Hudsonville Protestant
Reformed Church
5101 Beechtree
Hudsonville, Michigan 49426
Services: 9:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.
Homepage on Internet: http://www.prca.org
Vol. 9, No. 6
Contents:
The
Covenants
A
New Heaven and New Earth (1)
The Role
of Israel (2)
We believe that
we have showed from Scripture in previous articles that the different covenants mentioned
in Scripture are not separate covenants, but different revelations of the one everlasting
covenant of God. In this last article on the
doctrine of the covenant we wish to summarize what we have written in previous articles,
listing the different covenants and what each of them shows as a revelation of that one
covenant.
(1) The first revelation of the
covenant was to Adam in paradise. That
covenant might be called The Covenant of Life, since it revealed the essential character
of the covenant. It showed what the covenant
was, revealed God as the sovereign Lord of the covenant and clearly delineated man's place
in the covenant (cf. Gen. 1-2 and Hos. 6:7).
(2) The second great revelation of the
covenant was to Adam after the fall. That
covenant could be called The Covenant of Promise. It
revealed God as the faithful covenant-keeping God who maintains His covenant with His
people by the power of sovereign, redemptive grace (cf. Gen. 3, esp. vs. 15). In it Christ is revealed as the promised Seed and
the great Sacrifice (Gen. 3:15, 21).
(3) The third important revelation was
to Noah. The covenant is best remembered as
the Covenant of Creation. In it God revealed
the universal character of His covenant (not all men, but all creatures) (cf. Gen.
9:1-17). In it Christ is revealed as
Reconciler and Lord of all (Gen. 9:15, 16, Col. 1:20).
(4) The fourth revelation was to
Abraham. That covenant could well be called
The Covenant of Families, since it showed more clearly than ever before that God's
covenant is very much a family covenant (cf. Gen. 15 & 17). Here Christ is revealed as the Elect and the one
in whom all God's people are chosen and called (Rom. 9:6-13).
(5) The fifth great revelation was to
Israel. Since the giving of the law was the
main feature of that revelation, that covenant should be called The Covenant of Law. In it God revealed that law and covenant are not
opposed, but belong together (cf. Ex. 19-20 and Gal. 3-4).
Here we see Christ as Mediator (Gal. 3:24).
(6) The sixth and last revelation in the OT was that
to David, and might well be remembered as The Covenant of the Kingdom. In it God revealed especially the orderly
structure of His covenant (cf. II Sam. 7 and Ps. 89).
In this revelation Christ is shown to be the Sovereign Head and Lord of the
Covenant.
(7) The whole NT itself is called in
Scripture, The New Covenant. It is this, not
in the sense of an entirely different covenant, but that it involves a revelation of the
covenant that is no longer made through types and shadows, but through the realities to
which those types pointed (cf. Heb. 8). Here
finally Christ comes with all His blessings and fulfils the types and shadows.
(8) Finally, we wait yet for the day
when the covenant will be realized in all its fullness - when the tabernacle of God will
be with men, when He will dwell with them and be with them as their God, and they shall be
His people (Rev. 21:3). Rev.
Ronald Hanko
A New Heaven and a New Earth (1)
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 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. 21:1-5).
The questioner who submitted this text asked, "In the light of Scripture, what are we to understand by the term ‘a new heaven and a new earth?’ "Revelation 21 contains the vision granted to John the apostle on the island of Patmos of the final perfection of all things and the eternal blessedness of the church after the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Part of the final perfection of all things is a new heaven and a new earth. This is clearly taught in the passage cited above. I suspect the question arises out of the use of the word "new" to describe heaven and earth after Christ’s coming: How are both these parts of God’s creation new?
It ought not surprise us that both heaven and earth will be renewed for both have, since creation, undergone some profound changes. A brief look at these changes will help us understand how a final change could take place at the coming of our Lord.
During the six days of the creation week, God created heaven and earth (Gen. 1:1). We are not told much about the creation of heaven, and the little we do know must be gleaned from other parts of Scripture. But we can be sure that heaven is a specific place, that the rational-moral creatures who live in heaven are angels, that the entire number of angels was created immediately and not as the entire human race which comes from two original parents, that the heavenly creation is not material as is this earthly creation but is spiritual in substance, and that heaven has a history as well as the earth.
The first event of significance in heaven was the rebellion and fall of Satan, the head of the angelic world, and an enormous number of angels who rebelled and fell with him. Sin began in heaven. What consequences the fall of Satan had on the heavenly creation are difficult to know, for Scripture is very reticent to speak of this subject. But when Satan persuaded Adam and Eve to join forces with him in rebellion against God, both readily agreed and also fell into sin and depravity. But the consequences of the fall of our first parents were not only the total depravity of the entire human race that came forth from Adam and Eve, but the curse that came upon the creation.
The curse upon the creation was very severe and made great changes in everything. These changes are so great that we are unable even to form an adequate picture of what the original creation was like. After all, the curse means that death came on the creation —upon man, beasts and birds, and trees, bushes and flowers. We cannot imagine a creation in which was no death, not even in the plant world. But so it was.
We might want to notice in this connection that evolutionism denies death as God’s punishment for sin. Evolutionism teaches a very old earth in which death was present from the beginning of the creation’s history. But Scripture denies this and tells us that death came with the curse.
The curse made life on earth very difficult. This is why Lamech called his son Noah (Rest or Comfort) because, he said, "This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed" (Gen. 5:29).
In some sense heaven was also affected by the fall, for the angelic world was left without a head. And, during the entire OT period Satan and his demons still could come into heaven. For example, in heaven they slandered Job (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7). They were once again in heaven to fight over the body of Moses (Jude 9) and had to be resisted by Michael and his angels. When God asked the question who would deceive Ahab to go to battle against the Syrians, a devil volunteered to do this (I Kings 22:19-22). At the time of the ascension of our Lord, Satan and his demons were thrown out of heaven, never to be permitted to enter again (Rev. 12:7-11).
Another drastic change came upon the earth at the time of the flood. This change was so great that it is no easier to imagine the pre-deluvian world than to imagine the world before the fall. For one thing, the curse was somewhat lessened as a fulfillment of the prophecy of Lamech and as is described by God in Genesis 8:21-22, where God speaks of the fact that from the time of the flood on there would be seasons and the successful growing of crops. For another thing, Peter contrasts the pre-deluvian world with the post-deluvian world by describing the former as a creation "standing out of the water and in the water," while the post-deluvian creation is said to be "kept in store, reserved unto fire" (II Peter 3:5-7). And finally, because the flood was a type of the final destruction of the world and the salvation of the church, the change from the pre-deluvian world to the post-deluvian world was typical of the change between our present world and the new heaven and the new earth (12-13).
One more element must be taken into account
before I actually turn to the question of how heaven and earth are indeed "new."
The Scriptures tell us that because sin came into both heaven and earth, the former
directly through Satan’s rebellion and the latter through man’s disobedience to
God, Christ died for the elect angels as well as His elect people; and that Christ died
for the heavenly and the earthly creation. God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son; the entire cosmos with the elect as the true human race is the object of
God’s love. This is taught in many passages in Scripture. I suggest the interested
reader look up Romans 8:19-23 and especially Colossians 1:15-20 which teaches that
"all things ... whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven" are
reconciled to God through the cross of Jesus Christ. Prof. Herman Hanko
The lady questioner and I both
agree that there are "exceeding great and precious promises" (II Peter 1:4) made
to Israel in the OT. The point of difference lies in the identification of Israel and
hence in the interpretation of these promises—two intrinsically related issues. Let
us look at Amos 9 and see how it is interpreted and to whom it is applied by the Holy
Spirit in Acts 15.
Amos prophesied to the N.
Kingdom of their impending devastation by the Assyrians. In the last chapter, he promises
deliverance after their destruction: "In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of
David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins,
and I will build it as in the days of old: that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and
of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the Lord that doeth this"
(9:11-12). The following verses speak of God’s "people of Israel" (14)
returning to the cities of Palestine and enjoying great agricultural productivity (13-15).
So who is being spoken of here? Surely it is Israel, for they are so indicated by name
(14), land (14-15), history (those taken captive; 13) and royal dynasty (David; 11). Thus
the passage refers to restoration of the Jews to Palestine some time future to us.
David’s son, Christ, shall sit on a throne in Jerusalem (11), the land shall be
abundantly fruitful (13-15), and the Jews shall have dominion over the surrounding country
(12).
But this is not the inspired NT
interpretation of this passage. At the Jerusalem council in Acts 15, Amos 9 is used as the
key biblical proof for the salvation of the Gentiles (without any need for physical
circumcision). James’ conclusive argument is striking: God is saving the Gentiles
(Acts 15:14) and Amos 9:11-12 proves it (Acts 15:16-17)! In other words, Amos 9 does not
predict a glorious earthly future for national Israel in Palestine some time yet future to
us. Instead it predicts the glorious NT church made up of elect and called Jews and
Gentiles. With the ascension and session of Christ, the "tabernacle of David"
(11) is raised up to glorious new (heavenly!) heights (cf. Acts 2:31-36; Luke 1:32). The
possession of Edom (12) is the salvation of the Gentiles through faith in Christ (Acts
15:14, 17). The fruitfulness of the land (13-15) speaks of the NT blessings purchased by
Christ and poured out upon His church—"the fruit of the Spirit" (Gal.
5:22-23) which is the manifestation of the "kingdom of God" (Gal. 5:21). The
reality of the promised land (14-15) is the whole world, for when Abraham was promised
Palestine, Paul tells us that he—and all those of faith, Jew or Gentile (Rom.
4:11-12)—were thereby made "heir[s] of the world" (Rom. 4:13).
Amos 9 is the culminating
prophecy of blessing in the book. James’ explanation of Amos 9 identifies the hope of
Amos as the salvation of Jews and Gentiles in the catholic church of Christ (pictured in
Amos in OT terms). Moreover, James declares that the promise of Amos 9 is "the words
of the prophets [plural]" (Acts 15:15). This is the message of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Joel,
etc., for "known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world"
(Acts. 15:18). Rev. Angus Stewart