Spirit and Covenant
The national sins of Israel caused her expulsion from the Land of Canaan. God, however, foresaw her failures and determined to institute a new covenant, one energized and characterized by His Spirit. It would include the salvation of the nations and culminate in the resurrection of the dead and the “New Heavens and the New Earth.” With the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the time of the New Covenant commenced.
The Death and Resurrection of Jesus inaugurated this new era, the messianic age and the time of fulfillment. In him, the “last days” began, and since then, all the promises of God have been finding their fulfillment in Jesus.
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| [Photo by Alexandra on Unsplash] |
When Israel repented wholeheartedly, the God of Abraham promised to gather her “from among all the peoples where Yahweh your God has scattered you.” He would “multiply you beyond your fathers” and “circumcise your heart to love Him with all your heart and with all your soul that you may live” - (Deuteronomy 30:3-6).
Two things are noteworthy in the passage. First, God would “multiply Israel beyond her forebears.” The English term “multiply” translates the same Hebrew verb found in the call to Adam to be “fruitful and multiply,” and in God’s promise to multiply Abraham’s seed - (Genesis 1:28, 17:2).
Secondly, the restoration would occur when God “circumcised Israel’s heart,” an internal change promised in the Hebrew Scriptures and actualized by God’s Spirit under the “New Covenant”- (Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel 11:19-20).
The promised restoration was more expansive and glorious than anything the ancient nation had known, an act of grace by which Yahweh would enable His people to fulfill the covenant through the “new Spirit” given by Him. This describes a new creative act that would impact all nations - (Isaiah 65:17-18, Revelation 21:1-3).
The promises are fulfilled in Jesus, including the covenant promises to Abraham and Israel - the “circumcised heart” and the “new Spirit.” He came to fulfill the “Law and the Prophets.” The Jews who saw him in Galilee experienced something “greater than Jonah,” “greater than Solomon,” “greater than David,” and greater than the Temple. In him, the Kingdom of God began its advance across the Earth - (Matthew 5:17-21, 12:6, 12:28, 12:41-42).
Having established the “New Covenant in his blood,” Jesus started building his community formed around and centered on him, not the Land of Canaan or the Temple in Jerusalem:
- In him, “what things God had before declared through the mouth of all the prophets… the covenant that He covenanted with your fathers, saying to Abraham, in your seed shall be blessed all the families of the earth” - (Acts 3:24-26, Acts 10:42-43, 13:18-33).
According to the Apostle Paul, “All the promises of God find their ‘Yea’ and ‘Amen’ in Jesus.” He ascended on high following his resurrection “that he might fulfill all things.”
The jurisdiction of the Torah was for a limited time - “until Christ came” - the Seed of Abraham. All those who have faith in the Word of God as the Patriarch did become the “children of Abraham,” heirs of the promises, and “coheirs” with the Son of God - (2 Corinthians 1:20, Galatians 3:24, Romans 8:17, 10:4).
Jesus became the Suffering Servant of the Book of Isaiah who “confirms the promises to the fathers so that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy.” The “blessing for the nations” promised to Abraham is fulfilled by Jesus, and the original territory foreseen by the Patriarch vastly exceeds the boundaries of Canaan. Abraham’s descendants are innumerable “like the stars of Heaven” because the “nations of the Earth” are included among them - (Genesis 22:17, Romans 15:8-9).
The Gentiles were “separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” before the Death and Resurrection of Christ. “Those who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” The promise to regather God’s people is fulfilled as Jews and Gentiles respond to the Gospel.
The Divine purpose was always “to sum up all things in Christ in the fullness of the times,” including the redemption of the Gentile nations - (Romans 8:20-23, 1 Corinthians 15:20-25, Ephesians 1:10, 2:11-13).
When referring to the Promised Land, the Hebrew Bible employs the terms “inheritance,” “inherit,” “heir,” and “promise.” The same terms are applied in the New Testament to what God is doing in His Son, including the Gift of the Spirit. He is the heir of Abraham and the heir of all things - (Matthew 21:38, 28:18, John 13:3, Colossians 1:12-13, 1 Peter 1:3-5).
The receipt of the Spirit confirms the status of men and women as believers. Whether Jewish or Gentile, they become the “children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and coheirs with Christ.” Everyone who receives the Spirit joins his new community regardless of ethnicity or gender.
HEIRS OF THE COVENANT
Jesus is Abraham’s “seed.” As partners with Jesus, his disciples become “heirs according to promise.” Moreover, the Spirit is the “earnest of our inheritance for the redemption of the possession” - (Romans 8:16-17, Galatians 3:29, Ephesians 1:13-14).
He is “the mediator of the new covenant, that a death having taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, they that have been called may receive the promise of the everlasting inheritance.”
He implemented the New Covenant by becoming Abraham’s heir. Consequently, we who are “in Christ” are “coheirs” with him and “children of Abraham” destined to receive the full inheritance - (Romans 8:1-23, Hebrews 8:6-13, 9:15).
His Apostles are “ministers of the New Covenant, not in a written code but in the Spirit.” The Spirit writes His laws in our now-circumcised hearts. Christ became the “surety of a better covenant,” and established the New Covenant, making the “first one obsolete” - (Deuteronomy 30:6, Jeremiah 31:34, Ezekiel 11:19-20, 2 Corinthians 3:4-6, Hebrews 7:22, 8:6-13, 9:15, 10:16).
The resurrection of Jesus was an act of new creation. God did not resuscitate a corpse but gave him a gloriously new and immortal body, one no longer subject to death, disease, and death. This means his resurrection inaugurated the New Creation. However, there is an overlap between the existing age and the coming one. This overlap will continue until Jesus returns and we receive our glorified bodies - “Therefore, if any man is in Christ, a new creation, the old things are passed away, behold, they have become new” - (1 Corinthians 15:42-50, 2 Corinthians 5:17).
The Death and Resurrection of Jesus also result in the redefinition of the boundaries that separate the people of God from the rest of humanity. This includes the extent of the “promised land.” As Paul wrote, Abraham and his heirs will “inherit the world,” not just a small piece of land in the Middle East. All men who have faith in Jesus become full members of God’s one covenant people regardless of their ethnicity - (Romans 4:13).
Being his “coheirs,” our final hope will be realized fully in the future resurrection of the righteous. The Creation is “sighing and travailing in birth pangs” for the time being as it “ardently awaits the revelation of the sons of God.” That condition will end when the “Lord of Glory” appears again at the end of the present age.
Humanity and the Universe are both subject to decay and death due to Adam’s “transgression.” God will reverse the Curse when we receive the redemption of our bodies. In the interim, we have the Spirit as the “first fruits” and down payment of our coming redemption - (Romans 8:17-23).
The New Creation is the inheritance of believers, including the Great Patriarch. “We look for the New Heavens and the New Earth where dwells righteousness.” In this New Creation, “God will tabernacle with men, and they will be his people.” He will wipe away every tear and death will cease forever. “Behold, I make all things new!” - (2 Peter 3:13, Revelation 21:1-7).
The “New Covenant” and the fulfillment of the covenant began with the Death and Resurrection of Jesus. This process is now underway as the Gospel is proclaimed on the Earth. It will continue until the consummation of all things when the dead are raised and the “New Heavens and the New Earth” arrive in all their splendor.
RELATED POSTS:
- Heir of Abraham - (Jesus is the true Son of Abraham, the heir of the promises, the Anointed One who fulfills and implements the inheritance for his people)
- My Words are Life - (Jesus grants the Life-Giving Spirit to men without which there is no enduring life. His words are spirit, and they are life)
- The Circumcised Heart - (The promise of the Spirit is integral to the redemption of humanity and the Covenant of God with His people)
