The Kingdom of God and the Death of Jesus

In the Old Testament, covenants were established through the sacrifice of animals. An example of this is found in Exodus 24:1-11. Here the covenant of the Law of Moses was being established; first the Law was read to the people, then animals were sacrificed, and Moses sprinkled the people with the blood saying, “this is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you” (v. 8). After this sealing of the covenant, the elders joined Moses on Mount Sinai and ate the covenant meal with the Lord.

On the night before the crucifixion, Jesus ate a meal with His disciples. During this meal, He took up bread and wine and offered His most explicit explanation of His coming death:

When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”

After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. (Luke 22:14-20)

This was the covenant meal; the body and blood of Christ were being sacrificed to establish a whole new covenant relationship between Man and God. (Notice the similarity between Luke 22:20 and Exodus 24:8). In the centuries that followed, the Body of Christ, the church, has met every Lord’s Day to celebrate the “covenant meal” in Communion as Jesus asked us to do, and when we do so, we “remember” His sacrifice that brought the New Covenant into existence. Consider: The meal Luke described and the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross is in the past. Yet back then, a New Covenant was established, and the Kingdom of God began in earnest on the earth in the Body of Christ. Today, we His ‘disciples’ continue in covenant relationship with Him, and the covenant meal continues to remind us of His sacrifice in the present, and our relationship with Him, and this Kingdom of God which is now imperfect, will attain the perfection of its fullness in the future when He returns.

Now, here is the really amazing part: Those who share in the Kingdom of God are those who conform to the will of God. Who is invited to share each week in the covenant meal? Those who are in covenant relationship with God. How do we come into relationship with God? We do so by making a choice to become disciples of Jesus Christ, which brings us into conformance with the will of God. When this happens, our sin is forgiven, but this is not simply a pardon for sin; it is an escape from this present evil age through relationship with God. This relationship with God provides us entrance into the Kingdom of God now, in this life within the community of believers in conformance with the will of God.  The New Testament testifies to this amazing truth:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father (Gal. 1:3-4)

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. (Heb. 2:14-15)

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,  in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Col. 1:13-14)

but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. (2 Tim. 1:10)

For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. (1 Cor. 15:21)

As you can readily see, Jesus is the full realization of the Old Testament, the fulfillment of the Law, the fulfillment of the prophets, and the One who has redeemed all of those who desire to live in harmony with the eternal will of God.

Next time we will take a look at the Kingdom of God and the Resurrection of Jesus… you won’t want to miss this!