“The consummation of God’s sovereign design for history is summarized in Habakkuk 2:14:
“The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (cf. Num. 14:21; Ps. 72:19; Isa. 11:9).
This consummation fulfills God’s original purpose for creation. In the beginning, God made Adam and Eve in His image in order that they might reflect His glory (Gen. 1:26; cf. 1 Cor. 11:7) and He appointed them to spread His glory through time (“be fruitful and multiply”) and space (“and fill the earth”) (Gen. 1:28).
By parenting a race of God-glorifying image bearers, Adam and Eve would serve the generational expansion of God’s glory. By filling and ruling the earth, the human race would serve the geographical expansion of God’s glory.
Though the fall despoiled this dual vocation, God restored and renewed His plan through the family of Abraham. At the time of the exodus, the children of Israel were appointed to bear the Lord’s glorious name “forever … throughout all generations” (Exod. 3:15)— generational expansion.
According to Psalm 72, the ultimate completion of this plan would come through the exaltation of the Davidic king (see esp. verses 17–19), which according to Isaiah’s vision of the latter days, would prompt the going forth of God’s word “from Jerusalem” (Isa. 2:3) to distant nations (Isa. 66:19)— geographical expansion.
In the Book of Acts, Luke asserts that the fulfillment of this ancient vision began with the apostolic mission, as Jesus’ authorized emissaries proclaimed the word of His glorious exaltation from Jerusalem throughout Judea to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8).
It is within the context of God’s sovereign plan to fill the world with His radiant splendor, by means of the exaltation of His anointed king and the generational and geographical expansion of His covenant people, that we come to appreciate the role of Holy Scripture in God’s unfolding kingdom:
The need to put God’s word into writing arises from the unlimited scope of the triune God’s sovereign purpose to manifest His glory through space and time coupled with the mortal limitations of God’s authorized speech agents, His prophets and apostles.”
–Scott R. Swain, Trinity, Revelation, and Reading: A Theological Introduction to the Bible and Its Interpretation (London; New York: T&T Clark, 2011), 53-54.
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