- He came in the flesh to fulfill Passover
- 2. He came in the Holy Spirit to fulfill Pentecost
- 3. He is coming again to Tabernacle in His people
There has been a lot of haziness in understanding “in regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to meet Him” [1 Thessalonians 2:1 (Amplified Bible – AMP). But the Pattern is clear. If we follow laid down Biblical principles, there should be no reason to be confused.
God never intended that His people should be in the dark in matters concerning His coming [1 Thessalonians 5:4]. It only suits the devil’s purpose that God’s people should be in confusion in matters related to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Otherwise, we have a clear compass in Scriptures, to guide us.
The New Testament is a revelation of the Old Testament. That is, whatever happens in the New Testament era was predicted and enshrouded in the Old. Both the Tabernacle of Moses and the feasts of the Lord that were observed under the Old Testament economy are clear pointers to how God intended to relate with His New Covenant people, the Church.
It is common knowledge, in the Church, that the Lord Jesus Christ came to fulfill the Passover, which was the first of the three pilgrimage festivals of Israel under the Old Testament. It is the reason He became a human being, so that He could shed His blood in order to redeem mankind from sin.
“Therefore, purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover was sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” [1 Corinthians 5:6-8 (NKJV)].
The seven feasts of the Lord [Leviticus 23] were entirely fulfilled in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. But not all have been fulfilled in the church, which is His body. What was true of the Head, must be realized in the Body of Christ. The purpose of the Holy Spirit in the Church is to realize in us all that was accomplished for us by the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Word of God was made flesh [John 1:14] in order to become the fulfillment of the Paschal Lamb that God promised and which the Jews offered in type every year when they celebrated the feast of Passover.
The New Testament believer celebrated the reality of Passover when he received Jesus Christ as personal Savior, appropriating His blood by faith. And the Apostle Paul, writing to the New Testament believers in Corinth, encouraged them to celebrate the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. In order words, be genuine in your faith in Christ as Savior.
Jesus Christ died for our sins, and He was buried, and He rose again the third day, in fulfillment of Scriptures [1 Corinthians 15:4]. The New Testament believer celebrates the Passover by identifying with Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection for him through faith action, as he submits himself to water baptism by immersion. That is faith appropriation of the three-fold feast of Passover, unleavened bread and first fruits (resurrection).
Passover is a spiritual reality for those who believed and received Jesus Christ as their Savior. Through Christ Jesus, the believer has passed over from death unto life [John 5:24; 1 John 3:14]. And as the children of Israel were delivered from the bondage of Egypt, so the Church are a people who have been delivered from the bondage of sin by the blood of the Lamb.
“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.”[Ephesians 2:4-9 (NKJV)]
Exactly fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ and His appearing to His disciples over a period of forty days, a hundred and twenty disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ received Pentecost in an upper room, where they had been asked to tarry. This happened in the fullness of time [Acts 2:1]. And it happened in fulfillment of the Old Testament type.
Pentecost was described as the earnest (first installment, initial deposit) of our inheritance [Ephesians 1:13, 14]. In order words, Pentecost was not the ultimate feast in God’s menu for the Church. There are seven courses and three main meals to be served during the Church age.The main feature of any feast is eating. The Church is a called-out people; called out of the world to participate in an elaborate feast, which the Lord has prepared for His people. Feasts are designed for eating. And eating has to do with receiving and appropriating a meal.
Normally, people eat three major meals in a day – breakfast, lunch and supper. Passover marked the beginning of the Church age. And Pentecost was the rising of the Sun of righteousness over the Church.
Pentecost is the second main meal, served after Passover. Considering the Old Testament feasts, we can understand that Pentecost is not the ultimate that is to be experienced in the Church age – there is more. There is another meal to be served as the Church runs into the night, it will usher us into a new Day – the age of the Kingdom.
But, unlike the first two major feasts that followed closely, the last meal is to be served towards the end of the age. It has taken about two thousand years since Pentecost was first experienced as an event in the Church. And that is because Pentecost must run its full course. The purpose of Pentecost was to raise a bride for Christ.
Jesus Christ promised to build His Church. He had only laid the foundation through His death, burial and resurrection. He would come personally through the Holy Spirit to build His Church. When He promised the disciples that He would not leave them as orphans but that He would come again, He was not talking of His return after two millennia of years. He meant that He would come and comfort them through the Holy Spirit [John 14:18].
He did come back in the Holy Spirit for the purpose of building His Church. He has been actively present throughout the Church age, building His Temple, the Church. He said, “I will build My Church” [Matthew 16:18]. The building project has not been left to men alone. Men are only co-laborers with Him. Moses built the Tabernacle, Solomon built the Temple, but Jesus is the builder of His own House, the Church [Hebrews 3:4-6].
After Moses completed the construction of the Tabernacle, according to divine specifications, the glory of God filled the house. After Solomon completed the building of the Temple, the glory of God filled the Temple. It is expected that when the Temple that Christ Jesus is building is complete, He will fill the house with glory. And the glory of this latter house is going to be far greater than anything that has ever been built. The Church is about to experience greater glory – the glory of Tabernacles. It is the feast of shelters. God is coming to tabernacle with His people. He said, “If anyone [really] loves Me, he will keep My word (teaching); and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling place with him.” [John 14:23 (Amplified Bible – AMP)].
Our God is coming “to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.” [2 Thessalonians 1:10 (NKJV)]. His glory shall rest on a people in this last hour [Isaiah 60:1-2].
To be continued next week…
Written by luckydionne