Thesis: The church doesn't replace Israel; Jesus does.
Every spiritual blessing was won by Christ. The new testament says these blessings are "in him," and if we are in Christ, then they belong to us. All the promises of the Old Testament now apply and are fulfilled in Christ. Therefore, if we are united to Christ, then they are ours! The kingdom that God promised his people in the Old Testament is not some fuzzy, spiritual reality now-called the church. No, the kingdom is given to Christ and we, the church, experience it through him! (Moore, 119). And what does the resurrected Jesus inherit? He inherits the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Acts 13:32-33)
The NT applies to Jesus language previously applied to Israel (Ex. 4.22; Matthew 2.15). So Jesus replaces Israel, not the church.
2 comments:
The singular 'seed' which is made much of as opposed to a plural, would support that.
I like it. I would suggest that it is not so much that Jesus replaces Israel as that He fulfills Israel: the seed, the land, the temple, David --in the last analysis they always meant Jesus.
Post a Comment