Will Christ Give Up His Reign? Part 2
1st Corinthians 15:20-28 tells us of the resurrection of Jesus and how the end will come when He puts an end to all rule and authority. And verse 24 tells us “Then comes the end” when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father.
Hyper-preterists tell us Christ will never stop reigning an earthly reign since A.D.70. They claim A.D.70 was the time of the kingdom coming and they use verses like Isaiah 9:7 and Luke 1:33 which says, ”And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” to claim “ the kingdom on earth and earth itself and all of this physical creation has no end. So, they make a big to do out of the word “deliver” and remind us “deliver” comes from the Greek word “paradidōmi” and tell us the word and meaning is the same as when Paul used it in 1st Corinthians 11:23 when he writes “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you:”
And so, William Bell claims the word “deliver” is used in the same context as words from the Lord being shared the way he shared the instructions for the Lord’ Supper. OK, what are we to do with verse 28 that states “the Son Himself will be subject to Him who put all things under Him”?
The Hyper-preterists are not going to answer that one because they can’t and maintain the kingdom of Christ will last forever and it will forever and ever be on earth and its increase will be through preaching the gospel. They like to claim their doctrine is “consistent eschatology”, but the fact is it is one of the most inconsistent doctrines ever. On one hand they admit the kingdom is spiritual yet on the other hand they claim it ends if heaven and earth pass away. So, they are forced to claim heaven and earth doesn’t mean physical heaven and earth and doesn’t mean “all the elements”. Jesus promised and Peter reaffirms in 2nd Peter chapter 3 that heaven and earth would pass away but His word would abide forever, Matthew 5 verse 18. Hyper-preterists claim that doesn’t mean anything physical. They will tell you the “elements” are the letter of the law of Moses.
Look at Numbers chapter 18 verses 8,
And the LORD spoke to Aaron: “Here, I Myself have also given you charge of My heave offerings, all the holy gifts of the children of Israel; I have given them as a portion to you and your sons, as an ordinance forever.
19,
“All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer to the LORD, I have given to you and your sons and daughters with you as an ordinance forever; it is a covenant of salt forever before the LORD with you and your descendants with you.”
and 23.
“But the Levites shall perform the work of the tabernacle of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a statute forever, throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.”
Now if these statutes with the Levites are forever then why are they no longer valid? Well, for one thing they were already under conditions. When we go back to Exodus 19 verses 5 through 8 we read,
Now if you obey Me fully and keep My covenant, then out of all nations you will be My treasured possession. Although the whole earth is Mine, you will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the Lord had commanded him to speak. The people all responded together, “We will do everything the Lord has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to the Lord.