RELATING TO GOD IN HIS CREATIONS
The Bible says, ‘[God] who was seated on the throne said: “I am making everything new!”’ (Revelation 21:5).And “If anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
RELATING TO GOD IN HIS INITIAL-WORLD CREATION
In the beginning, the Lord God created the heavens and the earth…Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” And “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” (Genesis 1).
Genesis 3 takes us through steps of how God communed with the first man and woman he created; and how they broke their fellowship with God by disobeying him, and were separated from the Lord for sinning:
1. In the cool of the day God came to commune and fellowship with the first man and woman he created. He told them they “may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” However, the ancient serpent (called the devil or Satan–Revelation 12:9) told them they would not sure die if they ate fruit from the forbidden tree; but they would be like God, knowing good and evil. The woman “took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.
2. When “they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, they hid…from the presence of the Lord God.But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
3. The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this…I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring[e] and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
To the woman he said…in pain you shall bring forth children.
And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life.
(The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.)
To cover Adam and Eve’s sense of nakedness and guilt before God, the Lord God made them garments of skins and clothed them.
4. Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
5. Spiritual death occurred the moment Adam and Eve sinned in disobeying God (Ephesians 2:5; 1 Timothy 5:6). Physical death was also set in motion—”each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).
However, because of the Lord God’s love for mankind, he had planned a way before the creation of the world to redeem children of Adam and Eve to God (Ephesians 1:3-9). God planned that as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive (1 Corinthians 15:22).
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
RELATING TO GOD IN HIS NEW-SPIRIT CREATION
HAVING A NEW SPIRIT:
God gives repentant believers in his Son Jesus Christ a new Spirit, for the old spirit is dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:5). If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17):
- All have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).
- the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans6:23).
- Repentant believers in Christ are born again of the Spirit of God (John 3:5-7; 16).
- The Holy Spirit, who lives in believers (1 Corinthians 3:16), enables believers ”to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians4:22-24).
- Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (Roman 6:4).
- The Word and Spirit of God equips us to overcome the evil forces and deceptions of the devil (Ephesians 6:10-18)
RELATING TO GOD IN HIS FUTURE-WORLD CREATION
HAVING A NEW BODY:
5 Corinthians 5:1-5. “For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. 2 We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. 3 For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies.[a] 4 While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. 5 God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.”
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
HAVING A NEW HEAVEN AND NEW EARTH
Isaiah 65:17-18. “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create.
2 Peter 3:13. “We, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.”
John 14:3. Our Savior and Lord Jesus said, “I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:3).
In the final creation, Our Lord God said: “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).
Pic-Adam Eve Jesus/crucifixion5/second coming
RELATING TO GOD IN HIS CREATIONS
The Bible says, ‘[God] who was seated on the throne said: “I am making everything new!”’ (Revelation 21:5).And “If anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
RELATING TO GOD IN HIS INITIAL-WORLD CREATION
In the beginning, the Lord God created the heavens and the earth…Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” And “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” (Genesis 1).
Genesis 3 takes us through steps of how God communed with the first man and woman he created; and how they broke their fellowship with God by disobeying him, and were separated from the Lord for sinning:
1. In the cool of the day God came to commune and fellowship with the first man and woman he created. He told them they “may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” However, the ancient serpent (called the devil or Satan–Revelation 12:9) told them they would not sure die if they ate fruit from the forbidden tree; but they would be like God, knowing good and evil. The woman “took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.
2. When “they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, they hid…from the presence of the Lord God.But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
3. The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this…I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring[e] and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
To the woman he said…in pain you shall bring forth children.
And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life.
(The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.)
To cover Adam and Eve’s sense of nakedness and guilt before God, the Lord God made them garments of skins and clothed them.
4. Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
5. Spiritual death occurred the moment Adam and Eve sinned in disobeying God (Ephesians 2:5; 1 Timothy 5:6). Physical death was also set in motion—”each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).
However, because of the Lord God’s love for mankind, he had planned a way before the creation of the world to redeem children of Adam and Eve to God (Ephesians 1:3-9). God planned that as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive (1 Corinthians 15:22).
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
RELATING TO GOD IN HIS NEW-SPIRIT CREATION
HAVING A NEW SPIRIT:
God gives repentant believers in his Son Jesus Christ a new Spirit, for the old spirit is dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:5). If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17):
- All have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).
- the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans6:23).
- Repentant believers in Christ are born again of the Spirit of God (John 3:5-7; 16).
- The Holy Spirit, who lives in believers (1 Corinthians 3:16), enables believers ”to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians4:22-24).
- Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (Roman 6:4).
- The Word and Spirit of God equips us to overcome the evil forces and deceptions of the devil (Ephesians 6:10-18)
RELATING TO GOD IN HIS FUTURE-WORLD CREATION
HAVING A NEW BODY:
5 Corinthians 5:1-5. “For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. 2 We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. 3 For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies.[a] 4 While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. 5 God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.”
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
HAVING A NEW HEAVEN AND NEW EARTH
Isaiah 65:17-18. “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create.
2 Peter 3:13. “We, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.”
John 14:3. Our Savior and Lord Jesus said, “I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:3).
In the final creation, Our Lord God said: “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).
