Instantaneous recreation

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

 

51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality (1 Cor 15:20-23,51-52).

Young-earth creationists subscribe to a kind of instantaneous creation, although that's staggered over six days, inasmuch as God instantly made things, but in stages. Serial instantaneous creation.

Critics of young-earth creation regard this as artificial. An ad hoc face-saving device to harmonize their chronology with the scientific evidence.

I’m not going to debate that particular issue, which I’ve discussed on other occasions. Instead, I’d note that in the myopic debate over Biblical protology, it’s easy to overlook a comparable situation in Biblical eschatology.

One of the things that will occur when Jesus returns is the instantaneous glorification of Christians who are alive at his coming. Sickly Christians will be restored. Elderly Christians will be rejuvenated.

Odds are, some Christian women will be pregnant at the Parousia. By implication, babies in the womb will be instantaneously glorified. Mother and child will both be glorified in situ. Although they were conceived in a fallen world, the babies will be born into what looks like an unfallen world. A fallen world that’s restored during their gestation. They will have no direct experience of sin. At most, their glorified Christian parents can tell them what life was like under the curse.

And it seems to me that that’s analogous to mature creation or apparent age. But in this case, instantaneous recreation rather than instantaneous creation.