God's dispensation regarding the covenants of Israel was characterized by its association with the physical world. In the Old Covenant, Israel had a physical kingdom in which they offered physical tithes by means of physical sacrifices to physical priests. They observed the physical sabbath day and numerous feast days. They also had various ceremonial washings with physical water.

During the time that the New Covenant kingdom was being offered to the nation of Israel by the Lord Jesus and the apostles, there were many physical miracles, wonders, and signs that God gave to the Jews to demonstrate the validity of the offer.

When Jesus Christ returns to establish the New Covenant, Israel will again have a physical kingdom in which physical tithes are offered. The Bible says that the entire nation of Israel will serve as a nation of priests who will administer the various physical ceremonies and who will serve as judges for the nations of the world.

However, our present dispensation of the Church which is the Body of Christ is characterized by its association with the spiritual realm. We have spiritual immersion (baptism) into the Body of Christ. We enjoy the spiritual rest (sabbath) that we find in the Lord Jesus. We are spiritually translated into a heavenly kingdom. We enjoy spiritual miracles such as the gift of a heart that is characterized by love, joy, peace, longsuffering and all of the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

The Apostle Paul said that believers today enjoy every spiritual blessing as a result of our spiritual union with Christ. He said:

Col 2:10-12
10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. (KJV)

The physical realm is but an empty shell without the spiritual reality just as the physical human body is dead without the spirit. Physical water baptism was only a picture of the spiritual immersion of the believer into Christ. Physical circumcision was merely a picture of the believer's identification with Christ in His death and the cutting away of the lusts of the flesh. This physical world has only a secondary significance for believers today because we are citizens of heaven (Phil. 3: 20), and we set our affections on things above (Col. 3:2).

When Christ returns to establish the New Covenant, this world will experience both the physical presence of the Lord Jesus and the spiritual power of the Holy Spirit. The world will witness a physical kingdom which is established in the power of the spiritual kingdom. Israel will be filled with the Holy Spirit and will bless the world with a government based in the truth and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. In our dispensation of the Church, we experience the spiritual blessings of Christ within our hearts. In the New Covenant dispensation, the spiritual blessings of Christ will take root in the hearts of the believers and will bring forth fruit in the political and social structures of the world. Tomorrow we will look at the reason that can not happen today.

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Other church links:
http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/
http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/
http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

James III's link: http://www.jeditime.blogspot.com