Making All Things New

Inaugurated Eschatology for the Life of the Church

Gladd, Benjamin L., Harmon, Matthew S.

• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781493402403
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

Many people think eschatology refers to events occurring at the end of history. In this book, two scholars with expertise in biblical eschatology argue that God's kingdom breaking into this world through Jesus Christ has inaugurated a new creation, a reality that should shape pastoral leadership and be reflected in the life and ministry of the church. Brief and accessibly written, this book articulates the practical implications of G. K. Beale's New Testament Biblical Theology and features an introductory chapter by Beale. Each chapter concludes with practical suggestions and a list of books for further study.

Part 1
Theological Foundation

Grasping the Already–Not Yet

In the first part of this project, we articulate the theological framework for ministering within the NT’s conception of the already–not yet. Professor Beale paints the general landscape of the already–not yet in chapter 1 (“The End Starts at the Beginning”), and chapters 2 and 3 develop his work on two levels. Chapter 2 (“The Nature of the End-Time Church”) explains how the people of God span the two Testaments, with special emphasis on how the already–not yet informs our view of the identity of the church. Moving from the corporate to the individual, chapter 3 (“Life in the Overlap of the Ages”) drills down into some of the specifics of living in the inauguration of the overlap of the ages.

For those wishing to read only select chapters of the book, we ask that you first become familiar with the theological foundation articulated in the first three chapters. These early chapters serve as the backbone of the project, and the remaining chapters assume a firm grasp of their content.

One of humanity’s strongest desires is to determine identity. Who are we? The Bible addresses the issue of identity by connecting it to the people of God, especially in the inauguration of the “latter days.” Christian identity is forged within the furnace of eschatology, but identity produces action. As the end-time people of God in the inaugurated new creation, Christians are required to live in light of their identity and renewed existence.

1
The End Starts at the Beginning

G. K. Beale

Theologians generally define “eschatology” as the study of “last things,” an investigation and systematization of events that take place at the very end of history. This general definition is often understood on a popular level to mean that eschatology refers only to the future end of the world directly preceding Christ’s final coming. This popular notion, which some scholars still hold to, needs radical adjustment. On a scholarly level, NT research over the past decades has made great strides in increasing our understanding that the beginning of Christian history was perceived by the first Christians as the beginning of the end times but not their consummation.1 New Testament scholarship has still been atomistic enough to prevent serious broad theological reflection on the already–not yet eschatological2 perspective of the entire NT corpus (though there are significant exceptions, such as N. T. Wright’s work).

The apostles understood eschatology not merely as futurology but as a mind-set for understanding the present within the climaxing context of redemptive history. That is, the apostles understood that they were already living in the end times, and that they were to understand their present salvation in Christ to be already an end-time reality. William Manson has well said,

When we turn to the New Testament, we pass from the climate of prediction to that of fulfillment. The things which God had foreshadowed by the lips of His holy prophets He has now, in part at least, brought to accomplishment. . . . The supreme sign of the Eschaton is the Resurrection of Jesus and the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Church. The Resurrection of Jesus is not simply a sign which God has granted in favour of His son, but is the inauguration, the entrance into history, of the times of the End.

Christians, therefore, have entered through the Christ into the new age. . . . What had been predicted in Holy Scripture as to happen to Israel or to man in the Eschaton, has happened to and in Jesus. The foundation-stone of the New Creation has come into position.3

Every aspect of salvation was to be conceived of as eschatological in nature. To put this another way, the major doctrines of the Christian faith are charged with eschatological electricity. Just as when you put on green sunglasses, everything you see is green, so Christ through the Spirit had placed eschatological sunglasses on his disciples so that everything they looked at in the Christian faith had an end-time tint. This means that the doctrine of eschatology in textbooks should not merely be one among many doctrines that are addressed but should be the lens through which all the major doctrines are best understood. Furthermore, eschatology should not be placed at the end of NT theology textbooks or at the end of chapters dealing with the different NT corpora because it purportedly describes only the very end of the world as we know it. Rather, the doctrine of eschatology could be part of the title of such a textbook because every major theological concept breathes the air of a latter-day atmosphere. For the same reason, books on pastoral ministry must integrate eschatology into their discussions. It is important to say that our understanding of most of the traditional doctrines is not so much changed as radically enriched by seeing them through end-time lenses. For us to appreciate the NT understanding of eschatology, we must first discuss the basic story line of the OT and its conception of a discrete period of time known as the “latter days.”

The Basic Story Line of the Old Testament

Grasping the OT’s view of the very end of history rests squarely on its basic plotline. That is, the events that are to occur at the end of history are deeply related to the OT’s larger plotline. Succinctly, the story line of the OT is the story of God, who progressively reestablishes his eschatological new-creational kingdom out of chaos over a sinful people by his word and Spirit through promise, covenant, and redemption, resulting in worldwide commission to the faithful to advance this kingdom and judgment (defeat or exile) for the unfaithful, unto his glory.

Genesis 1–3 lays out the basic themes for the rest of the OT, which are essentially end-time or “eschatological” themes. We can speak of Genesis 1:28 as the first “Great Commission,” which was repeatedly applied to humanity. The commission was to bless the earth, and part of the essence of this blessing was God’s salvific presence. Before the fall, Adam and Eve were to produce progeny who would fill the earth with God’s glory being reflected from each of them in the image of God (1:26–28). After the fall, a remnant, created by God in his restored image, was to go out and spread God’s glorious presence among the rest of darkened humanity. This witness was to continue until the entire world would be filled with divine glory. Thus Israel’s witness was reflective of its role as a corporate Adam, which highlights the notion of missions in the OT.4

Without exception, the reapplications of the Adamic commission are stated positively in terms of what Noah, the patriarchs, Israel, and eschatological Israel or its king should do or were promised to do. Always the expression is that of conquering the land, increasing and multiplying population, and filling the promised land and the earth with people who will reflect God’s glory. Never is there a hint that this commission is to be carried out by what we might call a negative act—that is, by death. Of course, Isaiah 53, Daniel 9, and Zechariah 12 (and a handful of typological Davidic texts such as Ps. 22) prophesy the Messiah’s death as crucial to achieving Israel’s restoration, but these texts are the minority, and they are never directly associated with the repetitions of the Adamic commission. The Adamic expectations and promises of obedience for Israel’s patriarchs, the nation, and its king are always stated in positive terms of what they are to do or are promised to do.

The main strands of this biblical story in the OT books are those of Israel (and its king) being commissioned to fulfill the Adamic commission to reign over a renewed earth but repeatedly failing to do so (e.g., 1 Kings 4:30, 34; 8:1–6; 1 Chron. 29:10–12).5 As a result of this failure, Israel suffers judgment and exile, and these patterns of renewal and failure become typological patterns of the true, final end-time rule in a new creation that will inevitably come (e.g., Isa. 51:1–3; 54:2–3; Jer. 3:16; Ezek. 36:10–12). Promises of future restoration in a new creation continue to be reiterated in the OT narratives.

One significant aspect of the biblical narrative beginning also in Genesis 1–3 is God’s glorious tabernacling presence with his priestly people in a sanctuary as the goal of God’s redemptive work. Adam was not only a king but also a priest in Eden, a primordial sanctuary of sorts (Gen. 2:15). Functioning as a priest in the Eden temple was essential to carrying out the commission of Genesis 1:26–28. The Adamic commission often is combined with the notion of priestly service in a temple when it is repeated to Noah, the patriarchs, Israel, and in the promises to end-time Israel.6

The major episodes of OT history were seen to be reiterations, to varying significant degrees, of the pattern of beginning kingship in a beginning new creation. These subsequent episodes in the OT appear to commence an end-time process that is never completed. In the postfall sinful cosmos, in contrast to prefall Eden, it seems more understandable that the beginning process of restoration from sin would be charged with notions of a commencement toward an end-time consummation. This is the case with Isaiah’s prophecy of new creation, which is portrayed as a part of Israel’s return from exile (though Isaiah portrays it as an apparently single event and not an extended new-creational process).7 The prophecies of Israel’s restoration from exile are said explicitly to take place “in the latter days” (Deut. 4:30; 31:29; Hosea 3:5; and possibly Jer. 23:20; 30:24, the latter especially in light of 31:1–40).

The “Latter Days” in the Old Testament

Now that we have outlined the basic story line of the OT, we will focus our attention on the final phase of that story line and sketch the OT conception of the “latter days.” The phrase “latter days” occurs at points throughout the OT to refer to the culmination of history from the various writers’ perspectives (e.g., Gen. 49:1; Num. 24:14; Deut. 4:30; 31:29; Hosea 3:5; Isa. 2:2; Jer. 23:20; Dan. 2:28–29, 45).8 In other words, the “latter days” (and other synonymous expressions) are “eschatological” in that they represent a specific period of time that occurs at the very end of history. All the events that take place within this period, whether acts of judgment or restoration, are eschatological. Although earlier OT authors have more vague or “thicker” prophetic portraits of the latter days, all authors include reference to a future period that represents an irreversible radical break with a former period. I define these uses of “latter days” to be overtly eschatological because all refer to a permanent and radical break with the preceding historical epoch. A filling out of “the latter days” occurs as the OT writings develop and revelation progresses, like a seed germin...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Endorsements
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Part 1: Theological Foundation
• Part 2: Pastoral Leadership
• Part 3: End-Time Ministry
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Author Index
• Scripture and Ancient Sources Index
• Back Cover