The Kingdom of God As Scripture’s Central Theme: A New Approach to Biblical Theology, Part 1
- Covenant is the means by which God progressively works in History to establish His Kingdom (Heb. 7-8; Eph. 2:12 “Covenants of promise”).
Since the creation of man, God has had a relationship with man. Scripture always pictures this relationship in covenantal terms. Man has no option as to whether or not he wishes to be in covenantal relationship. God as the sovereign king places everyone under covenant. Man can choose to willingly be in covenant relationship and reap the blessings of obedience; or he can choose to rebel against the covenant relationship and reap the curses of disobedience. Being in covenant relationship with God does not guarantee salvation. The covenant relationship binds one legally to God so that one is held accountable for his acceptance or rejection of God as the rightful sovereign over his life.
Each of the major covenants of Scripture builds upon and expands upon the ones that precede it. With the establishment of each successive covenant, the Kingdom of God comes into the world with a greater presence and clarity. The coming of God’s Kingdom into the world culminates with the New Covenant. The New Covenant is the last and final covenant to be established by God with his people. It was initiated at the cross and will find its total fulfillment at the New Creation. Under the New Covenant, the promises of the Kingdom are brought to a new level, and as such they are the fulfillment of the Messianic Kingdom anticipated by the Old Testament prophets. The first coming of Jesus did not exhaust the messianic expectations, for they are presently partial and await the second coming when they will be totally fulfilled. Under the New Covenant the Old is not violated or annulled, but rather the purpose or intent of the Old Covenant as God intended is kept and maintained. Old forms may be abrogated and new forms may be introduced, but the principles behind the forms remain the same.16 Jesus himself said he did not come to destroy the Law or Prophets but to fulfill them and that not even the tiniest marking would disappear from the Law until the end of the present creation (Mt. 5:17-20).
- The Kingdom of God under the Old Covenant is a shadow in comparison to its New Covenant revelation.
The promises, forms, and institutions of the Old Covenant point to the future realization of the Kingdom of God under the New Covenant: Hebrews 10:1 “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves” (NIV). This does not in any way diminish the ways in which the Kingdom of God was revealed in the Old Testament. The Old Covenant manifestation of God’s Kingdom was a very real and important part of the redemptive history that Israel experienced. For example, the entire sacrificial system instituted by God under the Old Covenant was just as necessary and efficacious, as is the work of Christ under the New. God had predetermined the offering of the Lamb of God as the once-for-all sacrifice for the sins of mankind (Acts 2:23; Heb. 7:27). It was on that basis that God could forgive any repentant sinner under the Old Covenant just as surely as he forgives under the New: Hebrews 9:22-23 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. 23 It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. (NIV) If God’s forgiveness under the Old Covenant was somehow inferior to the New, then none of the Old Covenant saints have any hope of salvation. Yet, as we read the Psalms we rejoice with the saints of old in the forgiving heart of God: Psalm 130:3-4 If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared. (NIV) It was the legalistic distortion of the Law, often accompanied by unholy living, that both the Old and the New Testaments condemn (Isa. 1:10-14; Hos. 6:6; Mt. 5:20; Gal. 3:1-3).
At times the Kingdom of God is obscured in the Old Testament by the pagan nations which rule the earth as agents of Satan. The prophets look forward to the day when God’s Kingdom will subdue the kingdoms of this world and fill the entire earth (Dan. 2:31-35; 7:13-14).
Category: Biblical Studies, Winter 2001