Creation is a Model of Redemption
Summarizing the key outcomes, Scripture begins and ends with a new creation, an outcome that witnesses to the criticality of creation to God’s grand purposes. That the last creation differs in significant ways from the first creation is critical to understanding. Lacking darkness, nighttime, sun and moon all signal that the final creation is radically different from the physical creation in which we currently dwell. It is a “spiritual” creation in contrast to the physical creation of the present. Critically, the lack of a tree of knowledge of good and evil, together with (re)-opened access to the tree of life, signals that our probationary testing has been completed and we are secure in God’s presence forever.
Importantly, later authors employed words and themes from the Genesis 1 creation-narrative in a way intended to bring relevance to their audience while also bringing a deeper meaning that is most evident in the final creation. Of great importance is the way they deepened the meaning. It is orderly, consistent and predictable, allowing one-to-one correspondence between the two creations. The close correspondence reveals the importance of creation-studies while also focusing the reader on the redemptive message of Scripture.
In breaking down the creation narrative thematically, it is clear later authors built progressively upon the creation-narrative in a way that consistently shows that the Genesis 1 creation-narrative was designed to model a greater creation in the future, providing a complex picture that represents redemption. The process of progressive revelation began early, often within the Pentateuch, ultimately pointing to a final great creation that would restore creation to its originally intended state and purpose. When we say “its originally intended state and purpose”, we are not saying that the cosmos is restored back to its original state but that its restoration is transformative, bringing creation to a higher and better state than its original state, an unexpected outcome. Post fall, it would have been natural to expect a promise of restoration to the garden. But scriptural authors anticipated a higher, better ending point in restoration. For them, the creation-narrative was a shadow of a better and greater creation they believed would come.
This is a striking outcome given the numerous authors and centuries that passed while Scripture was being written. In one regard, it is not totally surprising as we would expect later authors to build upon the works of earlier authors and to do so in a way consistent with earlier authors. If one accepts the commonly held Jewish belief that the Pentateuch was written by Moses, with the genesis of these developments found in the Pentateuch, it not only lays down the precedent, but provides the way for later authors. It would also bear witness to Moses as architect, showing his greatness as a prophet. Scholars often refer to these developments as “reinterpretations” of Scripture. But that can obscure the more important point that the “reinterpretations” affirm that the creation narrative was written as a model for redemption, envisioned as a new creation. The evidence presented shows the final New Testament understanding of these themes is not arbitrary but planned and intended from the outset of Scripture, revealing God’s intended purposes in that narrative, yet paving the way for deeper spiritual meaning.
What is most noteworthy, and perhaps most unexpected, is the transformation in meaning from the first to the last creation. Where the narrative of the first creation seems to employ words and language constructed so as to gain insight into the physical origins of our cosmos, the employment of this terminology in the last creation provides needed insight into the last creation. It must be understood that the last creation is not devoid of the physical, for we are bodily resurrected. Yet we expect that our resurrected bodies will in one regard be new, different from the physical bodies (1 Corinthians 15:37-38) we currently inhabit. The new bodies will be perfected (as was Christ’s resurrection body), yet spiritual, and thus able to do things our current bodies cannot (e.g. Matthew 28:9; Luke 24:16, 31, 36-37; John 20:14, 26; 21:4). As Christ retained his physicality with the marks of crucifixion yet displayed spiritual capabilities, so we would expect the final creation (and our resurrection) will retain physicality yet show forth a spiritual capability that is currently unseen and unfulfilled. Christ’s mission was fundamentally to bring us to spiritual sight, spiritual awareness, spiritual power and spiritual perfection. Thus, the kingdom of God is marked by an exodus from the old creation with its carnal, earthly, physical nature into a new creation that is marked by spiritual perfection, devoid of the fallen nature of man. It is fundamental to the transformation of believers and God’s creation.
What the authors of Scripture have done then, is to construct narratives that are built upon earlier narratives, with the common purpose to point toward God’s intentions for creation and His plan for achieving those intentions. God has been tirelessly and flawlessly executing that plan since the outset of creation. The events of that plan build toward a crescendo at the end of the age, precipitating the end with Christ’s glorious return.
What these initial thematic studies have shown, is that the beginning portends the end. The end cannot be fully understood without a strong understanding of the beginning nor can the beginning be fully understood apart from a strong understanding of the end. The two are interwoven given the one serves as a model and shadow of the other. Later authors envisioned and interpreted the events of their day as indicative of a new creation, providing a step-wise path from the first creation to the more radical final creation. The plethora of historical and prophetic writers, each envisioning their times and events creatively, lays out a clear and unmistakable path that takes one from the first to the final creation, marking completion of God’s redemptive plan. The large number of themes examined show a consistent transition of deepened meaning from physical to spiritual, building our confidence in the method while also providing the foundation to better understand our redemptive future. Going forward, further study will build upon the evidence already presented, strengthening this postulate that we consider critical to proper understanding of eschatology and theology.
We have also developed a simple tool to aid understanding of the relationship between the two creations and correspondence in themes that bridge from the one to the other. The tool illustrates the timelines upon which the two creations are realized, highlighting the development of tandem themes that show parallels in God’s purposes in each creation. We have also claimed that while the last creation is progressively realized, spanning from advent to Parousia, the first creation is regressively passing away during this same span. It facilitates seeing the outline of eschatological events in the themes examined thus far.
Separating and Filling are Key to Understanding Redemption
“Separating” and “filling” are two concepts critical to understanding God’s redemptive purposes. God brought order to pre-creative through separation. In the end, separating light from darkness rhythmically introduced time, as creating lights in the heavens created a time-keeping system. Creation of a firmament separating the waters above and creation of land separating the waters below introduced three “spaces”. Both (time and space), would play critical roles in the redemptive drama to follow. “Time” and God’s time-keeping system would provide the timing of critical redemptive events and certainty of their realization. With completion of redemption, time would cease, implied in the absence of sun, moon and night. “Space”, while initially partitioned into three spaces – heaven, earth, the deep (the Abyss or hell), would be redemptively transformed, with two spaces conflated into one (heaven and earth), contrasting with the deep. Those redeemed would enjoy restoration to a transformed paradisal place of God (in the newly conflated space of the new heaven and new earth), while those rejecting redemption would spend eternity in a transformed place of punishment and suffering described as a “lake of fire” – a place transformed from its initial creation as the deep or Abyss. [1]
God’s redemptive program thus ultimately separates the wicked, unrepentant from a newly redeemed humanity who have been transformed into the image of Christ, the heavenly archetype of earthly Adam. Importantly, while separation is consummated in Christ’s Parousia, it is inaugurated in Christ’s advent. He inaugurated the process in His earthly ministry by calling Jews to repentance and condemning Israel’s wicked religious leaders.
Companion with separating is filling. While separating evil from good, God through Christ is filling the earth with godly men and women conformed to Christ’s image. It is God’s purpose in grace, to redeem an innumerable multitude that fills His creation with goodness, grace and love. The intervening time between advent and Parousia appears modeled after a harvest season (as we will soon see) in which the One Seed Jesus Christ, brings forth a most fruitful harvest of souls that fills paradisal place God is preparing for us. At the completion of redemption, the righteous are forever separated from all that causes evil. and their number fills God’s new creation.
The Role of Man in God’s Grand Redemptive Drama
Our studies have shown how even words that seem most mundane are employed in later important eschatological narratives. Concepts like the deep, darkness, light, formless, void, evening, morning, firmament, plants such as grass, trees, or vines, solar bodies such as the sun, moon and stars, sea creatures, birds, even heaven and earth. Noteworthy are thematic subjects of fruitfulness, filling the earth, subduing the earth, taking dominion and man in the image of God. These themes provide the beginnings of an integrated picture of man’s responsibilities in the redemptive partnership into which he is invited to participate. God envisioned in heaven, delegates kingly authority to mankind (take dominion) while also assigning priestly responsibilities (subdue), vested in Adam and Eve, the representative heads of our race. They are overseers of the earth, serving God’s earthly creation, thus manifesting God’s glory throughout the earth. They are to mediate with God in heaven, ruling as God would, if He were present on earth. Being in the image of God meant being his representative in absentia, faithfully carrying out His orders and intentions for the earthly realm.
Though much is not yet revealed, some hints may be foreshadowed. For instance, as Adam had a woman, a necessary complement to assure he would be fruitful, there may be an inference that Jesus has a fruitful complement in the church, envisioned as a bride for Christ, much as Israel was to be a fruitful complement to Yahweh, envisioned as His wife.
Finally, we can infer from the seventh of rest, that God’s eschatological plan does have an end, envisioned as a seventh day of rest. Between now and that seventh of rest of Christ’s Parousia, we are now prepared to begin to define our role and responsibilities as the new race of spiritual men serving Christ as priest-kings, subduing the powers of evil in our (seen and unseen) world, taking dominion over these powers through the power of Christ delegated to us. When we faithfully perform these responsibilities, we image Christ and the world sees that we are in His image. It stands in direct opposition with those who choose to become priest-kings of the Beast, who are then envisioned in the image of the beast. Further, we who have chosen to be priest-kings in the image of Christ have the responsibility to bring men to the peace of God, reconciling them to God the Father through Christ. We are the mediators of a new covenant of eternal life and blessing. Reconciling is accomplished through simple spoken testimony throughout our world, done in humility from the vantage point of a servant, shunning earthly power.
We also liberate them from oppression, sin, death and the power of evil, done through selfless acts of love, the greatest of which is laying down our lives for Christ and others. The key is our willingness to sacrifice and suffer that others would gain a blessing and not be cursed with eternal suffering. As others turn from darkness to the light of Christ, the glory of God is seen increasingly throughout our world, filling our world increasingly with righteousness and godliness in all who come to Christ. Those who come to Christ are granted eternal life. In this way, we fulfill the mandate to be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth but with spiritual children having eternal life. We are thus building an eternal, spiritual kingdom.
Those who choose to align with the Beast are seen to be in his image and perform absolutely opposite roles and responsibilities. Satan has delegated authority to His Antichrist, who is envisioned under the authority of Satan, yet he is the representative head of a race of fallen men who are being fashioned in the image of the Beast who is the human image of Satan. This specially chosen “race” of men are “of their father the devil”, and are given dominion over all the earth, servinng as priests mediating a covenant of death and eternal damnation. Where Christians rule and take dominion through the influence and power of the spoken word, the children of the Antichrist rule and take dominion by lording it over their subjects, taking them captive, oppressing them, subduing them with the power of sin and darkness and bringing death and destruction. They are selfish, intent upon bringing intense suffering to God’s people and destroying His kingdom. Membership in this “Anti-church” promises privileges it cannot deliver – carnal, earthly and transient in nature. The Anti-church competes for the same souls as the church, bringing us into conflict with the Anti-church. Each is attempting to rule, each attempting to take dominion, each attempting to fill the earth with followers. Each soul the church wins to Christ strengthens the kingdom of God and weakens the kingdom of Satan. Given the objectives of each run totally counter, no wonder there is deep antagonism that brings us into conflict with the kingdom of darkness.
That conflict brings persecution of the saints and often martyrdom. But we can be of good cheer. For as Christ was perfected in suffering, we also are perfected in suffering. We are not above our master. As Christ was martyred, we should anticipate martyrdom. And as Christ triumphed in death, we can rest confident that we also will be victorious, even in death. The study of creation has provided a striking outline of God’s redemptive program, revealing much regarding the eschatological outcomes of our age!
With these basic themes, we can now continue the process of building a more comprehensive understanding of our responsibities and the eschatological outcomes using these themes as basic building blocks. Our next venture will explore in greater detail the spaces God has created, linking the temple as the place of man’s service to God with the three spaces created in the Genesis 1 narrative. From this, we will show the development of a new temple as part of the new creation, a temple transformation quite unexpected, yet quite glorious.
[1] As we will show in future posts, the three spaces which are conflated to two, seem to correspond with three types of people (the righteous, the unrighteous opponents of God and the masses to whom the righteous are called to witness. These three groups are also conflated to two by the end of the redemptive drama, leaving the righteous redeemed and unrighteous unredeemed. This transformation is nowhere more evident than Revelation where the righteous are envisioned as the Bride of Christ, persecuted by God’s wicked opponents – the followers of the Beast, with the masses of idolatrous humanity envisioned as the harlot Babylon who worships wealth but in whom are many of God’s people who are commanded/invited to repent (Revelation 18:4). The harlot’s destruction for her complicity with the Beast (Revelation 18), leaves only two groups of mankind, the righteous and unrighteous.