New Creation--The Big Story of the Bible

Goal:

To grasp the big picture of God’s plan for humanity
and be excited, motivated and get a sense of purpose for our lives.

New Creation—The Big Story of the Bible

1. The pattern, illustrated in three stories
   Adam & Eve, Noah, Abraham & Sarah
2. The Big Story on Three Slides
3. Being excited, motivated, with a sense of purpose for our lives.

Overview of the Bible

• First Creation
• Stuff in between
• New Creation

More Detailed Overview

• First Creation
• First Humanity —corrupted by evil
• Re-runs of Eden, with God providing temporary solutions
• Prophecies that a whole New Creation is needed (and coming!)
• New Humanity in Jesus
• Complete New Creation

Genesis 9: Noah—a failed new beginning

20. Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard.
21. He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent.
22. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside.
23. Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.
24. When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him,
25. he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”

Noah as a new beginning

Abraham & Sarah as a new beginning

• Following Noah, humankind was heading downhill again
• God started again with Abraham & Sarah – New Adam & Eve figures
• Their big test was whether he could trust God
• Instead of a physical land, looking forward to something new

Hebrews 11

8. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
9. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.
10. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
11. By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.

Overview of the Bible

1. First Creation
2. Stuff in between
3. New Creation

The Big Story, in more detail

1. The first creation was ruined by sin
2. Again and again there were “re-runs” of Eden
   • But God showed that something more was needed than a simple restart.
   • Something much deeper, that turned out to be a new kind of humanity, and a new creation.

B. Cont’d
Hints of a New Humanity

• The new humanity would be created in God’s image in a much deeper way—they would be born from him, carrying his own Spirit in their DNA.
• This was foreshadowed with Abraham & Sarah, with Moses, with godly leaders such as Deborah and Samuel, and then King David.
• These were all flawed, but showed that humanity did not have to always repeat the sin of Adam & Eve.
• The prophets began to speak of something new coming, and there was creation imagery.

C. The New Human and New Creation

• Finally Jesus came, born of the old creation, and died
• Was raised the “firstborn from the dead” as the start of an entirely new creation.
• But this New Creation did not even have to wait for the old to be gone
• because it turned out that humans could be re-born into the new while still having their old creation bodies.
• Jesus contrasts these two creations when talking to Nicodemus as Flesh and Spirit
• This is why, if you are a Christian, you will sometimes feel a tension within you between the Old and the New
• a new Garden of Eden where finally humanity has full access to the Tree of Life and enters into the destiny that God has always had for humankind.

Revelation 22

1. 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
2. through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
3. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.
4. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
5. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

John 3:3–6

3. Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again (orig: from above) he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
5. Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

1 John 4

7. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
8. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
9. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.