Redemptive Overview of History

This was a short article I wrote several years ago and lots of people have found it to be quite helpful.


Creation

At Creation, God made all things out of nothing. He made all things perfect and wonderful and beautiful. An essential part of this wonderful creation was perfect communion in perfect community. That is, Adam and Eve (and presumably any children they would have had) lived together in perfect harmony with each other, with God and with all his creatures. Part of God’s perfect creation was that men and women were supposed to “fill the earth and subdue it.” That is, God created the world perfect, but he did not want the world to stay the same way he created it. He wanted a dynamic world, not a static world. He wanted men and women to have children and to build culture. He wanted them to make roads and buildings, art and music, pasta and computers – all so that God would get the glory. So, God’s world was perfect, but in some senses, it was incomplete.


Fall

At the fall, Adam and Eve (and therefore all their children after them) sinned against God. Everything was messed up by the fall. Because of the fall, men and women are separated from God, and are now destined to live that way for eternity. There is no longer harmony between the different parts of creation. Think about how the fall put strife and difficulty between these:
Man and God
Man and Man
Man and Nature
Man and Himself
Because of the fall, we now have Parkinson’s disease, earthquakes, destructive viruses, divorce, autism, jails, firemen, racism, locks, schizophrenia, government welfare, and famine. Because of the fall, men no longer want to build things for God’s glory, but they like to build things for their own glory – roads and buildings, art and music, pasta and computers.




Redemption

Everything that sin messed up, redemption restores. Redemption started immediately after the fall and is accomplished entirely by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Because of that, all things are being and will be restored to its original condition. Think about how redemption heals the brokenness between these:
Man and God
Man and Man
Man and Nature
Man and Himself
Not only does redemption give us a right standing with God (ending the strife between man and God), but it also will eventually end Parkinson’s disease, earthquakes, destructive viruses, divorce, autism, jails, firemen, racism, locks, schizophrenia, government welfare, and famine. Obviously, not all these things have ended yet. We are living in this “already, but not yet” stage. That is, redemption has already been won, but it has not yet been fully applied yet – however, it’s only a matter of time before it happens.



Re-Creation

When Christ comes back to claim his throne and his Kingdom and to resurrect all the dead in Christ and judge all those who are not Christians, He will re-create the world. The end of Revelation talks about this final kingdom in the same terms as the first creation, but better! The second creation (accomplished by the redemption by Christ) will be like the Garden of Eden, only better! How is it better? Because there will be more than two people and there will be more culture. God told people to “fill and subdue” the earth. We have been doing that for thousands of years, albeit sinfully. There are many good things that have been made and invented, and every good thing, the Bible says, comes from the hand of God – roads and buildings, art and music, pasta and computers.