How is the New Testament church related to Old Testament Israel?

There is continuity between the people of God in the Old Testament and the people of God in the New Testament. This relationship is established through the coming together or assembly of the people, the fulfillment of the promises to Abraham, and in the coming of the King of Israel to establish his earthly kingdom.

The definitive historical event for Israel’s covenant assembly or quhal was established at Mount Sinai in Exodus 19 when God said to the house of Jacob, “out of all the nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” God set this people, this assembly apart for himself to establish his covenant relationship with them as he promised to preserve them. This continuity is preserved in the New Testament with the coming together of God’s covenant assembly or ekklesia when in Matthew 16 Jesus Christ says, “I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.” Jesus Christ fulfills the promises to the Old Testament people of the assembly by preserving for himself the people of the New Testament assembly.

This preservation was promised to Abraham in Genesis 17 when the Lord said, “You will be the father of many nations…I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants.” The Apostle Paul reveals to us in Galatians 4 that being united to Christ has made us sons of the free woman, the true sons of Abraham. Jesus Christ has fulfilled his promise to Abraham in the New Covenant sons of Abraham with the grafting in of Gentiles into the family of God.

Finally, Jesus Christ is the coming of the true King of Israel as he forever binds his Lordship to his New Covenant people, the Church. In Matthew 18: 18 - 20, Jesus Christ once again reveals his kingship to forgive or loose and to bind or judge those on earth as he promises this to his new covenant assembly. The son of David has brought about the fulfillment of his promises to return and bring with him the Kingdom of Heaven as seen throughout the Gospel of Matthew.

The uniting of the Kingship of our Lord Jesus Christ to the Kingdom of Heaven, together with the fulfillment of the promises to Abraham and the parallel between the Old and New covenant assemblies grafts the new covenant believers to the covenant made with God’s people in the Old Testament. The church of today calls on very same God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to bring about salvation to the world and make Abraham a true father of many nations.