DEFINITION OF TERMS (For Serious Students)

COVENANT

LAW

LAW
I. In the Old Testament
II. In the New Testament

GRACE

GRACE, MEANS OF

KINGDOM OF GOD

KINGDOM OF GOD, KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
I. In John the Baptist
II. In the teaching of Jesus
III. Kingdom and church
IV. In the rest of the New Testament
V. In theological thought

The first kingdom age, as recorded in Genesis is, in the overall picture, primarily a hope for the future. Hope is 'believing although not seeing or possessing.' This sums up the life of the patriarchs.

Adam, the 'head' of the human family, was given an amazing promise to fill the earth and rule over it.

It was a huge hope for a couple with, at the time, no family! From their perspective, looking to the horizon in each direction, this promise would have seemed extremely difficult to fulfil. Nor did Cain aid population growth by killing Abel!

Of course, had they not sinned, the hope of their promise would have finally been fulfilled, as all would have lived forever. A population explosion! The world would have been entirely different. Death was, and remains, a consequence of sin.

While some progress would have been made during the remaining 350 years of his 950year life, the promise of filling the earth remained a hope rather than reality.

Moving on to the times of Abraham, God's promise of a nation as numerous as the stars in the sky was an unbelievable promise, particularly as he and Sarah had had no children, after a lifetime of trying.

Isaac and Jacob retained their father's hope, even though in 4 generations, the total population of the family, the nation to be, had only become 70 people!

Yet the hope of the promise to Abraham remained through the generations, even though its fulfillment remained well in the future. The first kingdom age indeed, was based on hope.

The story of the second kingdom age, the rise and fall of Israel, is one of faith - and the lack of it!

During the 430 years in Egypt the 'hope' of population increase had been realized. Their 'faith' too, was built up through the reality of the miraculous escape through the Red Sea. And would have grown as God's physical presence dwelled over the Atonement Cover of the Ark of the Covenant in the Tabernacle and could be seen in the pillars of fire and cloud that guided them during their desert experience.

Yet their faith wavered when the men returned from spying out the Promised Land. The people refused to enter, as the opposition appeared too strong. They paid for their lack of faith when experiencing the harsh, hot desert climate for up to 40 years, being excluded from their promised inheritance.

The hope of the Patriarchs was now to be fulfilled by the next generation. They were prepared to take the necessary steps of faith to claim the Promised Land. Undoubtedly it would have seemed preferable to spending more time in the desert! But imagine the faith it took to walk round Jericho for six days without anything happening! What a stupid thing to do!

And so, as we have already seen, the people's ongoing disobedience and lack of faith resulted in them losing their inheritance, their nation.

This was a kingdom age where the ebb and flow of faith determined the course of the nation.

Jesus came with basically the same message found in the Law, but expressed in a radically different way and with a new emphasis. A message of love! Of God's love for us.

And in return, how we are to love Him and others.

While it sounded radical at the time, it wasn't really. It simply summed up what the Law had always said, and the Prophets expressed.

However Jesus was love personified. Firstly, in His actions during His life. An example was after he heard about the beheading of his cousin, John the Baptist. Jesus naturally, was extremely upset. So He withdrew from public view to grieve. Coming back to land, He immediately put his sorrow to one side and healed the sick.

Jesus was indeed the true servant whom we are to copy.

Through love, He paid the highest price possible.

And we are to follow His example, by laying down our life for others.

Love is indeed the fulfillment of the Law and the prophets, wonderfully expressed through the life and death of Jesus.

We are hugely privileged to live in this day of the full expression of hope, faith and love. How do we know this? The bible tells us we are living in the greatest era of the three.

"Thank you Lord, for the privilege of living in the third kingdom age. May we truly reflect your love for us, to others. Thank you again, Lord."

God revealed Himself spiritually to each kingdom age in a different way.

Through the wonder of creation to the splendour of the Temple to the reconciliation of the cross.

Let's see how it worked.

In each kingdom age people, while living all three, have had to major on one part of the triad.

The patriarchs had the hope of a nation they would not see. The nation had ongoing struggles with faith. And we today, in the Age of Grace, are expected to centre upon love for God and for each other.

God's plan is simply perfect!

BEARDS AND STYLES

In the ancient Near East beards were prized as a sign of strength and pride. Beards came in many sizes and shapes as seen in this illustration.

Source: http://www.bible-history.com