| They never understood properly from the scriptures how God would redeem Israel. In Isaiah 52 & 53 God told them how they would be redeemed. It would be by the suffering servant of God and not the sword of the son of David. Jesus took Israel and the worlds punishment for sin and rebellion upon himself , just as Isaiah had said. He is the Christ because he bore their sins and punishment upon himself. Jesus had won the victory over sin in his life but now also in his death. The victory was not to be won on the battle ground but on a Roman cross. The real enemy of Israel is the enemy of Rome and all the nations, the enemy is sin, which brings Gods curse and judgement on mankind. Israel was redeemed through the death of Christ on the cross. But there was to be a redefinition of who the real Israel was. Only those who appropriated the death of Jesus would be redeemed. Israel were those who gave their allegiance to the true King of Israel, Jesus But still what about the Davidic promise of a son of David having his Kingdom and throne established forever? An exposition of this promise is in Peters sermon in acts 2. He talks about the promise made on oath to David and links it to the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. he says David was speaking as a prophet when he said God would not abandon him to the grave to see corruption. He says David was speaking of the resurrection of the Christ. But then what about the promise of inheriting David's throne and Kingdom he tells us this was achieved by Jesus's ascension to the right hand of the Father. The proof that Jesus is now reigning on Davids throne is because the promised Holy Spirit has been poured out. So because Jesus has taken up the eternal throne and Kingdom promised to the son of David, Israel is to be assured that this Jesus whom they crucified is both Lord and Christ. The outworking of these promises were never imagined to come about as they did. The story of God and Israel was at its head. So where Jesus had conquered sin and the devil on the cross by atoning for sin once and for all Now, by his resurrection he had destroyed the consequences of sin, namely death. If death was defeated then new life had come through the king of the nations and Israel. If there was resurrection then the Kingdom had begun, because the powers of the Kingdom which were only supposed to happen in the Kingdom were happening in the now. So Jesus had Started to bring in the Kingdom but it wasn't as expected. Again there was a redefinition of how the Kingdom would come about. If the dead had been raised as Jesus was then the New creation was starting to come about. The powers of the age to come were being poured out by his spirit making people new creations, obediant to God and disobediant to sin and the devil. However the new creation or Kingdom people were only receiving it in a 1st fruits sense. Though they had victory over sin they are not sinless, we are new creations but not in fullness. The fulness of the Kingdom comes when Jesus comes and overthrows all God's enemies aand establishes the Kingdom. Then the harvest of the resurrection is brought in when death is banished forever. It is by resurrection that all God's saints cloth themselves in the fullness of the recreation by being clothed with immortality and incorruptability. This is when the saints inherit the Kingdom in all its fulness. Jesus wasn't joking when he said the kingdom was about to come and he meant it. This is a great mystery to many Christians, who say Jesus isn't reigning yet. But if you believe the Kingdom came in the ministry and resurrection of Jesus and you understand he has taken the throne promised on oath to David. Then Jesus is on the throne ruling, Otherwise he is not the Christ. How can he be Christ if he is not on the throne of David as promised in 2 Samuel 7:12,13? |
