God and New Creation

2. THE CHRISTIAN TRADITION
1. Jesus LIVED/DIED Incarnation & Crucifixion
2. Jesus was BURIED
3. Jesus was RAISED Resurrection
4. Jesus was WITNESSED/EXALTED Ascension
5. Jesus is COMING AGAIN 2nd Coming
6. Jesus is making ALL THINGS NEW New Creation

3. ALL of GOD’S PROMISES ARE
“YES!” IN THE MESSIAH!
• Will God be faithful to the covenant
promises made to Abraham?!
• Will God defeat sin and end exile?!
• Will God return to the Temple and
dwell with God’s people?!
• Will God restore the creation project
and human vocation?!

4. THE STORY of THE BIBLE
- God and Creation Cosmos as Temple; God and the garden
- God and Humanity Adam/Eve as Priests
- God and Israel Abraham/Israel; Tabernacle/Temple as mini cosmos
- God and Jesus Church as expanded Israel w/same vocation/calling
- God and New Creation Cosmos as Temple; God and the city

5. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth;
for the first heaven and the first earth had
passed away, and the sea was no more.
And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne
saying, “See, the home of God is among
mortals. He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples, and God
himself will be with them…”
REVELATION21:1-3

6. ...he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more; mourning and crying
and pain will be no more, for the first things
have passed away.” And the one who was
seated on the throne said,
“See, I am making all things new.”
…I saw no temple in the city, for its temple
is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.
REVELATION21:4-5,
22

7. Then the angel showed me the river of the
water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from
the throne of God and of the Lamb through
the middle of the street of the city.
On either side of the river is the tree of life
with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its
fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree
are for the healing of the nations. Nothing
accursed will be found there any more.
But the throne of God and of the Lamb will
be in it, and his servants will worship him;
REVELATION22:1-3

8. …they will see his face, and his name will
be on their foreheads. And there will be
no more night; they need no light of lamp
or sun, for the Lord God will be their light,
and they will reign forever and ever.
REVELATION22:4-5

9. A BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW of
NEW CREATION in CONTEXT
• Who are we? God’s redeemed/covenant people
• What time is it? Unhindered rule/reign of God
• Where are we? Messiah’s Cosmos-filling Kingdom
• What is wrong? Nothing! Absolutely nothing!
• What is the solution? Jesus took care of it!
• What is the point? Enjoy God’s love/presence…

11. “WORKS CONTRACT” VIEW
- God wants/expects moral perfection
- Humans sin and incur God’s wrath
- Jesus stands in and takes the wrath for us
- Humans escape hell and go away to heaven

12. “WORKS CONTRACT” VIEW
- God wants/expects moral perfection
- Humans sin and incur God’s wrath
- Jesus stands in and takes the wrath for us
- Humans escape hell and go away to heaven
* No talk of covenant relationship
* No need for Israel as priestly nation
* No relevance of Jesus as Messiah
* No hope of New Creation

13. ACCORDING TO N.T. WRIGHT,
THIS STORY REPRESENTS:
A Pagan View of Salvation
God kills Jesus to satisfy His own wrath
A Moral View of Human Calling
Sin = failed moral performance/bankruptcy
A Greek View of Heaven
Goal of life = disembodied soul in sky

14. COVENANT of VOCATION VIEW
- God wants image-bearing representatives
and royal priests in God’s kingdom
- Humans fail to worship God, which leads
to idolatry, which leads to failed vocation
- God gives God’s own self in love to fulfill
covenant promises, forgive sin, defeat
death, end exile & restore human vocation
- Humans live in God’s unhindered presence
with restored vocation in the
new creation

15. WORKS
CONTRACT
- Moral perfection
- God’s wrath
- Jesus takes penalty
- Humans escape hell,
go away to heaven
- Human vocation
- Sin/idolatry/failure
- God as Jesus in love
- Restored vocation,
citizens/new creation
COVENANT of
VOCATION

16. WORKS
CONTRACT
- Moral perfection
- God’s wrath
- Jesus takes penalty
- Humans escape hell,
go away to heaven
COVENANT of
VOCATION
- Human vocation
- Sin/idolatry/failure
- God as Jesus in love
- Restored vocation,
citizens/new creation

18. SOUL TRAINING EXERCISE:
“Your Kingdom come…”
Try living in such a way that brings
the reality of the FUTURE into the
PRESENT, the kingdom of God
“on earth as it is in heaven”!

21. One of the scribes…asked him,
“Which commandment is the first of all?”
Jesus answered, “The first is: ‘Hear, O Israel:
the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall
love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your mind,
and with all your strength.’
The second is this: ‘You shall love your
neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment
greater than these.”
MARK12