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Yesterday I quoted from the dutch classic by Abraham Kuyper, The Work of the Holy Spirit. There is another work that many English speaking readers may not be aware of: Promise and Deliverance by S.G. De Graaf. This was written in the first half of the C20th as teaching tool to assist in the teaching of young people and translated into English a number of years ago. This 4 volume set is in fact a brilliant excursion through the Old and New Testament looking at the centrality of Christ throughout Scripture; the promise of Christ in the Old Testament and the Deliverance of the promise in the New. Christian school teachers, parents and Sunday School teachers will find this a useful tool to stay out of the trap of moralising Biblical stories but rather remaining centred on the “main story”.
These books are available as PDFs at Paideia Books along with many other wonderful books – many from the dutch Calvinist tradition.
Below is a quote from the first chapter on Gen1-2:
1: The Kingdom of God
Genesis 1-2:3
In this first section of Genesis we are not just told that God created
all things. What is revealed to us first and foremost is the Kingdom of
God. At this point we cannot speak of this Kingdom as the Kingdom of
God’s grace, for by grace we usually mean the favor to which we have
lost all claim, i.e. the favor of the forgiveness of our sins. To avoid confusion,
therefore, we should speak here of the Kingdom of God’s favor.*
The institution of the Kingdom of God is central to this chapter. In
preparing the earth in six days, God repeatedly brings forth the higher
from the lower and makes the lower subservient to the higher. Finally He
creates man and makes him king (Gen. 1:26-8). With the creation of
earth’s intended king, God reaches the culmination of His work. We
hear something of His rejoicing when He says: “Let us make man in our
image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion.” These words
give us the impression that God is saying: “Now let Us make man. Now
We are reaching the climax of Our work.”
Travels from Ur 