Redemptive Restoration of all things in Christ

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Pergamum

Ordinary Guy (TM)
What bible verses or thoughts jump out at you when I say this phrase:

We are engaging in the redemptive Restoration of all things in Christ

Or

Salvation is concerned with more than merely the individual human soul


How do Christians redeem and restore?


This Abraham Kuyper quote might be relevant:

“In the total expanse of human life there is not a single square inch of which the Christ, who alone is sovereign,does not declare,'That is mine!'”
 
We redeem and restore by living the Christian life.

Living out the Christian life has benefits to those in contact with the Christian and to society in general.

Christians living out the Christian life have a tendency towards the healing of society and the world and all the world's problems.
 
Lk.12:32 "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."

We aren't redemptively engaged in bupkis. That is dangerous nonsense.
 
We redeem and restore by living the Christian life.

Living out the Christian life has benefits to those in contact with the Christian and to society in general.

Christians living out the Christian life have a tendency towards the healing of society and the world and all the world's problems.

Do we really redeem the culture of this fallen world, or do we live as pilgrims waiting for the age to come?
 
I saw this comment over on Rachel Miller's blog where she was raising the same issue, [http://adaughterofthereformation.wo...demption-is-rotating-crops-spreading-manure/] :

Dr. Craig Troxel writes in the recently issued Confident of Better Things,

With regard to the world as the created suborder, the Bible does not speak of it as something that is in the process of being redeemed. For example, Romans 8:21 states that “the creation itself will be set free from its bondage”. But the context of Romans 8 teaches that the liberation of the created order will take place along with the revealing (“apocalypse”) of the sons of God, that is, at their glorification (vv. 19, 23). This renewal of creation will happen when it undergoes a purging by fire, and when the new heavens and the new earth are ushered in at the close of this age (2 Pet. 3:12, 13). This will take place, not in a process, but on the “day of the Lord” (2 Pet. 3:10). Secondly, this will take place, not through human efforts to preserve or “save the planet,” but by the mighty hand of God, with fire, just as he once deluged the creation with water (2 Pet. 3:6, 7). How are we to understand a form of redemption that bypasses the cross and is accomplished by and through our good works? Typically we associate the vocabulary of atonement, repentance, faith, and forgiveness with redemption, but how do we construe the church as a “co-redeemer?” We must be careful of rhetorical excess and consider the query oof our forefather, B.B. Warfield, who asked in wonder whether we really think that we can understand “redemption” and “Redeemer” to refer to whatever benefit we happen to think it means–no matter how loose or superfluous that meaning is.”

pages 354-55.
 
How does the doctrine of vocation fit in here?

How are we to claim and occupy the earth until He comes?
 
Our vocations are contributing to our sanctification, and the salvation of the elect. What is going into the world-to-come are we, the people.

Does a child building with Legos make a material contribution to the world, or to his future contributions? Does he have to become a builder, in order for his Lego-building to have worth?

Just because we cannot measure what child's play has to do with a person's future state, doesn't mean it wasn't valuable. I think the same is true regarding humanity's developments taken all together. We have people claiming they "know" that some scientific discovery, or manufactured product, or artistic work (imagine it is something "spiritual," like Handel's Messiah) MUST be carried over into the next world, because it is so precious. That's like saying my Lego model is so precious, it has to follow me into adult life.

Our lawful employments bring joy to ourselves, and please God, right now. They build up the church; they point to things that are to come. Something might even come with us, in some form, that seems to have originated in a form, suited to the coming age, produced in the present age. But we can hardly predict what that might be until we get there.

Improving this world can hardly be a waste of time, even if we won't see the substance of our work in this age later on. From the vantage point of eternity, we may be "studying" this age, just to learn what God was doing in everything. But we will be outside of it by then. We will not be making the same use of it then, as we make of it now from within.
 
What bible verses or thoughts jump out at you when I say this phrase:

We are engaging in the redemptive Restoration of all things in Christ

Or

Salvation is concerned with more than merely the individual human soul


How do Christians redeem and restore?


This Abraham Kuyper quote might be relevant:

“In the total expanse of human life there is not a single square inch of which the Christ, who alone is sovereign,does not declare,'That is mine!'”

I think of "He restores my soul..." (Psalm 23) It seems that even though our bodies and this earth are yet to be restored, there is a renewal of our souls that begins while we are here on this earth. I find great comfort in this thought, as I see the work of God of in my life. It is comforting to know that they work a renewal of our minds and souls, as well as bring glory to God.
 
This review was discussed in another context here on the P.B, but Dr. Keith Mathison's article is relevant to this thread. Here he lays out a Reformed critique of those-- like Van Drunen in this particular case-- who hold to a radical discontinuity between the present age and the age to come:

2K or Not 2K? That is the Question: A Review of David VanDrunen's Living in God's Two Kingdoms by Keith Mathison | Ligonier Ministries Blog

Redemption is more than just an individual's salvation. God uses means--men--to preach to "all creation" the news of reconciliation of "all things" to God. This should be a non-controversial sense in we are involved as "ambassadors" of God's redemptive work, the Spirit applying what comes out of men's mouth and hands, all the while happily acknowledging it is God who is the source and power of all that is accomplished.

Certainly, the language of saying "we redeem" things can head into dangerous territory if we become only man-focused in our labors and forget that redemption could only come from, and be accomplished ultimately by, God Himself.
 
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