Reclaiming Divine Revelation 3.2 Why should human imperfection be redeemed and made acceptable to divine perfection—Because “God so loved the world” (John 3:16). God loved his creation so much that he underwrote a plan to redeem humanity from its imperfection. Indeed, God’s plan to redeem humankind existed even before the imperfection appeared on the scene—the plan had been put in place from “the foundation of the world” (Eph 1:4). Biblically, the first phase of special revelation affirms the Jewish tradition wherein God revealed himself as having a covenant relationship with the people of Israel. A second phase of special revelation was predicted in Jer 31:31 and later confirmed as a “new covenant” wherein God revealed himself in the person of Jesus Christ. Both Jews and Christians acknowledge God’s “covenant” with Israel, and Christians acknowledge the existence of the “new covenant.” Both covenants speak of God’s continuing relationship with humanity and of humanity’s continuing accountability to God. And they both indicate that our accountability to God must be understood in the context of the Fall as well as humanity’s redemption from the Fall. We have “rebelled” against God, we are “accountable” for our rebellion, but God has provided a “remedy” for our insubordination. However, is God’s remedy limited to covenant “insiders,” or do the biblical covenants hold out the possibility that God’s special revelation may also have general implications for covenant “outsiders”? Special revelation is related to both Judaism and Christianity. It is unique in that nearly two thousand years of Hebrew history had elapsed between Abraham and the birth of Christ. Now an additional two thousand years have passed, and during this time there have been continuing developments in the relationship between Judaism and Christianity. Yet each one is still playing a major role on the world stage. Over the centuries, both Jews and Christians have suffered great persecution, but each one is still understood as a particular way of being religious and so a particular interpretation of religion.” How should this affect the worldview of insiders? How about outsiders?
Posted on: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 02:15:39 +0000
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