Creation Regained is one of the most profound books I’ve read. Albert M. Wolters eloquently and excellently packs “Biblical basics for a reformational worldview” into 143 pages. I was recently introduced to this book in my Biblical Theology class at Erskine (where the class discussions have aided in my appreciation for the influence of this text).
Living in the highly over-churched south, I grew up in a world that limits Christ’s redemption in both time and scope: Christ saves souls and salvation means “heaven” in the future. Although both of these statements have truth, my years of studying Scripture, living life, and developing my “first-hand theology” have led me to understand what Wolters puts so well:
“…the redemption achieved by Jesus Christ is cosmic in the sense that it restores the whole creation…redemption means restoration- that is, the return to the goodness of an originally unscathed creation and not merely the addition of something supracreational…restoration affects the whole of creational life and not merely some limited area within it” (Wolters, p. 69).
The implications are huge: the stewardship of God’s creation is a mighty task for God’s people. Of course this involves a personal component, but our faith must not be limited to selfish individualism (i.e. “my soul going to heaven when I die…”). The Gospel of Christ permeates life, and we must live in holistic faith.
So as you finish reading this post, may you ponder the significance of a holistic, all life-encompassing understanding of the salvation and redemption by Jesus Christ. I’ll leave you with a question posed by the author:
Everything created by God is good and is reclaimed by Jesus Christ. The question is not “Does this belong to Christ too?” The question is rather “What is the most effective manner of bringing reformation and sanctification to this area of our lives?” (Wolters, p. 113).
Sounds interesting. I like the idea of removing afterlife from the forefront of the discussion (throwing it out completely would be even better!). The older way paints a picture of a God with lazy parenting skills (eat your veggies or you won’t get any desert).
Christianity has often fallen into the old cliche - “when you are holding a hammer everything looks like a nail”. There is clearly more than one problem in the world, therefore it only makes sense that there needs to be more than one solution. For those people living in fear of an imagined afterlife, a belief in heaven is clearly something they need. For a man with starving children and no chance for a job, salvation may need to come in a different form. I think that is why the stories of Jesus have him present different solutions for each person he encounters.
Thanks for the review!