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Israel's Fulfilled Land Promises:
Why Fulfilled Eschatology Matters!
Have
all enemies been defeated?
Has DEATH been defeated?
Christ
has not yet defeated all enemies he was supposed to? I guess we have a bunch of
lies on the New Testament?
Those
who believe in Futurist Eschatology (the belief that the END TIME events have
not yet been fulfilled) often point to 2 scriptures as proof that “All enemies are not yet under the feet of
Christ” and that “Physical death has
not yet been subdued/defeated” so let’s examine these 2 beliefs:
Many
wish to point to the following scriptures:
1st
Corinthians 15:25-26 “for he must reign,
till he has put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be
destroyed is death”
Let’s
1st deal with the “all enemies”
being under his feet, as
proof that this has not yet happened?
This is typical and expected, and person’s
such as myself are all too happy to point out how others mislead people by
carefully selecting the verses they wish to use, and those they try to avoid
through the misrepresentation of ALL THE FACTS.
Consider
a simple verse, only 1verse beyond the 2 listed above:
1st
Corinthians 15:27 “for he has put all
things under his feet. But when he says all things are put under him, it is
manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him”
Did
you notice how this verse “For he has put
all things under his feet” begins? And did you further notice the end “he is excepted, which did put all things
under him” of the verse?
Does
Paul lie when he said “has put all things
under his feet” and when he said “which
did put all things under him”?
We
certainly wouldn’t want to be (rightfully) accused of building an entire belief
on one scripture, so it is only fair that we further provide substantive
corroborating scripture to support our conclusions.
Ephesians
1:22 “And has put all things under his
feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church”
Is
Paul lying again here when he says “has
put all things under his feet”?
Why
do the Futurists feel the need to mislead others into an alternate
understanding of the verse?
But
we won’t stop there:
Hebrews
2:8 “you have put all things in
subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he
left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put
under him”
3
points I like to illustrate from this verse:
#1)
It likewise begins stating “you have put
all things in subjection under his feet”
#2)
It further states “he left nothing that
is not put under him”
#3)
Futurist (unfulfilled) Eschatology attempt to use this section of scripture “But now we see not yet all things put under
him” as proof positive that people such as myself simply misunderstand,
misinterpret, and therefore misrepresent what Paul is saying here.
I’ll
offer a simple illustration to see if this explanation holds water:
Futurist
(unfulfilled) Eschatology asserts that since Paul said “But now we see not yet all things put under him” this must
therefore demonstrate that it simply is not fulfilled yet.
Let’s
use that reasoning “Since we don’t see
it, it must not be true” and propose a few questions:
For
those who continue to push this Futurist (unfulfilled) Eschatology, have you
LITERALLY seen God? Have you LITERALLY seen air? Have you LITERALLY seen the
wind?
Using
this hypothesis, we’re left believing that neither God, air, nor the wind exists?
Would
the Futurists agree to this same reasoning, in reference to the above questions?
Let
us also consider 2 other verses that Futurist (unfulfilled) Eschatology likes
to sidetrack, avoid, or cloud by applying misinformation and/or disinformation,
to keep others in the dark.
John
17:2 “As you have given him power over
all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given him”
This
is Christ stating that the Father had already given him power over all flesh; so
would all flesh not include his enemies? What flesh is not part of all flesh?
Was Christ lying when he said this?
Matthew
28:18 “and Jesus came and spoke unto
them, saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth”
This
is Christ just prior to his ascension, as he stated that he had been given all
power in heaven and in earth; so what power is excluded from this? What realm
(other than heaven or earth) contained power that was not subject to Christ?
Did Christ lie again here?
I’d
like again to call special attention to those who read this article, and their
subsequent attempts to cloud the verses, distract from the verses, or where
others would simply launch into character attacks, to keep others from
considering the scriptures & questions I’ve posted.
Our
next examination in on 1st Corinthians 15:26 “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” and allowing for
the Futurist belief that this is indeed about physical death, let’s take notice
of a couple items:
This
section of the verse “that shall be
destroyed” has one immediate issue; this entire phrase comes from one
translated Greek word, Katargeo.
This
word is described in Strong’s exhaustive Concordance as follows: Strong’s # 2673
καταργεω katargeo kat-arg-eh’-o
1)
to render idle, unemployed, inactivate, inoperative
1a)
to cause a person or thing to have no further efficiency
1b)
to deprive of force, influence, power
2)
to cause to cease, put an end to, do away with, annul, abolish
2a)
to cease, to pass away, be done away
2b)
to be severed from, separated from, discharged from, loosed from any one
2c)
to terminate all intercourse with one
This
(Greek) word is also used in another verse that immediately calls into question
whether or not physical death has been subdued:
2nd
Timothy 1:10 “but is now made manifest by
the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death, and has
brought life and immortality to light through the gospel”
This
phrase states that Christ “has abolished
death” but people still physically die, right? The immediate problem here
is in western thinking of these 2 words “destroyed”
and “abolished” as these typically
refer to something that no longer exists; but if we review the given
definitions for this Greek word “Katargeo”
we will notice that it primarily refers to something that no longer has any
power, force or efficacy.
We
should also note that this word appears in some 26 New Testament verses, and is
also translated in some of those verses as “without
effect, make void, she is loosed, we are delivered, and done away”
Again,
if these verses are referring to physical death, and Christ has not yet subdued
physical death, how did he physically resurrect?
How
did Moses appear at the transfiguration?
How
could Christ have said Abraham, Isaac & Jacob were alive?
How
did Christ raise Lazarus, the damsel, and the woman’s only son?
How
did all those bodies of the saints arise after his (Christ) resurrection?
However,
if we rightly apply the proper definition of this Greek word “Katargeo” which means; to render idle,
powerless, and/or ineffective, then we know that physical death has no terminal
effect on those that are HIS!
I
also believe there is another verse that speaks to not only this being a reality
now, but that it was a reality even as the person who spoke it, said it.
1st
John 5:4 “for whatsoever is born of God
overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our
faith”
Christ,
who is the only begotten/born of God, said (John 16:33) “I have overcome the world” and this was even before his own
physical death.
I
believe 1st John 5:4 is all about Christ; the Christ in you, which
Paul spoke of. This is what is born of God, has all enemies under its feet; and
as we see through the example of John 16:33, has already overcome the world,
and we don’t have to wait until we physically die to believe, or demonstrate
this belief, or its power!
Christ
himself said “He had power over all flesh”
and “had all power in heaven and earth”
and he categorically proved that if physical death is “the last enemy that is destroyed/defeated/abolished” it’s already a
reality!
Won’t
you believe it, live it, and share it today?