Kingdom Disciples

Jesus is the anointed Son of God whose life and ministry are filled with the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit . The activity of the Spirit dominates the life, words, and deeds of Christ. He is “ Jesus, the one called Christ ,” the long-awaited Messiah of Israel. The angel informed Joseph that Mary carried a child “ conceived of the Holy Spirit ,” indicating that something more than just a miraculous birth was about to unfold.

The gift of the Spirit is essential to the identity, mission, and life of the Church. It is foundational to the New Covenant . Jesus commanded his disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they received “ the promise of the Father .” The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost inaugurated the Church and the last days and equipped the followers of Christ to take his Good News to the nations – (Luk 24:46-49, Acts 1:7-8, 2:1-21).

The gift of the Spirit demonstrates beyond question who belongs to the covenant community of Christ, and who does not . “ False brethren ” were preaching “ another gospel ” in the churches of Galatia, a “gospel” that requires Gentile believers to adopt circumcision and otherwise conform to the regulations of the Mosaic Law. Paul repudiated this false teaching in his letter to the Galatians and explained why circumcision is unnecessary for Gentiles.

The gift of the Spirit is part of the covenant promises made to Abraham, including blessing the nations of the Earth . The Gospel of Matthew declares that Jesus is the son of Abraham. Thus, this gospel account connects the Nazarene to the Abrahamic Covenant, for the Messiah of Israel came to complete the covenant and all its promises.

With the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the blessings for all nations promised to Abraham commenced . The gift of the Holy Spirit is described as “the promise of the Father” in the New Testament, which connects this gift to the Abrahamic covenant. The promises to Abraham and his seed are fulfilled in the New Covenant inaugurated by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the gift of the Spirit is the guarantee that we will inherit all that God has promised.

Jesus is the herald who announces the Good News and inaugurates the Kingdom, the process that will culminate in the final harvest . Jesus proclaimed the imminence of God’s Kingdom and called men and women to repent and turn away from unrighteousness in response to this new reality. He is the Messiah who inaugurates the redemptive act of God, and this will conclude with the great harvest of souls when Christ returns “ on the clouds of heaven .”

The outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost signaled the start of the Last Days and the time of fulfillment . The application of Joel’s prophecy to the events of the Day of Pentecost links the outpouring of the Spirit to the last days. The death, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus inaugurated History’s final stage before the Day of the Lord, and now, he reigns and bestows the gift of the Spirit on his Church.

Jesus grants the Life-Giving Spirit to men and women. His words are spirit, and they are life . “ The Spirit gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The declarations I have spoken to you, they are spirit, and they are life. ” Christ’s statement echoes the biblical principle that life and the Spirit of God are inextricably linked – (John 6:63).

The New Testament applies Tabernacle language and imagery from the Hebrew Bible to the Body of Christ, the Habitation of God’s Holy Spirit . Terms from the Tabernacle and the worship rituals of  Leviticus  are applied in the New Testament to the New Covenant community inaugurated by Jesus Christ. What the Tabernacle prefigured has become reality in the Church, which is “ the habitation of God in Spirit .”

With the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the blessings for all nations of the Abrahamic Covenant commenced . The “ Promise of the Father ” is the Gift of the Spirit, which the Apostle Paul links to the Abrahamic Covenant. The promises made to the Patriarch are fulfilled in the covenant inaugurated by Jesus. The bestowal of the Spirit on his Church on the Day of Pentecost marked the commencement of the “ Last Days ,” the age when the promises of God are fulfilled.

According to Jesus, the End will not come until the Gospel of the Kingdom of God has been proclaimed to all nations  – Matthew 24:14. When the subject of the Second Coming is raised, the question of what sign will precede it is asked. Invariably, wars, earthquakes, tsunamis, famines, and similar catastrophes are offered as harbingers of that final day. Yet Jesus gave the definitive answer to this question - the completion of the Church’s mission to proclaim his salvation and lordship to all nations.

Jesus revealed that worship and the presence of God no longer are limited to geographical locations or man-made structures – John 4:20-24. Jesus revealed the proper form and location for worshipping His Father to a woman from Samaria. With the advent of the Messiah, concepts and traditions about holy space and holy time became irrelevant. The presence of the Messiah rendered any debate over the location of the Jewish Temple pointless. From now on, God must be worshipped in truth and spirit .

The Spirit of God imparts life, especially the everlasting life of which the Gift of the Spirit is the foretaste and guarantee . The Spirit of God is life-giving. “ God is Spirit ,” and where His Spirit is, there is life! By His Spirit God created all things, including the “ hosts of the Heavens .” In contrast, sin kills men, and it does so through the “ letter of the Law .” Death’s “ sting ” is sin, “ and the power of sin is the Law . ” However, God’s Spirit gives us life, and where His Spirit is, there is also “ liberty ” - (John 4:24, 6:63, 1 Corinthians 15:56, 2 Corinthians 3:6, 3:17).

Paul connects the bodily resurrection of believers to the New Creation. Both events are vital for our redemption and our salvation . There is “ now no condemnation ” of anyone who is “ in Christ Jesus .” This happy condition exists because “ the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death .” In his  Letter to the Romans , the Apostle Paul links our salvation to the inheritance we have through Christ and the coming redemption of our bodies when Jesus returns – (Romans 8:1-2).

Since his Death and Resurrection, Jesus has been forming one new covenant community - One New Man - based on faith in him  – Ephesians 2:11-22. Paul is clear and uncompromising. Considering what Jesus accomplished on the Cross, no longer can there be divisions between Jews and Gentiles, “ for you all are one in Christ Jesus .” Through his sacrificial death, he “ dismantled  the middle wall of separation ” that divided Jews from Gentiles so “ he   might reconcile them both in one body for God through the Cross .”

The Gift of the Spirit is essential to the New Covenant promised by God in the Hebrew Bible for His people . The New Testament connects the “ Promise of the Spirit ” to the “ Blessings of Abraham .” God would bless the nations through the Patriarch. The Gift of the Spirit is an integral part of the covenant promises given to Abraham, and this promise is fulfilled in the “ New Covenant ” inaugurated by the Death and Resurrection of Jesus. His sacrifice made the ancient promises of renewal and circumcised hearts a present reality.

The Spirit equips and emboldens the Church to bear witness to Jesus, especially concerning his sacrificial death and resurrection from the dead . At the start of the  Book of Acts ,  Jesus told disciples they would be “ baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days hence ,” and they would “ receive power ” enabling them to become “ My Witnesses  to the uttermost parts of the Earth .” Receiving the Spirit equipped his saints to proclaim his message and empowered them to bear witness “ with boldness ” despite opposition.

The disciples of Jesus are the Heirs of Abraham, and the future possession of the full inheritance is guaranteed by the Gift of the Spirit . Israel’s possession of Canaan was an earlier stage in God’s redemptive plan, which always envisaged something larger than Israel and a small plot of land in the Middle East. With the arrival of the Messiah and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the covenant promises found their fulfillment in the true “ Seed of Abraham ,” and therefore in his “ brethren ” and “ coheirs .”

The New Testament applies Temple language and imagery from the Hebrew Bible to the Body of Christ, the true Sanctuary of God . Apart from the contacts between Jesus and the early church with the priestly authorities, the New Testament shows minimal interest in the Temple complex in Jerusalem. More frequent are the applications of temple language to the community of believers inaugurated by Jesus and built by his Apostles. What the Temple and the Tabernacle foreshowed is coming to fruition in the “ Body of Christ .”

The jurisdiction of the Mosaic regulations over the covenant community reached its limit with the arrival of Jesus, the Seed of Abraham . In responding to claims that Gentiles must be circumcised, Paul appealed to the common experience of the Spirit received by the Galatians.  Did they receive the Gift through a “ hearing of faith ” or “ from the works of the Law ?”  Having begun in the Spirit, why did they seek the “ completion ” of their faith based on “ flesh ” by submitting to circumcision?