What did Jesus come to fulfill according to Les?
Jesus came not to destroy but to fulfill all the Old Testament covenant promises. In the analogy, He is the bud ready to bloom in His first advent, and those covenant promises were what He came to fulfill, though Israel’s rejection kept the bud from fully flowering at that time.
Les teaches that Christ’s first advent is the bud ready to come into full bloom. When Jesus said He did not come to destroy but to fulfill, the fulfillment was all those Old Testament covenant promises. Israel, however, cut off or clipped the bud, and Daniel speaks of Messiah being cut off. God in His sovereignty put the bud back on, bringing history into Christ’s post-resurrection and the book of Acts. Israel still would not let the bud come into full flower and kept rejecting it. Instead of clipping it off, God raised up another apostle, and through the revelations given to Paul the full flower is now seen. Les stresses that it is not Paul himself but his revelations; Christ is the flower, revealed in a way not found elsewhere in Scripture.