“So Christ came declaring a kingdom, but then He did something a little more personal. The king went to His death as a personal substitute for sinners. He offered a new covenant and sealed it with His blood.
With this act, He joined a people to Himself as fellow heirs and vice-regents. They too would inherit the earth like Adam, bear a great name and be a blessing like Abraham, enter God’s rest like Israel, and rule together with Christ like David.
What is the church? It is the new-covenant people of Christ. It’s the people of His holy love. It’s the people who are united to Him and share His identity, because He identified Himself with them in His incarnation, baptism, death, and resurrection.
He exchanged His life and righteousness for theirs. Whereas once Adam was our covenantal head, now Christ is our covenantal head.”
–Jonathan Leeman, The Church and The Surprising Offense of God’s Love (Wheaton: Crossway, 2010), 241-242.
