Well, according to Col 1:14-19, and other similar scriptures,
there is no way that Jesus got cancelled. Since the referenced scripture tells
us that, “by him all things consist”, we can logically deduce that if
Jesus got cancelled, then we all won’t exist. However, I can extend this reasoning
to the fact that a specific part of His ministry did get suspended. Let me
explain.
In Jesus’ first advent, He came to prepare Israel for the
reception of His kingdom. Jesus preached to the Jews saying, “Repent, for the
Kingdom of God is at hand”. According to prophetic scripture, if Israel received
Jesus and believed in Him, they would rise to pre-eminence, and inherit the earthly
kingdom, reigning as kings and priests in the world, and would be the light and
salvation of the Gentile nations. Since the Jews did not receive Him as their
Messiah and did not believe in His message, God blinded Israel and suspended
the Kingdom program, Rom 11:25.
With this suspension, Paul’s ministry got activated, and God
sent him out to preach directly to the Gentiles, giving him a new message of
grace through the cross of Christ. Paul called his message, “the mysteries,”
because none of his message was prophesied in the scriptures. During this grace
dispensation, all men, of all nations, can come to God, and find peace with
Him, not as prophesied through the rise of Israel, but simply through faith in
the cross work of Jesus Christ. When this grace program ends at the catching up
of the Body of Christ, God will reinstate the Kingdom program in order to
fulfill the remainder of the prophetic utterances in scripture.
Did Jesus get cancelled? No! Certainly not. Did His Kingdom
program get temporarily suspended? Yes.
Not many people recognise that Jesus has two ministries. This
becomes clear when one rightly divides the scriptures and recognises Jesus’
unique role over Israel, using Israel to cleanse and redeem the earth, and His
unique role as Head of the Body of Christ, to cleanse and redeem the heavens.
Col 1:19-20 For it pleased the Father that in him [Jesus] should all fulness dwell; (20) And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
Eph 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
I find it interesting but rather strange that you conclude that Jesus has two ministries. The Three-In-One God is the Alpha and the Omega and knew from the very beginning all that would unfold in future. You quote Rom 11:25 but the very next verse clarify that God has not suspended His plan with Israel but that they would all still be rescued. Rather God encourages them doing so by opening the door to the gentiles via Paul.
ReplyDeleteHi,
DeleteThanks for your comment. Let me say straight out that I agree with you. It might just be a misunderstanding in context. Let me clarify,
The word "suspend", (as in God suspended His plan for Israel), is just that. It does not mean cancelled. The plan for Israel is temporarily halted, by design of our all-knowing God, and because of the unbelief of Israel. During this suspension, God is saving all men (Jews and Gentiles) by means of grace, through the cross work of Christ. This too was in the plan of God because God's plan is two-fold. He will use Israel to restore the earth and He will use the Body of Christ to restore the heavens.
Israel's suspension will be removed at the Tribulation when God reinitializes the prophetic program. This occurs after the rapture of the Body of Christ. Why? Because these two programs cannot run at the same time. Mystery and prophecy are mutually exclusive. This is also why God blinded Israel and sent Paul to the Gentiles. There is a beautiful illustration of this in the first official ministry of Paul after he was sent by the church to Antioch. Read Acts 13:6-12 that shows a type and shadow of Israel (represented by Barjesus). The key vers in this account is,
Acts 13:11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.
Notice how the scripture says that Barjesus was blinded for a 'season'. This is the same with Israel during this dispensation of grace. The season will end at the Tribulation when God once again puts His hand upon them to purge them and save them. Remember that prophecy dictates that Israel will be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. This will be fulfilled in the Millennial kingdom when Israel again is preeminent and at the head of all nations on earth.
Thus, Jesus had two ministries. An earthly ministry in which He deals with Israel who inherits the earth, and a completely different heavenly ministry (appearing to Paul from heaven) in which Jesus called and furnished Paul with a new gospel and doctrine to teach the Body of Christ. It is the Body of Christ that will inherit the heavens so that one day in the future, God can fulfil the verses I quoted in my article, namely, Col 1:19-20; Eph 1:10, in which God brings both those in heaven and those in earth together in one at the end of the Millennial Kingdom of Christ.
I hope this provides more clarity. Let me know if anything is still unclear.
Grace and peace.