Will Christ Give Up His Reign?

 

That question is not brought up often but when it is brought up, you’ll find there are a multitude of answers. As we know there will only be one right answer and we will all find out the absolute answer one day. But for now, I want to address it and you can examine what I write and compare this to the scriptures.

Let’s look at what 1st Corinthians chapter 15, Matthew 28, Luke 1, and Daniel chapter 2 says concerning Jesus, His authority, what His authority is or is not limited to, and where He got His authority.

In Daniel chapter 2 Daniel is interpreting Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and he explained to the king his dream represented 4 kingdoms and out of the fourth, God would set up a kingdom that would never be destroyed. In verse 44 Daniel says this;

“And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.”

That verse is clear right? In the days of the kings of that fourth kingdom God will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed. Now let’s look at Luke chapter 1 verses 32 and 33 where the angel Gabriel came to Mary and told her this.

“And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son and shall call His name JESUS.

“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. “And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end”.

We can see that Daniel and Gabriel are talking about the same throne and kingdom because Daniel had stated that this eternal kingdom that God would raise would break and consume all these kingdoms and it would stand forever. So, when Gabriel says the son of the Highest would reign over the house of Jacob forever, we know by necessary inference these are one and the same. Now let’s look at Matthew 28 verses18 through 20. This is after the death and resurrection of Jesus, and He is talking to His disciples and giving them their instructions of what to do.

 

And Jesus came and spoke to, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen

The Hyper-Preterists claim “end of the age” is referring to the Old Covenant age and that the end of that age came in A.D.70. They make that claim because Daniel and the angel Gabriel said the kingdom of Christ has no end, so Jesus had to be referring to the Old Covenant age. Yet at the same time Jesus would be limiting His presence with them because He said, “even to the end of the age”. This is like how these Hyper-preterists talk about the Lord’s Supper. Remember Paul tells the church at Corinth that as often as they observe the Lord’s Supper, they “remember His death until He comes”. If Jesus returned in A.D 70, then the Lord’s Supper is no longer to be observed. And so, if He will be with them until the end of the age and that age ended in A.D.70 then His reign ended and the Hyper-Preterists have created for themselves one more contradiction to go with all the other contradictions they have developed over the past 30 years.

As we have read from Daniel and Luke and Matthew Jesus promises His throne and His Kingdom is eternal. Yet we read in 1 Corinthians 15 when the end comes, He will deliver the Kingdom to the Father and be subject to Him. The Father who gave the Son all the authority to rule over all principalities and powers. We can read in Ephesians 3 verses 9 through 11 that God’s purpose all along was to manifest His wisdom to the church through Christ Jesus. Ephesians 3: 9-11

 

“and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ;

to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places,

according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,

in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.”

 

One of God’s purposes from the beginning was for us as Christians to access to Him through our faith in His Son. I think of the triune Godhead in this context. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father sent the Son, the Son sent the Holy Spirit to teach and save our souls through the gospel.

And this brings us back to 1st Corinthians 15 verses 20-28.

 "But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.

But each one in his own order: Christ the first fruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.

Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.

For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.

The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

For “He has put all things under His feet.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted.

Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all”.

How do we reconcile the fact the “then comes the end” and He delivers the Kingdom to the Father” with Daniel and the angel Gabriel saying His reign and His kingdom has no end? The Hyper-Preterists don’t even try. They, “they” being most of them, claim there is no end and Jesus will reign forever and it is our lack of understanding of the Greek word “deliver” William Bell has several You Tube clips making the claim that verse 24 is misunderstood by the church throughout her history and Jesus does not “deliver” the Kingdom to God and there is no end. While William Bell tells us what verse 24 Doesn’t mean, he never tells us what it Does mean.  He tells us we don’t understand the Greek and therefore we cannot correctly discern the true meaning. One of William Bell’s favorite go to translations of the Bible is Youngs Literal Translation. Many Hyper-Preterists use Youngs Literal when they want “time statements” to fit their doctrine. For example Acts 17:31 Youngs Literal has the phrase “He is about to judge the world in righteousness”. No other translation translates the Greek “milo” to “about to” in this context. Preston and Bell both claim Youngs word for word is the best at translating from the Greek during these instances like Acts 17:31 but they treat the translation like the plague with verses like 1st Corinthians 15:24. Here’s Youngs Literal translation of the verse.

then -- the end, when he may deliver up the reign to God, even the Father, when he may have made useless all rule, and all authority and power-- 

How can this be? If “deliver up” doesn’t mean that then why does a word for word literal translation get it so wrong? The fact is Young’s Literal doesn’t get that one wrong. It means exactly what it says according to every English translation I’ve looked at. So how can Jesus’ reign be eternal with all authority and have no end if He is relinquishing the reign to the Father at the end? The next few verses give us a very good explanation. And when we look at other verses we can see and understand more clearly. John 8 verse 29 Jesus says this of Himself and the Father ““And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.” This is a verse showing us Jesus is not the Father. Also, John 5: 21-23 Jesus says this.

"For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.

“For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, “that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.”

I will finish this soon. This weekend most likely. I need to add a lot of stuff to this study.