139: The New Order

“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)

About fifteen hundred years after Sinai where the law was given to Moses and the children of Israel, a prophet named John appeared on the scene and declared the new order of things:

“Repent (change your mind!), for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matthew 3:2)¹

The phrase “at hand” in the verse above literally means “to bring near, to join one thing to another.”² In other words, the time had come when God would join believers to Himself through His Son. The kingdom of heaven was in their midst: Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, had come to remove the sin barrier forever! Jesus’s blood wouldn’t just cover sins temporarily like the Old Covenant sacrifices. He would remove sin completely.

When Jesus cried, “It is finished!”,³ there was a great earthquake and the veil in the temple was split from top to bottom by God Himself. This was the end of Old Covenant system! No more would man attempt to relate to God through obedience to the law of Moses. From then on, relationship with God would be by grace through faith in Jesus. The ministry of condemnation and death had been replaced with the ministry of the of the Spirit of grace!

(from pages 223-224 of Unveiling Jesus)

Want more from Tricia Gunn? Check out excerpts from the Unveiling Jesus 20-part series!

Unveiling Jesus, by Tricia Gunn, is a verse by verse study of the pure gospel of grace. It’s an amazing journey of love, identity, and freedom in Christ.

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¹All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New King James Version. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®.  Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.  Used by permission.
²G1448 (eggizō), Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, website: http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=G1448&t=KJV, accessed 6-3-14
³John 19:30″