Irons: the Son of God is "center stage" in the Bible's unfolding drama

"...what are the first three rules of good exegesis? Context, context, context. And what is the ultimate context of any given passage? The historical unfolding of the kingdom of God, from creation, to fall, to the promises, to the fulfillment of the promises in Christ, both already and not-yet. In other words, the key to good exegesis, and therefore to good systematic theology, is biblical theology.

"Furthermore, biblical theology is the key to understanding the Christological unity of Scripture. This is probably the number one difficulty that systematic theology faces. It is easy to fit passages into a preconceived logical system. It is much harder to figure out the Bible’s own system. Biblical theology helps us to see the Bible’s own system, which is not a timeless set of propositions (although it includes many), but the self-revelation of God in Christ. The Bible’s system is the unfolding drama of the kingdom of God, with the Son of God made flesh, crucified and risen, revealed in all his glory at the center of the stage." -- Lee Irons, Biblical & Systematic Theology