Creation and New Creation
May 1-2, 2010
Fr. George Smiga
John 13:31-33a,34-35
The first book of the bible is the book of Genesis, and the first story in the book of Genesis is the great story of creation where God makes all things in seven days. The last book in the bible is the book of Revelation, and the last great scene in the book of Revelation is today’s second reading. In it the seer John beholds a new heaven and a new earth. This is an image of a new creation where evil is eliminated, where there is no more death or crying or mourning or pain. These two stories in the Book of Genesis and the Book of Revelation frame the bible with creation and a new creation. This framing tells us something very important about God. But if we are going to understand that that truth, we must first understand in what sense is the new creation new.
The new creation is not new in the sense that God is giving us another creation, an alternate creation. It is new in the sense that God takes this creation, the original creation, and transforms it and purifies it. The story then is a story of God’s faithfulness to what God has made. This is what we learn about God from the frame that holds the bible together. God does not give up on what God begins. Since God has made all things, God remains faithful to all things. God is committed to transform to this material world and will make all that is in perfect conformity to God’s will.
This is why Christians believe in the resurrection of the body. We say that every time we say the Apostles’ Creed. “I believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.” Why is the resurrection of the body so important? Because God made us with a body. A body is who we are. If God made our bodies, then our bodies are not incidental or disposable. We of course believe that when we die our souls will go to heaven with God. But that union with God in heaven is not our final condition. We are more than just souls. We believe that on the last day God will raise up our bodies which will be transformed into glorious resurrected bodies. We believe the same thing is true about the rest of creation. In some sense all that is, all plants and animals, all seas and oceans, will be transformed by God’s power, to be a part of the new kingdom of God which Christ will bring about at his return.
Now what this new creation will be like we cannot imagine—no more than we can imagine the action that inaugurated the original creation. Both the book of Genesis and the book of Revelation use images that try to express the inexpressible. But those images cannot be taken literally. Otherwise we will make the mistake of trying to squeeze the action of creation into seven days or imagining how a new Jerusalem can come down from the heavens. But the bible uses these images to assert that the same God who created all things remains faithful to all things. We believe that God will not abandon our material creation or us as part of creation, but will transform all things into the Kingdom of God.
If we can accept this vision that Genesis and Revelation form around the bible, it can change the way that we live. If our world, if this creation, is not only made by God but has a future and is moving towards a new creation, then everything in our material world has value and should be respected. This is why Christians commit themselves to care for the earth, to protect the environment. Not because it is some passing political fad, but because we believe that this world is God’s creation and will someday be glorified. Christians respect their bodies. We strive to be healthy, to exercise, to embrace our sexuality. We do this not because we are vain, but because we know that our bodies are God’s creation and that someday they will raise up from the grave like Christ’s resurrected body. Christians are committed to protect life: life in the womb, life of the aged, the lives of the poor and of immigrants. We do this because we believe that all living things are God’s creation and have a future in the kingdom that is to come.
Our God rejoices and values all that has been made. So should we. Our God protects and encourages all that lives. So should we. Our God fights evil and promises that someday evil will be destroyed. So should we.
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