Understanding the Connection between Creation and Redemption
Understanding the connection between creation and redemption is crucial to comprehending God's purposes for the human race. Collectively, God's acts of creation and redemption reveal his purposes for the human race (Wiles and Santer 124).
The Foundation for God's Aspirations
Creation and redemption serve as the foundation for all of God's aspirations for the human race. Even if creation and redemption interact, it's crucial to remember that, in accordance with the majority of Cappadocian claims, redemption cannot be more important than creation (Ambros et al. 158).
God's Purpose in Redemption
God seeks to attain through redemption whatever He was unable to do so through creation. It is true to say, therefore, that redemption has its main aim being the restoration or recovery of what God did not achieve by creation. It is also important to note that there is nothing new that redemption brings to the human race, but only restores to human beings whatever was initially put in them. Through redemption, therefore, God achieves His purpose in creation (Wilken 220).
Salvation and Wholeness through Christ
Apart from receiving God's salvation, it is essential for humans to give up themselves to God wholly. Through Christ Jesus, God was able to bring upon human beings salvation, in a bid to redeem them. Humanity is, therefore, through Christ, destined to be the form that God intended it to be. It is this aspect that supports the assertion that the created order of human beings was made whole in Christ. God, therefore, achieved in redemption, what was not initially achieved through creation. In this opinion, God's significance is not even measurable (Wiles and Santer 124). He holds the most critical roles in maintaining life, and in this sense, everything in this world depends on God. Everything manifests His goodness. Separation from God would, therefore, make the world lose all order, given the role that God holds as the controller of everything in it.
Works Cited
Ambro et al. “The Western Intellectual Tradition.” pp. 136-161.
Wiles, and Mark Santer. “Documents in Early Christian Thought.” pp. 122-130.
Wilken. “The Cappadocian Fathers (Mothers).” 1977, pp. 209-240.
