3. Creating a New Covenant People
Week 8 • Day 3
Doesn’t death seem so final? In death, there is no more movement, words, wisdom, fun, affection, you fill in the blank. But if we look at the loved ones in our life who have died, do we really believe that their stories end so abruptly? There’s got to be more, right?
I still remember the stories of the people in my life who have died. My grandad would wash the ice off of a popsicle and sit with me on the front porch. My grandma would tell me how she used to do her chores when she lived on the farm. Sure their legacy will live on, but they continue on only as stories that my family shares with one another. But have you ever wondered what will happen 100 years from now when my grandparents, their stories, or even you and I are all but forgotten?
The death of Jesus on the cross must have seemed so final in the eyes of his followers. They probably asked how can the one who claimed to be the promised messianic king die such a horrific death? Didn’t he claim to be God? Was he lying to us or maybe even crazy? Will he too fade into history as yet another distant memory?
Jesus’ impact and legacy only gets better after his death.
After living an earthly life as the all-powerful king over all things and laying down his own life to die a sacrificial death on the cross, we now move on to His resurrection!
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” Then they remembered his words. - Luke 24:1-8
JESUS AS OUR RANSOM AND VICTOR
Jesus knew that whenever His image-bearers bent their knee to the serpent, the penalty they would face is death. Death is the ultimate end of the personal choice to bow down to the serpent and abandon the one true God who sustains life itself. Combine that personal choice with the reality of God’s wrath against all things unholy and you wind up with a rather ugly final destination - eternal condemnation in a place called hell. All this to say, Jesus knew that in order to redeem God’s people from the fangs of the serpent, he would need to pay the ultimate price. If he was going to become an adequate substitute for sinners, Jesus would need to “allow the serpent to bite his heel” and taste death. Additionally, Jesus would need to experience the total abandonment of God the Father on behalf of all sinners who would walk away from Him, pledge their allegiance to the serpent, and take their own thrones. That is why on the cross, Jesus both gave himself as a ransom payment to the serpent and drank the cup of God’s wrath against all sinful actions on behalf of all of those who would align their ways with the enemy serpent kingdom. Needless to say, this was not a cheap ransom to pay to rescue God’s people.
And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” - Mark 15:34
You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. - 1 Peter 1:18–19
But here is the good news: death did not have the final word! After Jesus was buried, some of his followers went back to his tomb hoping to finish preparations for the corpse of Jesus (per their customs). When they got there, however, something was different. Jesus was not there! Soon, His followers would be reminded of Jesus’ teachings on the events that were destined to take place. Jesus predicted that he would rise from the grave into resurrected life.
Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.” - Luke 24:44–47
You might be skeptical about a real human being - who also claims to be God - rising from the dead. Is it necessary to believe in something as outlandish as a Jewish man who lived 2000 years ago named Jesus who cheated death in order to believe in the gospel of the kingdom?
In short, the answer is a resounding YES! Why? If the consequence of sin is death and Jesus remained dead, then it would be reasonable to conclude that the serpent still ruled over Jesus. His sacrificial act would be all for nothing because Jesus, like the rest of the Old Testament saints, could not conquer sin and the kingdom of the serpent. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, it would mean that the serpent bit his heel and Jesus did not reciprocally crush the serpent's head. However, since Jesus did rise from the grave in His own power, it is reasonable to conclude that Jesus’ sacrifice had worked! Jesus truly had no sin in him and death would not be able to maintain its grasp on Jesus! Death had been defeated and through the victorious risen Jesus, the serpent and sin had been conquered once and for all!
Even though Jesus let the serpent bite his heel on the cross, Jesus used the opportunity to crush the head of the serpent once and for all! This was God’s plan all along! Jesus climbed out from the pit of death and has emerged victorious over the kingdom of the serpent!
But wait…the good news gets even better!
It’s a beautiful reality that Jesus - the long awaited Messiah from the line of David - has crushed the serpent! But what does the resurrection of Jesus have to do with the rest of humanity? It’s nice that Jesus defeated sin and death, but would anyone else be able to taste that victory alongside of him? How would God bring forth the gospel of the kingdom through this act on the cross? Where do God’s people in God’s place under God’s rule fit into all of this?
GOD’S PEOPLE - THE NEW COVENANT
Recall that the Hebrew Bible anticipates the formation of a New Covenant embedded in the hearts of God’s people. This New Covenant takes place when the hearts of men and women are cleansed of their sin so that God would be able to put a new Spirit in His people. Sure enough, right before he heads to the cross, Jesus mentions that it is better that he “goes away” so that this Helper-Spirit would come!
Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. - John 16:7-15
However there is one major problem. The lesson that we learned from the tabernacle and the temple is that God’s holy presence (in this case the Holy Spirit) amongst things that are either impure or unholy brought destruction rather than blessing. That is why it is so crucial that first, anything sinful or impure in the lives of humanity must be washed away.
Here is the AMAZING reality! Yesterday, we mentioned that the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus takes on the punishment due our past, present, and future sins. In Jesus, our sins have been washed away. Now, we see that the spotless lifeblood of Christ can simultaneously prepare our hearts to receive the promised Holy Spirit. Thus in the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit quite literally turns our bodies into God’s kingdom place where He resides permanently!
This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. - Matthew 26:28
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit… - Acts 2:1–4
Remember how Jesus commissions His followers to go out into their communities, towns, cities, and to the whole world in order to meet the deepest needs of all image-bearers? Now we see that along the way, the Holy Spirit would use His rule to live inside of His Kingdom people and empower them with the same powerful rule that Jesus had in his ministry.
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” - Matthew 28:16-20
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. - John 14:12–14
As a result, this kingdom mission that had begun on this mountaintop in Galilee would fulfill the ultimate purpose of the kingdom that the Hebrew Bible had long been anticipating: God was going to bless all the nations through the promised descendant of Abraham! God’s newly rescued and restored people would live with God’s reestablished powerful rule written on their hearts and with the Holy Spirit dwelling inside them making them God’s kingdom place!
Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” - Acts 1:6-8
So here is the million dollar question…how does someone become a member of this kingdom family of people!
GOD’S FAMILY OF PEOPLE
Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. - John 3:14-18
Here is the question the Bible asks of us — in whose kingdom will you and I put our faith? Will we place our trust in the kingdom way of the serpent who tempts us to become like God by adhering to our own knowledge of “good” and “evil”? Or will we be like Noah who trusts in God’s kingdom way when he was called to build an ark, Abraham when he was called to sacrifice his promised son, Moses when he was called to lead Israel out of Egypt, Joshua or David when they are called to rule God’s people in the promised land? Each of these figures were given unique commands and/or promises from God so that they may have the opportunity to place their trust in the ways of YHWH.
In the New Covenant inaugurated by Jesus, we have all been given a new set of promises. Will we put our faith in Jesus, that he is the powerful ruler who lived the sinless life that we could never live, that he died the death we deserve to rescue His people by conquering sin and death, and is now leading us to become temple places of His Holy Spirit?
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved - Romans 10:9
By faith in the gospel of the kingdom; through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, you and I can exist under God’s loving rule, as part of God’s family of people living as God’s place wherever we go!
But wait…the good news gets EVEN BETTER!
JESUS AS THE KING OF KINGS
Not only did Jesus pay the penalty of sin that we deserve, rise from the dead, forgive our sins, and send us the Holy Spirit on this earth, but Jesus’ final act was to ascend into Heaven to sit on the throne as the living King over all things on earth at the right hand of God!
After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight… - Acts 1:9-11
The gospel of the kingdom is completed as Jesus steps past the crushed serpent and climbs back up the steps of His cosmic temple to take His throne once more! Jesus reigns over ALL! The serpent's head has been crushed! And if we have faith in Jesus and the Holy Spirit lives in us - the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead - we too will experience victory and life abundantly…not only in this life, but for THE REST OF ETERNITY!
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. - John 10:10
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. - Romans 8:11
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” - John 11:25–26
You may be wondering if Jesus defeated the kingdom of the serpent and he reigns over all, then why do we still experience sin in this world? Why wait so long to give us this glorious life and existence? Here is where we can once more note that the gospel of the kingdom through Jesus addresses the deepest root cause of all issues: crushing the serpent. Yes, Jesus has defeated the source of all sin, yet for the time being, God has saw fit to maintain His world with the effects of the serpent kingdom still intact. This includes the curses of Genesis that were cast on the ground by God, the same dust of the earth that makes up our flesh and is responsible for so much temptation, strife, and decay. However, now that we do live in this state of tension between the Holy Spirit inside of us and the brokenness of the flesh around us, each of us faces a new garden-like choice daily. Every day we are faced with different opportunities to bring glory to God by denying our flesh and placing our trust in the Spirit of God! As a result, this present suffering of denying the flesh in favor of following the Spirit actually becomes the catalyst that leads to a deeper and more abiding relationship with God. As all of creation, then, continues to move toward the final restoration of all things, the ascension of Jesus reminds us that he is (and always has been) on the throne at the right hand of God as King of Kings.
But wait…the good news DOESN’T END HERE!
THE KINGDOM OF JESUS VS. THE KINGDOM OF THE SERPENT
In the earliest passages of Acts, the Bible tells us that one day Jesus will return to utterly destroy the kingdom effects that the serpent had left behind in his wake! The final piece of good news is that not only has the serpent’s head been crushed today, but the effects of the serpent kingdom will one day be completely restored!
They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” - Acts 1:9-11
So what do we do until He returns? Simple: we follow Jesus! We (1) love God with everything we have and (2) love those around us in everything we do! In everything we do, we have our sights set on becoming “fishers of men” as we boldly proclaim the gospel of the kingdom and to make disciples of the King. How are you “fishing” for your neighbors and coworkers? Have you ever shared the reason why your life isn’t so “serpent-like” in the flesh and more “Jesus-like” in the Spirit? This week, help one other person take their next step toward freedom from the kingdom of the serpent and freedom to live in the kingdom of Jesus by following his Spirit. Maybe it is your nephew who has just put his faith in Christ, helping him understand the love of Christ. Maybe it is your next door neighbor who has been following Christ for a few years, teaching them how to share their faith with others. Whoever it is and whatever their next step is, help them take that next step by helping them understand how Jesus is the powerful ruler we have been looking for, how Jesus died as our substitute so that we could be adopted into God’s family of people, how Jesus paid the full price and rose in victory over sin so that we could possess the Holy Spirit to become His kingdom place wherever we go, and how Jesus reigns over all things as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Share the Gospel: The Gospel of the Kingdom is centered on the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Without each of these elements Jesus would be just another man. Instead, Jesus is able to reign as the king of kings because of his victory over the serpent, sin, and death. Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus is establishing a kingdom of people who routinely deny the flesh, trust the rule of his Spirit, and live as God’s place with His presence in them. One day, Jesus will return to reverse all things marked by the kingdom of sin! This is the gospel of the kingdom!
