I have come to conclude that one of the great failures of modern evangelical hermeneutic is missing the new world. A theology of a new and re-created world where the old system has been demolished and transformed is precisely what is missing. Many want the new without transforming the old. You simply cannot do that. The Bible is a story of a maturing bride. The Bride’s actions needed to be corrected and destroyed before the Bride could begin to be truly purified. The interpreter’first task is to understand the Old Covenant/Creation, adore its patterns and beauty, and then embrace it before you can move on to better things.
The New Covenant is greater than the Old not because it has less, but because it has more. New Creation means more wine, more joy, more celebration, greater worship, greater inclusiveness (male and female), greater diversity (Jews and Gentile), greater and sharper weapons (unto you and your children), and greater agenda (“to all the world”).
Without this motif holding together the Scriptures, we become historical zombies waking up from the dead without knowing how to live in the present wandering aimlessly. The hermeneutic of the Bible is rich and full. God has made all things new and he is transforming the cosmos with His Right Hand. He is not satisfied with incompleteness. He wants it all. Understanding and incorporating a New World hermeneutic will change everything.
