The Messiah's Ultimate Purpose: The Two Stages of His Work
The Two Advents of the Messiah Priest-King
In this portion, I borrow heavily from John C. Peckham’s book God With Us
Christmas is a big deal in the United States during the month of December. There is much debate over whether the celebrations are religious or secular, but there is a heightened awareness of the birth of Jesus. In this post, I will not go into the debate about the date or the proper way to celebrate Christmas. Instead, I want to pursue a different question.
If the ultimate King has come already, why is there not yet a kingdom of perfect love and justice?
If the Prince of Peace has come, why are there still wars? Why do we experience hunger, pestilence, persecution, shootings, death, suffering… the list goes on. Why does Israel not rule the world? Why are we not experiencing a kingdom of peace?
If Jesus was just a wise teacher, a great prophet, an avatar of Vishnu, or the reincarnation of Krishna, then were the Bible prophecies wrong? In other words, if we are not experiencing peace now is there any hope of it ever coming in the future?
We need to understand that the Messiah's work was to take place in two stages.
In the first stage, the Messiah needed to come as the Lamb slain for the world's sins. The sacrifice was necessary for providing forgiveness to repentant sinners without compromising justice, demonstrating God's righteousness and love, and thereby defeating the devil's allegations. This is what Paul was describing in his letter to the Romans.
whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
— Romans 3:25-26 NKJVBut God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
— Romans 5:8 NKJV
John the Baptist was also aware of this because when he saw Jesus he said:
“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
— John 1:29b NKJV
I also believe that Abraham prophesied this, perhaps inadvertently, when he told Isaac that God would provide for Himself a lamb.
And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.
— Genesis 22:8 NKJV
Interestingly in the story of Genesis 22 we never see the lamb, Abraham lifts his eyes and sees a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. The lamb that God will provide is not mentioned until John’s announcement in John 1:29. So I see a direct link between the two accounts. (For more on this story see my post Akedah.)
In the second stage, the Messiah will return as the Lion of Judah, uprooting injustice and eradicating evil, ushering in the final age with no sin, suffering, or death.
And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
— Revelation 21:3-4 NKJV
Christ's two Advents correspond to two stages in which Christ defeats and eliminates Satan in the cosmic conflict.
Christ's sacrifice on the cross makes atonement and legally defeats the devil's allegations in the heavenly court.
Christ will execute the final judgment against the domain of darkness and eradicate evil.
These correspond to two stages of atonement, wherein all the enemy's allegations are first defeated in the heavenly court, and only thereafter is judgment executed.
Adam and Eve freely chose to disobey God despite God’s warning. (Genesis 3 see my post Paradise Lost) For God to simply forgive them would indicate that there was a problem with God’s law. If God’s law is indeed good and perfect (Psalm 19:7; Romans 3:31;7:7,12, Matthew 5:17-18 see my post, Law Fulfilled) He must save us (humanity) without breaking or doing away with His own law. That is why Jesus had to come and die, fulfilling the demand of the law and freely offering us the forgiveness He purchased by dying in our place. (Romans 6:23; 1 Peter 2:24; Galatians 3:13)
Many awaiting the Messiah in the first century, however, conflated the two Advents. They were correct that the Messiah would come as the conquering King (Isa. 9:6-7; Dan. 2:44). However, they failed to recognize that the Messiah would first come as the suffering servant (Isa. 53), the Lamb slain for the world's sins (Exod. 12:22-23; Isa. 53:7; 1 Cor. 5:7), whom the ancient prophesies foretold would be "cut off" in the first century (Dan. 9:26).
Before the promised Son would crush the serpent's head, the serpent would first strike Him (Gen. 3:15; cf. Ps. 22:14-18; Isa. 50:6). Before the Messiah would destroy the devil's kingdom, He would first reclaim rulership of this world in a way the selfish rulers of this world would never imagine (1 Cor. 2:7-8)—coming as a humble servant and giving Himself over to torture and death in the ultimate display of unselfish love and righteousness (Rom. 5:8; 3:25-26; Phil. 2:6-8).
The first stage of the Messiah’s work was incredibly important. However, if we stop there, we are stuck living in a sinful world indefinitely. Many of the believers in Jesus’ time (the Jews) missed the Messiah because they focused on their favorite prophecies, the Messiah as a conquering King, and disregarded the prophecies that mentioned the Messiah as a suffering servant. If we only talk about the first stage of the work of the Messiah and disregard the second we are in danger of missing the second coming of the Messiah.
The Mission of Christ
You might be familiar with the story of the birth of Jesus, often referred to as the Christmas story. Mary was a virgin, but the angel told her she was to bear a son. "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end" (Luke 1:32-33).
These words revealed that Mary’s Son was to be the promised one, the Messiah, the son of David (see Matthew 9:27; 12:23; 21:9, 15; 22:14).
The coming of Jesus fulfilled multiple prophecies about the Messiah (see John C. Peckham’s God With Us chapter 3), which in Hebrew means "anointed one." According to the ancient prophecies, the Messiah would be a son of Abraham and a son of David (meaning a descendant of both) and would fulfill the covenant promises made to Abraham and David, including the promise of an everlasting Davidic kingdom (see 2 Sam. 7:13; cf. Jer. 23:5-6). This covenantal Son of David would also be the Son promised to Adam and Eve, the "Seed" of the woman whom God prophesied would crush the head of the serpent, later identified as Satan (see Gen. 3:15, NKJV; cf. Rom. 16:20; Rev. 12:9 see my post someOne is coming).
To understand the importance of the Messiah's coming as the promised son of David who would fulfill God's covenant promises, we need to remember the situation the people of Israel were in.
Historical/Cultural Context
Israel, a nation blessed beyond measure, had been chosen by God as His covenant people to bless all nations (Gen. 12:3). God raised up Israel as His allotment—His inheritance whom He called "My son, My firstborn" (Exod. 4:22). Through Israel, God would reclaim the entire world from enemy rulership, the rulership given over to Satan by Adam and Eve at the Fall (cf. Gen. 1:28; John 12:31).
But, in the first century AD, the children of Abraham were suffering under oppression by the Roman Empire. For centuries, they had been ruled over by a succession of brutal empires-Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and now Rome (just as prophesied in Dan. 7). They desperately awaited the promised Messiah, whom they expected to deliver them from Rome just as God had delivered Israel from oppressive enemies countless times before, putting the "gods" of the nations to shame.
When the Messiah came, they thought, God would make His presence known, wrongs would be righted, and their oppressors would be overthrown. The sum of all their hopes and dreams was bound up with the Messiah's coming.
Imagine (if you can) that your family has been suffering severe hardship and oppression for ages, but an ancient contract stipulates that once a special promised son comes, you and your family will be freed from oppression, inherit a massive estate with enormous wealth, and enjoy vibrant health, prosperity, and bliss. What many in Israel were hoping and waiting for was a bit like that. They believed that the coming Messiah would free them from centuries of imperial oppression and usher them into a kingdom of unimaginable prosperity.
When Jesus came but did not break the yoke of Rome, many were profoundly disappointed. The first coming of Jesus did not match their expectations of the Messiah, who was envisioned as the warrior king who would overthrow Rome. They looked for the conquering lion of Judah, but Jesus came as the lamb led to slaughter. Jesus came not as the conquering king ushering in a glorious earthly reign but as the crucified king who suffered what seemed like a shameful, cursed death.
Yet, as Jesus explained many times before His crucifixion and further explained after His resurrection, the ancient prophesies foretold that the Messiah must suffer, die, and rise on the third day (Luke 24:6-8, 25-27, 44-48). Jesus was indeed the promised Son. He would fulfill the covenant promises of old. But He would do so in two phases and by way of two comings— a first Advent and a second Advent.
Jesus was the ultimate Prophet, Priest, and King.
Jesus fulfills the prophecies of the coming of the greatest prophet, the highest high priest, and the King of kings.
The Mosaic covenant was given through a specially appointed and divinely attested prophet, Moses. And God promised to send another prophet like Moses (Deut. 18:15), a promise that ultimately referred to Jesus (Acts 3:22). As the Prophet of prophets, Jesus revealed God to humans, being Himself the ultimate revelation of God (cf. John 14:9).
In the Mosaic covenant, God also made a way to dwell with His people, despite their sinfulness. Without mediation, the presence of God's holiness would destroy sin and everything tainted by it. As the earthly place of such mediation, God established an earthly sanctuary, which was a copy of the sanctuary in heaven (Exod. 25:40; Heb. 8:5), "the true tabernacle, which the Lord set up, not man" (Heb. 8:2). To minister in the earthly sanctuary, God appointed a priesthood from the descendants of Levi.
Much earlier, specially appointed humans functioned as priests (in Eden and beyond). And a priest named Melchizedek appeared to Abraham (Gen. 14:18-20 see my post When Trouble Comes). In the fullness of time, Jesus came as the ultimate priest-identified as the second Adam (1 Cor. 15:45) and a priest after the order of Melchizedek (Heb. 7:13-17; cf. Ps. 110:4).
Even now, Jesus serves as our "high priest" in the heavenly sanctuary, "a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord set up, not man" (Heb. 8:1-2; cf. 9:11-12). Through His work as our high priest, we can "approach the throne of grace with confidence" (Heb. 4:15-16), for He "always lives to make intercession for" us (Heb. 7:25) as "the mediator of a new covenant" (Heb. 9:15).
In the Davidic covenant, God promised a Davidic kingdom that would never end. The line of merely human kings descending from David failed,— but God's promise did not fail. The coming Messiah, the Son of David, would not fail. He would fulfill the promises as the Davidic King whose reign would never end. This Davidic King would take up the failed and forfeited kingship of Adam, coming as the second Adam—the seed of the woman, who crushes the serpent's head (Gen. 3:15), fulfilling the human side of the covenant for humanity, thereby reclaiming the rulership of this planet that Adam lost and establishing an unending kingdom of perfect love and justice, peace and flourishing. The work of Jesus-the King of kings and Lord of lords—fulfills these promises. And we, humanity, will experience this fully when Jesus comes again in the clouds with great power and glory.
Hindsight is 20/20
Looking back we wonder how the Jews could have possibly missed the Messiah, it all seems so obvious to us now. One lesson I take away from the reaction of the religious leaders of Jesus’ time is a reminder to remain humble. I do not want to be so sure of what God will do that I miss what He is actually doing. It is good to know what we can be sure of and what is a personal interpretation or preference.
It is important to study prophecy (see my series Watching, Waiting, Ready), and to humbly watch for what God is doing. We can be sure of the general direction, it is the small details that get us in trouble. Jesus fulfilled enough prophecies for everyone to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt that He was indeed the Messiah. But they rejected Him because He challenged them and their culture, threatening their power. May we remain humble and open to what God is doing. May we familiarize ourselves with prophecy and join God in what He is doing these last days.
