The Defeat of Death

“He [Jesus] must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death” (1 Cor. 15:25–26)

Many Christians believe this prophecy has not been fulfilled yet because people still die physically. However, Scripture teaches death has been destroyed—for those who put their faith in Christ. For example, Jesus said “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life” (John 5:24). The apostle Paul, likewise, said that Jesus “abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Tim. 1:10). These passages show that death has been destroyed, for those who put their faith in Christ. Since Christians still die physically, then that means that the kind of death in view in these passages is spiritual death, which is defined as “separation from God due to sin.” This is the kind of death that Jesus defeated.

Paul linked the defeat of death—aka resurrection—to the passing of the law:

“‘O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?’ The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory [over the law, sin, and death] through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:56–57).

In saying “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law,” Paul means that the law leads to sin, which leads to death (separation from God). In fact, elsewhere, Paul called the law “the ministration of death written on stones” (2 Cor. 3:7) because the law ultimately condemns, because everyone sins; and sin leads to separation from God, which is called death. But thanks be to Jesus, who gives his followers victory over this death—which is called resurrection.

So Paul linked the resurrection to the passing of the law. Yet the apostles also taught that the law, aka the old covenant, was about to pass away when the book of Hebrews was written around AD 62: “In that He [God] says, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first [covenant] obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away” (Heb. 8:13). The law was about to pass away when this passage was written.

The writer of Hebrews goes on to say that the temple symbolized the law (Heb. 9:8–9), so when the temple fell in AD 70, that meant the law passed away too. And since the resurrection is linked to the end of the law (as I just showed above), then this is when the resurrection must have happened too.

These passages logically show that Jesus defeated the last enemy, death, in the first century. Keep in mind, this was not a sudden event. When Jesus and Paul made those comments above about death being defeated (pre-AD 70), there was still more that needed to be done. However, the consummation or completion was so near—and so sure to happen—that they spoke about it as if it were already a reality. It’s kind of like when we today say “dead man walking” to refer to someone about to die. He’s so sure to die—and soon—that we refer to him as “already dead.” It was the same in Jesus’s and Paul’s case. Death was so sure to be defeated—and soon—that they referred to it as already a reality. It was so near to happening, in fact, that Paul told the Corinthians in around AD 57 that some of them would still be alive when it happened:

“Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep [die], but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Cor. 15:51–52).

Paul clearly believed some of his audience would still be alive when the resurrection happened. Paul believed the same about the Thessalonians:

“For this we [apostles] say to you [Thessalonians] by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep [who have died]. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:15–18)

Paul clearly believed death would be defeated—the general resurrection would happen—within the lifetimes of his first-century audiences!

Furthermore, since death was the last enemy (1 Cor. 15:26), then Jesus must have put the rest of his enemies under his feet as well (v. 25). And he did! Paul said Christ “disarmed principalities and powers [and] made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them” (Col. 2:15).

Possible objection: If death has been defeated, then that means Jesus is no longer reigning. After all, Paul said, “He [Jesus] must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet” (1 Cor. 15:25, bolding mine).

Response: Compare Paul’s statement (1 Cor. 15:25) with another of his statements in 1 Timothy 4:13: “Until I come devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching” (NIV). Now ask yourself a question: In this latter statement, was Paul telling Timothy to read Scripture only until he returned…and then quit doing so afterward? Of course not. Paul was merely encouraging Timothy to keep reading Scripture until he returned.

Paul was doing something similar in the Corinthians passage. Here, Paul was assuring the Corinthians that no matter what happened (hardships, persecution, imprisonment, etc.), Jesus would continue reigning through it all, even until he comes. But Jesus would not quit reigning afterward. In fact, the New Testament teaches that Jesus will reign forever. Here are some examples:

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory” (Matt. 25:31, bolding mine). As William Bell of All Things Fulfilled has pointed out, “Jesus sits [on his throne], not quits [reigning].”

“You [Mary] will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end” (Luke 1:31–33, bolding mine).

“The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever! (Rev. 11:15, bolding mine).

“But about the Son he [God] says, ‘Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever’” (Heb. 1:8; bolding mine). See also Isa. 9:6, Dan. 7:14, Heb. 12:28, and Rev. 22:5.

As these many passages show, Jesus will reign forever!

For more information about the topics discussed in this article, get The End Is Here: How the New Testament’s Prophecies Were Fulfilled, available Fall 2024.

By Alex Polyak, Director of The Bible Fulfilled, 11/2/24