It has been nearly forty
three years since Robert Shank published his seminal work, Elect in the Son,
and that being ten years following his examination of perseverance, Life in theSon. Both are books that I have previously read in years past and recently
the topic of election sparked a renewed interest, on my part, of Shank’s
contribution. Dr. Shank suffered great rejection and whispered condemnation
among many of his Baptist brethren when he first published “Life”, made all the
more remarkable by the lack of any substantial repudiation of his exegesis and
conclusions. To this day I have not found a credible rebuttal of his work and I
hope that opinion is not shaded by any excessive Arminian sympathies on my
part. To that end I have undertaken a re-reading of both volumes. During the
first introduction to Dr. Shank, I was quite firmly in the Wesleyan camp and
his conclusion reinforced much of the theology I was accustomed to. Since then,
the classical Arminian position holds a greater sway theologically and this new
exploration of these great books should
give me an opportunity to better evaluation the conclusions and exegesis
presented.
As I started reading “Elect
in the Son”, the first chapter captured my attention for a couple of readings and
I want to record it here for future reference and consideration. The comments
struck as profound and worthy of meditation.
“Thy Kingdom Come”1
In a day when the foundations of society are crumbling, a
day of gathering storm and deepening gloom, a day of unprecedented peril in
which thoughtful men speak of the collapse of civilization and the possible
annihilation of cities and nations – even of mankind, the sovereignty of God is
an unfailing encouragement that lights the path of the just and affords
assurance to all the faithful, who take great comfort in the words of James in the
historic council of the church at Jerusalem: “Known unto God are all His works
from the beginning of the world” (Acts 15:18).
God, who has “declared the end from the beginning and from
ancient times things not yet done,” has said, “My council shall stand, and I
will do all my pleasure” (Isa. 46:10). He who “works all things after the council
of His own will” is at work in the world in these momentous times, moving inexorably
toward fulfillment of an eternal purpose that antedates creation and gives
meaning to human history. History, by divine appointment, is teleological, and the
sweep of human events, whatever the sound and fury, moves toward the appointed
end: “Thy kingdom come.”
Nothing in the course of events can alter the appointed
outcome. The unfolding of the days and years, whatever their number, ultimately
will issue in all that was foretold by the prophets of old, by our LORD, and by
His Apostles. The witness of history past, confirming “the prophetic word made
more sure” (2 Pet. 1:19), attests that the human events ever move toward the
inevitable denouement on which creation itself is predicated: “the coming of the
kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world”.
There is, of course, a sense in which the kingdom of God is
eternally present rather than prospective, coexistent with Him who “before the
mountains were brought forth or ever He had formed the earth and the world,
even from everlasting to everlasting, is God” (Ps. 90:2). But the kingdom of
God, as proclaimed and anticipated by both Jesus and the Apostles and the
prophets of old, is yet future and awaits its manifestation at the end of the age,
to appear in a moment of spectacular divine intervention at the coming of
Christ in power and judgment … but appearing also as the consummation of a long
process, as implied by many of our LORD’s parables
Why a long process? Why not, instead, instant kingdom? Could
not God, in the act of a moment, have created the everlasting kingdom He
purposed from eternity? Are not all things possible with God?
All things are indeed possible for God, but only within the limitations
of consistency with His own nature and being. God cannot lie, for example, nor
can He change, nor can He deny Himself. We may reverently assume that, for the kind
of kingdom He intends, God is following the only possible course: the process
of human history.
The process comprehends all that God has done, beginning
even before His mighty acts of creation when He “laid the foundations of the earth
and the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy”
(Job 38:4,7). It comprehends the creation of man in the image and likeness of
God and the entrance of sin into human experience in the disobedience of man to
the world and will of his Creator.
The process comprehends the moral self-discoveries and the redemptive
revelations and encounters experienced by the patriarchs of old and all the faithful
of their generations. It comprehends the experiences of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
and a nation descended from them, and the judges and kings and prophets who
appeared among them.
The process comprehends the redemptive mission of Jesus,
unfolded in His incarnation, life, ministry, death, resurrection, ascension,
and ultimate return in righteous judgment. It comprehends the labors of the Apostles
and the witness of the Church to Christ and His saving Gospel in all
generations until the coming of the King and the kingdom.
The process whereby God is creating the kingdom which He
purposed before the world began comprehends “all nations of men … on all the face
of the earth” (Acts 17:26) and involves every man. Human history in its
totality is the milieu in which the everlasting kingdom is being wrought … and
in which the election determined by God from before creation – an election
wholly identified with the kingdom – is being realized.
“Thy kingdom come” – the kingdom which was the concern of
Jesus in the days of His flesh, the burden of His preaching, the subject of
splendid promises and solemn warnings, and the central theme of all His
teachings from the beginning of His ministry to the time of His ascension (Acts
1:3). Thy kingdom come!
And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole
earth be filled with his glory. Amen, and Amen – Psalm 72:19
1 Elect in the Son,
Robert L. Shank, Bethany House, Bloomington, MN 1970, 1989, pp 21-23
2 comments:
This looks like an excellent book. Thank you for mentioning it.
This looks like an excellent treatise on the topic of election.
Thank you for mentioning it.
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