Union with the Resurrected Christ: Eschatological New Creation and New Testament Biblical Theology

by G. K. Beale

Publisher:

Baker Academic

, 2023

Overview

Union with Christ is an important theological and practical concept that has received considerable attention in recent years. But not much consideration has been given to this union and its benefits in light of Jesus’s resurrection and ascension.

In this follow-up to his bestselling A New Testament Biblical Theology, G. K. Beale summarizes and expands on that work with an eye to fleshing out the theology and theological implications of the resurrection and ascension. Beale explains that Christ’s resurrection-ascension place him as the beginning of the eschatological fulfillment of the new creational kingdom. Specifically, Christ is the fulfillment of a cluster of 19 Old Testament end-time expectations, which Beale pictures as facets of a diamond that represent the resurrection-ascension. These eschatological realities attributed to Christ are imprinted on believers through dynamic union or identification with him. Through careful exegesis, Beale draws out important practical applications for everyday Christian living in the overlap of the old creation and the new.

Key Features

• Examines the theology and theological implications of the resurrection and ascension
• Explains that Christ’s resurrection-ascension place him as the beginning of the eschatological fulfillment of the new creational kingdom
• Explores 19 related Old Testament end-time expectations

Contents

• Introduction

Part 1: The Biblical-Theological Storyline Related to Resurrection, New Creation, and Union with Christ

• 1. The Biblical-Theological Storyline of the Inaugurated End-Time Resurrection and New-Creational Kingdom as a Framework for New Testament Theology, Part 1
• 2. The Biblical-Theological Storyline of the Inaugurated End-Time Resurrection and New-Creational Kingdom as a Framework for New Testament Theology, Part 2

Part 2: The Reality and Benefits of Fulfillment in Christ's Life, Death, and Especially Resurrection as the Beginning of the Eschatological New-Creational Kingdom

• 3. The Resurrected Christ as the Last Adam, the Son of God, and True Israel Who Is a Corporate Representative for His People, So That They Gain Adamic Sonship and Become True Israel
• 4. The Resurrected Christ as a Corporate Representative for the Believer as the Temple
• 5. The Resurrected Christ as a Corporate Representative for the Believer as True Israel
• 6. The Resurrected Christ as a Corporate Representative for the Believer as Wisdom, Righteousness (Justification), Sanctification, and Redemption
• 7. The Resurrected Christ as a Corporate Representative for the Believer as a King-Priest Who Endures through Tribulation
• 8. The Resurrected Christ as a Corporate Representative for the Believer as a Mission-Oriented Returnee from Exile
• 9. Christ and the Spirit: The Resurrected Christ's Identification with the Spirit as a Corporate Representative for the Believer's Spirit-Resurrected Existence
• 10. Christ and the Spirit: The Spirit's Work of Bringing People into Union with Christ
• 11. The Resurrected Christ's Achievement of Righteousness and the Believers' Identification with That Righteousness, Part 1
• 12. The Resurrected Christ's Achievement of Righteousness and the Believers' Identification with That Righteousness, Part 2
• 13. The Resurrected Christ's Glory and the Believers' Identification with That Glory, Part 1
• 14. The Resurrected Christ's Glory and the Believers' Identification with That Glory, Part 2: 2 Peter
• 15. The Believers' Sartorial Identification with the Resurrected Christ's Image and Definitive Separation from the World
• 16. The Believers' Identification with Christ's Resurrected New Life and Their Regeneration
• 17. The Believers' Identification with Christ's Resurrected New Life

Praise for the Print Edition

This volume captures Beale at his best. He creatively draws connections between texts across the canon to craft an attractive biblical-theological picture of God's revelation in Scripture. His focus on resurrection brings an emphasis much needed in today's theological landscape.

—Douglas Moo, Wheaton College

G. K. Beale contributes yet another study that would constitute a magnum opus for most authors--but which for him just adds to a substantial list of groundbreaking publications. Beale approaches union with Christ from fresh angles and with comprehensive breadth, exegetical rigor, and dozens of practical applications. I am not aware of another book that demonstrates so sweepingly the relevance of Christ's resurrection and ascension to believers' union with him in its rich benefits and inexhaustible glories.

—Robert W. Yarbrough, Covenant Theological Seminary

For years now, biblical scholars have stressed the participatory features in the New Testament authors' understanding of salvation and the Christian life. Building on his biblical theology tome, Beale pulls together the rich diversity of the New Testament to identify the central theme: believers become united with, participate in, identify with, and are incorporated into Christ in his resurrection even as they strive to live consistently with that reality. We fully share in what is his. Ultimately, coursing through the pages of Beale's study is a sense of the victory that Christ's own share in the new creation and the Spirit--a timely and powerful message.

—A. Andrew Das, Niebuhr Distinguished Chair and Professor of Religious Studies, Elmhurst University

Product Details

• Title: Union with the Resurrected Christ: Eschatological New Creation and New Testament Biblical Theology
• Author: G. K. Beale
• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Print Publication Date: 2023
• Logos Release Date: 2023
• Pages: 558
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Subjects: Bible. N.T. › Relation to the O.T; Bible. N.T. › Theology; Jesus Christ › Resurrection; Mystical union
• ISBNs: 9781540960429, 9781493437900, 9781493437917, 1540960420, 1493437909, 1493437917
• Resource ID: LLS:NNRSRRCTDBBLCTH
• Resource Type: text.monograph.biblical-theology
• Metadata Last Updated: 2023-07-18T14:47:23Z

About G. K. Beale

G. K. Beale (Ph.D., University of Cambridge) is Kenneth T. Wessner Professor of New Testament at Wheaton College Graduate School, Wheaton, Illinois, and coordinator of Wheaton's M.A. in Biblical Exegesis program. His books include The Book of Revelation (New International Greek Testament Commentary), 1-2 Thessalonians (The IVP New Testament Commentary Series), The Right Doctrine from the Wrong Texts? Essays on the Use of the Old Testament in the New, and The Temple and the Church's Mission: A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God.