THE NEW CREATION
The new creation is an important feature of biblical eschatology. In fact, it is the ultimate goal of history. However, most Christians have a very limited understanding of the new creation and therefore are not able to really appreciate its glory and significance.
This lack of understanding is related to the fact that oftentimes non-postmillennial eschatologies do not fully appreciate the tremendous redemptive-historical transformation that Christ initiates in his incarnation. Premillennial eschatologies (including historic premillennialism, and the various types of dispensationalism, such as pre-tribulationism, mid-tribulationism, post-tribulationism, hyper-dispensationalism, mid-Acts dispensationalism, Acts 28 dispensationalism, pre-wrath rapture dispensationalism, and the several other views — though not including progressive dispensationalism) tend to postpone the effects of redemption to the end of history, after the historically discontinuous coming of Christ — which in dispensationalism occurs twice: in the rapture before the great tribulation and in the second coming at the end of the great tribulation and just before the millennium. Of course, dispensationalism is torn over the question of when the rapture will occur, pre-trib, mid-trib, post-trib.
Amillennial eschatology tends to remove the transformational blessings either to above or beyond history, either to heaven or to the consummational new earth.
Postmillennialism, however, expects Christ’s redemptive labor to have a transformational effect in time and on earth, continuous with present spiritual realities already set in motion by Christ.
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