For he must reign, till he has put all enemies under his feet.
Read Chapter 15
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
It is necessary for Christ’s kingdom to be manifested to such a degree until all his enemies confess that he does reign… . That is, the apostle says, it is necessary for him to make his reign so clearly evident until his enemies dare not at all deny that Christ reigns.
He reigns forever. However, in respect to the war waged under him against the devil, this conflict will obviously continue “until he has put all his enemies under his feet.” But afterward there will be no conflict, since we shall enjoy an everlasting peace.
For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet. I e, Christ must rule the Church till God the Father puts all the devils and the wicked under Him. Till does not denote an end of His reign, for there is no doubt that when His enemies shall have been overcome Christ will reign more truly and for ever, though in another way and with other glory than now. Cf. S. Chrysostom. It signifies what may have been done before a certain event, not what was done afterwards. So Joseph (S. Matthew 1:25) is said not to have known Mary his wife till she brought forth her Song of Solomon , not as though he knew her afterwards, as the impure Helvidius insinuates, but that he did not know her before she conceived and gave birth; for S. Matthew merely wished to record a wonderful event that was naturally incredible, viz, the conception and birth of Christ from a virgin without a father. So Paul says here that even now, while the Church is struggling with her enemies, Christ reigns over her. ...
This body shall be raised but not in its present weakness. It shall be raised the very same body, but by putting aside corruption it shall be transformed, just as iron becomes fire when combined with fire, as the Lord who raises us knows. This body therefore shall rise, but it will not abide in its present condition, but as an eternal body. No longer will it, as now, need nourishment for life nor stairs for its ascent. It will become spiritual, a marvelous thing, beggaring description.
Some say that when his enemies have been put under his feet, he will no longer be king, a bad and stupid thing to say. For if he is king before he has finally defeated his enemies, must he not be all the more king when he has completely mastered them? Catechetical Lectures
“He must reign” till such and such a time … and “be received by heaven until the time of restitution” and have the seat at the right hand until the overthrow of his enemies. But after this? Must he cease to be king or be removed from heaven? Why, who shall make him cease, or for what cause? What a bold and very anarchical interpreter you are, and yet you have heard that of his kingdom there shall be no end. Your mistake arises from not understanding that “until” is not always exclusive of what comes after but asserts up to that time, without denying what comes after it. To take a single instance, how else would you understand “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world”? Does it mean that he will no longer be so afterward? Theological Oration
Will the Lord rule only until he has put all his enemies under his feet? Will he then stop ruling? Obviously it is only then that he will really begin to rule in the full sense of the word! Against Helvidius
Again from hence also another absurdity is produced, unless we take this also in a way becoming Deity. For the expression until, is one of end and limitation: but in reference to God, this does not exist.
The presbyters, the disciples of the apostles, say that this is the gradation and arrangement of those who are saved, and that they advance through steps of this nature; and that, moreover, they ascend through the Spirit to the Son, and through the Son to the Father; and that in due time the Son will yield up His work to the Father, even as it is said by the apostle, "For He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."
For the resurrection of the body will receive all the better proof, in proportion as I shall succeed in showing that Christ belongs to that God who is believed to have provided this resurrection of the flesh in His dispensation. When he says, "For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet".
(of course, as having been, (to use the apostle's phrase, ) "put under His feet"
