20250421 Selected Scriptures – With his resurrection, Jesus inaugurates the New Creation

We all bring our life experiences into our Christian experience. I grew up in a somewhat dysfunctional home. I enjoyed a lot of good things the world has to offer. Yet, my general posture towards life and the world was negative. When I started attending a church that was far from perfect, according to my standards it felt perfect. I found that the way spouses interacted with each other was nothing like what I knew growing up. The way parents interacted with their adult children made me realize what I had been missing out on. As a non-Christian, I witnessed the power of God's redeeming work, among his redeemed people. When I later became a Christian in this church, I experienced real change. I was becoming more like the people of this church. Some changes were immediate, some slower, and still today, God is still working in this sinner. One of the undeniable aspects of my Christian experience, was God's power to change me. Because of my experience, my focus has been more on the here and now of the Christian life rather than the life to come.

Others have a very different experience than mine. Some who grew up in the church. For some that was positive. Others view their Christian upbringing negatively. It may have been that their Christian family culture was not very grace-based. Or perhaps they attended a church that was more worldly than godly. When the Christianity we experience is flawed, we may feel our only hope left is in the afterlife. The resurrection of Jesus speaks both to the here and now of the Christian life and our Hope in eternity.

At Easter, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus, the Son of God became a human being. He fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. He came to save his people from their sins. On Good Friday, he died the sinners death so that sinners who believe in him would have eternal life, the forgiveness of sins. On Resurrection Sunday, Christ rose from the grave. Our sins deserve death. Christ’s resurrection means that the payment for sin was paid in full. Jesus did not have to stay dead. The resurrection confirms that Jesus’ death successfully paid for sin. If it had not, he would still be dead! This is why the resurrection of Christ is so important. The whole Christian faith hinges on the resurrection. If Christ was not physically raised, Christianity is a lie. If Christ did rise from the grave everything changes. The Bible teaches that the resurrection of Jesus applies both to our present and to our future. Because of Jesus' resurrection, we live in a new world and live differently. The resurrection of Jesus also offers us hope of our future resurrection.

In this message, I want to focus on the importance of the resurrection for today. It is right to focus on the things to come. It is good to have hope in life after the grave (John 11:25), But, if we summarize the Easter message to, Jesus is risen, therefore we too shall be raised, there is a lot missing. Tom Wright makes the following point. In the Gospels, the resurrection narratives never mention the future hope. In the Gospels, the primary focus is that the resurrection changes everything so we need to go and tell the whole world! 

I'm going to argue that the resurrection of Jesus changes how we must live by doing two things. First, I will show that Jesus inaugurated a new world order at his resurrection. Jesus inaugurated the New Creation, so we live in a new era. Second, I will show three texts that connect Jesus' resurrection to Christian living.

First, we see that Jesus inaugurates the New Creation at his resurrection in John 20:19-23; 1 Corinthians 15:20-23; Col 1:15-20

The first creation in Gen 1-2 was marked by peace. There was peace between Man and his Creator. There was peace between the Man and the Woman, so our fellow human beings. There was no fear or shame, so we can say Man even enjoyed inner peace as well. With sin came hostility, alienation, rupture in all spheres of life. As the Old Testament prophets look forward to a New Creation it was marked by peace. Isa 65:25 reads, “The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,’ says the Lord.” Ezekiel 37:26 speaks about a “covenant of peace”. The resurrection of Christ is connected with this New Creation peace.

First, John 20:19-23 teaches that Jesus inaugurated the New Creation at his resurrection.

John's Gospel begins with Jesus as the agent of creation in John 1. John ends by showing Jesus is the agent of New Creation in John 20.

John 1 echoes Genesis 1-2. "In the beginning God" becomes, in the beginning was "the Word." John 1 has the themes of creation, life, light, darkness, and God dwelling with man. In John 1, Jesus is the agent of creation.

John 20:19-23 presents Jesus as the one bringing about New Creation. In John 20, Mary Magdalene saw the stone had been taken away from Jesus' tomb (20:1). By the tomb she sees Jesus, whom she thinks is a Gardener (John 20:15). John 20:19 emphasizes that it is the first day of the week. Jesus said twice in John 20:19 and 21, "Peace be with you." He says, "As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you." In John 20:22, he "breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven them, if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld."

John 20 presents the new creation through Jesus with: a new first day, a new gardener, the proclamation of peace and the forgiveness of sins, and God breathing the Holy Spirit on his people for new life. 

1 Cor 15:20-23 also teaches that Jesus’ resurrection began the new Creation.

This text makes this point a more directly. 1 Cor 15:20-23 reads, "20But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ." Jesus inaugurates the New Creation by being the first to be resurrected. Adam was the father of all in the First Creation. Jesus is the New Adam in the New Creation.

Col 1:15-20 repeats similar themes.

Col 1:15-17 talk of Jesus as the agent of Creation, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

Then, Col 18-20 offers in parallel, Christ’s role in the New Creation, “18And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” 

Like in the Gospel of John, Jesus is presented as creator and author of the New Creation. Christ's work on the cross, his resurrection announces peace and reconciliation.  This peace re-initiates Eden. Christ offers us peace with God. This is for us to enjoy today.

The take away of this first point is that if you are a Christian, you are already part of God’s new creation in Christ.

If we are part of a New World Order, we must know it and live in light of this New Order.

A Japanese soldier, Hiroo Onoda is famous for continuing to fight World War 2, 29 years after the war had ended. His story is one of survival, discipline, and duty. It is also a tragic story of a man who fought for nothing. He was stationed on Lubang Island in the Philippines in 1944, as an intelligence officer. He was taught to gather intelligence, sabotage enemy operations and never surrender. Japan surrendered in Aug 1945, but Onoda was not made aware of this. With his men, he continued to carry out sabotage missions. He believed that reports of Japan's defeat was just enemy propaganda to trick them into surrendering. Over the years, leaflets, newspapers, and even direct messages from Japanese officials were dropped into the jungle, urging them to surrender. Some of these leaflets contained messages from family members, yet Onoda dismissed them as psychological warfare tactics used by the enemy. It was only in March 9, 1974, that Japan sent his former commanding officer to let him know to surrender. Onoda finally surrendered, still wearing his Imperial Japanese Army uniform.

In light of what Jesus has done, inaugurating the new creation, we must live differently. If we do not, we are like Onoda. We are missing out on the enjoyment of peace that God has for us.  

Second, we look at texts that connect the resurrection to Christian living. We will look at repentance of sin (Rom 6:1-14), good works (Eph 1:18-2:10), and evangelism (2 Cor 5:17).

First, Rom 6:1-14 connects the resurrection with turning away from sin.

Romans 6 speaks of our union with Christ in his death and resurrection. According to Rom 6:4, if we are united with Christ in his resurrection, we should walk in the newness of life. Rom 6:6 teaches the quality of our new lives. Christians are no longer enslaved to sin. Then Rom 6:12-13 applies this, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness." Rom 6:6 declares that we are no longer slaves of sin. Rom 6:12, and 13 then teach us to live out this reality. Christ's resurrection gives us a new identity. Our identity is one who has died to the dominion of sin. We will continue to sin, and every time we do we are defying our Christian identity. We are living like old creation, not part the new.

Sinclair Ferguson says, "to go on living in sin would be ... a contradiction of who I really am ... I would be forgetting what it means to be in Christ. ...  If I’m a believer, ... I’m no longer a citizen of the kingdom where sin reigns both over me and in me. I’m a member of a new kingdom, I have a new family, a new citizenship, a new identity altogether.”  We are such forgetful creatures. We need the Word, Prayer, sacraments, we need each other.

Let us all encourage one another and remind one another to live according to our new true identity as people of the risen King.

The second application is from Eph 1:18-2:10, good works.

Eph 1:18-23 connect Christ's resurrection with his ascension to rule at the Father's right hand. Eph 2:1-3 speaks of human existence as death before God's gracious intervention in our lives. We were dead in our sins. Eph 2:4 transitions to God's work in us. Eph 2:5 speaks of God making us alive together with Christ. Eph 2:10 says we were "created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared for us." This text describes Christian conversion as a resurrection. (c.f. John 5:24). It is a union in Christ’s resurrection intended to lead to good works.

This is how good works relate to the New Creation. Good works are works that bridge the gap between the world we live in and the New Creation. These good works announce the kingdom of God. Feeding the hungry is good because it announces there will be now hunger in the New Creation. Being a peace-maker among family or friends announces the peace that there'll be in the new heavens and new earth. In any situation, in any job, in any relationship cultivating peace and harmony announces the New Creation has come. Our good works announce the new creation Jesus inaugurated at his resurrection.

The third application of the resurrection comes from 2 Cor 5:17.

It is the most explicit concerning the impact of Christ's resurrection on us. It reads, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." We are new creation. There is still more to come, like receiving new bodies (Phil 3:21), but we are already part of the New Creation.

2 Cor 5:18 explains that new creation was achieved through Christ's atoning work. If we think of the original creation being marked by peace before sin. Then New Creation is a renewed peace. If we are new creation we have a peace-making and peace-keeping calling. According to 2 Cor 5:19, "In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. V.20 We are ambassadors for Christ, we implore, "be reconciled to God." Christ's resurrection brings new creation, a new peace. As New Creation, we are at peace with God, and we propagate peace with the gospel, the message of peace. The gospel is the message of peace we share that more people would find peace with God. Jesus died to bring peace, to bring forgiveness to sinners like us.

As people turn from sin and believe in Jesus, they enjoy peace, the forgiveness of sins. The forgiveness of sins is guaranteed by Christ's death and resurrection. In addition to speaking peace, as much as it depends on us, we must be at peace with all people.

In this second point, we see the implication of Jesus' resurrection for us today. They were repentance from sin (Rom 6:1-14), good works (Eph 1:18-2:10), and evangelism (2 Cor 5:17).

Conclusion

The Easter message speaks to the past, present and future. The resurrection of Christ is a historical event in the past. Its impact is cosmological. He began the new creation. He was the firstborn from the dead. Now, in the present we are New Creation in Christ. In the midst of the deepest kinds of suffering, we can be a hopeful people. Christ’s resurrection is a foretaste of what is still to come. The historic event of the resurrection, our present identity of people of the risen king, and our hope in the future have to change our lives today.

This is a quote by NT Wright on Easter. " [Easter] is about the real Jesus coming out of the real tomb and getting God’s real new creation under way. But my biggest problem starts on Easter Monday. I regard it as absurd and unjustifiable that we should spend forty days keeping Lent, pondering what it means, preaching about self-denial, being at least a little gloomy, and then bringing it all to a peak with Holy Week, which in turn climaxes in Maundy Thursday and Good Friday…and then, after a rather odd Holy Saturday, we have a single day of celebration. …Easter week itself ought not to be the time when all the clergy sigh with relief and go on holiday. It ought to be an eight-day festival, with champagne served after morning prayer or even before, with lots of alleluias and extra hymns and spectacular anthems. Is it any wonder people find it hard to believe in the resurrection of Jesus if we don’t throw our hats in the air? Is it any wonder we find it hard to live the resurrection if we don’t do it exuberantly in our liturgies? Is it any wonder the world doesn’t take much notice if Easter is celebrated as simply the one-day happy ending tacked on to forty days of fasting and gloom? Take Christmas away, and in biblical terms you lose two chapters at the front of Matthew and Luke, nothing else. Take Easter away, and you don’t have a New Testament; you don’t have a Christianity; as Paul says, you are still in your sins… …if Lent is a time to give things up, Easter ought to be a time to take things up.  

We drew three possible applications of Easter. We embrace our new identity as dead to sin and alive in Christ. We walk in the good works God has prepared for us. As new creation, bring new creation peace and harmony with the Gospel, the message of reconciliation.