J. H. Bavinck. The Riddle of Life.Translated by Bert Hielema. Grand Rapids, MI. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 2016. Pp. 94. $20.00. For fallen man, life is a riddle that was, and that is, and that will continue to be.…
Jesus, John the Baptist, and Redemptive-History (Matthew 3)
As we read about in Matthew 3, John the Baptist breathed in an “atmosphere surcharged with the thought of the end.”[1] In his mind his baptism was the final opportunity before “water” would be eschatologically outmoded by “the Holy Spirit…
Life as the Enjoyment of the Covenant Communion Bond: The Tree of Life
True life is the enjoyment of the covenant communion bond in face-to-face fellowship with God in his holy kingdom. This is no invention on man’s part, but the God-given reality from the very beginning (Gen. 1–3). In a previous post we…
The Eschatological Aspect of the Pauline Conception of Life
The word “life” (ζωή) or “eternal life” (ζωή αἰώνιος) is no general term for Paul to describe all people with beating hearts on earth, but the “most frequent mould into which the content of the coming age is cast” (Vos, The Pauline Eschatology,…
Having Your Treasures in God: Geerhardus Vos on the Eternal State
Teaching on the eternal state of the world to come may sound from the outset to be speculative and useless for practical living in the present. How can heavenly contemplation help me raise my children or motivate me at work…
The Relationship between Church and Kingdom according to Geerhardus Vos
The relationship between the kingdom of God and the church, in the words of Geerhardus Vos, is a “delicate and eminently practical question.”[i] In fact, different ecclesiologies have even arisen because of the various ways the church has construed this…
Knowing Nothing Except Jesus Christ (Part 1): Reductionistic or Cosmic?
While ministering at the church in Corinth, Paul resolved to know nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2). The tactic sounds admirable and rings as worthy of imitation in the ear of the believer, but what exactly did…
Already Living in the World to Come
Geerhardus Vos speaks of the Christian as “a peculiar chronological phenomenon.”[1] As is often the case with Vos, we need to reflect for a moment on what he means—especially since he’s speaking about us here. The phrase comes in his discussion on…
The Olivet Discourse
Episode 38 deals with Jesus’ teachings to his disciples in Matthew 24 and Mark 13 commonly called the Olivet Discourse. Your hosts, Rob and Bob, following up on their series considering Dispensationalism and jump right into a familiar, but often times…
The Seventh Day: Strengthening Our Hope for the Eschaton
“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he…
