But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15:20-28 ESV)
Have you ever restored something? I have not, but I have seen things restored and it usually requires a lot of work, and stripping away of things that should not have been there.
I am reminded as I think of restoration of the last time I visited Gettysburg PA, and some organization was restoring the landscape to what it was when the battle of Gettysburg occurred. They had removed a lot of trees and the Peach orchard to replant the trees the way they would have been during the battle. Well some of the trees that were removed were very old and a lot of people were very upset by the removal of these trees. However to restore the landscape, stripping away has to be done…
Which probably has you asking, what does restoration and the lesson from 1 Corinthians above have in common… I’m glad you asked. The reading for today says, “For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.” I asked myself as I read this what does this mean? That He, meaning Jesus, must reign until all his enemies have been put under His feet? That He must be standing on all who oppose Him? Probably not, but then that begs the question who opposes Him, because He did tell the disciples, whoever is not against us is for us, so then it would have to be someone in complete opposition to Jesus, and who is that?
I wonder if it does not have something to do with a post I put on Facebook a few days back. “Muslims and Jews both say I promised Jerusalem to them. Never occurs to them I might want them to coexist peacefully. @almightygod” Maybe Jesus is reigning until we all learn to get along, and He actually is king of all creation and everyone and thing is “under His feet” as in He has control. Jesus has to reign until restoration has happened with the human race. Just as death came through one man and we are separated now restoration comes through one man, Jesus teaching us all to play nice and get along… And just as restoration of a landscape needs some ripping out and removal of items, and restoration of an antique piece of furniture needs stripping away of layers that do not belong, so must we strip away and remove all the unnecessary garbage out of our lives and communities and be restored to the relationship we had with God in the garden, until then Jesus must reign. So hunker in and get ready to be restored and be not surprised when a layer you thought was necessary goes away, because He is the master carpenter and He absolutely knows what he is doing!
aSacredRebel 