For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Matthew 5: 18
I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. Matthew 26:29
Seventh-day Adventists believe that in these two texts Jesus was speaking of the fulfillment of all things at the Second Coming. That the law given to the Hebrews at Sinai is still in effect (at least some aspects of it) for Christians today because the Kingdom hasn’t yet come. According to Adventists, not a jot or tittle can be changed because at the Cross, all things were not fulfilled, God’s Kingdom did not come.
But what if, what if, at the Cross all things were fulfilled and the Kingdom of God came? Think about it. What if the Kingdom of God actually came at the Cross and resurrection of Christ and God mission was fulfilled --every single jot and tittle?
That is why today, most Christians do not follow the Old Covenant, but the New Covenant. We believe God absolutely fulfilled all of His mission to save at the Cross and with the resurrection the Kingdom of God came onto the earth.
When Jesus came to earth, He was the Word made flesh. Jesus was God’s Word! Jesus came to fulfill the Law and Prophets. He was the Torah incarnate and with His death a profound change in all human history occurred. With the resurrection a new order was established with a new heaven and a new earth.
But what if, what if, at the Cross all things were fulfilled and the Kingdom of God came? Think about it. What if the Kingdom of God actually came at the Cross and resurrection of Christ and God mission was fulfilled --every single jot and tittle?
That is why today, most Christians do not follow the Old Covenant, but the New Covenant. We believe God absolutely fulfilled all of His mission to save at the Cross and with the resurrection the Kingdom of God came onto the earth.
When Jesus came to earth, He was the Word made flesh. Jesus was God’s Word! Jesus came to fulfill the Law and Prophets. He was the Torah incarnate and with His death a profound change in all human history occurred. With the resurrection a new order was established with a new heaven and a new earth.
The Kingdom was fulfilled
Let’s look at all the texts in the Book of Matthew that show Jesus fulfilled the Law to the very last jot and tittle while on earth:
“All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet.” 1:22
“This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt have I called my son.” 2:15
“Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet.” Jeremiah.” 2: 17
“And he went and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, “He shall be called a Nazarene.” 2: 23
But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented.” 3:15
“...that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled.” 4:14
“Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them.” 5: 17
“This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, “He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.” 8:17
“This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah,” 12: 17
“With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which says: 'You shall indeed hear but never understand, and you shall indeed see but never perceive.” 13: 14
“This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.” 13: 35
“This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying...” 21: 4
“But how then should the scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” 26: 54
“But all this has taken place, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples forsook him and fled.” 26: 56
“Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel,” 27:9
Every jot and tittle at the Cross was fulfilled. Now a New Covenant has come. We see this specifically noted in the final moments before Christ died.
The Kingdom came at the cup on the Cross
I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. Matthew 26:29
At the Last Supper, Jesus declared to His disciples that He would not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom came! Adventists assume this is still to happen when Christ comes again. And yet the scripture indicates that at the cross Christ specifically asked for and drank wine right before His death.
After this Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the scripture), "I thirst." A bowl full of sour wine stood there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, "It is finished"; and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19: 28-30
So at the Cross not only was all finished but the Kingdom of God came. And this mustard seed of a kingdom will continue until Jesus comes in the clouds and brings the New Jerusalem, the capital city of God’s kingdom on earth.
4 comments:
Hi Teresa:
Thank you for your post! I, too, am a former Adventist with a blog exposing Adventist doctrine. I recently did a post on this same subject, expect I take the opposite position.
I have a question or two about this post. If you believe that the kingdom came at the cross, then what is the "kingdom" that actually came, of which you write that Jerusalem is the capital city?
You also base a lot of your argument on Matthew 26:29 and how John 19:28-30 shows that Matthew 26:29 was fulfilled?? I am confused on this point. Are you saying that John 19:28-30 fulfills Matthew 26:29? If so, how do you make that connection? I see where the John verses talk about fulfilling the scripture. I'm sure we both can agree that the New Testament is not scripture, seeing as though the New Testament did not exist when Jesus walked the earth. The John verses most closely reflect Psalm 69:21.
Please feel free to respond when you have the time. I also go over a few different things in my post, not mentioned here. If you would like to read it, please let me know.
When Jesus came, He brought the Kingdom with Him. The Kingdom isn't being established at the Second Coming, only the capital city of the Kingdom "the New Jerusalem" is being brought with him. Jesus is coming to reign personally in the kingdom He established while on earth. There are lots of parallelisms with the Hebrew engagement traditions.
The groom becomes betrothed to his bride. They are legally married by a covenant. Their marriage is established but they have not yet consummated it. The groom then goes away to prepare a place for them to live and secretly comes back for the wedding supper. The bridesmaids are to be waiting when the rumors get out that the groom's ready for his bride. He then comes back and the wedding supper is given and THEN the consummation. They were always legally married, but until the wedding supper they do not come together.
This is what the church (The Bride) is based on. The King established His kingdom at His first coming. (Jesus said, "The Kingdom of God has come among you" and "The kingdom is near" and the "kingdom is at hand." Jesus even says of his time that people were forcing themselves into it.)
He created His Bride with the remnant of the Hebrews who believed on Him as Messiah and the Bride (as a church) is where His Kingdom is. Read Matthew (I think it begins in chapter 13 or around there) where Jesus is explaining the Kingdom. He doesn't call it perfect. In fact, it is full of both wheats and tares AWAITING judgement. This cannot be post-second coming. All the descriptions of the kingdom are about the time of the betrothal before He comes and gets His Bride (the church). It is a time of turmoil and waiting (seeds being planted and growing, the rising of leavened bread, a treasure hidden in a field that one must search out and find and then pay to get! A dragnet in the sea-- A king wanting to settle his accounts. Even a wedding feast.)
None of these descriptions are of a heaven above the earth. They are earthly things.
But this is not and either or thing. The kingdom BEGAN here on earth with the church and the church is building the kingdom until the consummation when Christ comes again and receives the Kingdom into His arms and the wedding supper is held. It is a growing kingdom like the mustard seed. It is being perfected and cleansed until the Groom comes again.
In the last supper Jesus said that He would not drink again until all would be fulfilled in His Kingdom.
Each cup of wine was about God releasing His people from bondage. The first was the freedom from the Egyptians, the last was the anticipation of freedom when the Messiah would come and when the whole world would recognize God and live in thanksgiving of Him.
Jesus refused to drink it because He was now about to enter His passion and death and the sign of the kingdom arriving would be when everyone would see Him drink the fourth cup. In the Apostle John's gospel recount of the Cross he carefully showed that when Christ saw that ALL things had been fulfilled, He ASKED for the sour wine. Then IMMEDIATELY after drinking it, He died.
That was the sign that Jesus was referring to... the fourth cup when the kingdom was inaugurated. The drinking "with you" part was that He was with them! They were not sitting around at a banquet hall drinking together, but Christ was drinking with them as they were there watching at his feet. The Cross fulfilled all, every jot and tittle. Matthew especially is careful in showing that to his Hebrew audience.
Here's a good sermon on this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzaiwqsDAm8
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