God's Sabbath with Creation

The biblical story is about more than sin and salvation. It is about the creator's purposes and the fulfillment of those purposes in the climactic revelation of God's glory in Sabbath with creation.Christ Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the one through whom all things are created and all things are fulfilled. We are creatures made in God's image, called to develop and govern the earth in service to God. The exercise of human responsibility in this age plays a major part in the revelation of God's glory. Every vocation matters for creation's seventh-day fulfillment: family, friendships, worship, civic responsibility, and our work in every sphere of life.The Son of God became one with us. He died for sinners while they still rebelled, and he was raised to life as the last Adam--the life-giving Spirit of the age to come. Christ is reconciling all things to God, including all that belongs to the responsibility of God's sixth-day royal priesthood. That is why God's promise in Christ is that those who die in the Lord will rest from their labors and their deeds will follow them.Jim Skillen is one of our best Christian thinkers today, a scholar we have long admired. He is, moreover, a top Christian political theorist who takes the Bible seriously in his academic work. And so it is a delight to read the fruit of his many years of wrestling with the scriptural text. He challenges an individualistic narrative of sin and salvation, and articulates a rich view of creation in fresh and surprising ways. Following Jesus means redirecting the whole of our creaturely lives to serve God, others, and the non-human creation in joyful anticipation of God's coming sabbath with creation. Highly recommended!--Craig Bartholomew, Director of Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics, and Senior Research Fellow, Tyndale House, Cambridge, UK--Michael Goheen, Theological Director of Missional Training Center, Phoenix, and Professor of Missional Theology, Covenant Theological Seminary, St LouisJames W. Skillen directed the Center for Public Justice from 1981 to 2009. He taught political philosophy and international relations at three Christian colleges from 1973 to 1982. He is the author/editor of fourteen books, including The Good of Politics: A Biblical, Historical, and Contemporary Introduction (2014) and A Covenant to Keep: Meditations on the Biblical Theme of Justice (2000).