Delivering The Kingdom Unto God

By means of His Sacrifice as The Lamb of God, The Messiah is the Deliverer of salvation for all who accept His offer of life - beginning with the "firstfruits" (listen to our Sermon Pentecost: Firstfruits Of The Spirit).

"^15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept [see The Sleep Of Death].

^15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. ^15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive [see The Adam Family].

^15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming." (1 Corinthians 15:20-23 KJV)

But wait, what else is the Deliverer going to deliver, when all has been done?

"^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. ^15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

^15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." (1 Corinthians 15:24-26 KJV)

"He shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father"

The first resurrection (see Resurrections) will occur on the day of Christ's return. They will be resurrected to spirit, or changed to spirit if alive that day, and then serve Christ for the next 1,000 years, on earth.

"^20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years." (Revelation 20:6 KJV)

Only the "firstfruits" will be spirit at the beginning of the 1,000 years. The rest of humanity will still be physical. It's those millions of people, in all the nations of the world, that will fulfill the famous "they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" during that time.

"^4:1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD [see 'Before Abraham Was, I AM'] shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. ^4:2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion [see Anti-Zion Is Anti-Christ], and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. ^4:3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." (Micah 4:1-3 KJV)

Satan will have been put away on the day of Christ's return (Revelation 20:1-2), but at the end of the 1,000 years he will be briefly released (Revelation 20:3). Satan will then be put away forever, and the Judgment of those who were not the firstfruits (their "judgment day" was when they lived their lives - see When Will You Be Judged? and Could Christ Return Tonight?) will then occur before the "great white throne." Salvation will then be granted to those who repented (when they were able to understand the Truth), while the lake of fire (see They Shall Be Ashes) will consume those who chose to rebel against the King. When all has been completed, death will cease to exist.

"^20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, ^20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. ^20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. ^20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

^20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. ^20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. ^20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

^20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. ^20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." (Revelation 20:7-15 KJV)

It is then that the Messiah will deliver the Kingdom of God to God - when God arrives on earth, whereby "the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God."

"^21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

^21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

^21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. ^21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." (Revelation 21:1-4 KJV)

When Christ ascended to God's Throne after His resurrection, He sat at the right hand of God (see What Is Jesus Christ Doing Right Now?). Christ will do so again, forever, when God comes to earth.

"^21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. ^21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. ^21:24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. ^21:25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. ^21:26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. ^21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life." (Revelation 21:22-27 KJV)

Fact Finder: When God comes to earth, will that mean that God will no longer be in heaven? Or has earth always been in heaven too?
See Are We In Heaven Now?

This Day In History, January 20

1265: In England, the first parliament to be attended by elected knights of the shires and burgesses met under Simon de Montfort.

1320: Wladislaw I was crowned king of Poland. He defeated the Knights of the Teutonic Order, and established the Polish nation.

1327: Edward II of England abdicated in favor of his son Edward III.

1612: Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II died. His inability to reconcile Roman Catholics and Protestants led to the Thirty Years War (see The Holy Roman Empire).

1649: King Charles I of England was charged with treason after the civil war against parliamentarian forces.

1783: Britain signed a peace agreement with France and Spain, who allied against Britain during the rebellion of the New England colonies.

1841: Hong Kong was ceded to Britain from China after the Opium War.

1918: In Russia following the Bolshevik Revolution, all church property was confiscated and all religious instruction in the schools was abolished.

1936: King George V of Britain died. He was succeeded by Edward VIII, who abdicated a few months later.

1942: Nazi officials at the Wannsee Conference in Berlin formalized a "final solution" plan for the murder of Europe's Jews (see also Presidential Quotes On War, Terrorism, Religion).

1981: 52 U.S. hostages from the U.S. embassy in Tehran, Iran, were released after 444 days in captivity.

1989: Ronald Reagan broke the "year zero curse" when he became the first U.S. President since 1840, who won a Presidential election in a year ending in a zero, to leave office alive (although not without incident - Mr. Reagan was very seriously wounded in an assassination attempt in March of 1981):
1980: Ronald Reagan
1960: John F. Kennedy, assassinated
1940: Franklin D. Roosevelt, natural causes
1920: Warren Harding, natural causes
1900: William McKinley, assassinated
1880: James Garfield, assassinated
1860: Abraham Lincoln, assassinated
1840: William Harrison, natural causes