In 1 Corinthians 15:24 Paul stated that Christ will deliver the kingdom to God the Father. Here we find a parallel statement, but with a different verb: subject.
The root of this verb is used three times in this verse.
Paul is still discussing the end
—the third and last event in his chronology of the last days (1 Corinthians 15:23–28). When the end has come and God has subjected all Christ’s enemies to him, then Christ himself will also be subjected
to God.
Of course, Christ’s subjection to his Father is not the subjection of an enemy to a ruler. It is the willing subjection of the incarnate Son to his Father. It is a declaration that he has completed the task for which the Father had anointed him: the task of redeeming a people for himself and of destroying his (and their) enemies.
Also, Christ’s subjection to his Father does not mean that he will stop ruling altogether. Yet his rule will be of a different kind: no longer a battle against his enemies, but a rule of peace in which his people will join him as fellow rulers (e.g., 2 Timothy 2:12).
When Christ has subjected himself to God, then God will be all in all.
This is a poetic way of saying that God’s kingship and glory will be seen and celebrated everywhere. From the time of the Old Testament, God’s people have looked forward to this moment (see, e.g., Isaiah 11:6–9; Ezekiel 40:1 – 48:35; Zephaniah 3:14–20).
28 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.