Let us now briefly sum up the relationship between “administration” and “history of redemption.” God’s administration entails all of His providence and acts that He performed within history to achieve His decree which was planned before the ages. The chief focus of the history of redemption is the messianic prophecies and their fulfillment.
(2) God’s administration is fulfilled according to His decrees and predestined will.
Divine decree refers to “God’s eternal plan or purpose which he established before creation to foreordain all things that come to pass” (Eph 1:4–5; 3:11). Our salvation has been predestined from before creation (2 Tim 1:9; Titus 1:2). In Matthew 25:34, the King says to those on His right, “Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” God planned and prepared for the salvation of His people through Jesus Christ before the creation of this world (John 1:1–4, 18; 17:5, 24; Prov 8:22–23). For this reason, Ephesians 1:9–10 describes Jesus’ coming as the “administration suitable to the fullness of the times,” signifying that God’s plan for salvation was finally fulfilled through Jesus Christ, the Word who came in the flesh.
The apostle Paul also emphasized that God’s administration is realized only in Christ (Eph 1:3, 4, 7, 9, 10, 12, 15, 20). However, he was astounded to realize that the notion of the Israelites as the sole “elect people” had collapsed after Jesus’ coming and that the scope of God’s plan to save had included the Gentiles. He described this as the “administration of the mystery” (Eph 3:9) because it had been kept hidden until then.
Today, God continues to intercede in the history of mankind and brings to fruition portions of His will according to the “administration suitable to the fullness of the times” and the “administration of the mystery.” God’s work of redemption will proceed without ceasing until His predestined will and plan are all completely fulfilled at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
2. The Focus and Scope of Redemptive History
(1) The focus of redemptive history is the salvation of fallen mankind.
God’s grace springs forth from the center of the redemptive work. Redemptive history is characterized not by judgment and wrath, but by the patience, grace, and mercy of God, whose desire is to bring more people to salvation (1 Thess 5:9; 1 Tim 2:4; 2 Pet 3:9). There was not a single moment when God relinquished His will to save mankind. He granted unexpected grace every time mankind was on the brink of destruction due to their overflowing sin and wickedness. He desired to preserve the “godly seed” (2 Pet 2:5) and to save the holy “tree stump” for the end (Isa 6:13). In times of total despair, He gave vitality to life again. The greater the sins of mankind, the brighter His grace and mercy shined (Rom 5:20).
(2) The scope of redemption encompasses the redemption of the whole man and the recovery of the entire universe.
The sin of one man, Adam, caused God’s wrath and curse to fall upon all mankind and all creation (Rom 5:12, 15, 17, 20). Thus, redemption became necessary for man holistically in spirit, soul, and body (Rom 8:19–23) and for the entire universe.
In Romans 8, the apostle Paul spoke of three general types of groaning that resulted from the fall. The first is the groaning of all creation (Rom 8:22). Because the curse has fallen upon all creation (Gen 3:17–19), the creation eagerly waits for the glorious day when the sons of God will be restored from the fall (Rom 8:19). This will be the day when the curse upon creation will be lifted to finally redeem it to original state.
The second is the groaning of the saints (Rom 8:23). Although they have already become God’s children through faith in Jesus Christ, they are still in an imperfect state, still bound by sickness and death of the body. Thus, they eagerly long for the redemption of the body at the Second Coming of the Lord (1 Cor 15:50–58).
The third is the groaning of the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:26). The Holy Spirit intercedes in prayer for all saints with “groanings too deep for words” in hope that they may soon be redeemed. On that glorious day when God’s redemptive work is complete, the groaning will cease, and the entire universe will be fully restored.
(3) Redemption is fulfilled through the atoning work of Jesus Christ.
The history of redemption began with the promise of the “woman’s seed,” given after the fall of Adam and Eve (Gen 3:15). After making this promise, God made garments of skin and covered Adam and his wife (Gen 3:21), foreshadowing how Jesus would come as the sacrificial lamb and shed His blood on the cross to cover the shame of mankind (John 1:29; 1 Cor 5:7; Rev 5:6). The sacrifice of life and the shedding of blood are required to make garments of skin.
The fact that God Himself made the garments and clothed them (Gen 3:21) implies that sinful man is entirely incapable of saving himself (Rom 3:10). It demonstrates the fact that salvation is possible only through God’s sovereign grace.
As the first proclamation of the gospel was made in Genesis 3:15, the first proclamation of atonement was made in Genesis 3:21. Here, through the account of Adam and Eve, God foretold of His sovereign plan to redeem mankind through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the shedding of His precious blood. From this perspective, Genesis 3 contains the origin of the fall, the origin of the gospel that would open up the path to life for mankind, and the origin of the gospel of atonement.
3. Christ, the Apex of Redemptive History
The incarnate Jesus Christ stands at the apex of redemptive history because God’s administration for redemption is revealed and fulfilled through His crucifixion.
(1) The Bible introduces the Messiah progressively.
The Old and New Testaments progressively introduce the Messiah in relation to the events and the flow of each era (John 5:39, 45–47; Heb 1:1–2). Thus, our chief focus in reading the Bible must be on the Messiah and the redemptive history fulfilled by Him—how God saved mankind through Christ and how He will complete the work of salvation.
The messianic promise was first made in Genesis 3:15, which revealed that He would come as the woman’s seed. The method of fulfilling this promise was progressively revealed through Isaiah’s prophesy: “A virgin will be with child and bear a son” (Isa 7:14). It was finally fulfilled through the conception by the Holy Spirit and the virgin birth of Jesus Christ (Matt 1:18–25).
(2) Jesus Christ’s death on the cross was predestined as part of God’s administration of redemption.
Jesus’ crucifixion was not an incidental or spontaneous event. When the time to bear the cross was imminent, Jesus said, “For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined” (Luke 22:22) and “For this purpose I came to this hour” (John 12:27). At the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, seeking to do the Father’s will and not His own (Matt 26:38–42; Luke 22:42; Heb 5:7). Paul added that Christ died for our sins “according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:3). Thus, our Savior Jesus Christ came to this earth, lived, and died on the cross according to the Scriptures. Furthermore, He rose again on the third day after destroying the power of death in accordance with the Scriptures. He remained on the earth forty days after His resurrection and ascended into heaven in accordance with the Scriptures. His Second Coming will also be fulfilled in accordance with the scriptural prophecies. All these events were predestined as part of God’s administration for redemption.
(3) Jesus Christ accomplished redemption once and for all through the cross, and its efficacy is everlasting.
Concerning Jesus Christ’s redemptive work, the author of Hebrews