New Creation
As we have
considered in detail most of the features that go to make up the "great
salvation" which has reached us, we have hitherto been able to point out
how each is designed of God to meet and overcome some particular result or
penalty of sin. But now as we reach the last, this feature has to be absent. We
have left "new creation" until the last as it seems to be the
ultimate thing to which the Gospel conducts us, but at the same time it is
evident that God is going to establish it, not because it meets some definite
need on our side, but because it meets the need of His holy nature — it
is the thing which is suitable to Himself.
The havoc
wrought by sin has been such that we needed forgiveness, justification,
reconciliation, redemption, salvation, sanctification; and all these are
brought to us in the Gospel as the fruit of the work done for us by our Lord
Jesus Christ on the Cross. Equally did we need the new birth, the
quickening, the gift of the Spirit; and the first two of these are ours by the
work of the Holy Spirit in us, while His indwelling follows the other two, and
is based upon the work done for us. We could hardly say however in the same way
that we needed to be newly "created in Christ Jesus;" that
wondrous event has taken place to satisfy the heart of God.
As in
other cases so again here, we can go back to the Old Testament and discover
prophecies which foreshadow the full truth, which can only be discovered in the
New. For instance, we read, "Behold, I create new heavens and a new
earth" (Isaiah 65: 17): yet when we examine the context we soon see that
what is predicted in Revelation 21: 1-5, is hardly contemplated in the passage,
for the prophet goes on to speak of the new conditions that will prevail in
Jerusalem in the millennial age, when death may possibly take place; whereas in
the scene pictured in Revelation death is gone for ever.
The fact
seems to be, that just as with new birth and quickening, so again here, God
introduces His thought; but in a limited way as befitted a dispensation in
which His government of the earth was the prominent thing. In this Gospel age,
life and incorruptibility have been fully brought to light, and in connection
with that His full thought and action, both as regards the work of Christ for
us and the work of the Spirit in us, has been manifested. The New Testament
does not stop at the millennial age but carries us into the eternal state.
The first
mention of new creation in the New Testament is in 2 Corinthians 5: 17, where
we find that every one "in Christ" is brought into it. It is
"new creation" in this verse rather than "a new creature,"
and the language of Paul here appears to be very vigorous and emphatic. He
omits the verb altogether, and exclaims, "So that, if anyone in Christ —
new creation!" as one who exults in this glorious fact. Nothing short of
this is involved in our being in Christ Jesus.
That the
believer is in Christ Jesus and beyond all condemnation is made very plain in
the Epistle to the Romans, but we are not carried on to the full implication of
that fact until we reach this scripture. We are in Him because we are of
Him, and this by an act of God Himself. This comes very definitely to view
when we reach Ephesians 2: 10, "We are His workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus." The old creation of which we read in Genesis 1, was God's
workmanship and created by the Son. It was created by Him, but not
created in Him, as the new creation is, at least as regards ourselves.
Sin was able to gain an entrance into the old creation, but it will never enter
the new, which derives its life and nature from Christ.
The
passage in 2 Corinthians 5 shows that there is a very close connection between
reconciliation and new creation. The former is one of the fruits of the work of
Christ for us; the latter the fruit of God's work in us. Yet of course the act
of God in making "Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin," with which
the chapter closes, is the basis on which rests new creation no less than
reconciliation. There must be the complete meeting of every liability and the
whole state characterizing the old creation, if the new creation is to be
introduced on a righteous basis.
There is
no patching up of the old things in connection with new creation. They pass
away, and new things which are wholly "of God" are introduced. Once
even Christ Himself stooped into old creation circumstances, when He was
amongst us "after the flesh," though His flesh was holy and without
the least taint of sin. Now, in His risen glory, he has entered into new creation
circumstances, and from Him as Head the new creation proceeds.
The main
point in this passage however seems to be the subjective effect of new creation
in ourselves. We know Christ in a new way, all things are become new to us, our
lives are diverted into a totally new channel, so that we live not unto
ourselves but unto Him — all this, because of God's new creation work wrought
in us. As an illustration we might take the Apostles, as they were in
the Gospel and as they became in the Acts. Between the two came the new
creation in-breathing of the Last Adam, of John 20: 22, and the indwelling of
the Spirit, of Acts 2. Formerly they knew Him after the flesh; now their
knowledge of Him is according to the Spirit of God. There was undoubtedly a
change in His condition, but we must not overlook the great change in their
condition.
This side
of things is emphasized by the fact that we are said to "know . . . no
man after the flesh." Now with the great mass of men there is no
change at all in their condition, the only change is in ourselves. It
is because we are a new creation in Christ that we know everyone in a new way.
We look upon all men and everything with new creation eyes — if we may so put
it.
What we
have just been looking at is the new creation mind found in the saints; whereas
Ephesians 2: 10 brings us to new creation practice and action. We
are created "unto good works," in which God purposes we should walk.
James, in his second chapter, speaks not of good works but of the works of
faith; that is of work energized by faith, and consequently manifesting it
before the eyes of men. Here we do have good works; that is, works
that express the goodness of God. Being God's workmanship, created by Him in
Christ Jesus, we have the inward capacity to do works of this exalted
character, and the obligation to do them rests upon us. These good works were
supremely and perfectly done by Christ, and as created in Christ, we are to
walk in them — works of that order, though of course not in the same measure as
He.
What we
find in Ephesians 4: 21-24, and in Colossians 3: 10, is in keeping with this.
The former passage agrees with the latter, for the New Translation renders it,
"Your having put off.... and being renewed.... and your having
put on;" that is, in both passages the great transaction is viewed as
one accomplished in every believer. Formerly we belonged to the old
order of man and wore his corrupt character: now we belong to the new order of
man and wear his character, marked by holiness, righteousness, truth. It is not
something merely external, for the very spirit of our minds is
renewed. The passage in Colossians corroborates this, though it has distinctive
differences. It also speaks of the new man as created.
It is
because we have put on this new creation character that we are to behave as
indicated in the context of both passages. The things to be utterly repudiated,
and the things to be cultivated, are all determined by the character we wear by
God's new creation act.
We may go
one step further, and in the light of Ephesians 2: 15, speak of the church as
God's new creation production. By the Gospel, God is calling an election out of
both Jew and Gentile, and of the two He is making "one new man." The
word translated in that verse "make" is the word for
"create." That one new man is God's creation by the Lord Jesus, for
He is the Actor in that verse. And He creates this one new man, which is
virtually the church, "in Himself." So we may speak of the church, as
well as the individual saint, as a new creation in Christ Jesus.
Lastly, in
Revelation 21: 1-6, we are permitted to know that there are to be new heavens
and a new earth, and amidst these new creation scenes the new creation church
will have her eternal home, as the tabernacle of God, when He dwells with men.
Are we
right, in dealing with the new creation, if we give the same literal and full
meaning to the word "create," that we give to it when dealing with
the creation of Genesis 1?
We believe
that we are. Any difficulty that is felt about it probably springs from the
fact that as yet God's new creation work has not touched any of the material
things round about us. It has so far only affected us spiritually: we
are renewed in the spirit of our minds. It is quite certain we are not
yet newly created as to our bodies, and that probably accounts for the
scripture saying, "renewed in the spirit of your mind," rather than,
"renewed in your mind;" for the mind cannot be altogether dissociated
from the brain, which is a part of the body. When we are in our glorified
bodies, in the likeness of Christ, and dwelling in the new heavens and new
earth, we shall see that no word short of "creation" will meet the
case. But what we are to-day in a spiritual way, as the fruit of God's
workmanship, is exactly of that order. God says it, and we may happily believe
it.
The fact
that we have been created "in Christ Jesus" has been mentioned. Are
we to deduce from this the stability of the new creation?
We
certainly are: but more than that also, we believe. Since it is created in Him,
it will be as stable as He is; but also it will bear His character in other
things. It originates in Him, for He is the Source whence it springs. He is
"the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead" (Col. 1: 18), "the
Beginning of the creation of God" (Rev. 3: 14). Even the inanimate things
of the new heavens and the new earth will spring from Him, yet we are created
in Him in a deeper sense. He has entered heaven in His risen Manhood, and we
now are men of His order, participating in His life, "all of one"
with Him, as we are told in Hebrews 2: 11. Hence the church is His body, for in
it corporately He is to be expressed. The new creation will be expressive of
Christ and as stable as He.
In Hebrews
8: 13. it is pointed out that the fact of a new covenant being introduced makes
the first covenant old, and the deduction is, "Now that which decayeth and
waxeth old is ready to vanish away." Can we reason in the same way in
regard to the new creation?
We believe
so; with this modification perhaps, that not all the heavens created in Genesis
1, have been touched by sin, consequently not all will be newly created. All
that has been spoiled by sin is old and ready to vanish away. Nothing less than
new creation will meet the case, just as nothing short of it meets our
spiritual needs to-day, because all has to be lifted to the level of the Divine
thoughts. In principle it is so to-day, as we see in Galatians 6: 15. The
Galatians were being diverted to the ordinance of circumcision as practised under
the law. But any such ordinance or other fleshly observance is entirely beside
the mark to-day. It might be all right so long as men "in Adam" were
recognized as having a standing before God; but "in Christ Jesus"
neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any account; a new creation alone
avails. Because of what God is, once a thing has been touched and tarnished by
sin, it has to go and a new creation take its place.
Are the
new creation scenes predicted in the opening part of Revelation 21, to be
distinguished from the scenes of millennial blessedness, of which the prophets
have so largely spoken?
The two
scenes are clearly distinguished in that chapter in Revelation. Verses 1-8,
deal with the eternal state, whilst verses 9-27, gives us a more detailed
description of the heavenly Jerusalem in its relations with the millennial
earth. Hence in the second section we read about nations and kings of the
earth, and walls and gates which shut out any defiling thing. This supposes of
course that there are defiling things which might enter. In the earlier part
all sin and sorrow and death are gone from God's fair new creation, and all
evil lies under God's judgment, segregated in its own appointed place.
Nations,
too, only exist as the result of God's judgment upon men at Babel; so they
disappear, and God will revert to His original thought and just dwell with men.
He will dwell as their God in holy freedom because righteousness will then be
dwelling, as 2 Peter 3: 13 tells us, and not merely reigning, as it will in the
millennial age. As long as there is anything to challenge its supremacy it must
reign: when the last challenge is met, it will dwell in undisturbed repose.
Will all
differences between men disappear in the new creation?
It may be
that on the new earth they will: as to that we cannot dogmatize. But at all
events there will be the difference between those whose seat is to be in the
heavens and those on the earth. In that day the holy city, symbolic of the
church, will be the dwelling-place of God.
Again, in
1 Corinthians 15, where we find that already we have been quickened by the Last
Adam, we also learn that His great work with us will reach its completion when
we "bear the image of the Heavenly." It is a most marvellous fact
that we, who belong to the church, shall enter those new creation scenes
bearing the image of our Head even as regards our bodies. We do not find this
asserted of others, besides the heavenly saints.
It is
quickening which is actually mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15, though we have
referred to it in connection with new creation. This rather raises the question
as to what is the relationship between the two things; and indeed between all
the things we have considered. How can we put them all together?
There are
things connected with our most holy faith which are quite beyond our powers,
and this is one of them. We contemplate our Lord Jesus, we confess His Deity,
whilst recognizing His true Humanity, yet our minds are not equal to the task
of explaining how both go together. We see the sovereignty of God plainly
taught in Scripture, and the responsibility of man taught with equal plainness,
yet how exactly to adjust them together we know not. This inability of ours
does not disturb us. We expect it, because the faith, which we believe, comes
from God. Could we bring it all within the compass of our little minds we
should thereby prove it was not Divine.
Now how
can we put together all the things we have been surveying in cursory fashion?
We may do so in part, but we cannot do so in any complete way, especially when
we deal with the work wrought in us. The attempt to do so in the past has often
led to unprofitable contentions, as might be expected. We repeat that we can no
more see all round the subject at the same moment than we can see all four
sides of a house at once.
The truth
is one; of that we are sure. It is given to us in parts; and as we trace out
these parts in Scripture we are instructed and profited. If we fail to
distinguish things that differ, and lump them all together in a kind of
indiscriminate mass, we lose a great deal. On the other hand if we divorce and
divide the various parts we soon run into erroneous notions, as also we do if
we attempt to work out theories as to the order in which they take place.
Without
dividing we distinguish, and thereby understand more fully how rich and varied
is the great salvation which has reached us. And the more we do understand, the
more our hearts are moved in praise and thanksgiving to God.
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