Why Mount Zion?
God's plan is to bring His people into union with Himself and His Temple, where He can dwell in the fullness of priestly fellowship and communion, and through whom He can reveal Himself to the nations in kingly authority and power.
George Warnock emphasizes the significance of Mount Zion as a divine union of king and priest, exemplified in David, and the establishment of a structure that embodies both authority and worship. He explains that God's intention is to create a people who experience deep fellowship with Him and can manifest His power to the nations. Warnock further explores the original meaning of Zion, asserting that God's plan is to transition His people from earthly to heavenly realities, ensuring that both natural Israel and Gentiles are included in this divine promise. He highlights that true peace will only be achieved when all come together in Christ, breaking down barriers and uniting as one new man. Ultimately, Zion represents the unfolding of God's eternal purpose for His people.
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Because for the first time in God's dealings with His people He has succeeded in bringing into union with Himself and into His Temple, a man who is both king and priest in Israel. Not in any sense of fullness, that is true, but in seed-form we have in David a man who is both king and priest; and in David's Tent a structure that is both Throne and Temple. This is what God is after, and therefore Zion takes on eternal significance. He must have a people in whom He can dwell in the fullness of priestly fellowship and communion, and through whom He can reveal Himself to the nations in kingly authority and power. And so the original kingdom of David becomes the seed-plot for the unfolding of the Messianic Royal Priesthood. And in the days to come we will discover that Zion will take on still further enlargement as God moves on and on with His people.
But before we get into that we must consider the original meaning of Zion in greater detail, for it is only then that we shall understand the ultimate meaning that God had in mind. We do not do away with the real meaning of scripture when we seek to understand its spiritual and heavenly counterpart. The exact opposite is the truth: for God's plan from the beginning was to bring us out of the earthly and into the heavenly... out of the carnal and into the spiritual... out of old creation life and into New Creation life. God's order is first "that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual" (1 Cor. 15:46). And His plan is to lead us from the one into the other. In so doing the earthly is neither neglected, or ignored, or destroyed. It is rather swallowed up by the heavenly, made immortal by the new life, and made eternal because of its deliverance from decay, death, and corruption.
What about the earthly Zion, the earthly Jerusalem, the earthly Israel? God's plan for them is not a lesser glory than for us as Gentiles. He wants to bring them also into the better things--the heavenly Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the holy nation. There is "one hope, one faith, one baptism"--not two. At the Cross the "wall of partition was broken down" forever, never to be rebuilt, so that natural Israel along with natural Gentiles--redeemed by His grace--might together enjoy the new and abundant life that there is in Christ. Will there ever come about true peace in natural Israel? Yes, but only when they come into this new way, and put on this "one new man" in Christ Jesus. The apostle tells us that this is how God brought peace in the age-long conflict between Jew and Gentile, and that it was through the blood of Christ that God would "make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace." (See Eph. 2:13-19.)
Sermon Outline
- I. Introduction to Zion
- A. Definition of Zion
- B. Significance of Zion in God's plan
- II. The Original Meaning of Zion
- A. Earthly Zion vs. Heavenly Zion
- B. God's plan to bring Israel into the heavenly
- III. The Role of David in Zion
- A. David as king and priest
- B. David's Tent as Throne and Temple
- IV. The Messianic Royal Priesthood
- A. Zion as the seed-plot for the unfolding of the Messianic Royal Priesthood
- B. The ultimate meaning of Zion in God's plan
Key Quotes
“God's order is first 'that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual' (1 Cor. 15:46).” — George Warnock
“At the Cross the 'wall of partition was broken down' forever, never to be rebuilt, so that natural Israel along with natural Gentiles--redeemed by His grace--might together enjoy the new and abundant life that there is in Christ.” — George Warnock
“Will there ever come about true peace in natural Israel? Yes, but only when they come into this new way, and put on this 'one new man' in Christ Jesus.” — George Warnock
Application Points
- We must seek to understand the spiritual and heavenly counterpart of scripture, rather than neglecting or ignoring the earthly.
- God's plan is to lead us from the earthly to the heavenly, where we will experience the new and abundant life in Christ.
- True peace in natural Israel will only come when they come into the new way and put on the 'one new man' in Christ Jesus.