As I understand it てある is rather different to ている in that it refers to a
resultant state rather than an ongoing action.

However I wonder, what then is the practical difference between a resultant
state and a past action?

For example,

> 昼ごはんを作ってある (昼ごはんは作ってある?)
>
> 昼ごはんを作った

both mean “I made dinner” right? Is there any major difference or is it some
small nuance?

Would てある not apply if you were speaking of something you did last week and
thus the dinner has since been eaten whilst it would work if you were speaking
of the dinner you're about to eat?
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grammar verbs tense subsidiary-verbs aspect
What's the difference between ～てある and ～た (past form)?
First of all both ている and てある can refer to a resultant state, the difference
is that てある can only be used with transitive verbs and thus refers to the
object's change of state.

昼ごはんを作ってある refers to the new state of 昼ごはん rather than the action itself.
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ている and てある _both_ have one possible meaning of resultant state, but the past
form of a verb on its own doesn't. In your example with 作った and 作ってある, 作った
only means that food was made. The action took place, and the details of what
happened after the completion of that action are not explained. Furthermore,
the subject of this will be the person or whatever entity that made the food.
The food itself is secondary to the situation.

With 作ってある, on the other hand, is more so about the food itself. If we were to
say ご飯はもう作ってある, then we mean to say that the food has already been prepared,
and it's _still_ in its state of preparedness.

To give a more concrete example:

  * 帰ってきてご飯を作った。 (When I got home I made food.)
  * 帰ってきたらご飯が作ってあった。 (When I got home dinner was already made (and ready to be eaten))

Note the particles as well. When we're talking about _only resultant state_
and not the "preparation" meaning of てある, you cannot use を with it, so
ご飯を作ってある will not be the resultant state of having made dinner like you
suggest in your example. The pattern ～を～てあるonly means that something was done
in preparation.

For example:

  * レストランの予約をしてある。 (The reservation for the party is made (in preparation for said party).

Compare this to パーティーの予約をした。 You made the reservation, but that's "it" in
terms of the information being emphasized.

Please read [this article](http://home.alc.co.jp/db/owa/jpn_npa?sn=67) if you
can for more explanation about the particles.
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answer
> 1)「昼ごはんを作った/作りました。」= "I/Someone cooked lunch."

↑ Plain past.

> 2)「昼ごはんを作っていた/作っていました。」= "I/Someone was cooking lunch."

↑ Past progressive.

> 3)「昼ごはんを作っている/作っています。」 = "I/Someone is cooking lunch."

↑ Present progressive.

> 4)「昼ごはんを作ってある/作ってあります。」 = "I/Someone cooked lunch (some time ago and it is
> ready to eat.) "

↑ Resultant state. Lunch has already been cooked but it has not been eaten.
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I seem to remember you said you were relatively new learner. So, before giving
an answer and addressing the example you give, perhaps I should say that your
question touches some of the most difficult but ultimately unavoidable parts
of Japanese grammar to grasp if, like me, you are not a linguist and studying
Japanese is the first time you have had to understand the difference between
say a transitive and intransitive verb.

I have given a set of sentences below which illustrate the difference between
てある、ている、〜た and the past forms but it sounds like the most important thing is
to understand てある, which is hopefully illustrated but the following two
sentences:

> ビールを冷やしてある | The beer has been chilled.  
>  ビールが冷えている | The beer is chilled.

The important point to grasp is that although both sentences accurately
describe the current state of the same bottle of beer,

the first sentence, which uses the transitive verb + てある, tells us that the
beer was at one time "warm" (which is not unusual in my country, the UK, where
we are famous for drinking our beer warm) but, someone took action and chilled
it.

In the second sentence the intransitive verb is used and we are told the beer
is chilled but we are not told if it was ever warm or if somebody took steps
to chill it.

Also, as pointed out by someone else, the 〜てある form is not used with
intransitive verbs.

Now, if you understand the difference between transitive and intransitive
verbs and everything covered so far in this answer then I would say we've
covered 90% of your question and only the hardest 10%, which requires you
understand the nuances of the 〜ている form, remains.

This is explained very well in the paper recently cited by Snailplane, **["A
Study of "V-te iru" in Japanese by Taeko
Tomioka"](http://homepage3.nifty.com/park/aspect.htm)** but as this can take
sometime and I think you said you were a beginner, it might be tactically
sensible to;

(1) learn and practice using the examples of transitive/intransitive pairs &
〜てある given in your text book and  
(2) go through the examples below and when you have time return to the paper
or take a look at some of the other related questions on this site.

**Example sentences to illustrate the difference between てある、ている、〜た etc**  
_[explanatory comments are in sq. parentheses]_

> ビールを冷やす | I (will) chill the beer. [plain / future]  
>  ビールを冷やした | I chilled the beer. [past, perfect]  
>  ビールを冷やしてある | The beer has been chilled. [by me or another undisclosed
> person]  
>  ビールが冷えている | The beer is chilled. [subject has changed (= Resultative
> state)]
>
> And then, (そして);
>
> ビールを暖める | I (will) warm up the beer. [plain / future]  
>  ビールを暖めている | I am warming up the beer. [Progressive / Continuative state]  
>  ビールを暖めた | I warmed up the beer. [past, perfect]  
>  ビールが暖めてある | The beer has been warmed up [by me / someone]
>
> ＝＞ As a result (その結果)
>
> ビールが冷えたが 今、 | The was chilled but now,  
>  もう冷えていない。 | it is not chilled anymore.

**Your example**  
Finally, let's apply this to the example you give:

> 昼ごはんを作ってある | My dinner has been prepared (~made)  
>  昼ごはんを作った | I prepared (~made) my dinner.

In the first sentence we are told somebody prepared your dinner but not who
(although you may be able to infer this from the context). In the second
sentence we are told that you prepared your dinner (past).

If you have grasped the nuances of the 〜ている then you might infer from the
first sentence that your dinner was ready and waiting to be eaten but not from
the second sentence which just states somebody prepared it (past tense).

(Note: If you wanted to emphasize to somebody that you had prepared your
dinner and it was now ready and waiting to be eaten and for some reason you
did not want to use the 〜てある form, then you might say 「僕が昼ごはんを作っているけど・・」but
before going there it might be better to study the 〜ている further.)

**Additional note** :  
I have just noticed my first two sentences are also used by Hanaoka McGloin in
"A students' guide to Jse Gmmr". She tells us that:

"[The first sentence] could be used when one is having a party and tells a
friend that beer has been chilled and is ready to go. A wife, on her husband's
return, on the other hand, could utter either [sentence]. In such a case, the
difference is a matter of focus. The [first sentence] would imply that the
beer was especially done for him. [The second] on the other hand, states the
fact matter-of-factly."
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answer