Through the
Resurrection and its power that brought to birth these sons of the kingdom, the
Creator God says through Isaiah that “I am coming to gather all the nations and
ethnic groups; they will come and witness My splendor” (66:18b). These
nations and ethnic groups, presumptively, will be gathered by the preaching of
the Gospel (Jesus is Lord), and by the apparent pure power that is contained in
the act of preaching (in word and deed).
With an understanding
of the prophetic literature and the scope of the Scriptural narrative, it seems
that Jesus had come to an understanding of the idea that the kingdom that had
been promised to the Creator God’s Messiah (Israel’s King, Son of God) would
require His own crucifixion, and that afterwards, had been inaugurated by His
Resurrection. It would appear that it is for this reason, reflecting on His
understanding of Daniel (and others), that He would come to insist that “All
authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me” (Matthew 28:18b), before
setting His disciples on their global kingdom path.
Because it seems that
Jesus understood that it was the goal of the Creator God, Israel’s purpose as
the covenant people of that God, His purpose as the embodiment of Israel (as
the King of Israel represents the whole of the people), and the purpose of the
renewed Israel that would be brought into covenant through belief in Him as their
Lord and King, for the purpose of gathering all nations and ethnic groups to
witness the splendor of that Creator God, He added, “go and make disciples of
all nations” (28:19a). The general understanding of those that believed
in Jesus as their Lord and King was that the making of disciples would come
about through the Holy Spirit’s application of the power of the Resurrection to
hearts and minds, gifting faith to believe what, on the surface, was a wholly
incredible thing.
Furthermore, through
Isaiah the Creator God communicates to His people, saying “I will perform a
mighty act among them and then send some of those who remain to the nations…
and to the distant coastlands that have not heard about Me or seen My splendor”
(66:19a,c). Turning to the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, one is able
to read about Jesus telling His disciples “But you will receive power when the
Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and
in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth” (1:8).
Reading on a little bit farther, one finds “when the day of Pentecost had
come, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like a
violent wind blowing came from heaven and filled the entire house where they
were sitting… All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit” (2:1-2, 4a).
With this mighty act,
the firstborn of those long-awaited sons of Zion received that power that would
enable them to begin taking the message of the Gospel of Jesus to the nations
and to the distant coastlands, thereby revealing the splendor and the majesty
and the faithfulness of the Creator God. Through Isaiah, that God said
that this new country, this new nation, these sons of Zion “will tell the
nations of My splendor” (66:19d). Indeed,
they did, have, and are doing that very thing, empowered by the Spirit, as a
nation under the rule of a resurrected and exalted Lord.
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