The Kingdom of God

In the first place, the covenant establishes the kingdom of God. We see this in Eden. God is the great Suzerain whose covenant invests Adam with the dignity and status of lord over all the created order (Gen. 1:28, 29; Ps. 8:6). In covenant union with God, Adam is king. Out of covenant union he dies and returns to the dust.

When Israel was elected as God's covenant partner, she was incorporated into a kingdom (Ex. 19:5, 6). If she had remained a faithful covenant partner, God would have invested her with status, leadership, and dominion over all the earth (see Deut. 28-30).

The purpose of the Davidic covenant was also the establishment of an ideal kingdom. In this kingdom man would not only be subject, but he would be ruler over the works of God's hands.

The biblical expression, "kingdom of God," is a dynamic expression which means "the rule of God." To be in God's kingdom means to live under His rule. It means to be part of the covenant community which lives under the authority of God's law. On the part of man the covenant requires exclusive, wholehearted obedience. On the part of God the covenant means that He is pledged to protect and succor His covenantal subjects.

Of Israel the prophet Balaam declared, ". . . the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a King is among them" (Num. 23:21). The Hebrews were often moved to heights of great joy as they celebrated the wonder of having God as their King. A number of the Psalms are known as "enthronement Psalms" (Ps. 47, 81, 93, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99). In them we hear the glad strains of acclamation as the people celebrate the enthronement of Yahweh as Israel's King.

According to Mowinkel, ancient Israel's neighbors enthroned their gods and kings at the New Year's festival in the autumn. So it was that in the climactic feasts of the seventh month (Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles) Israel celebrated the enthronement of Jehovah.

The seventh month opened with the feast of blowing of trumpets, which lasted ten days (Num. 10:10; Lev. 23:24; Num. 29:1). On the tenth day, which was the Day of Atonement, the jubilee trumpet was sounded1 (Lev. 25:9). The expression, "blowing of trumpets," is from the Hebrew word teruah, which is also translated as joy, joyful sound, jubilee, rejoicing, shouting, high sounding. Teruah is preeminently used for the acclamation given at the appearance, presence or enthronement of the king (see 1 Kings 1:34, 39; 2 Kings 9:13).

The festival complex of the seventh month depicts the triumphal entry of Yahweh as King into His capitol city and His enthronement amid the acclamations of His people. The words of the teruah are, "Yahweh is become King" (Mowinkel's translation of Ps. 93:1; 97:1; 99:1; cf. 2 Sam. 16:16; 2 Kings 9:13). Yahweh then begins His reign, His rule, His judgment. He enters His temple and thereby consecrates it and renews the covenant with His faithful vassal subjects. He "covers" His people with covenantal blessings and assures them of their inheritance. Israel's unbounded joy in God their King is expressed in the following Psalms, which are a sample of the Old Testament spirit of celebration:

O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto Him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God, and a great king above all gods.-Ps. 95:1-3.

O sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth. Sing unto the Lord, bless His name; shew forth His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the heathen, His wonders among all people. For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised: He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens. Honour and majesty are before Him: strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. Give unto the Lord, 0 ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name: bring an offering, and come into His courts. 0 worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear before Him, all the earth. Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: He shall judge the people righteously. Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord: for He cometh, for He cometh to judge the earth: He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with His truth. -Ps. 96.

The Righteousness of God

Closely associated with the concept of God's kingship was God's righteousness. The King was Judge, and as Judge He was covenantally pledged to deliver His people. God's acts of saving and rescuing His people from Egypt, from Babylon, or even from their sins were celebrated as His acts of righteous judgment. They were justice because God was showing Himself to be true to His "covenant of mercy."

It is in the Old Testament that we first meet this idea that the justice of God means salvation to all who put their trust in Him. Those who are children of the covenant have the right to appeal to the Judge for deliverance. The penitent Psalmist can even appeal for forgiveness on the grounds of God's justice (see Ps. 51:14). Daniel pleads for Israel's restoration to divine favor on the grounds of divine justice (see Dan. 9:16). The same idea also appears in the Qumran literature. A few quotations will illustrate the point:

By His righteousness He has wiped out my transgression.-1 QS 11:3.

And I, if I stumble the steadfast love of God is my eternal salvation, and if I totter in fleshly iniquity my justification will be in the eternal righteousness of God.-1 QS 11:1 lb.

For You will forgive iniquity and purify men of guilt through Your righteousness. . . . I will take courage in Your covenant.-1 OH 4:37ff.

In passages like Psalm 71:1-3,15, 24, Isaiah 51:5 and Isaiah 45:8 the "righteousness of God" means the saving acts of God on behalf of His people. Again we say, God's justice means salvation to all those who put their trust in Him (as Paul later proclaimed in Romans 1:16,17). These saving acts of God are the theme of constant celebration.

In Thee, 0 Lord, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion. Deliver me in Thy righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline Thine ear unto me, and save me. Be Thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: Thou hast given commandment to save me; for Thou art my rock and my fortress. . . . My mouth shall shew forth Thy righteousness and Thy salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof. . . . My tongue also shall talk of Thy righteousness all the day long: for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame, that seek my hurt.-Ps. 71:1-3,15,24.

Chapters 40 to 66 of Isaiah constitute one great celebration of God's righteousness in delivering His people from Babylon and renewing His covenant through the sin-bearing work of His suffering Servant.

Access and Fellowship

The covenant meant that Israel had access to God and the privilege of fellowship with Him. True, Israel was sinful and could not in herself stand in the presence of Yahweh. But God had provided a way of access (taught in the tabernacle ritual) by substitution (the sacrifice), representation (the high priest) and imputation (the sweet incense). By these God-ordained means the worship of sinful beings could be acceptable to Him. The Old Testament reflects the spirit of celebration in the covenant privilege of worshiping God.

o come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God; and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.-Ps. 95:6, 7.

Honour and majesty are before Him: strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name: bring an offering, and come into His courts. O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear before Him, all the earth.-Ps. 96:6-9.

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations.-Ps. 100.

Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.-Ps. 16:11.

The whole texture of Old Testament religion was marked by the spirit of joyful celebration. Covenant life was a life of celebration. If Israel did not serve the Lord with "joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things" (Deut. 28:47), she did not serve the Lord in a way acceptable to Him. God had loved His people freely, fervently and unstintingly. Any insipid response would be an insult to divine love.

The numerous Hebrew festivals were to be grand occasions of celebration. Israel was to call to mind God's marvelous acts in electing and saving His people. She was to remember and give thanks (see Ps. 106 & 107). In the feast of Tabernacles at the end of the year the people were commanded to put aside their work. God had said, ". . . ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days" (Lev. 23:40; see also Deut. 14:26).

The Sabbath was a weekly covenantal celebration. At the creation, when God's work was finished, "the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy" (Job 38:7). Adam had nothing to contribute to God's perfect work. He had nothing to do on that first Sabbath (Gen. 2:1-3) but to be thankful and celebrate. This day of celebration became a sign and seal of the covenant by specific command of God (Gen. 2:1-3; Ex. 20:8-11; 31:16,17). So the fourth word of the covenant commands the people of God to "remember." But further, the God who created does something to preserve His created order. He has not left His people to their own devices nor to the bondage of Pharaoh. So when the covenant is repeated to Israel on the plains of Moab, the Lord says, "And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day" (Deut. 5:15).

On the seventh day Israel must cease her work. She must not find her satisfaction in what she has done. She is to find her joy and satisfaction in God's work. The God who created heaven and earth has created Israel a nation by His redemptive activity, and she has nought to thank but His electing love, which is wholly unmerited. The Sabbath is the sign of the covenant (Ex. 31:16,17), the pledge that Israel's salvation and welfare are God's business. The sign and the covenant are inseparable (Isa. 56:4, 6).

The unbounded exuberance with which the Old Testament saints celebrate having God as their King and Judge is astounding. Consider the following:

Let Thy priests be clothed with righteousness; and let Thy saints shout for joy.-Ps. 132:9.

Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds.-Ps. 149:5.

We may recall to mind the occasion of David's dancing before the ark of God in the spirit of fervent celebration. Yet this was no light, frothy exuberance. It was a joy that was conspicuous for its fear and reverential awe before the holy One of Israel.

Covenant Life Is Praise

It is plain to see that the essence of life to these Old Testament saints was the praise of God. Life was to trust God and celebrate.

When King Hezekiah faced premature death through sickness, he "wept sore." To the Hebrews death was a horendous evil.2 Hezekiah gives us an insight into this when he declares: "For the grave cannot praise Thee, death can not celebrate Thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for Thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise Thee, as I do this day (isa. 38:18, 19). The Psalmist also says, "For in death there is no remembrance of Thee: in the grave who shall give Thee thanks?" (Ps. 6:5).

The reason why the Hebrew saint abhored death was because life was celebration of God. He wanted to go on praising God. (We must remember that the full New Testament light on Christ's conquest of death had not dawned on the Hebrews.)

If life means to praise God and continually celebrate His goodness, it follows that those who do not praise God and live in this spirit of celebration are already dead.

The Great Disruption and the Grand Renewal

The Old Testament spirit of celebration is not unclouded, however. It was disrupted when the covenant was broken. Only in covenant union with God can the people of God celebrate. So when the great disaster of the captivity overtook the Jews, the covenant was broken, and they had nothing to celebrate:

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?-Ps. 137:1-4.

Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet because it was his doleful task to pronounce God's judgment upon His people. Yet with the prophetic spirit of unspeakable joy Jeremiah foretells that the time would come when God would renew His covenant:

Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, saith the Lord.

Thus saith the Lord; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not. Thus saith the Lord; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border. . . .

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which My covenant they brake, although I was an Husband unto them, saith the Lord: but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be My people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more-Jer. 31:12-17,31-34.

Chapters 40 to 66 of Isaiah take up the same grand theme of covenant renewal. The most sublime literature of all time appears in Isaiah's inspired poetry. He saw beyond the restoration which took place in the postexilic period and caught the inspiration of that great covenant renewal which would take place in the coming of God's Messiah. The old songs of celebration would never do. A new song of unparalleled joy must accompany God's ultimate act of intervention-an act which would renew His covenant with the remnant of Israel and provide salvation for the Gentiles unto the uttermost bounds of the earth.

The New Testament Celebration

Jesus' announcement of the kingdom was "glad tidings" or "good news." He had come to fulfill all that was promised by the prophets (Acts 13:32, 33; 2 Cor. 1:20). With Him and in Him the hour of God's ultimate act of intervention and salvation had arrived. Christ declared, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound . . . " (Isa. 61:1). Of course, Isaiah goes on to declare that this day of Yahweh would also be a "day of vengeance of our God" (vs. 2). But Christ did not quote this portion of the scripture in sounding the good news (see Luke 4:18,19). He came to bear God's wrath Himself so that sinners might bear God's favor. He would endure the curses of the covenant so that His people could have its blessings.

Jesus refused to allow men to make His disciples fast when He was with them. In Him were all the blessings of God's covenant. His presence was therefore an occasion of celebration. The gospel was likened to an invitation to a great banquet. Jesus went about eating and drinking. God's gift had come down to men. It was time to celebrate.

As the Master stood in the shadow of the cross, He did not invite His disciples to mourn but to rejoice (see John 16:33). His death was not to be mourned as some disaster. True, it was a baptism of infinite suffering for the Son of God, but this was the Father's gift and Christ's own gift to sinful man. As a true gift, it was poured out with a fullness of divine joy. Christ's death was to be the sealing of the new covenant which the prophets had promised. Therefore it must be celebrated.

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is My body. And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is My blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom.-Matt. 26:26-29

If the Old Testament's spirit of celebration was great, the New Testament's must surely be greater. God's act of redemption in Jesus has been completed. All things necessary for our full and free acceptance with God have been worked out and settled. We cannot contribute or add anything to what God has done on Calvary any more than Adam could add anything to God's original creation. What else can we do but rest in that completed work, give thanks, and celebrate the glorious benefits of this grand covenant renewal. We can only go on in the Christian life as we remember what has happened and what has been given to us.

The last book of the Bible appropriately ends the Bible story of the triumph of God's covenant. How fitting that its vision was on the day appointed by God for celebration! (Rev. 1:10; cf. Isa. 58:13,14). With the apostle we are permitted to stand on the threshold of the eternal world and hear the unceasing songs of the inhabitants of heaven as they celebrate the victory and triumph of the Lamb.

And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.-Rev. 5:9-13.

And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready.-Rev. 19:6, 7.

If we expect to celebrate when God makes all things new, we must learn to celebrate here and now. But let us be sure that we celebrate the right thing. None of the songs in the book of Revelation are celebrating the worshipers' own religious experiences. They do not celebrate their changed lives, their victory over sin, or even their sinless state. Not one thing is heard about what they have done or suffered. They do not glory in their Spirit-filled existence. This book of praise is inspired by the Holy Spirit, but it makes almost no mention of the Holy Spirit. Where Christ and Christ alone is celebrated, the Spirit's work is complete.

The Signs and Seals of the Covenant

The matter of the signs and seals of the covenant has become a subject of many arguments and divisions in the church. This is unfortunate, for the signs and seals of the covenant are given as vehicles of covenant celebration.

It is the nature of the covenant to have a definite form. This form includes signs and seals. Signs and seals appear in both the Old and New Testaments.

For instance, the rainbow was the sign of the Noahic covenant. Circumcision was the sign or seal of the Abrahamic covenant. In Acts 7:8 the covenant with Abraham is referred to as "the covenant of circumcision." This is an interesting expression, because it shows us that the sign or seal, by way of metonymy, may be spoken of as the covenant itself. The Sabbath was the sign of both the Adamic and Israelitic covenants (Gen. 2:1-3; Ex. 31:16,17). So also, by way of metonymy, the Sabbath is spoken of as if it were the covenant itself (see Isa. 56:4, 5). This relationship between the sign and the thing signified is a very important matter in understanding the Bible's covenantal way of speaking (e.g., the words of institution of the Supper, "This is My body," must be understood as reflecting this covenantal way of speaking).

The following statement from the Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament is not only true in identifying the signs and seals that appear in the Old Testament, but it is also true in expressing the facts in a covenantal way:

The Sabbath, the rainbow, and circumcision are, in fact, the three great covenants established by God at the three critical stages of the history of mankind, the creation (Gen. 1:1, 2, 3; Ex. 31:16f.), the establishment of mankind after the flood (Gen. 9:1-17), and the birth of the Hebrew nation (Gen. 17).-eds. Botterweck & Ringgren (Eerdmans), Vol.2, p.264,

Signs and Seals in the New Testament

In the New Testament we find that the believer has a covenantal relation with the Triune God. It is therefore suggested that there are also signs and seals attached to the new covenant.

The Relation Between Form and Spirit

In order for anything to qualify as a sign and seal of the covenant, it must have a form. Something which is completely spiritual and invisible does not qualify as a sign. A sign has to be related to some visible token.

This brings us to the whole question of the relation between form and spirit We will make two propositions about this relationship.

1. Our first proposition is that spirit needs form.

God is spirit. His love is spiritual. But this love has been given form. First, it was given form in the creation of man and a material world. The things which God made were an expression of His infinite love. Second, God's love was given form in the incarnation. His love became flesh-and-blood reality in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth.

The human mind is spirit. But God created man in such a way that the human mind would find expression in a material body. The body is the only medium through which the human spirit finds expression. No brains, no thought!

Form is important-at least it was in the truly Hebraic and biblical view of man. The Greeks depreciated form (matter, body). They said that the body is a prison from which the soul awaits release to the immaterial world of pure idea. But the Bible teaches that the body is a temple which God made and which Christ died to redeem. The Old Testament taught the Hebrews to respect even the form of human existence, for the whole man was made in God's image.

Human existence must have a form. Spirit not only affects form, but form affects spirit. If a person lives in an untidy and disordered environment, it will affect the spirit. A sagging posture tends to a sagging spirit. Let women take on male forms of dress and actions, and this will modify the feminine spirit. The reverse process is true with males.

Human love needs form. It cannot exist without expression. Marriage is a holy and spiritual union, but it has a form. Also, the legal contract (covenant) on which it is founded cannot be dismissed as a scrap of paper without prostituting a fundamental principle of life.

Faith is spirit. It is the gift of the Holy Spirit and cannot be seen. Yet faith needs form. It is given form in Christian baptism.2 Faith is also given form in a life of good works. This is what James 2 is all about. Faith cannot live without expression. Without works faith is dead.

Human thought (spirit) needs form. That form is language. Helen Keller's mind was locked in isolation and could not develop until her teacher taught her a language. As soon as her mind was given a vehicle of expression, it blossomed out remarkably.

The church, as the invisible and mystical body of Christ, needs form. There has to be a visible church-a visible community-a ministry, an order and discipline. The visible aspect of the church cannot be ignored. There must be church order, the preaching of the Word, and the administration of the sacraments. Spirit needs form.

Understanding the essential relation between spirit and form throws light on some vital problems in church history. To start with, it helps us to understand what Paul was up against in the problems which developed at Corinth. A Greek influence became plainly visible in this believing community. The Greeks depreciated matter. In Greek philosophy the essence of salvation was a flight away from the material world. The church at Corinth experienced the development of an exaggerated spirituality which depreciated form. The human body was depreciated in the interest of super-piety. It was even said that if one were truly spiritual, he could not sin even if he committed fornication ("Every sin that a man doeth is without the body," 1 Cor. 6:18). Some were behaving scandalously at the Supper. Others thought that spiritual ecstasy gave them liberty to ignore the orderly conduct of church meetings. The resurrection of the body at the last day was repudiated in the interest of a present pneumatic experience.

In his letters to the Corinthian church Paul countered this false spirituality by dealing with such questions as the preaching of the gospel, the body as God's temple, marriage, the celebration of the Supper, the orderly conduct of church gatherings, and the resurrection of the body. Paul showed that even redeemed life will have form.

The early apologists of the Christian church had to counter the Gnostic (Greek) influence by contending for three fundamental things-the creation of a material world by the Father of Jesus Christ, the flesh-and-blood reality of the incarnation, and the resurrection of the body. The Gnostics denied that the material world could be a work worthy of God. They said that God, being pure spirit, could not have become real flesh and blood in the incarnation. And they repudiated the idea of the resurrection of the body. They were anxious to get rid of the body, not to have it resurrected; so they showed their contempt for it either by neglecting it or by indulging in flagrant bodily sins which were regarded as no sins at all. It was against these heresies that the Apostles' Creed boldly confesses: ". . . God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. . . . Jesus Christ. . . born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate. . . . the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting."

In the true relation between form and spirit there is union without fusion; there are both harmony and distinction. For instance, the Bible has a form which is distinctly human. The modes of expression, grammar and historical situations are all human. Yet the spirit of the Bible is divine. While the divine spirit of the Bible comes clothed in the human form of the Bible, there must be no transference of attributes from one to the other.

2. Our second proposition is that spirit comes in form.

God came to us clothed in human form. The spirit of man comes clothed in a human body. The Holy Spirit comes to us "riding in the carriage of God's Word" (Luther). The Spirit does not come outside and apart from this form. It is a very dangerous thing to look for the Holy Spirit apart from hearing the Word of God (Gal. 3: 1-5). We cannot honor the Spirit while we despise the channel through which He comes to us. God proposes to send His Spirit to men by "the foolishness of preaching." This is why we can say that the preaching of the Word is the means of grace. If we despise and reject the form through which God has chosen to send His Spirit, we reject the Spirit Himself.

We need to look at the signs and seals of the covenant (gospel) in this light too. They are forms which God has ordained to be associated with His covenant of grace. Not only does the gospel (spirit) need these signs and seals (form), but we must conclude that the Spirit of the gospel comes to men in these signs and seals. This does not mean that there is any saving efficacy in the form (e.g., water or bread), for we must not transfer to form that which can only belong to spirit. Neither should we confound spirit and form. But we can say that God's form is not empty when it is accepted in faith. Just as Christ is truly present wherever the Word of His gospel is preached, so He is truly present in the signs and seals which He gives.

This means that the signs and seals of the covenant cannot just be a memorial of Christ's atonement. The Christ who died is a risen Saviour. The preaching of His gospel and its celebration through signs and seals point to His death. But because the Spirit of the resurrected Christ comes in and with these forms, Jesus is more to the believer than a dim historical figure. He is both the transcendent Christ and the immanent Christ.

Yet we must repeat, we dare not confuse form with spirit any more than we would divorce them. The sign or seal of the covenant may be called what it signifies only by way of metonymy. For example, the Bible refers to both circumcision and the Sabbath as the covenant (Acts 7:8; Isa. 56:4, 6), not because either sign is in itself the covenant, but because it is the sign of the covenant. The much-debated words of Jesus, "This is My body," must also be understood as covenantal language. This is plain from Jesus' other words on the same occasion, "This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins" (Matt. 26:26-28). The Supper is a sign and seal of the covenant, and therefore it is quite proper to call the bread and the wine the body and blood of Christ in a covenantal mode of expression.

The Spirit in the Signs and Seals

The spirit in the signs and seals of God's covenant is the spirit of celebration. No one can truly celebrate unless he believes what God has done for him in Jesus Christ. The signs and seals are for believers. God visited this planet in the flesh-and-blood reality of Jesus of Nazareth. He redeemed the race and made all things new by the representative work of this second Adam. When Christ died on the cross, crying, "It is finished," the great work of atonement was completed. Every condition of the covenant was fulfilled, and every barrier between God and sinful men was removed. God' work in Christ was as complete as His work at the first creation (Gen. 1:31; 2:1-3).

Adam could contribute nothing to God's finished work of creation, and man today can contribute nothing to salvation. Both creation and redemption are covenantal. They are unilateral in origin and execution. In His covenant with Jesus Christ, God has furnished all things needful for our present and eternal welfare. The gospel invitation is like an invitation to a feast which has already been prepared and lavished with all good things. ". . . all things are ready: come unto the marriage" (Mall. 22:4). The sinner is called to believe and celebrate what God has done.

When God finished His first creation, "the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy" (Job 38:7). That was a great covenant celebration indeed (see p.10).

In the gospel God wants us to know that, in spite of sin, we can still celebrate, for God has dealt with sin in Jesus Christ and made all things new (2 Cor. 5:17). "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God" (Heb. 4:9). Since justification by faith means that we are accepted as if we had never sinned, the justified may still celebrate as if sin had never entered to disrupt that original celebration. The new Israel still need to remember what has happened and what has been given to them. They need time to celebrate.

This is not celebration for the mere sake of celebration. Covenant celebration is celebration with content. The people of God are not called to celebrate their "new life in the Spirit" or their victorious experience. (That would be celebrating their celebration.) If one were invited to honor a great citizen in an after-dinner speech, he would not want to spend the time talking about himself. That would be completely out of taste with the occasion. The signs and seals of the covenant are given to celebrate the death of Jesus Christ-His finished work.

We might even inquire at this point why baptism and the Supper are signs and seals which celebrate Christ's death rather than His resurrection. The resurrection gives birth to faith and hope, for without the empty tomb we could not believe that Christ's finished work on the cross was acceptable to the Father on our behalf. By the resurrection God shows us that our sins have indeed been put away by Christ's death. Therefore we have great joy and peace in believing. But we do not celebrate our joy and believing. The resurrection enables us to celebrate with all heaven in Christ's act of self-giving.

And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; sang with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.-Rev. 5:9-12.