The New Creation Why Two Creations? Rom. 8.18-25

1. The New CreationWhy Two Creations?Rom. 8.18-25

2. Creation Accounts in the Bible Gen. 1 Creation chronology: a physical perspective Gen. 2 Creation account: a spiritual perspective Gen. 3-5 Human sin and its damage Gen. 6-9 God’s damage-control response to sin Gen. 10-11 Global dispersion of humanity Job 9 Creator’s transcendent power Job 34-41 Creation’s intricacy and complexity Ps. 8 Creation’s reminder of our humility Ps. 19 Creation's ubiquitous “speech” Ps. 33 God’s love as revealed in creation Ps. 65 Creator’s authority and optimal provision Ps. 104 Elaboration of physical creation events Ps. 139 Creation of individual humans Ps. 147-148 Nature’s testimony of the Creator’s power, wisdom, and care Prov. 8 Creator’s existence before creation Ecc. 1-2 Constancy of the physical laws Ecc. 3 Chronology in creation Ecc. 8-12 God’s purpose and humanity’s destiny Is. 40-51 Origin and development of the universe Rom. 1-8 God’s purpose in creating 1 Cor. 15 Life after life 2 Cor. 4 Creator’s glory in and beyond creation Heb. 1 Cosmic creation’s temporality; role of angels in creation Heb. 4 God’s rest and work 2 Pt. 3 Present creation’s end Rev. 19-20 End of evil, decay, and death; end of the present creation Rev. 21-22 The new creation’s wonders

3. Why These Physical Lawsand Dimensions? 3 observable space dimensions 1 dimension of time (The latest model of String Theory predicts 11 dimensions! Ten dimensions of space and one dimension of time.)

4. The Hope of an Unimaginable Realm

5. Turning a Sphere Inside Out? http://www.cosmolearning.com/videos/how-to-turn-a-sphere-inside-out/

6. Distinct Differences Christianity’s two creations are radically different because they fulfill radically different purposes. First Creation: “very good” (Gen. 1.31) Second Creation: “perfect” This brings in a whirlwind of questions! The Eagle Nebula [nicknamed the “Pillars of Creation”]

7. Can Creation Be Used Against God? “A Perfect Creator Cannot Exist” argument against the existence of God as advocated by Theodore M. Drange. If God exists, then He is perfect. If God exists, then He is the Creator of the universe. If a being is perfect, then whatever He creates must be perfect. The universe is not perfect. Therefore, it is impossible for a perfect being to be the creator of the universe. Hence, it is impossible for God to exist. Why didn't God just place Adam and Eve in the new creation to start with?

8. Chronology of Redemption God created the physical universe of matter, energy, space, and time. He also created angels. The most powerful being God created, the archangel Satan, chose to rebel against God’s authority and reject God’s love. Satan enticed one-third of the angelic host to join his rebellion (see Rev. 12.1-9). On Earth, God created Adam and then placed him in a beautiful, bountiful paradise, the Garden of Eden (see. Gen. 2.7-8). In Eden, God created Eve and brought her to Adam (see Gen. 2.21-22). God allowed Satan to enter Eden in order to test Adam and Eve (see. Gen. 3.1). Satan tempted Eve first to distrust and then to defy her Creator (see Gen. 3.1-6). Eve, in turn, tempted Adam to distrust and defy God (Gen. 3.6, 12). In their act of defiance, Adam and Eve incurred “spiritual death” (see Gen. 3.7-8; Rom. 5.12-19). They attempted to hide from God and experienced the vastness of the gulf between his glory and their vainglory, a gap they could never cross on their own. God took away the Tree of Life and ejected Adam and Eve from Eden. Having experienced spiritual death, they and their descendants would also suffer a physical death (see Rom. 5.12-19). Their labor and relationships involved intensified pain, work, and wasted time (see Gen. 3.16-19). Note that ejection from the garden is an act of grace. God gave humanity a written moral code to complement the one already placed within the conscience of every person (see Rom. 2.14-15). These moral laws served to define goodness and expose the evil within every human heart, proving to all individuals their inadequacy to deal with and conquer their own propensity for wrong doing. At the precise moment of His choosing, the Creator of the universe confined Himself to human flesh, allowed Himself to be born of a woman, and grew up to manhood in a global crossroads, Israel. He lived there for more than thirty years. Jesus of Nazareth, fully God and fully human, served as a living, breathing example of moral perfection. He revealed His deity not only in words but also in expression of his power over all the forces of nature. Then through His death on a cross, He made atonement for all humanity’s moral failures, all passive and active defiance of God. In rising bodily form the dead, He showed His sacrifice had been accepted and proved the tangible reality of a realm beyond the cosmos, even beyond physical death. After Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, God sent his Holy Spirit to personally indwell individuals who humble receive Christ’s payment and forgiveness in place of their own best efforts and worst deeds (past, present, and future), turning away from self-rule and submitting to God as the first and final authority in life (see Jn. 16.5-15; 1 Pt. 3.21; Eph. 1.13-14). The Holy Spirit begins the process of transforming that person’s mind, heart, and character to bring that person into a deepening and widening relationship with God (see. Rom. 12.1-2). The Creator prepares a new creation for His elect (see Jn. 14.2; Rev. 21-22). God brings all His elect to glory (Rom. 8.18-25; Rev. 20-22) while the non-elect who rejected God will be isolated in an unimaginable place to whatever degree necessary to conquer evil by torment (Rev. 20.12-13)

9. A Necessary Arduous Process

10. So Why Two Creations? It is a part of God’s plan of redemption It may be necessary for a fuller revelation More to come next time…