CREATION is God's work, an act of divine and sovereign power. Man may, within limits, shape and fashion materials ready to his hand, but God alone can by His word call into being that which never before had existence. " He spake and it was done, he commanded and they were created." This being quite outside of all man's experience, it is only known by revelation: " Through faith we understand that the worlds were formed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do not appear."
The first creation came perfect from God's hands: " He saw everything that lie had made, and, behold, it was very good." But, in His wisdom, God was pleased to put everything so made under the man whom He had created, and to leave that first man, who was of the earth, earthy, in a position of responsibility. This man, when tempted, disobeyed and fell; and not only did he himself thereby depart from God, becoming subject to death and condemnation, but, in result, the whole of that creation (which was responsibly put under him, and so depended for its blessing on the maintenance by him of his true place) is now groaning: " The creation, having been made subject to vanity, not of its will, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same."
The purposes of God in reference to this creation will have their fulfillment, when the rights and power of Him who is the second man, the last Adam, the Lord from heaven, shall be displayed (according to Psa. 8; Acts 3:2121Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:21)., &c.); and " the creation itself also shall be set free from the bondage of corruption, into the liberty of the glory of the children of God." God will yet have glory for Himself in that very creation where His glory has been set at naught.
There is, however, more than this presented in Scripture. God is not content, if one may so speak, with thus rehabilitating the old creation. He brings in a " new creation," which is a reality now morally, or spiritually, for man as believing in Christ; and He will hereafter " make new " the whole of the physical heaven and earth, so that everything may be unalterably according to Himself; and not dependent, like the first, on the responsibility and power of an earthly man to maintain himself, but on the absolute perfectness and immutability of Him who was the last Adam. It is a sphere, an order of things, in which not only all His glories can be displayed, but in which God Himself can rest eternally.
The " new creation " will not have its real display until after the day when the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, shall " transform our body of humiliation into conformity to his body of glory; " or indeed, in its fullest sense, until the new heavens and new earth appear when there will be no more " sea," that emblem of unrest and instability; but it is a reality now for the believer in Christ, though it be only " by faith " we can understand it, just as it is only by faith we understand what creation meant at first (Heb. 11:33Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. (Hebrews 11:3).).
May it not be owing to the fact that it is really a "creation," and not the improvement or modification of something already existing, that the wonderful truth of which we speak is so little entered into? The soul that does not receive it as revealed by God cannot know it, for it is, like the physical creation, outside of his experience; and alas! is it not true of many who have in measure bowed to revelation, that they are more prone to seek a natural explanation of things as they present themselves to them than a divine one?
It is written, as to the physical heavens and earth, that, before the new are introduced, the old pass away. " The heavens shall pass away," says Peter, "... the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up ... but we look for new heavens and a new earth." See also Rev. 20:1111And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. (Revelation 20:11). xxi. 4, 5. But this is equally true as to the moral or spiritual " new creation" of which we speak. The simplest statement as to it is contained in 2 Cor. 5:1717Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17). " So, if any one be in Christ (there is) a new creation: the old things have passed away, behold all things have become new, and all things are of the God who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ." Thus we see:
Old things pass away.
All things become new.
All things of God.
When the Lord Jesus was on earth we find that, in all His teaching recorded in the Gospel of John, He is careful to bring out prominently that the moral condition of man towards God is one of death. His own rejection by His people (chap. 1:11) proved it. Before introducing the subject of the new birth in chapter 3., there is a thorough exhibition in chapter of man's wretched state whether considered naturally or religiously. And there is a very clear statement in chapter 12:24., that, if men were to be associated with Him in blessing, there must be an end in death of life in that condition in which He who was the only perfect expression of it stood. In the epistles of Paul this truth is even more clearly brought out. On the one hand we find an abundance of Scriptures which point to the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ as the end of man morally before God; and, on the other, we learn that, by that same cross, for the believer, all that stood against him as a morally responsible creature, is forever cleared away from God's sight.
In Corinthians the natural man is set aside as being totally incapable of receiving the things of the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 2:1414But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14)). The death of Christ proves all to have died (2 Cor. 5:1414For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: (2 Corinthians 5:14).). In Gal. 6:14,1514But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. 15For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. (Galatians 6:14‑15), circumcision and uncircumcision, which have to say to man in the flesh, are clean set aside by the cross: nothing avails but a new creation. In Eph. 1 and 2. man is looked at as dead when God begins to work with him. And so indeed is Christ Himself; though with Him it is as having laid down the life which He had as a man upon earth. So too, if it be a question of putting on the new man, it is preceded by " having put off the old man." And so in other epistles, whilst atonement and the putting away of the sins of a believer by the blood of Christ are also constantly referred to.
There is, therefore, no improvement, no modification, of the life or nature which man possesses in his old standing before God as a descendant of Adam. It is wholly set aside in the cross; as much so spiritually, as the heavens and earth will hereafter be physically. The Lord Jesus Christ, who alone could and did stand before God as perfect in that condition of life, must have remained alone had He remained in it. But He died voluntarily in it, and so it ended, except in so far as judgment has to say to those whose sins are not put away by Him.
But, if old things have passed away, all things are become new. Where death was, God introduced a new life. It is not the restoration of an old one, but the actual communication of a new life, just as truly as when God first breathed into that mass which He had formed of the dust of the ground, and it became a living soul. The first had this earth as its sphere, the second belongs to heavenly places. The first was natural, the second is spiritual. It is not only spoken of as a new life and nature, which is in accordance with the form the truth takes as presented in the writings of John, but as a positive, actual, new creation. And it is good for us that the simple fact that there is such a new creation should impress itself on our hearts.
There is immense power in the ten opening words of the Bible: " In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth; " and surely there is no less power for the soul that ponders over them in these other words: " If any one be in Christ (there is) a new creation." They speak to us of divine and creative power exercised in associating the believer indissolubly with Christ Himself; and in that sphere, that order of things, where He is placed as raised from the dead. The corn of wheat has died, and now it has much fruit, fruit pleasing to God, the result of the operation of His mighty power.
If evidence be needed as to the " newness " of the things into which the believer is brought, it is interesting to contrast the chapters i. and ii. of Genesis with the description given in the epistles of what it is to be in Christ. In the first case all the relationships, excepting of course man's responsibility to God, are earthly in character; and we see, more or less clearly indicated, those occupations and interests which, though largely modified by the fall, constitute the main part of a natural life; whilst in the latter case, the change is total. In Christ Jesus all are one (Gal. 3:2828There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)): "There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female." There does not exist a separation of nations, there is no subordination of social position, there is not even the distinction between male and female. Is it possible to conceive a more radical change in the condition of things? Yet it is to this order of existence, and to nothing less, that the believer in Christ now belongs. It is a " new creation " (see also Luke 20:34-3634And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: 35But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: 36Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. (Luke 20:34‑36)).
And " all things are of God, (the God) who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ." The Lord God might visit Adam in Eden, God Almighty might make Himself known to Abraham, and call him " friend," Jehovah could dwell amongst Israel, exclusively and behind a veil, but this Scripture speaks of a condition in which there is perfect knowledge of God as fully revealed in grace, and nearness to Rim, even as Christ Himself is near. It is now to faith that which will hereafter be true to sense: " God himself shall be with them and be their God; he will dwell with them."
And not only is there nearness of person, but perfect moral suitability. The believer who is of this new creation partakes therein of the " divine nature." " God is light," and so the believer is addressed as a child of light, and called to walk so because he is " light in the Lord." " God is love," and so the believer is told to walk in it, and " he that loveth not, knoweth not God." These points are largely dwelt upon in the epistle of John, besides constant allusions to them elsewhere. But it will perhaps be most readily apprehended when we see that as this " new creation " is never apart from Christ, but always " in Him," so the moral characteristics belonging to it are those which are perfectly expressed in His own blessed person. To " know Him " is to know what they are, and there is no other way of knowing them.
It is needful, however, to remember here that it is only as risen from the dead that He has become both the type and the head of this new creation. He came, as regards the first creation " born of a woman," though indeed the "Lord from heaven," and " Son of man which is in heaven; " but in that order of things He died; and it is only as risen from the dead that He takes the place and character of which we speak. It must, however, never be overlooked that, as to fact, the believer is in this world, and in a body which is of the first creation, and consequently that he is in the midst of divinely appointed relationships connected with it, none of which can be ignored without despising the word of God, and God Himself by whom they were appointed. These very bodies in which we live, subject as they are now to pain and death, are yet " members of Christ " (1 Cor. 6); and " your body," says the apostle, " is the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is in you, which ye have of sod, and ye are not your own, for ye have been bought with a price; glorify now then God in your body." In these bodies then, and in the various positions and relationships connected with the first creation, we are called to display all the moral qualities which belong to, and are ours as of the new creation, whilst we are yet awaiting its full manifestation amidst this groaning creation. For this end grace and power are ministered to us by the Spirit, from Him who is the head of the new creation, and there are abundant exhortations to guide us in all the circumstances in which we may be placed. If there appear difficulties to any one in grasping the thought of a believer belonging to the new creation, and yet at the same time in certain relationships here (divinely appointed ones of course are the only ones referred to) which are unknown to that " new creation," let him ask himself if he understand so wondrous a fact as that the Lord Jesus could be at the same time " the Son of man which is in heaven," and yet known on earth as " the carpenter," " the carpenter's son," and owning His place as " subject to his parents? " He does not question this; he believes it, because it is written in God's word; and let him equally, in faith, bow to what God says as to the place and condition of a believer. He that said, " Ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God," is the same holy One who gave full instructions for all the varied relationships of believers in this world, and who even said to them, " If any will not work neither shall he eat."
May the Lord give each of us to see what a wonderful thing it is to belong now, in Christ, to a new creation which is all of God, and may we be enabled practically to say with the apostle:—
" I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live:
" Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me;
" And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."
J. S. A.