Developing a Christian Worldview: Transformed by Redemption (Part 1)

The second component of the Christian worldview is acknowledging the Fall. God’s good creation was soon subjected to sin and all its effects. There is no part of creation that was left unsullied by sin. And if the story ended there then there would be a reason for despair. But the Biblical story does not end there. The Bible, and therefore the Biblical worldview, offers hope while still being realistic about the human condition. God has overcome sin and all its consequences. The answer to the human condition is not something devised by mankind. Our only hope was for someone to come from heaven to earth to redeem God’s fallen creation. This great redemption has been accomplished in Christ, is now being proclaimed in the Gospel, and will be consummated in the future when Christ returns to renew the earth.

Perhaps the most important lesson to learn about God’s redemption is that it is cosmic in scope. God is going to restore the whole of creation, not just some part of it, and not just the souls of men and women. Redemption means a return to an original state of goodness and wholeness that existed before the Fall. We are not talking about replacing the creation but renewing it.

Redemptive History Unfolds

The account of the Fall gives the first clue to God’s redemptive purpose (See Gen. 3.15). The promise was given by God that Satan would be defeated by a human being who would eventually be born. The Bible identifies that person as Jesus Christ who was born of the Virgin Mary during the reign of Caesar Augustus in the little town of Bethlehem. In the person of Jesus, the God of creation would enter the fallen creation to redeem it. The story of the Bible is history, not philosophy or mythology.

But the Redeemer did not enter the world immediately after Adam and Eve had sinned. God prepared the world for the coming of His Son. This took many centuries and some important developments that give us the context for redemption. The Old Testament is the backstory to the coming of the Redeemer. God would form a new nation through whom the Redeemer would come. This special nation that God Himself created was the people of Israel. This special community began with the calling of a single man named Abram and a promise that God made to Him (Gen. 12.3). Israel became a nation while being enslaved in Egypt. God redeemed them from slavery and brought them into a land that He set aside for them. The redemption of Israel from slavery and their placement in a special land was all a picture of the cosmic redemption that was coming through Christ. The history of Israel is a long and difficult story that is filled with human failure. But through all of it, God never deserted the promises that He had made about redemption. Although there was a clue given in Eden about redemption, the promise God made to Abram is really the beginning of God’s plan and becomes the main storyline of the rest of the Bible. Jesus is both the seed of the woman promised in Eden and the seed of Abraham. Through Jesus, Satan would be defeated and the entire world blessed.

One of the ways to understand the unfolding of redemptive history is to look at the various covenants that God made. Redemption is covenantal because God never did anything without making a covenant. Many theological thinkers have said that understanding covenant is the key to understanding the entire Bible, and this may be true. God has always related to mankind and revealed His will through a covenant. Some theologians have taught that there is really a single covenant of redemption that began in Genesis 3.15 with the promise about the seed of the woman. However, this tends to downplay the important differences between the covenants that God made and the special role each covenant had in God’s plan of redemption. To be sure, there was always a single plan of redemption. But there were several different covenants within that single plan.

The covenant with creation was made after the Flood (See Gen. 8.2-9.17). In this covenant, God promises never to destroy the earth with another flood and the stage is set for the unfolding of redemptive history. The world will eventually end, but not with a catastrophic flood, and not before God has completed His plan of redemption.

The covenant with Abram (See Gen. 12.3) is arguably the most important covenant in Scripture. The same covenant promises were repeated to Isaac and then to Jacob. It should be noted that this promise provided for the formation of Israel, but the blessing that was promised would be cosmic and not limited to just Israel.

The covenant of the Law was made with Israel through Moses. This covenant involved the revelation of God’s Law to Israel and the statement of Israel’s special purpose as a holy nation. This covenant was neatly summarized by the commandments (See Deuteronomy 5).

God promised that He would one day make a new covenant that would replace the covenant of Law made at Mount Sinai (Jer. 31-31-34). This new covenant would be very different from the covenant of Law and would involve the recreation of the people’s hearts and minds. This new covenant is the fulfillment of the covenant promises that God made to Abraham (See Gal. 3) and was sealed by the blood of Christ; the final, cosmic sacrifice for sin.

The Meaning of Redemption

In Scripture, there are several words that teach us about God’s plan to restore His fallen creation. All these words imply a return to an original state of goodness and wholeness that had been lost (Al Wolters). For example, the word “redemption” literally means to buy and set free. A person who had once been free and was then enslaved could be redeemed and given freedom again.

There are several other words in scripture that describe God’s restoration of creation. Reconciliation means to make peace. Reconciliation is needed to restore a relationship that was interrupted by disharmony, alienation, and enmity. When the reason for the alienation is removed, the peace and fellowship are restored. Renewal means to make something new again that had fallen into disrepair and brokenness. The thing that is made new can then be used as it was intended in the first place. Salvation is a medical term that means to heal from sickness. A person who is ill receives treatment and is saved from the disease that resulted in pain, handicap, and eventual death. Regeneration means to bring life and utility where there was once death, corruption, and atrophy.

All these words describe was God is doing for His fallen Creation. He is making it new and whole again. He is not throwing it away and starting over but salvaging what has been wrecked. The restoration or redemption of creation began when Jesus came into the world and it will be finished when He returns. Just as God took many centuries to prepare the world for the coming of Christ the first time, there will be a gap of time between the beginning of redemption and the culmination of God’s recreation of the world. It is important to understand that redemption does not mean replacement or that something completely new and different is being introduced. Instead, we understand that “grace restores nature” (Al Wolters) and returns the world to what God intended it to be. This does not mean that we will return to the Garden of Eden. There is no doubt that the process of redemption will mean an upgrade and greater glory.

Through Christ God has already, at least in principle, reconciled all things to Himself (Col. 1.20). In other words, wherever sin has gone, redemption can go. Everything may now be redeemed and reconciled to God because Christ’s work has been complete and thorough. Christ has been victorious. There is no part of the world today where there is not at least the possibility of recovery from sin’s effects. Therefore, Christians are always hopeful about the world. We know what sin has done but we also know what Christ has done. The good news of Christ’s victory does not produce Christians who want to hide in a bunker or escape the world in a secret rapture. The “doom and gloom” mentality is produced by a limited view of Christ’s victory over sin and Satan.

The Coming of the Kingdom

“The restoration of creation and the coming of the Kingdom of God are the same” (Al Wolters). To be clear, the final victory of Christ is going to come only when He returns to earth from heaven. We do not want to have a view of redemption that leaves out our hope for the future and the completion of God’s plan of redemption. What we see is that the Kingdom of God is coming in two stages. The first stage was the coming of Christ into the world as a man to offer Himself as a sacrifice for sin and then to rise from the dead and ascend into heaven. The second stage is the coming of Christ from heaven back to earth where He will put away all remnants of evil and regenerate the earth itself. The Church exists in the now and the not yet of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom has come, but there is more to come. Let’s look at each stage in the coming of the Kingdom.

Stage One: Incarnation

The Kingdom could not come to earth until the King arrived. God had always reigned over the earth from His throne in Heaven. But now the Son of God was coming to earth to reclaim His disputed territory. The Gospel accounts are very much like a king who goes into a region that had experienced rebellion and disorder to reestablish his authority there and restore order. The kingdom comes when the king arrives on the scene. The incarnation is when the Son of God became a man and came into the world Himself to establish God’s Kingdom on earth.

Kingdom means authority. To be even more precise, a kingdom is what happens when a king exercises his authority. A kingdom is more than just a geographical area with boundaries, a kingdom is happening when there is a personal act of ruling by a sovereign who exercises authority. There must be more than just words for a kingdom to exist. There must also be a show of force and power. Jesus came to show that the Kingdom of God was coming to earth in power. The Kingdom of God coming to earth in Christ is “the central theme of the whole New Testament revelation” (Herman Ridderbos). The Kingdom is certainly the theme of the Gospels and the ministry of Jesus. Jesus was God’s chosen agent, or Christ, who was sent into the world to establish the Kingdom on earth as in heaven. The earthly ministry of Jesus is often overlooked in favor of the story of His birth and then His atoning death and resurrection. But it was Jesus’ earthly ministry that clearly demonstrated the coming of the Kingdom of God.

Not only did Jesus preach or announce the coming of the Kingdom of God He demonstrated this fact by performing all kinds of miraculous signs that pointed to the inbreaking of the Kingdom. All of Jesus’ miracles were samples of Kingdom power and the restoration of fallen creation. Jesus demonstrated Kingdom power over demons, diseases, natural elements, and even death itself. Wherever Jesus went the kingdom of God was proclaimed and then demonstrated.

After suffering, dying and being raised from the dead, Jesus then ascended into heaven where He has received all authority from God the Father. Christians are people who acknowledge the fact that Jesus is Lord of heaven and earth. The New Testament has much to say about Christ’s ascension into heaven. The Gospels record the physical ascension of Jesus after the resurrection. The rest of the New Testament unpacks the meaning of that event.

The book of Hebrews and the book of Revelation both have much to teach us about Jesus’ ascension and current reign in heaven. Hebrews teaches us that Jesus is our great High Priest who has gone back into heaven to be in the presence of God for us so that all the blessings and benefits of His atonement can be mediated to believers. The book of Revelation shows us that Christ is indeed reigning in Heaven over all the enemies of God who are now directing their evil fury at those who believe in and follow Christ on the earth. But all the efforts of the Dragon and his allies are brought to nothing and Jesus destroys all His enemies in the end while bringing His people safely into the New Creation.

The Bible teaches us that heaven and earth are now two separate realms. But it is helpful for us to think of the universe as a large, two-story house. The earth is the lower level. When Jesus ascended into heaven He just went upstairs. A more Biblical illustration is found in the structure of the Tabernacle and the Temple. Remember that there was a Holy Place and a Holy of Holies. There was a curtain separating those two rooms. When Jesus died, the curtain in the Temple was symbolically ripped apart to announce the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New. When Jesus went back into Heaven, He pierced the actual veil that separated heaven from earth. He is reigning there with the Father, interceding for the saints, until God makes all His enemies His footstool (See Psalm 2; 110; 1 Cor. 15.24-28).

Stage Two: Consummation

Not everyone was healed when Jesus was here on earth because the fullness of the Kingdom was not going to come immediately. There would be an interlude before the final restoration of all things. Jesus will return to consummate His Kingdom, put down all remaining enemies to His reign, and usher in the New Creation. Until He comes again, the two Ages overlap. The Old Order and the New Order of the Kingdom of God are both occupying the world. The creation itself is still subject to the Old Order of sin and death. There is still a rival Kingdom of Darkness that claims the world. It is no wonder the Church must be prepared for persecution and mistreatment in the world. And each individual Christian must wrestle with the World, the Flesh, and the Devil. This situation will not change until the Lord descends from heaven the second time. And we should not confuse the coming of the fullness of the Kingdom with anything other than the coming of Jesus, not even the Church. The Church is herself waiting for the Kingdom. The Church is not just another movement to make the world a better place. Jesus is coming to recreate the world, not make us comfortable in a fallen world.

There is a now and a not yet aspect to the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom has come because Jesus has come. Yet, the people of God are still instructed to pray “Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” A good illustration of this is seen in a little history lesson from the Second World War. When the Allies invaded the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, the war was all but over. As soon as the Allies established a beachhead there in France, it was the beginning of the end for the Third Reich. However, D-Day was only the beginning of the end of the war. There were many fierce battles to be fought as the Allied armies marched toward Germany. So, there was D-Day and then there was V-Day. Likewise, when Jesus came into the world, the Kingdom of God was coming to earth to establish a beachhead. Yet, the cosmic conflict between God’s Kingdom and Satan’s Kingdom rages on. We often see signs of the Kingdom of God advancing in the world. But we can also still see the counterattacks of the Kingdom of Darkness. The New Testament does not teach that the Kingdom of God will slowly grow and take over the world. Rather, the battle lines ebb and flow constantly. Sometimes the kingdom of God makes an advance. But then the Kingdom of Darkness launches a new attack. The only thing that will bring the war to a conclusion is the arrival of the King on the battlefield. The final book of the New Testament, the enigmatic book of Revelation, gives the outlines of this cosmic conflict and its conclusion. The first book of the Bible, Genesis, tells us about the fall of creation. The last book of the Bible shows us the redemption of creation.

We must remember that redemption does not just mean saving the souls of people for some ethereal, spiritual existence somewhere else in the universe. The idea that redemption means permanently leaving this earth to live in a kind of bloodless, bodiless existence in a completely spiritual, ethereal world is more akin to Greek mythology and philosophy than to Biblical revelation. Redemption means the rebirth of this planet where God’s redeemed people will live in His presence forever. Just as God’s people must be born again to enter the Kingdom, the whole creation is destined to be born again. Perhaps because of the lingering errors of dualism and Gnosticism, we tend to ignore what the New Testament is really saying about redemption. The people of God can look forward to having new, redeemed bodies for eternal life in the new, redeemed earth that is saturated with the presence of God. The earth itself will be purged from evil and all the effects of sin. There will be a cosmic renewal. The sin-sick world that we know now will pass away, but it will not be annihilated. It will pass through the fires of God’s judgment and be purged, just like the ancient world was purged by water (See 2 Peter 3). The true, eternal home of the people of God is not some far away, spiritual heaven, but a New Creation (See Rev. 21-22).