The end result of Paul’s Gospel

While most members of the body of Christ agree that the CLV is one of the most accurate English versions of the Bible translated so far, it’s not always the easiest to read, being a literal version and all, so I decided to write my own paraphrase of what might be the most informative explanation Paul ever gave for what the end result of his Gospel (which is the evangel, or Good News, that Christ died for our sins, that He was entombed, and that He was roused the third day) actually is. So here is my paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 15:22-28:

Just as, because of what Adam did, every human is mortal, equally so, because of what Christ did, every human will also be made immortal, although each in a specific order. The firstfruit is the body of Christ. Next will be those who belong to Christ (the Israel of God), around the time He returns. And then, finally, the rest of humanity, although not until a later time, when He turns the kingdom over to His God and Father, which won’t be until after He has removed the leadership from all others who have authority and power. You see, Christ has to reign until God has placed all His enemies under His feet, and the final enemy, death, will then be abolished as well (since God puts everything “under His feet”). Of course, when he (the Psalmist) says that “everything” is put under Him, this obviously doesn’t include God Himself, since He’s the one Who will be putting everything under Christ. But once everything and everyone has been subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subjected to God Who has subjected all to Him, so that God may be All in all.

The words in italics are not specifically implied by reading only the original Greek text, but I believe they are what’s meant if one takes the rest of Scripture into consideration, so I added them for clarification (it is a paraphrase, not a direct translation, after all). However, the sentences still work fine if you remove those italicized words I added, so you can decide for yourself.

For those who don’t know, the reference to the Psalmist is because the part about “putting everything under His feet” is a reference to Psalms 8:6 which is a prophetic verse.

Anyway, I hope that clarifies this passage of Scripture for you.