The Society for the Advancement of Ecclesiological Theology

February 14, 2011 by Matthew Mason

The Triune Acts Ad Extra: Creation

The work of the Trinity in creation is shaped by the truth of the maxim, opera ad extra trinitatis indivisa sunt, as well as by the ordered relationships within the immanent Trinity.

Thus,

1. Each Person of the Trinity is involved in creation and providence —Father (Gen 1:1; Matt 10:26-30; 11:25; Rom. 8:28;1 Cor 8:6), Son ( Jn. 1:1-3; Col. 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:2-3), Spirit (Gen. 1:2; 2:7; Ps. 33:6; 104:30).
2. The Father is the origin of the work of Creation—all things are from him and for him (1 Cor 8:6)—the Trinity creates according to his will.  He is also the telos of creation: all things are created for him; the time will come when the Son will hand all things over to the Father and God will be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:28).  Just as Son and Spirit proceed from the Father, and ever and eternally return to him in love, the creation-redemption pattern of exit from and return to God, finds its source and goal in the Father.
3. The Son is the form of creation—all things are created in him (Col. 1:16); the act of creation is an analogue of the perfect begetting of the Son; and, as he himself possess all the Father’s perfections, as the image, the radiance of the Father’s glory, and the exact imprint of his being, so the creation participates in his perfections in a way appropriate to its nature as creature.
4. The Spirit, as the one in whom the Son is eternally begotten, who nevertheless also proceeds from Father and Son, is the perfecter of creation, who enters into creation, hovering over the surface of the deep, and moves it day by day from one stage of glory to another.  His work is fundamentally teleological and eschatological.  This means, as we shall see, that his work is supremely Christological in focus.

Categories: Creation | General | Systematic Theology | Trinity