The Meaning of History

"...Before everything else, he [Paul] was the proclaimer of a new time, the great turning point in the history of redemption, the intrusion of a new world aeon. Such was the dominating perspective and foundation of Paul's entire preaching. It alone can illuminate the many facets and iterrelations of his preaching, e.g., justification, being-in-Christ, suffering, dying and rising again with Christ, the conflict between the spirit and the flesh, the cosmic drama, etc. The person of Jesus Christ forms the mystery and the middle point of this great historical redemptive revelation. Because Christ is revealed a new aeon been ushered in, the old word has ended, and the new world has begun." Anthony A. Hoekma, The Bible and the Future, p. 31