As I’ve stated, I have been preaching through Paul’s letter to the Colossians. We are nearing the end of that letter, and Lord willing, once finished, we will begin a study through the book of Genesis, then, though this is quite some time away, we will move on to the Gospel of John. In planning this progression, my initial thought was this: begin with a book squarely focused on the centrality of Christ, both in Creation and New Creation. Then, move to Genesis, showing the outworking sovereignty of God through Creation, but particularly pick up on the beginnings of the unfolding revelation of the Gospel in Genesis 3:15. Then, move to the Gospel of John which again clearly portrays Christ as both Creator and New or Re-Creator, picking again on the Creation/Redemption themes of Genesis, thus providing a framework for all of Scripture.

All of this betrays some underlying hermeneutical presuppositions that I want to briefly expand upon. To begin with, we must all admit that we have certain hermeneutical principles by which we understand the text; we all have a hermeneutic. At its most basic level, a hermeneutic is simply the way we read and understand the text.

In laying out my hermeneutic, I want to start by saying that this is nothing more than a popular (I don’t know how popular though!) treatment of The Idea of Biblical Theology as a Science and as a Theological Discipline by Geerhardus Vos. Believe it or not, there was once a time when theology was considered the queen of the sciences; the pinnacle of knowledge. While this is certainly no longer the case, it presents an interesting starting point: consider biology. When we set a frog out on the dissecting table, it is the observer who establishes the quest, it is the observer who makes the incision, lives the lungs, etc. The object of study is passive to say the least. This could not be farther from the truth when it comes to theology. We must admit, that we can only know of God what He reveals of Himself to us. We are the finite struggling to comprehend the infinite. God is certainly not passive, in fact, He controls the process from beginning to end.

It is significant that God has chosen to act within the confines of human history. He does not reveal Himself to man all at once (nor could we comprehend if He did, like a burst of light after hours of darkness; our eyes must adjust gradually), rather, God reveals Himself progressively through Redemptive History (history as seen through the lens of God’s redemptive activity).

Yet we must exercise caution. When we think of progression, we also think of improvement. Think of the Wright Brothers and the airplane, or Henry Ford and the car for example. As history progresses, these objects also undergo significant improvement. Such cannot be the case with God’s revelation, because with God, there is no room for improvement upon the revelation itself. Rather, it is our understanding which “improves.” For example, picture yourself in a pitch-black fully-furnished room. Suddenly, a pin-prick in ceiling lets in a tiny beam of light. Gradually the furnishings and colors of the room become more visible as more light is let in. The room was always furnished, yet its our perception of the room which changes, not the room itself.

Putting this into practice, we look at Genesis 3:15 and we see nothing less than the Gospel itself. Here we see God promising that He will reverse the Fall, crushing the head of the serpent, and such is the Gospel. Gradually, we realize that this will be accomplished through a man who will be a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Judah, a descendant of David, prophet, priest and king, etc. In other words, we are given more information, which fills out our understanding. God’s revelation does not change, it is simply progressively revealed. The analogy is often used of an acorn or a flower; it is a flower even at it’s “seed” stage, it simply progressively reveals itself (grows out of itself).

Thus, there is an organic unity to all of Scripture. Whenever you come to a particular piece of revelation, you cannot fully understand it without also understanding its context within Redemptive History. It builds upon the previous revelation, but it also lays the groundwork for what follows.

The culmination is an approach which Augustine summarized as “The New Testament is in the Old concealed; the Old Testament is by the New revealed” and the key to it all is Christ. Christ becomes our lens for understanding all of Scripture because He is the fullness of God’s revelation, the beginning and the end. Christ then becomes the key to all of Scripture and all Scripture is interpreted through Him and the Cross.

• Read The Idea of Biblical Theology as a Science and as a Theological Discipline by Geerhardus Vos.
• Read Biblical Theology by Geerhardus Vos.
• Read According to Plan by Graeme Goldsworthy.
• Read Paul’s letter to the Colossians.
• Read the book of Genesis.
• Read The Gospel According to John.