.
So, Jesus overcame death already in His own personal life by having resurrected from it.
- He already destroyed the devil as well, who is one of the enemies to be put under his feet.
- These very two enemies that he dealt with already on the cross
are distinctly said to be dealt with in our lives.these two were
handled already in Jesus' case, but remain lingering against us.
- We're told to be vigilant because of the adversary the devil.
- But we have a promise...
Rom 16:20 And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet
shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
He conquered death for Himself already and He conquered satan.
All in HIS RESURRECTION.
It was not in HIS DEATH that He conquered the devil, nor when he conquered death.
- Death killed him, so how could dying conquer death?
- But His resurrection is the conquering factor.
Ephesians 1:16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
Ephesians 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of
glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the
knowledge of him:
Ephesians 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened;
that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches
of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Ephesians 1:19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to
us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
Ephesians 1:20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from
the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
So, when we read Ephesians 1, knowing that the power at our disposal is
according to the power the Father used to resurrect Christ, we can see
something utterly encouraging.
- God takes the experience of Jesus that the power of the Father
used to deal with the greatest and last enemy to be ever be destroyed
-- death-- and offers this power to us for every day of our lives!
Not only that, but the power to enthrone this Son of God raised from
the dead to rule over a kingdom until this death is actually destroyed,
let alone overcome, is towards us.
- It's one thing to show that much power to resurrect Jesus from
the dead and enthrone Him over His kingdom, but it's another thing to
always have that power handed towards us for everyday use whenever we
need help!
THAT much power for EVERYDAY USE?!
How differently would we live if we really comprehended this degree of power that we have at our disposal?
When we realize that God already showed victory over satan and death
through the resurrection of Jesus, and His subsequent enthronement, and
now has Christ sitting over everything UNTIL HIS ENEMIES ARE MADE HIS
FOOTSTOOL, including death and satan when they are destroyed, what does
that tell you?
- It tells me that all of the fret and worry we have in facing
enemies that are still running loose and not yet under his feet are
simply being ALLOWED to run around for a while.
- I mean, God already showed power over the greatest two of them all.
- Satan and death.
- And for them to still exist and continue to exist UNTIL He puts
them in to the lake of fire is to let us realize that He has them
completely under His thumb.
- We know He could snap them out of existence at any given moment
if He already showed their ineptness at the resurrection of Jesus!
- To put it into the devil's face even more, He enthroned this JESUS whom He resurrected.
It reminds me of Adam taken from the dust of the earth and given dominion in the Garden where the tree of Life stood.
- Well, Jesus was taken from the dust of the earth's grave and
enthroned in dominion where we read of the Tree of Life in the New
Jerusalem and the river of life lowing from HIS THRONE!
- I think that is the reason God put that picture in the last chapter of the end of the Bible, Revelation 22.
- Look what God accomplished!
- Look how much DOMINION JESUS HAS!
- Revelation 1 shows Christ in power over all enemies, and the last chapter 22 shows the same thing!
- Oh, HOLY CHIASM!
- This one who overcame death and satan is ON THE THRONE like the
LAST ADAM taken from the dust of the earth's grave and enthroned in
power!
That power is towards us now!
- This makes you realize that all these big and threatening enemies
you face are really not all that big and threatening after all.
- You have power towards you that God already used to overcome the greatest form of enemies two thousand years ago!
So, face your fears and enemies with this in mind.
- God overcame the best of them long ago and even lets them run and scurry around until a time he has in mind.
- That time is so much completely His choice because, if he already
pummelled them at the resurrection, then He obviously can pick and
choose any date he wishes to end them for good.
- With that kind of God empowering us, what manner of people should we be when facing lesser problems?
Any problem we face is a problem that we currently possess power over.
- How much of a problem does it really pose, then?
- Since God let satan and death loose for a while, and continue
until the appointed time of their destruction, who cares, really, if we
face a problem that God chooses to not destroy from our lives, but lets
it continue to prod us?
- He dealt with those two elements in the resurrection, and those
very two elements are promised to be removed completely one day in the
future.
So, let them continue on as they do, even if we rebuke and pray for victory and they're still lingering.
- The real victory is knowing that although we did not cause them
to stop existing in our lives by our prayers, they're not really any
problem, anyway.
- God is simply letting things He has complete power to wipe out of existence now to continue for a reason.
- He has a reason for not wiping out death and satan yet.
- He obviously has a reason since He totally overcame them at the resurrection of Jesus.
- We know, therefore, that He HAS A FULL HANDLE ON THEIR CONTINUED EXISTENCE.
- SO, APPLY THAT TO EVERY LESSER PROBLEM, SINCE HE PROVED IT WITH THE GREATEST TWO OF THEM ALL.
With that attitude, we'll really be MORE THAN CONQUERORS!
Real victory is having full assurance the threats we face that are not
immediately destroyed when we come against them, are still no threat to
us.
- God already proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that he plays with these enemies like a mountain lion can toss around a mouse.
- So, think of them like that.
The Son expects his enemies to be made his footstool, for He, as a man, believes the Father.
Hebrews 10:12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
Hebrews 10:13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.
How would you like to live by his faith?
Galatains 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet
not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the
flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave
himself for me.
The writer of Hebrews gives us the perspective from the Son after Psalm
110 gave us the perspective from the Father and what the Father said to
the Son.
- Here, we're told how the Son reacted to those words.
- He sits expecting!
He knows He saw satan's effects over him wiped out!
- He knows what happened to death already.
- So, if death is not destroyed yet, He knows full well that it's only a matter of time, so why worry about it now?
- When YOU see an enemy still running around, and not wiped out yet even after you prayed, think of what Jesus expects.
- They're coming down and it's only a matter of time.
- God could do it now in a split second, but He isn't.
- It's all in His care.
- It's really not a threat even if it does not come down.
Sometimes we think we fail when enemies we rebuked are not destroyed.
- Paul died at the hand of persecution.
- Matthew and James both died as well.
- They had first century apostolic power!
- So, imagine what they thought when they knew they'd finally die.
- They obviously prayed against it.
- But God obviously did not will for them to see those enemies put under the feet and destroyed.
- Knowing their faith, we can believe they were confident and looked death in the face with a sneer.
- Imagine Paul who wrote Ephesians, and think of what he thought when he faced death knowing he wrote that truth.
Hebrews 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be
content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never
leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Hebrews 13:6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.