by Andre Rabe of Hear Him on Friday, 22 April 2011 at 22:13
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What does creation have to do with redemption? What is the new creation and the new birth? When does the old stop and the new begin? How is the new creation related to the old creation … and what is the difference between them? Did God leave His rest to re-create? Did He make a mistake with His first attempt at creation? These are some of the question we’ll begin to answer in this writing.
The writers of the New Testament often speak of creation in the same breath as redemption.
John starts his version of the gospel making sure that his audience understands that the God he speaks about is the God who created all things and through whom all things exist.
“The original, authentic Word was face to face with God from the very beginning. God Himself is the content of this communication - revealing His personal presence and unique expression in all that exists.
In fact there is nothing original or innovative outside of Him! He is the only Creator and the source of all inspiration and creativity. Everything that is, has ‘Made by God’ stamped on its existence.
(John 1:1-4 Translated by Andre Rabe)
When Paul explores the scale of reconciliation in one of his most powerful writings, he starts with reminding us about the person we are dealing with - the Creator of all things:
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (Col 1:15-20)
The psalmist said it this way: “The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,” Ps 24:1
So how is redemption connected with creation?
The Creator has not forsaken His creation.
The Creator has not given up on His creation.
He has not renounced His declaration that what He made is good.
God believes that everything He made can be saved.
Evil did not obliterate God’s original creation. Evil did not succeed in perverting creation to such an extent that it was not worth saving. Evil could twist, pervert and suppress what God created, but it could not utterly corrupt it.
God still sees a value, in fallen creation, which is worth pursuing and paying the utmost price for.
The new creation is nothing less than God’s affirmation of the original creation.
In the new creation God declares that what He made originally was not a mistake, that creation is worth renewing and restoring.
When God finished creation, He entered His rest on the seventh day - an eternal day. (All the other days have a beginning and an end, the seventh day has no end) Heb 4 also reveals that God ceased from all His work, entered His rest and has never left that rest.
God did not become dissatisfied with what He made and consequently started working on a brand new plan for something that never existed before. The new creation was not another act of creating or work which required God to stop resting and start creating again. God is satisfied with what He originally created and confidently waits for its return to His original design.
God is not nervous about what He made … He is not anxious about your life. What He imagined originally when He first thought of you, is still His only reference to who you are. Agree with God and be at peace.
Let’s look at one of the most popular scriptures regarding the new creation: 2 Cor 5:14-17
“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them”
I want to specifically focus on verse 17: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
The ‘if’ in this sentence has often been seen as a conditional ‘if’. But Paul uses this ‘if’ as a conclusion, not as a condition. See for instance Rom 8:31 as well: If God is for us, who can be against us? Can you see that the ‘if’ is a conclusion … not a condition?
Also notice the word ‘therefore’. Whenever you see the word ‘therefore’, ask, what is it there for. You see verse 17 is the conclusion of verse 14-16 in which Paul makes it as clear as can be that all where included in the death of Christ. That is why Paul can no longer look at any man from a human point of view. History recorded the death of one man, but eternity saw humanity included in that event.
The word ‘new’ was translated from ‘kainos’ and refers to that which is new, especially in freshness and age. In other words that which has not been affected by time.
The word ‘creation’ was translated from ‘ktisis’. Strongs define it as: original formation, building, creation, creature, ordinance. It comes from the word ‘ktizō’ which Strongs defines as follows:
Probably akin to G2932 (through the idea of the proprietorship of the manufacturer); to fabricate, that is, found (formoriginally): - create, Creator, make.
It is also interesting to note that ‘any man’ can also be translated ‘any thing’.
The new creation, therefore, is the original creation that was found again by its founder and cleansed from the affects of time, renewed and refreshed.
The old creation is also the original creation, but in a state of decay as it was subjected to corruption.
In the same way as there is only one Creator, there is only one creation.
This one original creation has been in different states, namely ‘old’ or corrupted by the events in time, and ‘new’ or cleansed from the decay of time and restored to its authentic glory.
There is no such thing as an evil creation - evil never created anything.
The only thing Satan can give birth to, is lies.
In His death He did the unthinkable, He reached back into the irreversibility of time and loosened the grip of corrupting events from His creation. He reaches back into timeless eternity and restores the first creation to a place of blameless innocence, without a trace of decay or any evidence that it was ever touched by sin.
When the Word became flesh, when the Creator became a creation, the relation between them fundamentally changed. This act of incarnation, in which the Creator embraces his creation, in which God unites Himself with humanity, is the beginning of reconciliation and the end of hostility. Incarnation is how God releases His creation from corruption and affirms once again that what He made is good … when He said man is His image and likeness, He meant it.
I’m sure you have often heard this scripture used in the context of individual conversion, to show how a person’s life changes when they meet Christ. And I can understand that. When we look at the mess in which we lived before Christ and the peace we received when we received Him, this verse makes a lot of sense. However, the new creation has a larger context and relevance than your individual life and experience. God sees the universal renewal of all that exists to His authentic thought before the fall. We can individually participate in that renewal … but the new creation is a larger event that your individual decision.
The new birth.
When we understand the new creation, it is not difficult to understand the new birth. The new testament uses the words ‘born again’ only in the book of Peter! John 3 actually speaks about born from above. The word which some bibles translated ‘again’ is the Greek word ‘anōthen’ which means: from above; by analogy from the first; by implication anew: - from above, again, from the beginning (very first), the top. As with the new creation, this refers to a renewal, a restoration of the original.
Let’s have a look at these verses in detail. John 3 speaks of two births - what is born of flesh and what is born of spirit, our natural birth and our spirit birth. He refers to these births in different ways, namely: the spirit birth is also referred to as ‘born from above’, and the natural birth is also referred to as born of water - the natural womb from which we came.
Many sermon’s have been preached on ‘you must be born again’ as if this is something a person can do. However, in the same passage Jesus says: “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” As little as you contributed to your natural birth, as little you are capable of contributing to your spirit birth.
Jesus is stating a fact to Nicodemus: to see the kingdom of God, to even have an appetite for spiritual things, you have to have a spirit dimension … a part of you that has its origin ‘from above’
All men have spirits. There are multitudes of scriptures that show that all men have a spirit.
In Gen 6:3 God says that the life within flesh is His spirit! : “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.”
Num 16:22 (and others) refers to God as “the God of the spirits of all flesh”.
Job 27:3 calls man’s breath ‘the spirit of God is in my nostrils’
There are too many to mention. The truth is that man has a spirit dimension, a part that originates ‘from above’.
But when and how does this renewal happen? What is the basis and beginning of this new creation, this new birth?
“By His boundless mercy we have been born again to an ever-living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” 1 Pet 1:3
“You have been regenerated (born again), not from a mortal origin (seed, sperm), but from one that is immortal by the ever living and lasting Word of God.” 1 Pet 1:23
Jesus came to remind us that we have a greater, and more valid identity than flesh. In His death He brings to judgement that identity of man that was tarnished by sin - the events in time. He reaches into that eternal realm, where the blueprint of man’s design was preserved, and in His resurrection, the new creation begins. He was raised because of our justification.
What He accomplished is reality. Our appeal to man, is to enter into God’s reality. In Colossians this redemption is described as being transferred out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the son of His love. Can you see how the new birth, is just like the new creation - it is the original creation that is rescued from the decay and chaos of the kingdom of darkness.
Our decision for Christ only has substance because of God’s decision for us. Our faith is simply entering into - saying yes - to what God already believes to be true.
As with the original creation, all Adam could do was to open his eyes to the perfection and completion of what God had done already, even so with redemption, our only contribution is to open our eyes to the perfection and completion of the salvation He achieved for us, with us and in us even before we were aware of it.
Hosea prophesies of the death and resurrection of Christ as follows: “After two days He will revive us (quicken us, give us life); on the third day He will raise us up that we may live before Him.” God was indeed in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.
What He accomplished is reality and it is complete. The future holds a further unveiling and manifestation of this reality … but the event that made it real was the life, death and resurrection of Christ.
“That's why I don't think there's any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what's coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.
All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it's not only around us; it's within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We're also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don't see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.”
Rom 8:18-25 MSG
Waiting for the full manifestation of these truth is not something that leaves us with a sense of lack in the present. No … this is a joyful expectation … a joy bursting forth in how we live life now.
4I continually thank my God for you because of the grace of God which is given you in Christ Jesus, 5that you are enriched by Him in every possible way, in all the fullness of what can be known and understood and being able to express it fully. 6Just as the evidence of Christ was confirmed within you - you have within yourselves the proof that He is! 7You don’t lack anything - you are fully qualified. You have every reason to expect the Lord Jesus Christ to be made visible through you. 8Who also confirms your blamelessness to the uttermost degree in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ( 1 Cor 1:4-8 a translation from the original by Andre Rabe)
You have every reason to expect the Lord Jesus Christ to be made visible through you!
