List of Abbreviations
Bible Versions
| KJV | King James Version |
| NASB | New American Standard Bible* |
| NIV | New International Version |
| NKJV | New King James Version |
| NLT | New Living Translation |
| NRSV | New Revised Standard Version |
Reference Works
BDAG Bauer, Walter. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Chrisitan Literature. Revised and augmented by F. Wilbur Gingrich and Frederick W. Danker. Chicago, 1979
BDB Brown, F., S. R. Driver, and C. A. Briggs. A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament: With an Appendix Containing the Biblical Aramaic. Oxford, 1952
HALOT Koehler, L., W. Baumgartner, and J. J. Stamm. The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament. Translated and edited under the supervision of M. E. J. Richardson. 4 vols. Leiden: 1994–1999
ISBE International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Edited by G. W. Bromiley. 4 vols. Grand Rapids, 1979–1988
TDOT Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament. Edited by G. Johannes Botterweck, Helmer Ringgren, and Heinz-Josef Fabry. Translated by Douglas W. Stott. 15 vols. Grand Rapids, 1999
TWOT Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. Edited by R. L. Harris and G. L. Archer. 2 vols. Chicago, 1980
* Bible verses quotes in this book are from the New American Standard Bible unless indicated otherwise.
PART ONE
The Covenant of the Torch and God’s Administration in the History of Redemption
Chapter 1
Jesus Christ, the Center of God’s Administration of Redemption
When God created man, He created him in His own image (Gen 1:26–27) and entrusted to him the ownership and dominion over the entire universe (Gen 1:28). However, Adam and Eve, the ancestors of mankind, were proud, lacked faith, and disobeyed the Word. As a result, they lost the power to subdue and rule over the world. God had commanded Adam, “But from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die” (Gen 2:17), but he listened to the words of the serpent through Eve rather than the Word of God. This caused the fall of man and their banishment from the Garden of Eden (Gen 3:24).
Created in God’s likeness, man was to commune with Him and live eternally (Prov 3:32; Eccl 3:11); however, they fell to the status of beings destined to die as a result of sin (Rom 5:12; 6:23; Eph 2:1; Col 2:13; Heb 9:27). Mankind became subordinate to the devil who holds the power of the expanse and is the object of God’s fearful wrath (Eph 2:2–3).
Redemption achieved through Jesus Christ was the only means to save fallen sinners. The word redemption refers to the act of saving a person or people from severe distress, illness, or great danger. It can also refer to the act of saving by means of giving a ransom payment. In other words, it is the recovery of ownership or a freedom from oppression after making a proper payment. Redemption is the act of removing bondage and confinement.
1. Jesus Christ, the Center of the History of Redemption
The word redemption is written in different forms in Greek:
First, Jesus Christ paid the ransom for all sinners whom God had predestined according to His plan for redemption, so that they may be saved and become His children in Christ (Matt 22:14; Rom 8:29–30; 11:5; Eph 1:4–5, 11; 1 Pet 1:2). This is the absolute predestination determined before creation (Eph 1:4–5; 3:11; 2 Tim 1:9). Absolute predestination is not based on a person’s good works, meritorious deeds, or effort. It is determined only by God’s sovereign will. Jesus Christ paid the price on the cross and redeemed the people who are predestined for salvation.
Second, Jesus Christ paid the price with His blood. The price that Jesus Christ paid to redeem us from sin and death was His own precious blood. We were not saved by perishable things like precious gold or silver, but by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, unblemished and spotless as that of a lamb (1 Pet 1:18–19).
Third, those who are redeemed are Jesus Christ’s own possession, they are bought with the cost of His precious blood (1 Cor 6:19–20; 7:22–23). History did not flow aimlessly after the fall of mankind, but worked for the purpose of redeeming the saints chosen in Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4). Thus, the focus of the administration in the history of redemption is the salvation of fallen mankind, with Jesus Christ standing at the center of that work. Jesus Christ is the only true Savior who can save His chosen people (Matt 1:21; Luke 2:11; John 4:42; Acts 4:12; 5:31; 1 John 4:14).
When Jesus Christ came to this earth through the virgin Mary (Isa 7:14; Matt 1:18–21), He possessed both perfect divinity and perfect humanity (John 1:14; Phil 2:6–8). Jesus the incarnate God—the Word which became flesh—is both perfectly God and perfectly man (John 1:1, 14, 18). Jesus Christ is the sacrifice of atonement (Rom 3:25; 1 John 2:2) and the Lamb who takes away the sins of His chosen people (John 1:29).
The history of this earth is centered on Jesus Christ, fulfilled through Him, and will be completed through His Second Coming. The Bible refers to Jesus, who stands at the center of God’s history of redemption, as God’s mystery (Col 2:2). Colossians 1:26–27 reveals four things about this mystery.
Colossians 1:26–27 … that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, 27to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
First, this mystery has been hidden (Col 1:26). The word mystery is