Stephen Jones — Antropologie
b2 — The Restoration of All Things
Heersersmandaat: Gen. 1:26 als grondslag van Adams autoriteit
Jones situeert het heersersmandaat als het startpunt van alle gedelegeerde autoriteit op aarde:
“In Gen. 1:26 we read, ‘Then God said, Let us make man in our own image, according to our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’ This was the dominion mandate given to man, and it was the point where man’s authority began, operating under the sovereignty of God.” — Ch.6
Psalm 8:6 herhaalt dit: “Thou hast put all things under his feet.” Jones beschouwt dit als het vaakst geciteerde Schriftgedeelte in het Nieuwe Testament en daarmee als een van de meest fundamentele concepten:
“In fact, Psalm 8:6 is the most often quoted Scripture in the New Testament. For this reason it ought to be seen as one of the most important concepts to study.” — Ch.5
Interpretatie: Het heersersmandaat fungeert als structureel raamwerk voor Jones’ gehele antropologie en soteriologie. Verlossing is geen willekeurige genade, maar herstel van een legitiem mandaat dat juridisch verloren ging.
De val en de mens: Adams zonde als schuldslavernij
Jones beschrijft de val als een juridische transactie conform de wet van Mozes (Ex. 22:3):
“Sin, of course, made man a debtor in the eyes of the law, and so he was ‘sold’ into bondage as ‘slaves of sin’ (Rom. 6:17). With him was sold his wife, his children (descendants), and his entire estate, which was the whole earth.” — Ch.6
“When Adam was ‘sold’ into bondage, his children were sold also, along with his entire estate (‘creation’). Thus, Jesus came to redeem that which He had owned but which later had been sold according to the divine law.” — Ch.7
Jones benadrukt de wet van het hoofdschap (Law of Headship) als reden waarom Adams beslissing de gehele schepping raakte:
“Even as Adam’s sin brought death to ALL men and subjected the entire creation to vanity (Rom. 8:20), so also Christ’s righteousness brought life to ALL men and set the entire creation free.” — Ch.5
“‘Creation was subjected to vanity not willingly,’ that is, apart from its own will or choice or decision. It was adversely affected through Adam’s sin, not for any sin of its own.” — Ch.5
Interpretatie: De mensheid is niet schuldig aan Adams zonde uit eigen keuze, maar draagt de consequenties ervan als onderdeel van zijn juridische estate. Dit is consistent met de imputatieleer uit b1 (Creation’s Jubilee).
Erfzonde en natuur: sterfelijkheid via Rom. 5:12
Jones handhaaft zijn kernthese uit Creation’s Jubilee en werkt deze verder uit via een exegetisch argument over Rom. 5:12:
“Paul explains in Romans 5 that Adam’s sin was imputed to all of us. This means that we were all held accountable for Adam’s sin, as if we had done it. We were legally guilty, and so all men received the penalty for Adam’s sin. That penalty was death, or mortality.” — Ch.5
“Most translations, beginning with Jerome’s Latin Vulgate, say ‘for that all sin’ (KJV) or ‘because all sinned’ (NASB), as if to say that we became mortal because we sinned. This is incorrect. We sin because we are mortal, not the other way around.” — Ch.5
Over Jeromes vertaalfout:
“When Jerome translated the Latin Vulgate around 400 A.D., he rendered the last phrase of Rom. 5:12, ‘because all have sinned’ instead of ‘on which all sinned.’ The Jerome Biblical Commentary, page 307, admits that this translation has a serious problem by making Paul contradict himself within the same verse.” — Ch.5
Twee soorten dood als sleutel:
“The translators misunderstood Paul because they thought Paul had made a mistake… Very few realized that Paul was talking about two kinds of death: the first being the result of Adam’s sin, and the second being the result of our own sin.” — Ch.5
Interpretatie: [SPANNING met eerdere bron] — dit is een verdieping van b1, niet een tegenspraak. In b1 werd het onderscheid eerste/tweede dood geïntroduceerd; in b2 wordt de exegetische basis ervan uitgewerkt via de Griekse frase eph ho.
De mensheid als Adams nakomelingen: deel van de te verlossen erfenis
Jones stelt dat de mensheid niet slechts mede-schuldigen zijn, maar juridisch onderdeel van wat Adam verloor en wat Christus terugkocht:
“Adam lost his authority over the earth through sin, at which point the earth was given authority over him… Getting back to our original subject, Adam lost his authority over the earth through sin.” — Ch.6
“Jesus came as the last Adam to reverse the curse and pay the full debt that Adam could not pay. In doing so, He redeemed not only Adam, but his wife and children (descendants) and the entire estate (the creation). Everything that was lost in Adam is redeemed in Christ.” — Ch.5
Jones citeert Jezus’ gelijkenis (Matt. 18:25) om de omvang van Adams verlies te schetsen:
“But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children AND ALL THAT HE HAD, and repayment to be made.” — Ch.5
En de gelijkenis van de schat (Matt. 13:44):
“In verse 38 Jesus said that ‘the field is the world.’ We know from Exodus 19:5 that Israel was God’s peculiar treasure. Jesus Himself is the ‘man’ in the parable, who searches and finds the lost sheep… So Jesus found Israel, and in order to obtain that ‘peculiar treasure,’ He purchased the field—THE WORLD.” — Ch.5
Interpretatie: De mensheid als geheel is de “estate” van Adam — niet slechts de erfgenamen van een gevallen natuur, maar juridisch onderdeel van wat verkocht werd en wat teruggekocht wordt. Dit geeft de verlossing een universeel bereik dat in de wet verankerd is.
Herstel van de mens: Christus als kinsman-redeemer
Jones introduceert het onderscheid tussen “kopen” en “verlossen” als theologisch sleutelbegrip:
“You can purchase anything, but you can redeem only that which you once owned.” — Ch.7
Christus had drie vereisten voor het verlossingsrecht:
Recht (juridisch):
“A kinsman was given the right of redemption (Lev. 25:47-49), as long as he had sufficient money to pay the debt… The kinsman’s redemption right takes precedence over the slave-master’s desire to keep the slave in his possession.” — Ch.7
“Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.” (Heb. 2:14) — Ch.7
Middel (bloedprijs):
“Jesus therefore had the MEANS to redeem all of creation, and as a near Kinsman, he also had the lawful RIGHT of redemption.” — Ch.7
Wil (liefde):
“The only serious question remaining is this: Did Jesus actually WANT to redeem all of creation, or, as Calvinism teaches, is he content to redeem only a few items which He purchased by His blood?” — Ch.7
“The law of redemption does allow Him as a Kinsman-Redeemer to claim all that He purchased. There is nothing unjust in this.” — Ch.7
De eindtoestand:
“And when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, that God may be all in all.” (1 Cor. 15:28) — Ch.6
“God will not force this redemption upon them, in spite of His love. But He knows that in the end, after the time of redemption has run its course, and after all sin has been judged during that time, He will invoke eminent domain over all creation by the law of Jubilee.” — Ch.7
Morele verantwoordelijkheid: de gelovigen als toekomstige rechters
Jones verbindt de roeping van de gelovige direct aan het herstel van Adams mandaat:
“Paul alludes to this in 1 Cor. 6:2 and 3, when he says, ‘Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world? … Know ye not that we shall judge angels?‘” — Ch.1
“In past ages God has been training judges for the age to come, that they might partake of the Elijah ministry to ‘restore all things,’ as Jesus said.” — Ch.1
De grondslag van de ambassadeurstaak:
“What is our message? It is ‘the word of reconciliation.’ We are to tell the world that God is ‘not imputing their trespasses unto them.‘” (2 Cor. 5:19) — Ch.1
Interpretatie: Morele verantwoordelijkheid in Jones’ systeem heeft een eschatologische dimensie: de gelovige is in training als rechter voor het komende tijdperk, niet slechts een ontvanger van verlossing. Dit verbindt de anthropologie direct aan de ecclesiologie.
Imago Dei als grondslag van het heersersmandaat
Jones behandelt het beeld van God in Ch.6 als de basis voor de gedelegeerde heerschappij:
“When God created all things, He pronounced it ‘good’ at each stage of creation and then ‘very good’ at the end (Gen.1:31). Sin was not built into creation but was a later invasion, so to speak.” — Ch.6
“In my view, sin is temporary. Because it had a beginning, it also will have an end. The whole idea of ‘restoration’ implies that history is the process by which God is showing us the results of sin before finally restoring all things under His feet as it was at the beginning.” — Ch.6
Interpretatie: Jones verbindt imago Dei niet expliciet aan een theologische definitie van het “beeld,” maar functioneel aan de heerschappijstructuur van Gen. 1:26-28. Het herstel van de mens is het herstel van dat beeld in zijn functionele dimensie.