The New Creation
There is a theme running throughout the New Testament, especially in Paul’s letters, that believers in Christ constitute a new humanity, a new class of human beings, who live between the ages. The current age is that of the old world order, which is passing away. The coming age will begin when God’s kingdom is established on earth. Through our union with Christ, we are called to participate in His divine nature and taste the power of the age to come.
2 Peter 1:3-4 (NIV) “...His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
Despite this truth, we still face the disorder, chaos, sickness, and death present in a fallen, unbelieving world. Jesus is with us in this tension by the presence of His Spirit, partnering with us to advance the kingdom of heaven before His final return.
Humanity, as those made in God’s image, have always been “Plan A.” Everything in Creation was originally brought into existence for mankind to steward and enjoy as we lived in intimacy with God. Our original purpose was to rule and reign alongside Him in the Garden of Eden, tending to His Creation. Such is God’s love for mankind! This privilege to rule and reign with God was forfeited with the sin of Adam, but has been restored through Christ, the “second Adam.” Christ is the beginning of the new creation order.
Where does Paul’s concept of the “new creation” come from? The early church believed that Jesus was God incarnate. The incarnation of God in Jesus means that the Creator has stepped into His own creation in order to redeem it. In Colossians, Paul tells us that all things in heaven and on earth were created in and through Jesus. He is the eternal sustainer of all things.
Colossians 1:16-17 (NIV) “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
When Jesus went to the cross and died as Creator and Sustainer, it marked the beginning of the end of the ages. The fallen creation order, including all things in heaven and on earth, went with Him into His death. His resurrection thus holds the promise of all things in heaven and on earth becoming fully redeemed and restored. The world in its present form is passing away, making way for a “new heaven” and a “new earth” that will be fully consummated at Christ’s return.
The Bible tells us in Romans 5:12 that “sin entered the world through one man.” The Greek word Paul uses for “world” in this passage is kosmos, which implies the entire creation order - not just humanity. It is God’s intent to restore and redeem all of the creation order from sin’s infection. Jesus is God’s rescue mission not just for humanity, but for the entire creation order.
John 3:16-17 (NIV) “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
The Greek word for “world” in this passage is the same word Paul uses in Romans 5:12. Jesus is in the business of redemption, and that includes the redemption of the entire cosmos. The resurrection of Jesus was the beginning of a new heaven and a new earth. His plan begins with us, the “firstfruits” of the “new creation.” Just as it was in Eden, God’s plan for the entire cosmos begins with humanity! Paul corroborates this idea in Romans 8.
Romans 8:18-21 (NIV) “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.”
Like us, all of creation has been subjected to the tension of life between the ages and, like us, creation is waiting for the final unveiling of liberty and glory that Christ’s second coming will bring. Unlike other elements of creation, however, Paul tells us that we have the “firstfruits” of the Spirit. The “firstfruits” are the beginnings of the experience of heaven on earth. They are the ability to participate in the divine nature of Christ and the powers of the age to come, which help us live victoriously in a world still marred by the effects of sin. We are able to live in and experience the world as Jesus does. In Christ, we have already become spiritual members of the new creation.
James 1:18 (NIV) “He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV) “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
We have already become spiritually united with God, born again into a new life through the risen Christ. In Him, we have become a new type or class of human that partners with God to express Christ and advance His kingdom on earth. Although we live in the tension of the “already, but not yet” in regards to this kingdom we must choose to focus on the “already” rather than the “not yet” if we are to live powerful, victorious lives as Christians.
