Jesus Fulfills the Promises

The promises of the Hebrew Bible are fulfilled in the Son of God and Messiah of Israel, Jesus of Nazareth.

The promises of God find their fulfillment in Jesus, their “Yea!” and “Amen!” The mysteries previously “hidden” are revealed in Christ’s life and words, and especially through his Death, Resurrection, and Exaltation. Jesus is the Messiah in whom all the shadows and types prefigured in the Hebrew Bible find their substance.

Paul’s words are clear. “How many soever be the promises of God, in him is the yea. Wherefore also through him is the Amen.” Every claim to the contrary is a lie - (2 Corinthians 1:19-20).

[Waterfall AK - Photo by Tyler Youens on Unsplash]

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is the promised Messiah who came to fulfill “all the Law and the Prophets,” and fulfillment in him is a key theme of Matthew. What was “written” beforehand becomes reality in Christ Jesus - (Matthew 1:22, 2:15, 2:17, 2:23, 4:17, 5:17-20, 8:17, etc.).

In the Gospel of John, Jesus is the True Tabernacle in whom the unveiled glory of God resides. “Grace instead of grace” has arrived in “the word that became flesh and tabernacled among us.” Christ is the true Temple, the place where the presence of Yahweh is found, and not in any building “made with hands,” whether in Jerusalem or elsewhere - (John 1:14-18, 2:19-21).

The time arrived with the appearance of Jesus for the true worshippers to worship God “in the Spirit and truth.” The old limitations of holy space and holy time no longer apply, and every debate about where to locate the Temple has become pointless - (John 4:23-24).

Likewise, the ancient feasts of Israel find their significance in the Son of God. He is the true “living bread from heaven” that imparts life, not the manna given by Moses in the wilderness. The “law was given by Moses. Grace and truth came to be through Jesus.” Only the Nazarene has “the words of life” - (John 1:17, 6:50-51, 6:68, 7:37-39).

When the Day of Pentecost was “fully filled up,” the Spirit was poured out on the saints gathered near the Temple in Jerusalem. Peter proclaimed this to be the promised Gift of the Spirit predicted by the prophet Joel for the Last Days. “The Promise of the Father” was given to Jesus upon his exaltation; therefore, he now bestows the promise of the Spirit on his Church - (Acts 2:16-21, Joel 2:28-30).

SHADOW OR SUBSTANCE?

Jesus came to “redeem us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us.” This was so, “the blessing of Abraham should come to the Gentiles.” The original Covenant always envisaged the inclusion of the Gentiles in the Abrahamic Covenant - (Galatians 3:13).

The Law of Moses served as a “custodian” until the time of fulfillment when the “seed” came. The time of “custodianship” has ceased since Jesus, the “seed of Abraham,” has arrived. He is the “end of the Law for righteousness to all who believe.” The Mosaic Law was always an interim stage between promise and fulfillment - (Galatians 3:19-25, Romans 10:4).

The social and ethnic distinctions inherent in the Mosaic Law have no place in the new covenant community inaugurated by Jesus. All who “put on Christ” become “one man” in him. We are all “Abraham’s children, and according to promise, heirs” - (Galatians 3:26-29, 4:4-7, Colossians 3:11).

To return to the observation of “days, months, seasons and years” as required by the Law is tantamount to submitting to “the weak and beggarly elemental spirits” that previously tyrannized us. If we do so, we will exchange the Spirit of God and His liberty for the death-dealing letter of the Law with its ever-present threat of the curse on all men who fail to do everything that it requires - (2 Corinthians 3:6-7, Galatians 3:10, 4:8-10, 5:1-3).

Jesus has provided his people with a “better covenant legislated on better promises,” a covenant based on his endless resurrection life. If the first covenant had been “without fault,” there would have been no need for another. Christ’s vastly superior New Covenant has rendered the old one obsolete - (Hebrews 7:22-25, 8:4-10:18).

The old Levitical Code constituted “glimpses and shadows of the heavenly realities,” mere patterns of the real and now permanent originals:

• “Let no one, therefore, be disqualifying you in eating and in drinking, or in respect of a feast, new moon and Sabbaths, which were shadows of the coming things, but the substance is of the Christ” - (Colossians 2:9-17).

• “For the law having a shadow of the good things to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those who are drawing near” – (Hebrews 10:1).

Jews and Gentiles together receive their “introduction in one Spirit to the Father,” therefore, no longer are they “strangers and sojourners, but fellow citizens of the saints and members of the household of God,” singular. Jesus has dismantled “the wall of partition” that separated Jews and Gentiles so that “of the two, Christ might create in himself one new man” - (Ephesians 2:14-15).

• “So then, you are no more strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner stone, in whom each several building, fitly framed together, grow into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit” - (Ephesians 2:19-22).

The Church of Jesus Christ is composed of Jewish and Gentile followers of Jesus who together are resident aliens in this world, a people without a national homeland and heirs of the incorruptible inheritance of salvation and the promise of resurrection life in the coming “New Heavens and New Earth.”

• “Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy living and godliness, looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” – (2 Peter 3:11-13).

The Apostle Peter listed several categories that originally applied to national Israel but now belong to Christ’s Church:

• “But now, in Christ Jesus, you are the living stones being built up into a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices well-pleasing to God, through Jesus Christ<…> You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for a peculiar treasure, a people that at one time were a no-people but now are the people of God” - (1 Peter 2:4-10, Exodus 19:5-6).

The theme of fulfillment in Jesus is found throughout the New Testament. God defeated Sin, Satan, and Death on the Cross, not on the altar of the Temple of old Jerusalem. The “mysteries of God” hidden in past ages are revealed in His Son, and especially so in the proclamation of “Christ crucified,” the “Word of the Cross” - (Romans 16:25, 1 Corinthians 2:1-9, 2 Corinthians 1:19-20).

Since the promises are fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth, it would be foolhardy in the extreme to return to the types and shadows of the incomplete revelation that was never free from weakness. Moreover, “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we may be saved.”

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SEE ALSO:

• The Promise of the Father - (With the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the blessings for all nations promised to Abraham commenced)

• Light and Life - (Jesus is the only true Light of the World, and his light shines all the brighter amidst the darkness that tyrannizes the present age. All competing claims are false)

• His Mysteries Revealed - (The mysteries of God previously hidden are revealed in Jesus of Nazareth, and especially in his death and resurrection)

• Les Promesses de Dieu - (Les promesses de la Bible hébraïque s'accomplissent dans le Fils de Dieu et Messie d'Israël, Jésus de Nazareth)