In the last chapter, we mentioned that those gathered at Jesus’ transfiguration represented the transition between the covenant of the Law and the blessing of grace (Section 4-28).  There are other representations of this transition, but first we start with a brief review of the connection between these two covenants.

The Law set standards of righteousness required of an individual in order to earn justification before God Almighty.  There was no room for error, for even one transgression of the Law brought condemnation.

For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERY ONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO PERFORM THEM.”  Galatians 3:10  NASB

Here is the Old Testament scripture quoted by the apostle Paul.

“Whoever doesn’t obey every word of these teachings will be cursed.”  Then all the people will say amen.  Deuteronomy 27:26  GOD’S WORD

Jesus is the only one who met the standard of the Law, and by so doing, Jesus fulfilled the Law.  God Almighty acknowledged Jesus’ accomplishment at His baptisms.

And after being baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”  Matthew 3:16-17  NASB

Since no human except Jesus could meet the requirements of the Law, the purpose of the Law was to make humanity aware of sin.

What, then, is the purpose of the laws given to Moses?  They were added to identify what wrongdoing is.  Moses’ laws did this until the descendant to whom the promise was given came.  It was put into effect through angels, using a mediator.  Galatians 3:19  GODS WORD

Moreover, the sacrificial system included in the Law was a foreshadowing of the one and only sacrificial death that mattered.

Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection provided relief from the mandate to earn one’s justification through the Law.  By the blessing of grace, one’s justification, the transfer between spiritual kingdoms, is a gift from God Almighty.  Having received forgiveness of sins, God Almighty’s Spirit, and eternal life as gifts from God Almighty, new members of the kingdom of God Almighty have been freed from the pursuit of their own justification, and it is incumbent upon them to bear the fruit of the Spirit when dealing with others.

“Therefore bring forth fruits in keeping with your repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.”  Luke 3:8  NASB

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.  Galatians 5:22-23  NASB

The transition between the covenant of the Law and blessing of grace is illustrated by comparing and contrasting John the Baptist and Jesus, their mothers, and the baptisms they offered.  The interaction between the virgin Mary and her relative Elizabeth, John the Baptist’s mother, suggests the transition between the covenants of the Law and grace.  Elizabeth’s conception is a repeat of the Old Testament miracle with Sarah, who like Elizabeth was barren and advanced in years (Gen 18:11, Luke 1:7).  Elizabeth’s son, John the Baptist with his appearance likened to Elijah, announced the kingdom of God Almighty.  In contrast, a much younger Mary had an unprecedented conception, and her son brought the kingdom of heaven to earth.  Thus, we find a connection between Elizabeth and her son with the Old Testament covenant of the Law and a connection between Mary and her son with the New Testament blessing/covenant of grace.  Mary and Elizabeth gathering six months into Elizabeth’s pregnancy (Luke 1:36) is suggestive of humanity, and the two women separating three months into Mary’s pregnancy is suggestive of divine completeness.

And Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her home.  Luke 1:56  NASB

The overlapping pregnancies suggest the short overlap of the two covenants.  At the time of their separation, Elizabeth’s pregnancy was due to end, a suggestion of the end of the Old Testament covenant, dramatically emphasized by the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.  On the other hand, Mary’s continuing pregnancy suggests grace replacing the Law.

John the Baptist’s father prophesied at John’s birth about his ministry.

“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;  /  For you will go on BEFORE THE LORD TO PREPARE HIS WAYS;  /  To give to His people the knowledge of salvation  /  By the forgiveness of their sins,”  Luke 1:76-77  NASB

John was under the Law and his baptism was consistent with the purpose of the Law, which was to bring to consciousness the error of sin (Gal 3:19)

after John had proclaimed before His coming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.  Acts 13:24  NASB

John the Baptist offered water baptism for repentance of sin, not for the forgiveness of sins, and told of One who would forgive sins.

“As for me, I baptize you in water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not even fit to remove His sandals; He Himself will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”  Matthew 3:11  NASB

And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”  Acts 19:4  NASB

Jesus sought and received John’s water baptism, even though Jesus was sinless.

And it came about in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  Mark 1:9  NASB

Jesus like John was under the Law, but the next phase for Jesus was to operate in the Spirit of God Almighty.

And immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him;  Mark 1:10  NASB

Following the baptisms and adoption as Son, Jesus inaugurated the blessing of grace and admittance into the kingdom of God Almighty to replace salvation/justification through faultless observance of the Law.

But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.  Romans 7:6  NASB

Jesus’ baptism with water, delivered by John who lived under the Law, completed Jesus’ fulfillment of the Law.  Thus, Jesus’ baptisms and adoption as Son mark the transition from the covenant of the Law to the blessing of grace as God Almighty’s means of justification of humanity.

“The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since then the gospel of the kingdom of God is preached, and every one is forcing his way into it.”  Luke 16:16  NASB

Though replaced as the means of justification, the Law and Prophets were not abolished.

“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.”  Matthew 5:17  NASB

Likewise Jesus did not abolish John’s water baptism but fulfilled it, for Jesus also baptized with water.

After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea; and there He was spending time with them and baptizing.  John 3:22  NASB

However, when administered by Jesus or in His name, the rite of water baptism moved from repentance of sins (Matt 3:11) to forgiveness of sins.

And Peter said to them, “Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”  Acts 2:38  NASB

John, representing the Mosaic covenant of the Law, proclaimed the coming of the kingdom of God Almighty, and Jesus implemented its appearance.

Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He [Jesus] answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’  For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”  Luke 17:20-21  NASB

Jesus told the Pharisees, who were expecting a physical kingdom, that the kingdom of God Almighty was a spiritual kingdom and had arrived without their realizing it.  Believers, baptized with water in the physical realm and born again in the spiritual realm, become newborn children of God Almighty in His kingdom while on earth.

John was filled with the Holy Spirit, was great in the sight of the Lord, and proclaimed the coming of the God Almighty’s kingdom.

“For he [John the Baptist] will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine or liquor; and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, while yet in his mother’s womb.”  Luke 1:15  NASB

Even so, John was denied Jesus’ baptism representative of being born again.

Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him.  But John tired to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?”  But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”  Then he permitted Him.  Matthew 3:13-15  NASB

Jesus’ denial of Him baptizing John is an indication that John did not enter God Almighty’s kingdom while on earth, and Jesus later spoke of this.

“Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”  Matthew 11:11  NASB

Jesus mentioned John’s natural birth (born of woman) and then made no mention of the spiritual birth, an indication that John lacked the spiritual birth which is necessary in order to enter the kingdom of God Almighty while on earth.  Therefore, all who enter the kingdom of God Almighty while on earth are greater than John.  Wow, what wonder things come with the blessing of grace!

Another indicator that John did not enter the kingdom of God Almighty while on earth is that John did not partake of the components of the Eucharist/communion meal that Jesus would institute for His followers.  Recall that at His last super with the apostles Jesus represented the new covenant of grace with bread and wine as His body and blood.  John the Baptist did not partake of either of these.

“For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine; and you say, ‘He has a demon!’ ” Luke 7:33  NASB

The avoidance of bread and wine suggests that John did not partake of the spiritual communion meal and therefore did not enter the kingdom of God Almighty while on earth.

John performed admirably (there has not arisen anyone greater than John), but he did so as a member of the kingdom of darkness and therefore outside the kingdom of God Almighty/light.  John operated as a servant of God Almighty like Abraham, Moses, and David and others of the Old Testament.  John the Baptist, worthy in many regards, represented the covenant of the Mosaic Law which brought no one into the kingdom of God Almighty, and therefore he himself was not a member of the kingdom while on earth.

Another pattern for the transition between the covenants of the Law and grace is the transfer of the birth right of the first-born son to a younger son.

“But he shall acknowledge the first-born, the son of the unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the beginning of his strength; to him belongs the right of the first-born.”  Deuteronomy 21:17  NASB

The birth right or inheritance of a first-born son meant special privilege and responsibility including leadership of the family, arbitrator of domestic disputes, and priest of the clan.  A double portion of the father’s estate acknowledged the added responsibility of caring for any surviving wives, concubines, unmarried daughters, and young sons of the father.

There are several examples in scripture of the transfer of the birth right of first-born son to a younger son.  For instance, Reuben betrayed his father Jacob/Israel, and Reuben’s birth right was given to the house of Joseph (1Chron 5:1-2).  But, it is the two sons of Abram/Abraham, their respective mothers, and the son’s inheritances that we will use to illustrate the transition between the Law and grace.

The apostle Paul portrayed the transition from the Law to grace as the transfer of the birth right of Abram/Abraham’s first-born son to the younger son.  In doing so, Paul associates Hagar, a bondwoman from Egypt, and her son Ishmael with the Mosaic covenant of the Law, given at Mount Sinai and officiated in Jerusalem.

For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman.  But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise.  This contains an allegory: for these women are two covenants, one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar.  Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.  Galatians 4:22-25  NASB

Furthermore, Hagar and her son provide a pattern for the ancient Israelites living under the covenant of the Law.  Hagar left Egypt, just as the Israelites did with Moses.  Hagar entered the Promised Land, just as the Israelites did with Joshua.  Hagar, when pregnant with Ishmael, left home, just as the Israelites did in exile at the end of the first temple period.  Hagar returned to the family, just as the Israelites returned to the Promised Land after captivity.  Later, Hagar and Ishmael went permanently into the wilderness, just as the Jews went into a spiritual wilderness after the second temple period.

Anyone practicing the Law suffers the consequences of the Law in the same way a son suffers the consequences of his mother’s circumstance.  That is, a child of a bondwoman is born into slavery (thus lacking an inheritance), so one practicing the Law is a slave to the collection of commandments contained in the covenant (and lacks a spiritual inheritance).  In contrast, Paul associates Sarah, a free woman, and her son Isaac with the covenant/blessing of grace, implemented by Jesus Christ and officiated by Him from heaven.

But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother.  …  And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise.  Galatians 4:26,28  NASB

Anyone participating in the covenant/blessing of grace will enjoy freedom from the requirements of the Law just as a son of a free woman enjoys freedom derived from his mother’s status.

Hagar’s son Ishmael was Abram’s first-born son, so he was entitled to the birth right.  Likewise, the ancient Israelites were God Almighty’s first-born son.

“Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Israel is My son, My first-born.” ’ ”  Exodus 4:22  NASB

So ancient Israel, the first-born son of God Almighty, was entitled to the birth right, which was a covenantal relationship with God Almighty.

“ ‘Now then, if you [the congregation of Israelites] will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’  These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”  Exodus 19:5-6  NASB

The birth right for the Israelites from God Almighty included a special place among all the peoples of the earth as a kingdom of priests and as a holy nation.

In time, Abram/Abraham’s promised son Isaac was born to the free woman Sarah.  It was not long before the first-born son Ishmael persecuted the younger son Isaac.

But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also.  But what does the Scripture say?  “CAST OUT THE BONDWOMAN AND HER SON, FOR THE SON OF THE BONDWOMAN SHALL NOT BE AN HEIR WITH THE SON OF THE FREE WOMAN.  So then, brethren, we are not children of a bondwoman, but of the free woman.  Galatians 4:29-31  NASB

Paul makes the point that the Jews of the covenant of the Law crucified Jesus and persecuted the church of the covenant of grace.

And Saul [Paul] was in hearty agreement with putting him [Stephen] to death.  And on that day [of Stephen’s death] a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.  Acts 8:1  NASB

Because of Ishmael’s persecution of Isaac, Ishmael and his mother were sent away.

So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the boy, and sent her away.  And she departed, and wandered about in the wilderness of Beersheba.  Genesis 21:14  NASB

Likewise, God Almighty sent away the Jews of the ancient nation of Israel.  While the Jews were persecuting Him, Jesus predicted that the temple along with Jerusalem was going to be destroyed.

And when He approached, He saw the city [Jerusalem] and wept over it, saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace!  But now they have been hidden from your eyes.  For the days shall come upon you when your enemies will throw up a bank before you, and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”  Luke 19:41-44  NASB

In 70 AD about 35 years following the Jews’ persecution of Jesus, the temple was leveled and all Jerusalem destroyed.  Some 600 years later, Jerusalem came under the control of Islam, a counterfeit of Christianity.  The Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine, has been located upon the site of ancient Israel’s temple since 700 AD.  Even now, more than 50 years after the modern, Jewish state gained control of the temple mount, the temple has not been rebuilt. Thus, for 2,000 years, there has been no place for the fulfillment of the sacrificial commands of the Law, leaving Jews in a spiritual wilderness.   Notice that Jesus clearly states the reason for this destruction: the Jewish nation did not recognize the time of [its] visitation by God Almighty’s Messiah.

Ishmael was disinherited, and Abraham’s full inheritance went to Isaac.

Therefore she [Sarah] said to Abraham, “Drive out this maid and her son, for the son of this maid shall not be an heir with my son Isaac.”  Genesis 21:10  NASB

Thus the birth right was denied to Ishmael and transferred to Isaac.

Now Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac;  Genesis 25:5  NASB

Similarly God Almighty’s birthright, which had been with ancient Israel, was given to the New Testament church.

But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR GOD’S OWN POSSESSION, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;  1Peter 2:9  NASB

Those receiving the blessing of grace became God Almighty’s heirs and will receive an inheritance of eternal life.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  1Peter 1:3-5  NASB

God Almighty has passed the inheritance of eternal life from the first-born, spiritual son, the ancient nation of Israel, to the second, spiritual son, Jesus’ body consisting of those who are born again.

“And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake shall receive many times as much, and shall inherit eternal life.”  Matthew 19:29  NASB

However, the time for Jews in the spiritual wilderness is temporary, i.e., for a specified period of time.

“Woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse babes in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land, and wrath to this people, and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”  Luke 21:23-24  NASB

The church of the Gentiles will be God Almighty’s chosen people during the times of the Gentiles, after which there will be the return of the first-born, spiritual son (Jews) from the spiritual wilderness to the Father as suggested by the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15).

Once Jerusalem was destroyed, both Jews and the church of the Gentiles were dispersed throughout the world, to all the nations.  The Jews went into a spiritual wilderness during the time of the Gentiles.  The church went on to spread the Gospel as directed by the great commission (Matt 28:16-20), and the apostle Paul was the great evangelist for the apostolic church.  Thereafter, there was the organized church and then the apostate church of the Middle/Dark Ages.

The transition from Law to grace as the means of justification for humanity occurred during the first years of the first century AD.  Spiritual day/age 4 coincides with the Second Temple period of Jewish history and ended with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, which brought an end to the practice of the sacrificial system of the covenant of the Law.  On the other hand, spiritual day/age 5 began with the conception of Jesus around 1 AD, and we mark the start of the church era with the beginning of Jesus’ ministry around 30 AD.  Clearly, this overlap of the Old Testament era of day/age 4 and the New Testament era of day/age 5 highlights Jesus’ many roles associated with being both the last Adam of the Old Testament and the Christ of the New Testament.

When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete.  But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.  Hebrews 8:13  NASB

We conclude this section with a visual representation of the transition from the covenant of the Law and the Jewish nation to the blessing of grace and the gentile church.  The following illustration is a merging of the spiritual progression of humanity during the Old Testament and the decline of the production of spiritual fruit in the early centuries of the church era.  Colors are used to designate different phases of humanity’s spiritual development and to identify Jesus’ several roles in the transfer between covenants.  The illustration is visually busy, so there follows a detailed explanation.

Orange highlights the First Adam, who started in the garden/dust realm, which corresponds to the 100-fold level of production of spiritual fruit in the New Testament.  A descending arrow indicates the first couple’s disobedience, transgression, and banishment from the garden realm whereby they became slaves to Satan in the kingdom of darkness.

Blue highlights steps of increase in the kingdom of darkness during the Old Testament period.  The steps are characterized in terms of seed/descendants, and the risers between each step indicate the event leading to the successive seed.  The first phase in the Old Testament progression is the first couple’s descendants/seed/offspring, the man Adam’s natural seed, which populated the earth in spiritual day/age 2 and became the thorns and thistles phase of humanity destroyed by the flood.  From Adam’s seed, God Almighty chose and called Noah, his three sons, and their wives to repopulate the world in spiritual day/age 3 as the plants of the field phase of human progression.

and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;  2Peter 2:5  NASB

Noah’s seed/offspring/descendants proposed to build a city with a tower whose top will reach into heaven (Gen 11:4), so God Almighty again intervened.  This time, rather than destroy humanity, He destroyed their common language.

“Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”  So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city.  Genesis 11:7-8  NASB

God Almighty chose and called Abram/Abraham from Noah’s seed and led him from Ur of the Chaldeans (the vicinity of the tower of Babel) to Palestine, the Promised Land.  There God Almighty implemented the covenant of circumcision with Abram/Abraham’s seed, a portion of which became the nation of ancient Israel, set apart from the rest of the world.

“Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy; and I have set you [the nation of Israel] apart from the peoples to be Mine.”  Leviticus 20:26  NASB

The third and middle step of the diagram connects the steps of spiritual development of the Old Testament and those of the New Testament.  Green highlights events in the kingdom of God Almighty.  Through a miraculous conception, God Almighty took a woman, and without a man, created a man and thereby added God’s Seed to humanity, fulfilling the promise of a blessing to all nations from Abraham’s seed.  Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection provided the bridge between the covenants of Law and grace, between increasing and decreasing steps.  Jesus, as the last Adam, fulfilled the requirements of the Law and the prophets during His time as the perfect Jew.  Jesus’ baptisms and adoption as a mature Son of God Almighty brought Him to the garden/dust realm at the 100-fold level of production of spiritual fruit because Isaac, a pattern for Jesus, cultivated the Promised Land and reaped at the 100-fold level.

Now Isaac sowed in the land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold.  And the LORD blessed him.  Genesis 26:12  NASB

Thus Jesus fulfilled the promise made in the garden that humanity would return to dust (realm).  Jesus’ ministry as the Messiah/Christ brought the kingdom of God Almighty to earth and established the church.  Jesus, after a life without sin, willingly submitted to crucifixion as the sacrificial Lamb for the forgiveness of sins of all humanity.

The three, descending steps of the illustration are events in the spiritual realm of the kingdom of light and are labeled by the three, designated levels of spiritual attainment.  Characterizations of the church are indicated in red.  The church during Jesus’ ministry was bifurcated with Jesus as the Head at the 100-fold level of production of spiritual fruit and His body of believers at the 30-fold level.  With the ascension of Jesus, the Head of the church left the earth, and the church lost the 100-fold level of production of spiritual fruit.  However, with the baptism with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, the body moved from the 30-fold level of spiritual fruit to the 60-fold level and became the apostolic church.  The decline of the church in spiritual day/age 5, based on the cycle of the planted seed, requires that the apostolic church be succeeded by the organized church at the 30-fold level of production of spiritual fruit.

Thus, among His many roles, Jesus is the last Adam of the Old Testament and the Christ of the New Testament, and this duality enables the transition from the Law and to the blessing of grace.