Short of Glory: A Biblical and Theological Exploration of the Fall. Mitchell Chase. 2023. [May] 224 pages. [Source: Review copy]
First sentence (from the introduction): When a floating shelf fell from our living room wall, we heard multiple sounds at the same time.
Mitchell Chase's new book is an exposition of Genesis 3. He argues that a right understanding of Genesis 3--is essential to understanding all the rest--the Bible itself, the gospel message, life. He shows in his chapters HOW each paragraph/section of this chapter [Genesis 3] fits into the big picture. He doesn't just leave you hanging. He walks you through how a (right) understanding brings the rest of Scripture into focus, into clarity. These are key concepts, themes, doctrines. And the root--if not the ultimate fruit--are found in this opening section of Scripture.
Note: While the focus is clearly on Genesis 3. I'd argue that Genesis 1 and 2 are somewhat included/discussed as well. They provide context for Genesis 3. And Genesis 3 provides context for the rest of Scripture.
The chapters are:
Sacred Space
Two Trees
The God Who Walks
That Ancient Serpent
Taking and Eating
A Broken Covenant
Afraid and Ashamed
Salvation Through Judgment
Multiplication and Division
From Dust to Dust
The Mother of All Living
Garments from God
East of Eden
I found this a wonderful read. I would definitely recommend it. It isn't popular to talk about sin, the doctrine of sin, the consequences of sin, etc., but I think it is crucial to the gospel. Churches suffer when sin is either discounted (ignored) OR redefined in an UNbiblical way.
Quotes:
Problems and solutions must match. If you want to understand what the Gospel is about, what Jesus is about, what the cross achieves, then you must understand the nature of the problem they address.
One helpful and popular way to conceive of the Bible’s storyline is with four words: creation, fall, redemption, consummation.
We need the category of redemption in order to make sense of the biblical story. And yet we know that redemption isn’t something needed because of creation. The story of creation was about our good God making a good world. He didn’t make a broken world.
When we look around us and within us, a truth is clear: not all is well in God’s world and in God’s image bearers.
The word fall is shorthand for the rebellion and repercussions that began in the garden of Eden in Genesis 3. The fall is what happened to God’s creation, and it’s why there is a need for redemption. We live as fallen people in a fallen world. The hope of consummation tells us that the conditions of the fall are temporary.
To grow in our understanding of the Bible’s big story, we must think about the fall. We must know what happened, why it happened, and what followed.The events in Genesis 3 become a lens through which to read and understand the progressive revelation of God’s redemptive epic.
One way to tell the story of the Bible is with the theme of sacred space. Sacred space is given, lost, promised, and at last received again.The prophecy is that God will come to dwell with us and reign over us. The loss of Eden is not forever. The God who walked in Eden will be the God who seeks and finds and restores.
Before Eve went astray in her action, she went astray in her heart.
We cannot fully comprehend the horror of our spiritual condition, and our spiritual condition is the reason why. Our sin prevents us from seeing the scope and depth of our sin.
The impact of Genesis 3:15 on subsequent Scripture is profound and far-reaching. Bible readers will feel the reverberations of Genesis 3:15 all the way to the end of Revelation.
One way to conceptualize the drama of Scripture is to understand the role of Genesis 3 in the storyline. Throughout this book, we have reflected on the content of Genesis 3 in both its immediate context and its canonical context. We have tried to answer several questions along the way: what happened, what does it mean, and why does it matter?
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