It is a foundational error to believe that creation and redemption are two wholly different divine activities. When the Lord redeems, He is engaged in gracious creation. Salvation is a creative action. By His Word, He brought the heavens and earth into existence. By the same Word, Jesus Christ, He brings into existence new life, new hope, a new nature for His fallen people in redemption (2 Corinthians 5:17). The Messiah does not merely forgive or give us a ticket to heaven, but He effects a re-genesis of the world, including a re-genesis of us. Metalepsis takes place in the New Testament. At the beginning of Matthew biblos geneseos means "the book of the genesis of". Mark begins with arche which means beginning. At the end of Luke 3 and beginning of Luke 4 we read, "the son of Adam, the son of God. And Jesus..." Chapter and verse divisions can sometimes obscure meaning and connection. It literally reads, "of Adam of God Jesus." Luke connects the son of God, Jesus, to the son of God, Adam, in Genesis. Genesis 1 is the first chapter in Christ's biography. Isaiah uses the language of creation to sing of the Messiah's kingdom. Ezekiel uses Garden of Eden imagery to depict the Lord's saving work. In Proverbs, Solomon will help us see that the very first words of Scripture are about Jesus.
THE WISDOM NAMED "BEGINNING"
The Hebrew word for wisdom is chokmah. Because it's grammatically feminine it is often described as a woman (Proverbs 1:20-21). Regarding wisdom Proverbs 8:22 says that "The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old." Three things worth noting: (1). The word possessed (qanah) means "of God creating or originating his people". It carries the idea of "begot". Wisdom was "brought forth" or "born" (Proverbs 8:24-25). (2). The word "at" is not in the original Hebrew. (3). The word "work" is commonly translated as "way." The verse thus reads: "The LORD begot me--the beginning of His way." Thus, "the beginning of His way" is another name for Wisdom. Proverbs 8:23 says that wisdom was before the beginning of the earth. Proverbs 8:30-31 show us that wisdom was rejoicing in the inhabited world and delighting in the children of man. In Genesis we see the Father's Son, Wisdom, saying "Let there be..." Jesus is creating and rejoicing over creation. Genesis 1 and Proverbs 8 are all about creation and both use the Hebrew word reshit to tell about the beginning of creation by the Word and Wisdom of God, Jesus Christ. John 1:1-3 makes this same connection. Jesus is the logos, the mind, the Wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24) by which all things were created.
ISAIAH AND MOUNT EDEN
Isaiah leads us to Messiah by taking us back to Genesis 1-2 (See Isaiah 2:2-4). What does this passage have to do with creation? Isaiah makes reference to the mountain of the house of the Lord in regards to Judah and Jerusalem. All nations will flow to it to worship the Lord. This is pointing to final salvation and peace across the world. Ezekiel 28:13-14 speaks of a Eden in relation to the mountain of God. In the end times, the New Temple is on a high mountain (Ezekiel 40:2). There's an Eden-like river (Ezekiel 47:1-2) that won't stop growing and it flows from the throne in the New Temple. In Revelation John mentions a river patterned after Ezekiel's river (Revelation 22:1-2). John stands on a high mountain (Revelation 21:10) and sees the New Jerusalem. What does this all mean? Eden was on a mountain and God's original plan was for the world to be Edenized. In Isaiah, Ezekiel and Revelation we see God's intent for creation. The world will be Edenized but it's called the New Jerusalem which contains a river of life that flows from the throne. Mount Eden is realized in the New Jerusalem. Final salvation brings to culmination what God intended in the Genesis creation. Earth will be God's eternal dwelling place with humanity. In a nutshell, salvation is re-creation. That's where Isaiah takes us.
GO AND TELL JOHN
When John the Presbyterian Baptist asks if Jesus was the Messiah, Jesus tell him to take note of how the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, the dead are raised, the deaf hear and the poor have the good news preached to them (Matthew 11:2-6). The effects of the fall in Genesis are being undone by Jesus. In essence Jesus is telling John that salvation is re-creation. Jesus points John back to Isaiah 35 to show the salvific re-creative work of Messiah. Isaiah 34 teaches us about the world's de-genesis or de-creation under God's judgment. Isaiah 35 teaches us about the world's re-creation in salvation. Bad news followed by good news. Genesis 1:2 and Isaiah 34:11 use the same Hebrew words to speak of the world when it was without form and void. Jeremiah uses the same language in Jeremiah 4:22-23. God's judgment brings about destruction or de-creation, a removal of blessing. The authors of Scripture frequently describe the effects of human rebellion in creational terms. Sin affects the cosmos, not just humanity. That's why total salvation is cosmic, not just a saving of humanity (Isaiah 35:1-6). In terms we'd understand, Death Valley becomes like Yellow-stone National Park. John the Baptist, in essence was told, "When you see the undoing of the physical impact of sin on the world and humanity, you'll know that the Savior is here." This is how we preach the gospel from the Old Testament. It takes time to grasp Scripture this way. Isaiah won't sound like Paul, but the message is the same: God has come to save us. Jesus didn't come to just save our souls. He also came to save our bodies and this cosmos.
NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH
Although the new heavens and new earth and mentioned in 2 Peter 3:13 and Revelation 21:1, they are first mentioned in Isaiah 65:17 and Isaiah 66:22. Isaiah is alluded to Genesis when God created the heavens and the earth. God's point is that the former things of the first creation will not be remembered. In other words, the New Heavens and New Earth will be far greater in comparison. Just like Genesis moves from broad creation (heaven/earth) to the narrow creation of Eden, so too, Isaiah moves from the broad creation of the New Heavens and New Earth to the narrow creation of the New Jerusalem. The Apostle John does the same thing in Revelation 21:1-2 when he declares a New Heaven and New Earth followed by a New Jerusalem. The newly created Jerusalem in Isaiah or the new Jerusalem in Revelation is the New Eden. Creation is restored. Death shall be no more (Isaiah 65:20, Revelation 21:4). The curse is reversed (Isaiah 65:23-25) except for the defeated serpent.
LIKE THE GARDEN OF THE LORD
Let's look at the connection between protology and eschatology--the study of the beginning and end-times. In German: Endzeit gleicht Urzeit (end-time resembles beginning-time. In other words, Revelation looks a lot like Genesis. Isaiah 51:1-3 calls us to reflect back on the accounts of Adam/Eve and Abraham/Sarah. The land that God would give to Abraham's descendants would be a new Eden. Israel was going to build a new house for God in their special land just like God dwelt in special Garden in Eden. The Garden of Eden was entered from the east side as one moved west, just like Abraham was from the east and traveled west to the land of Canaan. In regard to child bearing, Abraham and Sarah were a rock and quarry--dry, barren, with no life, no capacity to have children. Yet God brought forth life when they were as good as dead. In regard to the land of Israel, God was going to take this barren wilderness and turn it into a land like Eden. Isaiah 51 is a resurrection promise. Paul takes the account of Abraham and Sarah and teaches us about the resurrection of Christ (Romans 4:13-25). Barren women having children in the OT are patterns that teach us of the resurrection of Christ; the Christ that raised Himself, will give eternal life to us.
EZEKIEL AND THE NEW GARDEN OF EDEN
In Ezekiel 34 and John 10:1-6 we see evil shepherds who have inflicted harm on God's people, as well as a good shepherd who is to come. The good shepherd is God Himself and a shepherd whom God will set over His people. In Ezekiel the servant shepherd is David. David's been dead a while, but God is using a literal name to refer to a different literal person. Scripture sometimes does the same thing with the name Israel or even the term temple. God uses the language or thesaurus of the Old Testament to teach us of eternal things. The new creation, new Jerusalem is described in Edenic terms in Ezekiel. After explaining the new covenant, God explains that ultimate salvation will include grain that will be abundant and fruit trees shall increase and a land that is restored to an Edenic state (Ezekiel 36:35). Remember, these are vision God gives to Ezekiel, like the vision God gave to John the Revelator. Real names and places are used to describe eternal realities that supersede present names, places and circumstances. Messiah's homecoming is a reversal of the Genesis curse and judgment where Adam and Eve were driven from the garden. Jesus is the David of Ezekiel--our good shepherd who lays down His life to bodily and spiritually save us along with this cosmos.
CREATION AND EXODUS
Ezekiel frames salvation in terms of re-creation. God as Savior acts as Creator. But Ezekiel also shows salvation as an exodus, or as a bringing of His people out of exile. In salvation God gathers His people from foreign lands and brings them to their own land (Ezekiel 36:24). In Psalm 136:1-9 there is a focus on God as Creator from Genesis 1. Then there's an abrupt shift to the saving and redeeming acts of God in Exodus 12. The two are connected. For God to deliver Israel from the harsh conditions and idolatry of Egypt was to redeem them and take them to a land of blessing where they'd dwell with God. Psalm 136:23-26 shows us that God rescued Israel from their foes and gives food to all flesh. The Redeemer acts as Creator. Israel's exile into Egyptian slavery meant that they needed God's help and rescue. God acted as Rescuer and Creator. Their exodus from Egypt meant a new land for them. Jesus leads us in an exodus (departure) into a new creation (Luke 9:31). When Christ returns, the visions of Isaiah, Ezekiel, and John will be seen with real eyes, not the eyes of faith. Salvation is much more grand that we have ever realized.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
1. How are salvation and creation intertwined?
2. How do the four gospels point back to Genesis 1?
3. How are we to understand Jesus as the Wisdom of Proverbs and how does this relation to Genesis 1?
4. Does the realization that Eden was on a mountain change our understanding of certain parts of Scripture?
5. Why are the accounts of barren women having children to be looked at as types of the resurrection of Christ?
6. What other things stood out to you in this chapter?
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