Part 3 of the Kingdom of Heaven series.
Jesus is the long awaited Messiah, the foretold Savior of the world, that is, of people, of nations, and of creation itself.
And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. (Rev.21:24)
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. (Rev.21:5)
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord, (Isa.65:25).
The Grand Scale of Redemption
This is why the saints of old awaited the Savior so anxiously, (Heb. 11). This is why John the Baptist joyfully proclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world,” (John.1:29). These men saw the grand scale of the redemption God was bringing. They saw forgiveness, cleansing, reconciliation, and redemption of body and soul, all in Christ. For as far as the curse of Adam goes, the blessing of Christ goes further.
An Abundance of Grace
But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom.5:15,17-21)
Doug Wilson writes on this passage,
What is God up to then? Picture Adam as the headwaters of a great, enormous river, It is thousands of miles long, and for most of its length, it is several miles wide. Because of Adam’s disobedience, the river is polluted and filthy. But several hundred miles downstream from the headwaters, God determined to establish a new font of water, pure this time. And from that point on, the water downstream got gradually cleaner and cleaner. By the time it reached the sea, it was like liquid crystal. That is what God is up to. 1
As much as sin messed us up, God’s grace fixes us up and then makes us even better. Jesus doesn’t just make us “ok” then leave us. He is dedicated to making a new humanity that is far better than the first one was before the Fall.
The same applies with creation. As futile as sin made the earth, Christ will make it hundreds of times more abundant.
The Heavenly Glory of Redemption
So what does Christ give us that Adam and Eve didn’t already have in Eden?
So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit, (ICor.15:45).
That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us… (John.17:21).
By the advent of the Messiah we enjoy fellowship with God, and moreover, unity with Him. By His becoming flesh, dying for us and rising again, God and man enjoy a special unity wherein the Son partakes in human existence and man partakes in the eternal, life-giving love of the Father.
26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins, (Matt.26:26-28).
Jesus tore His flesh so that we all could take it and and be revived with new life. He poured His blood over us to cover our deadness in sin with the anointment of His Spirit; the life is in the blood, (Deut. 12:23).
When we observe the fulness of God’s purposes we start to see more clearly why King Jesus is so valuable; He is the anointed redeemer of the whole world, the Lord incarnate, the way back to peace and unity with God. By His coming to earth we are assured that by Him all things will be exalted to a level of glory more joyful and more heavenly than the first Eden. By God coming to dwell with man for a time we are assured that He will dwell with man for eternity when we are resurrected like Him.
Footnotes
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Douglas Wilson, To the Church in Rome, Copyright 2020, 2023 by Douglas Wilson. Published by Canon Press. p.101. See also pp.92-101 ↩