Jesus Reigns…Now and Forever!
“For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death…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.” (1 Cor. 15:26–28).
Many Christians believe this prophecy must still be fulfilled. After all, Jesus’ enemies have not been destroyed. And all things are not subject to Jesus. And God is not all in all.
As popular as this futurist [1] viewpoint is, though, it is not scriptural. The biblical evidence shows this passage was fulfilled in the first century.
Jesus Has Defeated Death
There are many passages that show Jesus defeated death. For example, the apostle Paul said that Jesus “abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Tim. 1:10).
Likewise, Jesus said: “Whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25–26).
Still another passage showing that death has been defeated in Romans 5:14, where Paul says, “Death reigned from Adam to Moses.” In other words, death no longer reigns in the time of Christ…because Jesus has defeated it!
Admittedly, there was an “already and not yet” (or proleptic) aspect to these passages, but it was so sure to happen—and soon—that Jesus and the apostles spoke about it as if it was already a reality. It’s sort of like when people today say “dead man walking” to refer to someone about to die. The same kind of thing was going in these passages about the defeat of death. For more information about this concept, see my article “The Already and Not Yet.”
Since death was defeated in the first century—yet Christians still die physically—then this means that the kind of death that Jesus defeated is spiritual death, aka separation from God (due to sin). It’s true that Jesus was resurrected physically, but Jesus’ physical resurrection was the sign—or proof—that he had defeated spiritual death. In fact, Jesus’ physical resurrection is specifically called a sign (Matt. 12:38-40, John 20:30-31). Signs point to greater spiritual realities, and Jesus’ physical resurrection pointed to the greater spiritual resurrection, the defeat of death. Jesus’ physical resurrection was the visible sign proving that he had overcome spiritual death and restored mankind’s broken relationship with God because of sin (which had begun way back in the Garden of Eden on the day Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit—see Genesis 2:17).
Keep in mind, Jesus did not defeat death for everyone. He only defeated death for those who put their faith in him (John 3:16, 11:26). Those outside of Christ remain spiritually dead (separated from God).
Jesus Has Defeated All His Enemies
Since Jesus has defeated the last enemy death, then logically, he must have defeated his other enemies too. And sure enough, there are passages confirming he has. For example, the apostle Paul said:
“[Jesus] disarmed principalities and powers [and] made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them” (Col. 2:15).
“[God] raised Him [Jesus] from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this [old covenant] age [2] but also in that [new covenant age] which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church” (Eph. 1:20-22, italics mine).
Jesus’ enemies were defeated in the first century!
What Enemies Were Destroyed?
What were these enemies that Jesus destroyed? Answer: The various obstacles to the establishment of the new covenant. For example, Jerusalem, the hub of opposition to Jesus, was sacked. And the temple, which Jesus called a “den of thieves” (Matt. 21:13) and “desolate” (Matt. 23:38) was laid waste. Not one stone remained upon another, just like Jesus predicted (Matt. 24:2). The first century historian Josephus documents that 1.1 million Jews (Jesus’ enemies) were killed, and another 97,000 were taken into slavery. The kingdom of God was taken away from Jesus’ enemies and given to a new “nation,” aka the Church, made up of the righteous remnant of Israel and the righteous remnant of Gentiles (see Matt. 21:43 and 1 Pet. 2:9). The obstacles to the establishment of the new covenant were defeated by AD 70!
Objection #1: Paul said Jesus would reign “until he puts all enemies under his feet…Then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all” (1 Cor. 15:26–28). So if Jesus has already put all his enemies under his feet, then this means he no longer reigns.
Response: The word “until” doesn’t have to mean a stopping point. If a mom tells her son to be good until she gets home, she doesn’t mean he can be bad afterwards.
To use a scriptural example: Paul told Timothy to keep reading Scripture publicly until he returns (1 Tim. 4:17)…but Paul didn’t mean Timothy should stop reading Scripture afterwards.
Here’s another example: During the flood in Noah’s day, Genesis says the water decreased until the tenth month (Gen 8:5)…but this doesn’t mean it stop decreasing in the eleventh.
These examples show that “until” doesn’t have to mean a stopping point. Besides, there are many passages that clearly teach that Jesus’ reign will never end. Here are a few examples:
“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, italics mine)
“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 [Jesus] will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end” (Luke 1:31–33, italics mine)
“But about the Son he [God] says, ‘Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever’” (Heb. 1:8, italics mine; see also Isa. 9:6, Dan. 7:14, Heb. 12:28, and Rev. 22:5).
“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end” (Isa. 9:6–7, italics mine).
These passages clearly show that Jesus’ reign will never end!
Objection #2: How could Jesus be reigning when there is so much evil in the world?
Response: Just because there is evil does not mean Jesus is not reigning. Wasn’t there evil when King David was reigning (and all the other kings of the world)? People can disobey a king, whether it’s Jesus or anyone else; but they will eventually be rewarded and punished based on the reigning king’s rules. That’s what it means to reign. And today—and forevermore—King Jesus’ rules are in force. These rules include such new covenant requirements as:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:37-39)
“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matt. 6:14-15)
“If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell” (Matt. 5:30). Note: This passage is obviously not meant to be taken literally.
These are just a few examples of the King’s rules. And since Jesus reigns, we dismiss them at our peril!
Objection #3: How is God “all in all”? (1 Cor. 15:28)?
Response: Paul said something similar about Jesus: “There is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all” (Col. 3:11, italics mine). Here, Paul simply meant that Christ is savior of all the world, Jew and Gentile alike.
Paul likely means something similar about God in the Corinthians passage (1 Cor. 15:28). Today, the God of the Bible is recognized by Jews and Gentiles alike, all throughout the world. In other words, God is all in all.
For more information about the topics discussed in this article, get my book “The End is Here: How the New Testament’s Prophecies Were Fulfilled,” available on Amazon.
By Alex Polyak, Director of The Bible Fulfilled, 3/13/25
[1] Futurists believe there are prophecies in the Bible that still need to be fulfilled.
[2] Paul said this in the last days of the old covenant age (Heb. 1:1-2, 8:13). The old covenant age officially ended when the temple fell in AD 70 (Matt. 24:2-3, 34). The temple symbolized the old covenant age (Heb. 9:8-9), and when that temple fell, it meant the old covenant age officially ended…and the new covenant age officially began.
