Creation and Redemption

A good friend of mine, Rob DeRoos, and I have had ongoing fruitful discussions about the relationship of creation and redemption, which in some ways parallels the relationship of biblical to systematic theology.  Rob, who is the bookstore manager and jack-of-all-trades at the Center for Urban theological Studies/Geneva College in Philadelphia shared with me the following which I thought was worth passing along:

Redemptive historical theology (also known as biblical theology) can occasionally have the tendency to over fixate on the economy of redemption to the exclusion of ontology and creation. Redemptive historical theology can also have the tendency to separate the economic Trinity from the ontological Trinity. The Trueman/Goldsworthy discussion in Themelios on this issue illustrates this ongoing tension in Reformed theology. The question then is how does redemptive historical theology connect with ontology (the understanding of reality) and the theater of creation?

There is an emphasis in Reformed biblical theology on what can be called the Macrocosm/Microcosm distinction that can serve as a corrective to this tendency. This is not a new idea. It is present in a number of works of Reformed BT such as in Meredith Kline, “Images of the Spirit”, Warren Gage, “The Gospel of Genesis”, Vern Poythress, “Shadow of Christ in Law of Moses” and his new book, “Redeeming Science”, and it is also in GK Beale, “Temple and the Church’s Mission” and his NIGTC Revelation commentary, Wenham’s article, “Sanctuary Symbolism in the Garden of Eden Story”, in “I Studied Inscriptions from Before the Flood” and Van Leeuwen’s articles, “Cosmos, Temple, House: Building and Wisdom in Mesopotamia and Israel” in “Wisdom Literature in Mesopotamia and Israel” and “Building God’s House” in “The Way of Wisdom” as well as many others.

So, though we know that the Triune God is both the Creator and Providential Lord who upholds the ongoing creation by the word of his power, and the Redeemer of his people, how is the knowledge of God as Creator and Redeemer connected? In this regard, Lane G. Tipton’s article, “Paul’s Christological Interpretation of Creation and Presuppositional Apologetics” in “Revelation and Reason” is particularly helpful. He shows that Christ and his work as Creator and Redeemer connect redemptive history with all of creation. The original creation was to correspond to the heavenly realm. The Garden of Eden was a particular instance or microcosm of God’s presence in this heavenly correspondence. Following the common stance in redemptive historical theology that eschatology precedes soteriology, Adam was uniquely endowed and fitted by God the Creator to fulfill the Covenant of Works [COW]. Adam’s obedience in his calling in the COW would result in a consummated Sabbath of eschatologically glorified creation. But the book of Genesis tells us that he failed miserably in his calling through his sin of disobedience.

What Adam did not do, Christ does. Dr. Tipton points out that Christ is both particularly the template for Adam as the Eternal Logos and Christ is also an imprint of Adam through his incarnation as the Last Adam. Christ is uniquely endowed and fitted to fulfill the Covenant of Grace [COG]. Though OT Israel was typological of God’s final kingdom and the Exodus event along with the Tabernacle/Temple point to what God would do for his people, it is Christ and his work that is the ultimate fulfillment, and which brings about the consummated Sabbath of eschatologically glorified creation. The presence of God that was lost in the paradise of Eden is ultimately restored in Christ. In GK Beale’s book, “Temple and the Church’s Mission”, he points out concerning Rev.22, that the redemptive historical goal of a new creation connects Christ and his covenantal presence [Temple] with Gen.1 in the original creation.

The Macrocosm/Microcosm model represents the relationship between God’s comprehensive activity in creation and providence and common grace on the one hand, and his particular activity in redemptive history and saving grace in redemption on the other. So for now, we who are believers in Christ await our final glorification and the new creation. Through our union with Christ, we live outwardly in a providentially ordered world based in common grace, and at the same time, we live inwardly in connection with the eschatological kingdom in Christ through the Spirit. Dr. Richard Gaffin in his article, ““Life-giving Spirit”: Probing the Center of Paul’s Pneumatology”, JETS 41, no. 4 (December 1998) notes this tension in what he calls the basic Pauline distinction between the outer and inner man.

Jeff Waddington is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and serves as teacher of the congregation at Calvary Church of Amwell in Ringoes, NJ and as Secretary of Reformed Forum. He is a PhD candidate at Westminster Theological Seminary and is completing a dissertation on Jonathan Edwards' apologetic. This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 24th, 2009 at 2:37 pm and is filed under Miscellany. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.