Chapter 10 | The Mystery of God Fulfilled

As indicated previously in the Introduction to the Mystery of God, throughout human history, God has been revealing himself to specific groups of people. This revelation is most significant with the incarnation of the Son of God to his chosen people in the first century.

With his redemptive work completed through the death, burial, and, most importantly, the resurrection of the Son of Man, all that remains is the continued revelation of the Son of God as the new creation in the image of God to all the world. This is what we see in the pages of Scripture as witnessed by many faithful men and women, both Jews and Gentiles. Their witness, together with the power of the Spirit of Christ, continues to add to the firstfruits of salvation. A key element of God’s work in Christ is the new creation our promised inheritance points to.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
(2 Corinthians 5:17-21)

 

The work of God in Christ thus far is the reconciling of the world to himself; the new has come. The express image of God is now exposed to the world in the person and likeness of Christ, the last Adam. It is only through God’s gift in Christ that we might become the righteousness of God, thereby fulfilling the incomplete image imparted to us in the garden. It began with the physical and is completed in the spiritual. Yeshua the Christ is both the author and finisher of this new creation.

The Scope of the New Creation

It’s important to note that this new creation was not an afterthought. The role of Christ as the Lamb of God was established before the foundations of the world were set.

even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. (Ephesians 1:4-10)

 

For our adoption to be secured in advance, the gift of grace must first be established in Christ, providing the reconciliation, together with the way, the truth, and the life. This was the plan for the fullness of time, our time, to be the recipients of the mystery in Christ leading to a new creation, a new heaven, and a new earth; that all things might be made new in Christ our Lord.

 

Established and Predestined in Christ

The origin of the mystery of God and the new creation in Christ is founded in the will of God. The process and method for completing the image of God in the progeny of the first Adam was ordained and established in the last Adam. Christ’s redemptive role, framed in God’s righteous justice, was established before the foundations of the world were set in place.

And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. (1 Peter 1:17-21)

 

God’s eternal purpose to lead many sons and daughters from the dust from which they were created to the glory and likeness of the last Adam is both conceived and fulfilled in Yeshua the Christ. In this goal the manifold wisdom of God is revealed to rulers and authorities in heavenly places, beginning with Yeshua the Christ.[1] God’s work in Christ was framed and hidden in a mystery since before creation and made manifest at the appointed time in the Son of Man.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. (Ephesians 3:3-6)

 

Whether one applies the “us” in Paul’s discourse as an individual calling or a collective one, the focus is primarily on Christ who is the source of our spiritual blessing. Each Christian in whom the Spirit of Christ dwells knows well that Yeshua is the incarnation of the Word of God made flesh.[2] He is the Beloved, the gift of God’s grace for all mankind. Though it was God’s will to consign all to disobedience, it was likewise his will to provide the way of righteousness and eternal life in Christ through his abundant grace.[3]

Behold, my servant shall act wisely;

he shall be high and lifted up,

and shall be exalted.

As many were astonished at you—

his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,

and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—

so shall he sprinkle many nations.

Kings shall shut their mouths because of him,

for that which has not been told them they see,

and that which they have not heard they understand. (Isaiah 52:13-15)

 

Who has believed what he has heard from us?

And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

For he grew up before him like a young plant,

and like a root out of dry ground;

he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

and no beauty that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by men,

a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;

and as one from whom men hide their faces

he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

yet he opened not his mouth;

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he opened not his mouth.

By oppression and judgment he was taken away;

and as for his generation, who considered

that he was cut off out of the land of the living,

stricken for the transgression of my people?

And they made his grave with the wicked

and with a rich man in his death,

although he had done no violence,

and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;

he has put him to grief;

when his soul makes an offering for guilt,

he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;

the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;

by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,

make many to be accounted righteous,

and he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,

and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,

because he poured out his soul to death

and was numbered with the transgressors;

yet he bore the sin of many,

and makes intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:1-12)

 

Yeshua the Christ was always intended to be the way, the truth, and the life by which the children of the first Adam would attain to the full image and likeness of God; completing the new creation in them.

Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. (1 Corinthians 15:45-50)

Creation as a Process

God’s plan to establish the process for completing the new creation was founded in the Son of Man, the last Adam, and this before the first Adam was even created. Though it begins in the physical/natural realm with the first Adam, the man of dust, it finds its end in the spiritual realm by the last Adam, the man from heaven. Humanity will bear two images in its walk toward the likeness of Christ. This transformation is both progressive over time and instantaneous (already, but not yet).[4] By being in and of Christ (the man of heaven), our transformation comes by his power; changing our lowly (mortal) bodies to be like his glorious (immortal) body.[5]

 

This new creation is the development of our first creation into the image of its Creator;[6] the very thing which God achieves through the disobedience of the garden event. That renewal comes through God-like knowledge, an intimate knowing.[7] The very motivation which led Eve to take from the tree of exception correlates with the process of renewal God intended to complete in us through Christ our Lord. Our transformation into the likeness of Christ is an ongoing process; setting aside the corruption that comes from deceitful desires and being renewed in the Spirit of our minds. This leads to the righteousness of God gifted in Christ.[8]

 

It was never the role of the first Adam to secure the way of righteousness and eternal life for all humanity. This role is, was, and always will be the gift of God’s grace in Yeshua the Christ.[9] The role of the first Adam was secure in the blessing and primary command of God, and reflected all that God had created him to fulfill as the seed for the last Adam.

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28)

 

Throughout the Biblical story, we see how God applied his sovereign will to ensure the continuity of that seed, regardless of the negative influence by powers and authorities in heavenly places. The role and goals of Yeshua the Christ are framed in a mystery and hidden for ages to ensure its success over those who sought to oppose God’s will and purpose,[10] a will and purpose which was established before the foundation of the world. There is a clear connection between the first creation and the work of God in Christ for the new creation. It reveals the need, method, and process God uses to fulfill an essential part of his new creation process; the establishment, continuation, protection, and eventual harvesting of the seed of man planted in Adam and ultimately harvested in the last Adam.

• Adam and Eve are made of the God-kind, but as a seed, a kernel; incomplete, imperfect, and mortal.[11]
• All other creatures are likewise of their own kind, able to reproduce in a variety of ways in order to sustain their species; reproduction being an essential aspect of mortality.
• The same can be said for plants, each having its own seed according to its kind and able to reproduce to continue its kind.
• Humanity was made from the earth, and so was the Son of Man at his incarnation. The man from heaven was made of the same dust to show God’s will in harvesting many sons and daughters from the earth into his kingdom.[12]
• The promise of the divine seed,[13] necessary to subdue the earthly and heavenly realms and those who influence the earthly realm in negative ways, is intended to come from the same seed as Adam and Eve.[14]
• A larger context of human history and God’s sovereign intervention is in the protection of that seed until the Son of Man is made manifest.

A Larger Context for Creation

The promise of superiority of mankind’s seed over the deceptive elohim (disguised as a serpent) is to be manifest in Christ (Genesis 3:15). The plan of God to create his children as co-heirs with the Son of Man and superior to the angels, who were created first, is a test for these spiritual beings who dwell in the heavenly realm. Yet our final glory and authority in the kingdom of God doesn’t come through the first Adam. It comes only through the last Adam, according to the will and purpose of the Godhead. The corruption of the human seed by the incursion of elohim (the Watchers) is resolved in part by the flood. The Watchers and the world they’ve corrupted receive God’s righteous judgment. Though elements of this corruption continued in the flesh even until King David’s time, Yeshua was able to subdue the possessing spirits which continued to corrupt his chosen people.[15] Those of the spiritual realm who failed their test are now held in chains of darkness awaiting divine judgment. The will of God cannot be undone by the efforts of men or powers and authorities in heavenly places.

 

As a resolution and continuation of the seed of Adam, one man and his family are brought through the calamity of the flood. God later calls one of Noah’s descendants, a Gentile named Abram, out of the heart of Mesopotamia to be the father of a nation of peoples brought together to multiply and protect that seed.[16] They too will unknowingly play a significant role, whether through obedience or disobedience, in bringing about the fulfillment of the new creation in Yeshua the Christ for all Adam’s progeny.[17] God’s commitment to this seed is evident in that he overcomes extreme age, barrenness, and human weakness to continue it through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the nation of Israel.[18]

God used Egypt as both a womb to nourish his fledgling nation and as a source of oppression from which he would ultimately free his people.[19] He intervened on Israel’s behalf when Pharoah sought to destroy the infant seed of Israel’s descendants. One man, Moses, arose from among them to be a prophet, and was the one God would send to deliver his people to the land promised to them since Abraham.[20]

 

God protected the seed again through King David, and promised his seed a seat of rulership that would never end. This was manifest in Yeshua the Christ, a descendant of David and a Root of Jesse. Though David desired to build a house for God, it was God who would instead build for David an everlasting house and kingdom.[21]

 

Even some outside God’s chosen people, those faithful to the will of God from among the Gentiles, had a part in sustaining and protecting this seed. There are many who are not descended from the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whose lives are responsive to the will and purpose of the One, True God. They too unknowingly play a part in continuing the seed of the first Adam until the manifestation of the last Adam. It must not be forgotten that Abraham himself, the father of Isaac and grandfather to Jacob (Israel), was called by God out of the land of the Gentiles. God’s chosen people Israel find their roots among the Gentile nations and later find themselves united with all nations in one faith to God.

• Jethro was a Yahwist, a believer and priest of Midian[22] and Moses’ father-in-law. He recognized the power of God on Israel’s behalf, how he brought them out and delivered them from Pharaoh and their harsh treatment in Egypt. Jethro rejoiced and blessed the Lord, recognizing that the Lord was greater than all the other gods, and made sacrifices to him.[23] Jethro also provided wise council to Moses in the administration of justice and righteous judgment among the Israelite people.[24] This system of delegating authority is repeated throughout Israel’s history and is repeated in the administration of the faithful believers making up the body of Christ, both Jew and Gentile.
• Caleb, a Kenizzite, was a hero among the Israelites, and blessed by God because of his loyalty and courage.[25] Likewise, his nephew Othniel found favor with God during a time when the rest of Israel forgot the Lord and served the Baals and Ashteroth. After eight years, Othniel delivered Israel from the Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia by God’s hand.[26]
• Rahab, having only heard of the wonders which the Lord worked on Israel’s behalf, believed that the Lord your God is God in the heavens above and the earth beneath.[27] More than this, she acted on that belief in faith and hid the spies that Joshua sent into the land around Jericho.[28] These spies, likewise in faith, agreed to deal kindly with her and her family,[29] and God honored the oath they made with Rahab when the city of Jericho fell.[30]
• The story of Ruth the Moabite is one of loyalty and faith in the midst of tragedy. Not only does Ruth remain loyal to her mother-in-law, but also to Naomi’s God.[31] Her faithfulness to Naomi was recognized even by Boaz, a relative of Naomi’s husband.[32] Though Boaz, acting honorably, sought to redeem Naomi and Ruth and perpetuate the name of the dead,[33] he achieved much more.
  From Ruth the Moabite was later born Obed, the father of Jesse, who is the father of David,[34] and from whom is born Yeshua the Christ.
  
  This story contrasts the death and tragedy experienced by one family with the joy and new life later experienced by this same family. Not accidentally, the glue connecting the two is the loyalty and character of those involved. Also unique in this story of redemption from death to arrive at new life is God’s sovereign power to continue the seed of Adam through his chosen people while including faithful and loyal Gentiles like Ruth in the process. This is reflective of the will and character of God in offering the gift of Christ as a Redeemer for not only his chosen people Israel, but as the Lamb of God for all the world.
• Consider the widow of Zarephath in the land of Sidon or Naaman the Syrian. God’s grace was upon them both as Gentiles, at a time when Israel needed it most. Yet both the widow and the Syrian captain showed themselves faithful to God, and he restored life to both in hope of provoking Israel to repentance.[35]
• The story of Nineveh represents an entire Gentile population that believed the word of the Lord and repented as a result. From the king of Nineveh to the lowest servant, the word of God, as spoken to them by the prophet Jonah, was acted upon in faith.[36] Their example reverberates through the centuries to challenge God’s very own chosen people who would not respond likewise when confronted by their own Messiah.[37]Due to Israel and Judah’s hard-heartedness, the Lord’s preaching would result in only a remnant of those chosen people being saved at that time. But the faithfulness of the Lord will turn even their wickedness and disobedience into an instrument of their repentance. They too will come to recognize how unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways![38]
• Throughout the history of God’s chosen people, he has used those from Gentile nations responsive to his words to either bless or curse Israel and Judah. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came against the city of Jerusalem and besieged it, taking thousands captive back to Babylon. All of this came upon Judah and Jerusalem in the form of correction leading to repentance, because of the wickedness and rebellion of her kings.[39] Seventy years later, God would use another Gentile king, Cyrus, king of Persia, to end the exile of Judah and return a remnant of the remnant of Israel to rebuild the temple and the city walls.[40]

 

Much of Israel and Judah’s history is intertwined with blessings and curses brought upon them by God’s righteous judgment through these and other Gentile kings. From these events stem the writings of numerous prophets of God, both great and small; Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Joel, and others. And they all tell of the faithfulness of the Lord to complete the work began in Abraham to continue the seed of promise until the arrival of the Son of Man and the Son of God; he who would be the firstfruit of God’s glorious children, the last Adam.

The Last Adam and the Image of God

It is in Christ that we see the first harvest of that seed, formed from the earth, but destined for glory; the Firstfruit of God’s salvation. As a result, Christ then becomes the source of the pollinating process that leads the rest of humanity to the same ends; God’s Holy Spirit. This influencing Spirit guides those who respond to the call of God and are willing to seek, hear, and follow his will into the maturity and character of Christ. This is not a possessing Spirit, which takes over our lives and acts on our behalf to do what is right, negating any personal responsibility on our part. Instead, this is an influencing Spirit showing us the will and wisdom of God, compelling us to follow in it; to trust in God and his wisdom, and learn the way of righteousness in and through the obedience of faith.

Yeshua the Christ was always intended to be this bridge for humanity.[41]

In him we find the righteousness and eternal life necessary to inherit the kingdom of God.[42] The salvation promised to Israel is magnified in Christ. No longer is life just renewed in the flesh.[43] Their hope and expectation was a resurrection to flesh and blood, but God had something greater in mind.

• Those of the dust are awakened (resurrected)
• They will dwell in their own land
• They will receive a new covenant in the Spirit
• Which, through the obedience of faith, will lead them ultimately to eternal life.

 

Now in Christ we find salvation is glorified in the Spirit through the new covenant. All things are created through him and for him.[44] In him we find a resurrection to glory for all those loyal to the Lord. Though it was hinted of to Daniel the prophet,[45] it is declared and promised in the new covenant of faith.[46] A significant condition of this glorified, eternal life, is the resurrection from which it proceeds.[47]

 

This is the new creation with glory and eternal life. In it Yeshua completes the first creation. In it the last Adam completes the image of God in us, an image that initially was incomplete, but is now glorified like himself. This is the mystery of God fulfilled in the Son of Man, to lead many sons and daughters from the mist and the dust of the earth to glory in the likeness and character of Yeshua the Christ. The remainder of this book will detail the many factors involved in the process of achieving that glorious outcome, though its origins are rooted in the mist and the dust of the earth.