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From the Fall to the Flood | Jonathan Edwards · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome back to Reformed Thinking and to another deep
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dive. It's good to be here.
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Today we're getting straight into the mind of, well, one of
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the most significant theologians in history, Jonathan Edwards.
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You brought us some excerpts from his incredible work, A
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History of the Work of Redemption.
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And this isn't just, you know, a dense theological text.
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No, not at all. It's really his blueprint for
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understanding all of history. Right.
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And our mission today is pretty specific.
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We're going to analyze the very first period he lays out, from
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the fall of man to the great Flood.
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The very beginning. Exactly.
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And we want to see how the plan of salvation, which I think a
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lot of people assume, started much later, you know, with
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Abraham or Moses. Or even in the New Testament.
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Or even in the New Testament, right, how that plan actually
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jumped into high gear the very moment Adam sinned.
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It's a an immediate, very detailed look at how Grace
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began. And that perspective is
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absolutely central to how Edwards thinks.
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His whole approach is built on this one idea.
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History has a single organizing principle.
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Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ.
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So when he looks at that huge span of time before the
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Incarnation, all those centuries before Christ physically walked
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the earth, he sees all of it as purely preparatory.
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So everything, I mean, you're talking about the establishment
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of the Mosaic Law, the building of the temple, even huge events
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like the deliverance from Egypt. He's saying all of that is
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secondary. He sees them as secondary
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actions. Yeah, Edwards describes them as,
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and this is his phrase, the turning of the wheels of
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Providence. Every single major historical
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shift, every big event, was being orchestrated by God to set
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the perfect conditions for Christ's arrival.
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The entire Old Testament era was, in a sense, just the
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scaffolding for the real building that was yet to come.
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So that means if we follow that logic, yeah, the actual
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deliverances and revelations that God gave the church back
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then weren't salvation itself. No, they were a foreshadowing.
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They were only images and forerunners.
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OK, unpack that a little. Well, when God saved Israel from
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the Egyptians at the Red Sea, that wasn't the ultimate
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salvation. It was a picture of it.
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When he revealed the Law to Moses, that wasn't the
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substance. It was a signpost.
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A signpost, exactly. Salvation by anticipation.
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The Old Testament Saints who were saved, Edwards says.
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They were the earnests of the future harvest.
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I really like the analogy he uses for this whole period.
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He calls it the time of night. It gives you this immediate
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sense of restricted vision. It does.
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No, it certainly wasn't total darkness, but the light they had
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was indirect. He quotes Study Corinthians to
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explain it right. He says the light they received
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was like the light of the moon and the stars.
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It's enough to see by enough for guidance, but it's dim and it's
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borrowed compared to the full radiance of the sun.
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And the sun, of course, is Christ.
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And he supports that with the analogy from Galatians, where
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the church before Christ is like a child, a minor who's still
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under tutors and governors. That captures it perfectly.
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It shows the difference in dispensations.
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The church was operating under what Edwards calls the elements
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of the world. You know, depending on types and
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ceremonies and shadows. They needed the Messiah to
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physically arrive for the church to sort of come of age, to move
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from the shadow to the substance.
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Precisely. And yet, and this is the
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critical point for us today, even though this very first
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period from the fall to the flood was the furthest point in
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time from Christ's actual life, it was the moment that this
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magnificent, glorious building of redemption was decisively
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launched. Foundation was laid right there
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in the garden. Instantly.
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OK, so let's dig into that. Edward's first point is,
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frankly, a bit shocking. If you haven't heard it before,
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Christ's entry into his role as mediator was instantaneous.
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Yeah, that word is key. Instantaneous.
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There was no gap, no delay, not a second past.
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That concept that God's first response to the fall was to
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immediately activate the mediator?
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That feels absolutely central. This isn't just a vague feeling
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of grace, it's a systematic pre planned rescue operation.
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It had to be immediate. Edwards argues that Christ
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stepped in between and I love this phrasing.
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A holy infinite offended majesty and offending mankind.
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Wow. And by stepping in, He prevented
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the immediate and full execution of the curse.
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That quick intervention is the ultimate proof that Christo's
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intercession began that very instant.
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And the reasoning behind that is deeply theological, isn't it?
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If Christ hadn't done that, humanity would have been
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destroyed right then and there. Just like the fallen angels
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were. Exactly.
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Edwards holds that mercy can only be exercised toward fallen
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man through a mediator. Why is that?
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Because if God, who is perfectly holy and infinitely offended by
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sin, were to just show favor to a fallen creature without a
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proper legal intermediary to satisfy his justice, well, the
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very integrity of God's righteous rule would be
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compromised. So the simple fact that God held
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back his full wrath against Adam and Eve.
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Is proof that the mediator was already at work.
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The restraint itself is an act of mediation.
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Which explains why the role Christ takes on is so vast from
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the very beginning, it wasn't just one part of the job he
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immediately took on the full care of the church in all three
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of his offices, the. Whole thing a comprehensive
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role. First, his prophetical office to
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teach and reveal the way back to God.
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Second, his priestly office to intercede and, you know,
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ultimately make satisfaction for sin.
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And 3rd, his kingly office to govern the church and the world.
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He immediately becomes the captain of the Lord's hosts.
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So when Satan overthrew man, the job of resisting him, battling
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him, eventually conferring him, fell instantly to Christ as
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King. Instantly.
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You know, we should probably pause on that distinction
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Edwards makes about how God the Father relates to the world
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after the fall. That suggests a major shift in
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the divine administration of the universe.
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It's a huge shift. When man rebelled, he
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fundamentally cut himself off from the Father's immediate,
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unmediated fellowship. Edwards is very clear on this.
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He says from that point on, God the Father would have no more to
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do immediately with this world of mankind.
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In terms of what? In terms of bestowing favor,
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teaching, or governing, all subsequent dealings between God
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and fallen humanity are funneled exclusively through the
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Mediator, the second person of the Trinity.
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So OK, when we're reading Genesis and we see God walking
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in the garden or speaking Adam after the fall, we shouldn't
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automatically assume that's God the Father is speaking directly.
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That's what Edwards instructs us to understand.
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Any visible appearance or outward symbol of God after the
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Fall is, generally speaking, the second person of the Trinity.
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And he grounds that in Scripture.
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Oh, absolutely, Colossians says Christ is the image of the
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invisible God. John's gospel has No man has
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seen God at any time. The only begotten Son He hath
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declared him. So Christ becomes the visible
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representation of the unseen Father.
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He's the only access point to the Godhead for sinful people.
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That's it. And the scope of this new
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administration isn't just limited to us, Edward says.
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It extends to the entire cosmos. Including the angels.
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Including the angels. The scope is staggering.
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Not only was the lower world, you know, humanities world
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devolved upon the sun, but the whole universe was now placed
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under his mediatorial rule. So even the angels, these
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perfectly holy, powerful spirits, were immediately made
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subject to Christ in this new role.
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Yes, they now function as ministering spirits in the
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affairs of the Church, and that very action proves their
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subservience to Christ's the Mediator.
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That just completely rewrites the drama of those early
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chapters of history to know that every time an Angel appeared or
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acted, they were reporting to and carrying out the will of the
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Son of God. They had to be informed of the
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plan immediately. It makes sense.
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We can reason that as soon as the fall happened, the angels in
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heaven were told that God had a plan of redemption for man, that
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Christ had taken on this office, and that their new job was to
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serve Him in it. This was, as Edwards calls it,
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the first dawning of this light in heaven itself.
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It was a celestial revelation of a new management structure for
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the universe. That context really makes the
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contrast between the Fall and the ascension so vivid.
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The Fall brought this dawning of light to the angels.
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But when Christ ascended after his resurrection, it was the
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full day, the full sunrise. The revelation at the fall was
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just a glimmer, just setting the stage.
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But when Christ finally ascended and was formally enthroned at
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the right hand of the Father, then the light became complete.
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Edwards uses that image from Revelation, where Christ the
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Lamb is the light of the New Jerusalem.
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He is the sun in heaven. But the whole operation, the
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entire divine administration, it all launched the moment that
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first sin was committed in the garden.
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The blueprint was activated. OK, so Christ is now the
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functioning mediator in heaven directing the angels.
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The next logical step is His first action on earth, and
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Edwards identifies this as the first Gospel revelation
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delivered in Genesis 3.15. That's right, we're talking
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about the promise I will put enmity between thee and the
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woman, and between thy seed and her seed.
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It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
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It's the covenant of grace, basically reduced to a single
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pretty cryptic statement. It is, and to really get the
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weight of that statement, Edwards makes us appreciate the
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darkness that came right before it.
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Before the fall, man had the full light of God's favor.
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Total light. But the moment they send all
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that light was just quenched. The world was plunged into a
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total spiritual darkness. And Edwards, he doesn't hold
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back. He calls it a darkness 1000
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times more remedy less than the initial darkness over the deep
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in Genesis 1. It was a darkness that came from
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guilt and terror. Adam and Eve were hiding.
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They were paralyzed by shame, trying to cover their spiritual
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nakedness with, you know, these flimsy fig leaves.
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They were in complete despair, and no human wisdom, no angelic
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power could have come up with a way to scatter that darkness.
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There was not a single glimpse of hope or comfort anywhere.
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Until this promise. Arrived until this promise, and
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Edwards notes that this revelation, even though it was
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brief and pretty obscure, was incredibly comprehensive.
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It contained the entire plan of redemption, just in seed form.
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I think the most striking detail about this promise is how it was
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delivered. It wasn't spoken directly to
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Adam or Eve. No, it was contained inside the
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judgment that was pronounced on the serpent.
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And that placement is critical to Edwards interpretation.
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Absolutely. He sees it as an act of profound
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tenderness on God's part. Think about it.
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God gave them this hint of hope before pronouncing their own
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specific condemnation. Before the curse of the ground.
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The pain of childbirth. Before any of that, and you have
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to ask why the strategic timing? Well, without that little bit of
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encouragement, the sheer terror and weight of their own sentence
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might have just crushed them completely.
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It could have driven them to irreversible despair, maybe even
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suicide. God provided the quote first.
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Glimmerings of the light in the east, just as the darkest part
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of their night was falling. He made sure hope survived the
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judgement. It also ensures that the very
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first promise of redemption directly addresses the enemy.
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Satan had just pulled off his greatest victory, overthrowing
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the entire human race. The irony is just delicious,
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isn't it? In the very moment of his
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triumph, God gives Satan this plain, chilling heads up that
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his victory would be reversed. And that a decisive, complete
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triumph would be won over him by this future seed of the woman.
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It immediately clarifies the main objective of redemption, to
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subjugate God's enemies under the authority of Christ, The
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bruising of the serpent's head that signifies Christ's victory
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over the devil's entire domain. And if we link this back to
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Christ's different roles, Edwards says this promise was
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the very first thing Christ did in his prophetical office after
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the fall. Yes, this is what kicked off the
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entire prophetic stream. From this moment, Genesis 3.15,
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all the way until the Incarnation, Christ is
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continually foretelling, promising, and bit by bit
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clarifying the plan of redemption.
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This first prediction was the first cornerstone of revelation
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laid down by the Mediator. So it gives us this insight into
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how redemption starts not with a physical action, but with a
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word. A word, a promise of a future
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victory, just enough to hold despair at Bay.
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It's the foundation of faith itself, really.
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It is. It demands belief in a future
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you can't see. That single sentence gave
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humanity something to cling to, something that directed their
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hope forward, away from their current failure and toward the
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promised victorious seed. OK, so we have the promise,
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which is prophecy. Edwards then moves to the next
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essential step. The appointment of sacrificing
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is a standing type, a visual aid almost.
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Right. And this custom, which is so
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central to the Old Testament, wasn't a late addition with
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Moses. It was instituted by God almost
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immediately after the fall. So how does he build that case?
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Yeah. How do we know it wasn't just a
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later development? The main evidence is Abel.
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Genesis 4 tells us Abel brought an acceptable sacrifice, the
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first slings of his flock, and then the book of Hebrews tells
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us Abel able offer to sacrifice by faith.
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And faith requires a divine warrant.
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You've got it. You cannot have faith in
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something God has not revealed or commanded.
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So the idea of sacrificing an animal to appease God couldn't
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have just been something Abel thought up on his own.
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No way. If God abhors worship that's
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taught only by the precept of men, then the idea of killing a
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life to deal with divine wrath can't be a product of natural
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human reason. The light of nature might teach
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you to be reverent, but it certainly doesn't teach you to
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kill beasts for atonement. So the custom must have
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originated by a positive divine institution right after the
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fall. That's what gave Abel the divine
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command he needed to exercise genuine faith.
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So the promise in Genesis 3.15 was the first stone.
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The institution of sacrifices was the second, providing that
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necessary visual type. It was the necessary visual type
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of the great sacrifice that was to come, and Edwards finds the
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scriptural evidence for this right after the judgement when
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God clothes Adam and Eve with coats of skins.
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It's a detail that's so easy to just read past, but a lot of
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commentators see it as the first sacrifice.
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Most reformed divines conclude that those skins had to have
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come from beasts that were slain in sacrifice, and Edwards backs
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this up with a critical timeline detail, which is men were not
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permitted to eat the flesh of beasts for common food until
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after the great flood. Genesis 9.3.
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OK, so if they weren't killing them for food, but they were
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killing them for skins. The only permissible reason for
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taking animal life at that time was for propitiation for
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sacrifice. Wow, that completely transforms
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the act of God clothing them. It's not just a practical
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gesture anymore, it's this incredibly dense theological
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symbol. It becomes a powerful immediate
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object lesson for Adam and Eve. First, remember they tried to
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cover their own sin induced nakedness with flimsy fig
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leaves. Which represents a self-made
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insufficient righteousness. And God rejected it.
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Then God steps in and provides the covering.
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But that covering comes at the necessary expense of life.
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A beast had to die for them to be covered.
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The death of an innocent substitute provides the covering
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for the naked soul that links directly to the idea of
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justification. Precisely.
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The righteousness is provided by God, and it requires the death
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of a substitute. Edwards ties this to later
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types, like how the Tabernacle was covered in Ramskins dyed
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red, signifying that Christ's substitutionary righteousness
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was achieved through his suffering and the shedding of
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his blood. So Genesis 3.15 was redemption
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and prophecy. The sacrifice were redemption in
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types and shadows. You got it.
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And this institution directly exhibits Christ in his second
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role, his priestly office. The priestly office is put on
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display through these rituals. Yes, and this was a crucial
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preparatory work, these sacrifices established in the
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minds of the visible Church the non negotiable requirement for a
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propitiatory sacrifice to reconcile God and man.
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You know, something interesting, Edwards points out, is how this
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practice wasn't just limited to the line of Seth.
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It became in a corrupted form, universal this is.
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Fascinating. The institution was so
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widespread that, however twisted it became, all nations derived
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the custom of offering sacrifices to their gods for
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atonement. From the most cultured
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civilizations to the most isolated, barbarous groups, they
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all shared this ritual belief that blood had to be shed to
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satisfy divine anger. And why is that universal
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corruption actually useful from Edward's perspective?
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Because even though they lost the true meaning, I mean they
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were sacrificing to false gods or even demons, the core
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conceptual framework was still there.
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It laid the mental groundwork for the world.
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So that when the gospel finally arrived.
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Preaching a global atonement through the great single
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sacrifice of Christ, the world was conceptually ready to grasp
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the idea. They understood that blood must
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be shed for the forgiveness of sins, even if they disagreed on
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who the sacrifice was. It was, in a way, an initial
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education for all of humanity. We've covered the prophetical
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promise and the priestly type. Now Edwards moves to the results
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.4. He argues that God began
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actually to save the souls of men immediately, which is Christ
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exercising his kingly office to secure the result of his work.
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And the first, and I think most hopeful instance is the
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redemption of Adam and Eve themselves.
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It's highly probable that they were the first fruits of
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redemption. And we see that in God's
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patient, comforting way of dealing with them.
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Yes, they were at the absolute peak of their spiritual terror,
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hiding with their fig leaves, and that act symbolizes the
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Sinner trying to cover their souls nakedness with their own
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fancied righteousness. When they finally confessed,
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they were utterly terrified. And again, Edwards highlights
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God's strategic mercy. He gives them the hint of the
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mediator in Genesis 3.15 before pronouncing the final curse.
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That sequence promise, then judgement prevented them from
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totally collapsing and then the clothing with skins sort of
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seals the deal. It signifies acceptance the.
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Clothing was a powerful physical sign of divine acceptance and
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fatherly care. It would have reinforced their
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faith in the Promised Seed, the one of whom those sacrifices
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were the type. And Edwards shows that this
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faith is reflected later in Eve's hope when her children are
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born. Yeah, when Cain is born, she
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says I have gotten a man from the Lord.
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It suggests she thought this child might actually be the
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promised seed. She was mistaken, but it shows
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was where her hope was. She was clearly expressing hope
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and dependence on the promise. She saw her first born as a
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token of the seed, which demonstrates that the promise
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had successfully planted faith and hope in her heart, even if
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she misidentified the person, and that hope continues when
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Seth is born. She recognizes him as the
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appointed seed after the tragic loss of Abel.
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So Christ, having taken the office, immediately began his
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kingly work. In effect, he rescued these
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first two captives right out of Satan's immediate grasp.
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That's the narrative of the king fighting the adversary.
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Satan had triumphed, but Christ immediately countered by
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delivering Adam and Eve. Christ rescued the first two
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captives, baffling the enemy almost immediately after his
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victory. This first instance of
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fulfilling the threat bruising the serpent's head was a pricage
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of Christ eventually subduing all his enemies.
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The next key example is righteous Abel.
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If Adam and Eve were the first fruits in conversion and
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justification, Abel represents an even higher stage.
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Abel is often considered the very first human soul to go to
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heaven through Christ's redemption, and if that's
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accurate, then redemption began to dawn in its highest degree in
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glorification. This is a massive step forward
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for the work. That makes you think about the
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mechanics of heaven itself. If Abel was the first, then the
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Angel suddenly had a new job they had never performed.
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Before they certainly did. This would mark the first
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recorded opportunity for the elect angels to carry out their
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newly assigned role as ministering spirits to the
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mediator. Their job was to conduct the
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soul of a redeemed fallen human to glory.
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Imagine that it must have been an astonishing sight for them.
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They had witnessed the fall of man, and they had witnessed the
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fall of their own brethren, the demons, who were cast down
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without any hope. And now they see a wretched,
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sinful human being brought into glorious happiness.
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It illustrates the wonderful honor that Christ's work
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procured for miserable sinners. Edward suggests this was a
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public display for the angels, showing them the effectiveness
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of the covenant of grace and validating the cosmic scope of
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Christ's kingly rule over them. Abel's death and his subsequent
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glorification was the first full scale operation of the
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redemption plan from sin all the way to glory.
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So the work of redemption keeps rising in the visible church.
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Point V covers the first uncommon pouring out of the
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Spirit, which Edward says happened in the days of Enos.
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Right, the Scripture says, then began men to call upon the name
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of the Lord. We've already established that
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Adam, Eve and Abel certainly prayed earlier, so began to call
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must mean something more so the extraordinary, not just the
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start of private prayer. That's the key.
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Piety requires prayer, so this statement has to be arguing for
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a new elevation in the performance of that duty.
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The interpretation that many hold, and Edwards favors it, is
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that men began to perform public instituted worship and organized
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assemblies for the first time. OK, but why would a sudden
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increase in public worship require the uncommon influence
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of God's Spirit? Because widespread, visible
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collective acts of devotion like that, they aren't just the
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product of normal private piety. They need a divine, external
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cause. We see this pattern all through
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history. When the Spirit of God begins a
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true work on people's hearts, it instantly produces public zeal.
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It sets them to calling on the name of the Lord together in
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assemblies. So this period in the days of
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Enos was the very first recorded spiritual revival.
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That's what it was, bringing in what Edwards calls a true
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harvest of souls to Christ. And this establishes A crucial
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theological pattern that Edwards sees repeating itself over and
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over. Which is that the biggest steps
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in building the Kingdom of Redemption are always carried
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forward by these special effusions of the Spirit at
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Seasons of Mercy. It's not a slow, steady increase
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through ordinary means alone. It's marked by these distinct
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sovereign outpourings. This work in Enos's day
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significantly raised the glorious building of the visible
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church from its very small beginnings.
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And within that revival, we see a specific example of personal
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grace being carried to new heights, which is .6 the
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unparalleled holiness of Enoch. Enoch, who lived during that
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time of arrival, achieved a greater eminence of personal
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holiness than anyone before him. He walked with God for 300
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years. This serves as a critical marker
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of the progress of redemption. It demonstrated the increasing
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efficacy of Christ's grace in transforming a soul to a level
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of piety that hadn't been seen before.
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The Kingly office was building up individuals to higher
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standards of sanctity. Then, in Enoch's time, the
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prophecy itself became clearer. Again, .7 addresses the more
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expressed revelation of Christ's coming.
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Yes. The book of Jude records Enoch's
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prophecy. Behold, the Lord cometh with
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10,000 of his Saints to execute judgement upon all.
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Edwards argues this prophecy is monumental because it looks so
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far beyond its immediate context.
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It seems to blend the immediate judgement of the flood with the
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final judgement at the end of time.
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It does both. It respects Christ's coming
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generally in his Kingdom, so it's fulfilled in his first
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coming, His second coming, and every significant time he shows
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up to save his people and destroy his enemies.
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So while Enoch surely had the approaching flood in mind, since
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the flood was a type of Christ's future destruction of the
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wicked. The words clearly point to the
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glorious anti type which is Christ's final adherence in
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glory. This detailed expressive
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prophecy is another instance of the Gospel light increasing, of
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the glorious building being carried higher.
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It means the people living before the flood had a
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surprisingly clear, if veiled, understanding of final victory.
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They possessed a growing body of truth.
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And before we move on, Edwards draws A fascinating parallel
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here, connecting this historical rise and fall to the experience
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of an individual believer. Comparing the progress of
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redemption in the Universal Church to the progress of grace
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in a single soul. It reveals the consistency of
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God's methods. The Kingdom of Christ, whether
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in the whole world or just in a particular heart, is rarely a
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straight lineup. The light sometimes shines
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brighter, then it grows obscure. Grace prevails, then it
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languishes, then it revives. But the general trajectory is
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always upward, always being built toward perfection.
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The church's periods of decline, like the one right before the
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flood, they mirror the times of believer, falls into spiritual
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coldness, but the overall design is always being moved toward
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completion by sovereign action. OK, so the next great step .8 is
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maybe the most visible victory over the consequences of the
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fall we've seen yet. The translation of Enoch.
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He was not, for God took him without ever experiencing death.
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This was profoundly important because it directly addressed
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the physical ruin of the fall. Souls had been saved and
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glorified. We talked about Abel's soul
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being in heaven, but the body was still subject to decay and
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death. That was the physical
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punishment. Enoch's translation was the
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first instance of bodily restoration.
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So it was necessary to show that Christ's redemption conquered
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not just spiritual death, but physical death and the grave
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itself. Exactly.
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Edwards reminds us that a perfect restoration from the
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ruins of the Fall has to include both soul and body.
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This translation was a living breathing pledge of the
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resurrection and glorification of all the elect's bodies at the
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end of the world. It assured the pre flood church
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that death was not the final word.
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And beyond that immediate physical victory, this act also
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significantly helped the clarity of revelation for the Church at
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that time. Oh for sure.
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In the Old Testament, information about the future
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state, about heaven and eternal rewards, it was generally pretty
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obscure compared to what we have in the New Testament, But here
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the church was favored with a concrete instance said right
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before their eyes. Their own brother, Enoch was
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taken up to heaven, body and soul, without dying.
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It provided a much clearer manifestation of the glorious
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rewards that were awaiting the faithful.
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It reinforced the idea that God's plan included a full
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physical restoration. It was in earnest a down payment
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of the future glory that Christ purchased.
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But then, following this high point of piety in Revelation, we
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get to the climactic threat in .9, the near total annihilation
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of the visible church, which then required its preservation
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in Noah's line. After those days of revival, the
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church, which was primarily maintained in the descendants of
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Seth, began to diminish rapidly. The crisis was existential.
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The core identity of the church, the sons of God, was corrupted
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and almost completely destroyed. And Edwards identifies the
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primary cause as the defection of the Church's own children
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through intermarriage with the wicked world, the daughters of
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men. The families that had maintained
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their covenant lineage and piety married those outside the
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covenant, and they were inevitably LED away from God.
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This defection caused the church, which had previously
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acted as a restraint on wickedness, to shrink
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dramatically. And then wickedness just surged
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without any restraint across the globe.
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The scripture is stark. It says every imagination of the
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thoughts of his heart was only evil.
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Continually, violence filled the earth.
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So Satan, seeing the church contained in this smaller and
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smaller group of people, basically made a violent attempt
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to wipe them out completely. It was a crisis of survival for
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the redemptive line. Edward sees this as Satan making
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a most potent attempt to devour the Church of God by corrupting
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the very seed from which the Messiah was promised.
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If he had succeeded, the promise of Genesis 3.15 would have
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failed. And this is where God's kingly
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rule acts decisively and sovereignly.
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He acted with wonderful saving grace to uphold the Church in
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that one single family, the line of Noah and Seth.
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The world was destroyed, but the Covenant line was maintained.
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The destruction of the Old World by the Flood, while it was a
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terrible act of judgment, was also an incredible act of
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redemptive preservation for the Church.
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The route had to be kept alive despite this global flood of
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apostasy that came before the literal flood of water.
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Yes, the blessing was in that route, and Christ the King
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ensured that the gates of hell could not prevail against it.
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This preservation against astronomical odds was a vital,
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necessary exercise of Christ's rule to ensure that the promised
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branch of righteousness, the Messiah, could eventually shoot
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forth. The flood serves as the great
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boundary marker for this first age, proving that Christ was
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governing history from the very start.
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You know, analyzing this period through Edwards framework really
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makes history feel so focused. In this one single stretch of
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time, from Adam's fall to the waters of the Flood, we see the
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entire mechanism of redemption launched and fully operational.
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It's all there. We saw Christ's immediate
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assumption of the mediator role in heaven, the first gospel
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promise delivered on earth, the institution of sacrifices as the
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standing. Then the saving of Adam and Eve
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and the glorification of Abel. Right.
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The first great outpouring of the Spirit, the increasing
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clarity of prophecy through Enoch, and the first instance of
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bodily glorification through his translation.
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It's all there in just a few chapters of Genesis.
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It's truly remarkable how Edwards shows that such a short
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section of Mosaic history is so exceedingly comprehensive and
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instructive about the plan of God.
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I think the concluding observation we gain from his
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analysis is about the efficacy of Christ's purchase.
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We see conversion, justification, glorification,
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and sovereign preservation having such sweeping effects so
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many ages before Christ ever lived and died in the flesh.
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The entire operating plan of redemption was launched and
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maintained by Christ the Mediator from the very moment
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humanity fell. And that leaves us with a final
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thought for you, the listener, to carry away with you.
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When the angels fell, God destroyed them immediately,
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without restraint, without providing a mediator.
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But when mankind fell, God's response was immediate restraint
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and the swift provision of the second Person of the Trinity as
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Mediator. The completely different
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response a. Completely different response.
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So what does this dramatic, immediate distinction tell you
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about the unique design and the special character of Christ's
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mediation for the human race? It's a good question to consider
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as you reflect on these sources. Thank you for joining us for
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this deep dive. We'll see you next time.