Heavenly hierarchy. In 15:27-28 Paul
presents a map similar to 11:3 in which he describes a stratified relationship
between God and Christ: “’For God has put all things in subjection under his
feet’ [Ps. 8:6]. But when it says, ‘All things are put in subjection under him,’
it is plain that he [God] is excepted who put all things under him. When all
things are subjected to him [Christ], then the Son himself will be subjected to
him [God] who put all things under him, that God may be everything to every one”
(15:27-28). God stands atop the pyramid of power, holiness, and purity, while
Jesus is position at God’s “feet,” and than all things are under Jesus’ “feet.”
Thus a map of heavenly persons once more positions God above Jesus.
But in the argument
of 15:20-28 we find another map that excludes some persons altogether, namely,
those who boasted that they had already begun to share in the resurrection
(4:8) and so claimed to belong already to the heavenly world. Thus a map may
include certain persons and exclude others. Parallel to this map of persons
Paul describes a map of time, which explains why those boasters cannot possibly
be already on the map of heavenly person. “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 . . . the Last enemy to be destroyed in death”
(15:23-26). The map of time establishes Christ as the first and so far the only
risen person in the heavenly realm: “Christ is the first fruits, then at his
coming . . . when he delivers . . . “ And since the last enemy is death, no
other person has been or will be raised until this final victory. Hence all
mortals are still on earth, even if they have died and been raised with Jesus. (Jerome
H. Neyrey, Render to God: New Testament Understandings of the Divine [Minneapolis,
Minn.: Augsburg Fortress, 2004], 164-65, emphasis added)
