Salvation History Chapter 20. Why the Delay?
If the price of redemption has been paid and the Redeemer has claimed the inheritance legally, why does Satan and Death still reign?
Why, if Christ has redeemed, is the world still full of sin, violence, evil and pain? Where is this redemption he has wrought?
Why do we not see it as a reality?
If this redemption is real, then where is it? On the surface of it nothing has changed. Men are just as evil, demons and fallen angels continue to oppose God’s work, evil and suffering are still with us. If Christ has really made a difference to the very structure of reality then why don’t we see and experience it?
These are real questions, and any non-Christian who understands the message about Christ is likely to ask them eventually. It doesn’t do for Christians to ignore the questions when there is a perfectly simple answer.
We cannot afford to ignore such questions – and if we understand what has been taught in the previous studies, then the reason why will be easy for you to understand.
So first we need to recap a few key ideas. Written into the fabric of the universe are two “laws” which we need to understand - the Law of Covenant and the Law of Redemption.
(1) Covenant.
The relationship of God with man is primarily defined in the Bible by the concept of “covenant”. God created man and entered into covenant relationship with him. This covenant included the fact that man was appointed king of the earth. Earth was to be man’s possession and man was to be king over it. This was the original covenant of the Bible.
Mankind, in their corporate head, Adam, broke the covenant and as a result certain “curses” came into operation in man’s experience. Man lost rulership over the earth, he “sold” it by disobedience to Satan, who became “prince of this world.” Man and his inheritance entered into slavery to Satan.
But God still relates to man on the basis of covenant and still considers the world to be “man’s.” Hence, in general, he does not intervene on the earth unless men ask him to do so. For God to intervene without being asked would be to violate Man’s free will and Man’s God given delegated authority. That God will never do.
The point of covenant law is that those under the covenant are bound by the decisions and actions of their covenant head. Thus all of mankind, descended from Adam, are bound by the decisions and actions Adam made. Thus the earth and mankind are in slavery to Satan because of Adam’s actions.
(2) The Law of Redemption.
God has also written another law into the universe, the law of Redemption. When something is sold, land or people, it becomes subject to the law of redemption and can be bought back. There were three ways this could be done.
The only practical way of working redemption was for someone else to pay the price of redemption for man. Yet that “someone else” had to be a man. But all men are descended from Adam and so already in slavery and could not pay the price of redemption. Thus God – in Christ - became man, so he could pay the price of redemption for us and so reverse the sale to Satan, thus setting earth and man free from Satanic domination.
And this brings us back to the dilemma we are facing in this study: If Christ has done this, then why are things still just as bad?
A fair enough question, I would think.
On the surface of it, it looks like Christianity is just a myth, a religious story – nice, but fiction.
Unless we are missing something. It is this “missing something” I want to explain now.
WHY THE DELAY?
Christ, the Redeemer, has paid the price of redemption. Legally mankind, and his inheritance, have been ransomed from bondage.
Normally, in a redemption situation, the person being redeemed does not have to wait to return to his inheritance. Why is there a delay in this case? Why haven't we experienced what was promised, what is rightfully ours?
The answer is in the nature of covenants. Adam, the corporate head of mankind, sold the earth and his freedom to Satan through disobedience. All of his descendants, the “corporate body” of Adam, were therefore bound by the decision of their corporate head. We were "in Adam" and took part in the decision he made. The “curse” came on us all.
The Apostle Paul describes how this happened in Rom 5:12-19.
The Apostle here is using covenant language. He is using the language of the “corporate Body.” The leader, the “head” of the body does certain things and the “body” is thus committed to the decision of the “head.” In primitive society, and in much of the Third World today, the concept Paul is using here is abundantly clear. In our individualistic society in the West it is more difficult for us to understand, but we still have traces of this approach in these things: “majority decision rules,” or when the leader of our country, or club, or whatever, makes a decision and we are all thereby committed to go along with it.
As far as God is concerned earth is man's inheritance, so it is man's responsibility. That is how God set it up. The fact that it has been “sold” to Satan” does not change that in the eyes of God. Adam, the Head, sold the earth and himself into slavery. The corporate Adam is now responsible for what happens to earth and for retrieving their freedom.
Here we need to remind ourselves of another key idea: Free will.
Christ has redeemed the earth, as a near kinsman, but the corporate Adam needs to accept that ransom on their behalf. God will not override Adam's free will. Legally Christ could come at any moment, but morally he will not because the inheritance is not his own, he did not buy it for himself he only bought it as a near kinsman on behalf of another. The Other has to receive the redemption provided. Adam lost the inheritance. Adam needs to accept responsibility for that, and accept the Redeemer.
This is where we find the meaning of the present age. This is the reason for the delay:
Adam is responsible, so Adam must decide. But:
“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?
And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how
can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" (Romans 10:14,15)
If the Corporate Adam is to decide on the future of earth, on the Redemption that Christ has worked for them, then the Corporate Adam must get to hear about this redemption.
The Gospel is God's message of good news that Christ has Redeemed, and that we can receive our inheritance back as men. But we need to make a personal response to the message. The Corporate Adam must hear and decide one way or the other - accept Christ or reject him.
The corporate Adam must decide. This means that EVERY member of Adam must have the opportunity to hear and respond. This takes time, and the Gospel Age is the time God has allocated for that. God has given us the responsibility to preach this good news.
This is the Logic of Evangelism.
Thus the Purpose of this Age is Mission. God has appointed the Church to go and tell the good news about Christ’s redemption to all mankind
A Prophecy:
The precondition of Redemption and Covenant on the Second Coming is clear - every RESPONSIBLE person alive on earth at the time of Christ's return must have heard the good news and made some definitive decision.
All must hear: Matthew 24:14.
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Christ will not return until the church has completed the task.
As a result of this preaching there will be only two groups of people alive on earth at the end who see his coming:
(i) Those who have heard and ACCEPTED the message.
(ii) Those who have heard and REJECTED the message.
The key factor is ALL WILL HAVE HEARD!
This division is clear in the book of Revelation.
(i) Those who are Christ's - have his seal/name. Revelation 14:1.
These are identified by many symbols in Revelation, including the phrase "those who dwell in Heaven", a phrase which does not refer to physical location but to LEGAL CITIZENSHIP.
(ii) Those who are Satan's – have his seal/666. Revelation 13:16-18.
There is no third group - who haven't heard, and this is why all men either rejoice at his coming, or mourn.
Revelation 1:7, 6:15-16.
All the tribes of the earth will mourn, because they have all heard and know what is happening. They all know what is going on. The rejection of Christ in the last days will be intelligent and deliberate.
So this is the reason for the delay:
(1) Jesus has paid the price of Redemption, but he did that for us, for humankind.
(2) The Law of Redemption requires that the beneficiary of redemption agree to the Redeemer paying the price in order for the benefits to flow to him.
(3) Thus the Corporate Adam must decide whether or not to accept Christ’s redemption for us.
(4) In order for this to be possible all mankind must hear of the offer of redemption. There must come a point in time when all human beings that are alive on earth, who make up the corporate Adam have heard the gospel and have decided wither for or against it.
(5) When that happens the Redeemer, Christ, is legally able to come and claim the inheritance and give it back to those who have received his redemption.
Until every man, woman and child alive on earth at a point in time has heard the gospel Christ CANNOT return. The Second coming depends on this precondition brought about by the law of Redemption. For this reason Jesus is not coming tonight – or any time soon.
The Age in Between. The Overlap of the Ages.
The resurrection of Christ ushered in a new age. By virtue of his resurrection he became the Second Man, the start of the new creation.
The Jews looked forward to an “age to come”, when the Messiah would rule and evil would be abolished. What they did not see was that there would be a period of time in which the future age would be present but “unseen”.
The reality is that the age to come is crashing in on us, and has been since the resurrection of Christ. But it exists alongside this present age, until such time as God consummated his plans.
The period between the Cross and the Second Coming is thus the period of the overlap of the ages. The kingdom of God has come, but it is only seen by the eyes of faith. To the natural man all that can be seen in this present evil age.
Through the resurrection of Christ and the gift of the Spirit we partake of the powers of the age to come. Hebrews 6:4-7.
The new creation is already present and we who are “in Christ” have been made part of it by regeneration. The resurrection life of Christ has been given to us; we have the divine seed.
This means that there is a struggle – there is a tension between the present evil age and the age of righteousness that is crashing down on top of it. The powers of this age resist the coming kingdom and seek to prevent it arriving.
Jesus became the second man when he rose from the dead. He is the first of a new race - the head of the body, the beginning of the new creation.
Everyone who is born again into a living hope to by the resurrection of Christ from the dead is born again into that new race--the second man race, the race that is going to achieve the purposes of God that were not achieved by the first Adamic race.
Jesus had to be the last Adam to settle all the IOU s that had piled up against the Adamic race before he could rise from the dead and be the head of the body - the new creation, the second man. In him the New Creation has begun to emerge.
Now/Not yet.
Because of this conflict we live in a state of suspension. We have the promises of God, but we do not see them fully in our experience. The age to come is now, but it is also “not yet.” It is here only in part, one day it will be fully realised. Until then we live in hope.
And, one may add, we live in frustration. But it is better to have a hope that is frustrated, than to live without hope at all. Faith tells us that one day our frustration will be removed.
PREACHING THE GOSPEL.
We are commissioned to Preach the Gospel.
Matt 28:19,20.
2 Cor 1:21, 22 “anointed” or “commissioned.”
2 Cor 5:20. Ambassadors.
Acts 1:8 Witnesses.
To enable us to do this we have been given the Holy Spirit:
Acts 1:8. 2 Cor 1:21, 22.
He gives us gifts and abilities. These are primarily gifts to help us in the mission to those who have not heard. When we use them in that context God releases them in and through us more readily than at other times.
Mark 16:15, 16. These gifts meet the needs of mankind.
The Gospel is God’s answer to man’s need. But what is the need? In communicating the gospel we have to have wisdom. It is not enough to just get up and quote the Bible. To communicate we have to begin our presentation at a point of FELT NEED. We have to know what the hearer is struggling with and then relate to Gospel to that FELT NEED.
This is what the Bible does. The Gospel is presented to us in many pictures, or metaphors. Each of these pictures speak to a different FELT NEED of mankind.
Redemption: to the feeling of being in bondage.
Reconciliation: To the feeling of being isolated and alone.
Justification: To the sense of being wrong.
Victory: To the sense of being overwhelmed by forces beyond our control.
And so on.
We need to choose our metaphor to suit the audience we are preaching to.
THE GREAT COMMISSION.
Matt 28:19, 20 is the command.
(i) Go into all the world.
(ii) Make disciples – not converts. A disciple is someone who does want his master does. What did Jesus do? He healed the sick and cast out demons. Make sure you are modelling the Master in your going – and make sure those you reach learn to do the same.
(iii) Baptising them – water baptism of converts by immersion.
Jesus sent out two groups to witness for him during his earthly ministry. The numbers are significant and symbolic.
Luke 9:1ff .The 12. Sent only to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel – commanded not to go to the Gentiles. The number 12 reminds us of the 12 tribes of Israel and tell us this was a mission to Israel.
Luke 10:1ff. The 70/72. It is not said they were restricted to Israel. The number 70/72 is the number of Gentile nations in the world by Jewish reckoning. This then symbolises Jesus sending out people for the Gentile mission. It has direct relevance to us. The commands and instructions he gives them thus apply to us. These are “The How to of the Great Commission.”
1. Go two by two.
2. Live like the people you are trying to reach – in their houses.
3. Don’t go with a whole lot of stuff so that you are “comfortable.”
4. Preach the kingdom.
5. Heal the sick
6. Cast out demons.
7. If you are not welcome anywhere, then move on.
This is Jesus’ list of instructions to you. Try not to do anything else.
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