Creation and New Creation with Alex Duke
Today we get to talk with Alex Duke about the theme of Creation and New Creation. As we just scratch the surface of this huge theme in Biblical theology, we hope it spurs you on to marvel at our great Creator who always keeps his promises.
NOTES & QUOTES
“A new creation is a present-day spark of God's future fulfillment.” (2 Cor. 5:17 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”)
“God is in the business of keeping his promise from Genesis 3:15.”
“The more of the Bible you read, the more you'll understand. So just don't stop reading.”
“Bible writers were Bible readers.” (It’s clear that the people writing the Bible had known and meditated on the Scriptures they had for themselves…showing how many passages reference other passages, etc.)
“Where are God's people going to dwell in peace with God? It's through this person named Jesus.”
“We are sparks of new creation together, right? We spur each other on to glory. We're helping each other get to glory. That is the point of church. We are helping each other, encouraging one another as the day is drawing near to keep following Jesus.”
“The local church is this new creation spark until Jesus gets back. What that means is that churches are full of priests. And the priests are not a certain line of people, like the Levites. The priests are all of us. They're those of us who've been united to Christ by faith and filled with the Holy Spirit. And we have the same responsibility to guard and keep the boundaries of this temple, the church. We're fulfilling the same point through membership and discipline. That is how we fulfill the commission given to Adam and the priest and the king and all those after them today.”
“Scripture actually calls us into a people that has an organized shape to it, and even organized authority structures within it that the New Testament gives us, elders, deacons, membership, and even has boundaries.”
“The New Testament speaks about the church as an obvious thing.”
“If you want to do some homework, reading the last 10 chapters of Ezekiel and comparing them to the last two chapters of Revelation would be very edifying, because it's just incredible.”
“Where is it that God's people dwell in peace with him? I would say, now, the answer to that question by and large is in the church, as the members of the church have a relationship with Jesus. And that our churches are supposed to be sparks of future fulfillment.”
“The work of Christ, belief in the person and work of Christ is what is given to us by the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see the beauty of what Christ the Son has done, to the glory of God the Father.”
“We become new creations–like a spark of God's future fulfillment–when God the Holy Spirit turns our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh.”
“Creation is the place where God dwells in peace with his people.”
To trace the thread of creation through the Bible, ask, “where does God dwell in peace with his people?”
“Ultimately, Jesus is the resolution to the question. It is through Jesus that God can dwell in peace with his people.”
“All the truths about God dwelling in peace can be ours through Christ.”
“The new heavens and the new earth that will endure forever are where God will dwell in perfect peace with his people forever. And all the promises he made, he keeps to us. Read Revelation 21. We do know that there will be no sun because we don't need the sun anymore, because God will be our light. There will be no sorrow or suffering or pain or sin because all of that has been dealt with by Jesus. It's been dealt with by Jesus. All suffering and sorrow that my own church, myself, or my family is dealing with. It's going to be gone because of the perfect work of God, keeping his promise through the person of the Son applied to us by his Holy Spirit.”
“From the beginning of Scripture to the very end, it's like, God's going to do it. God's going to do it. The very last words of Scripture, he says, ‘I'm coming soon.’ In other words, just trust me. I'm going to keep my promise.”
“All of existence will become Eden. It will become God dwelling in perfect peace with his people. And it's going to be glorious. All of creation will be renewed, and he will have kept his word to his people, like he always has.”
RESOURCES
From Eden to Egypt by Alex Duke
“How Should Our Old Testaments Be Ordered?” Ep 82 of Bible Talk
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
Genesis 1:1
Genesis 1-3
Genesis 3:15
John 20, 21
2 Corinthians 5:21
Exodus 25-31
Exodus 30:32-34
Psalm 1
Hebrews 13
Last 10 chapters of Ezekiel compared with last 2 chapters of Revelation
Revelation 21:1-4
Revelation 22:1-5
Seven references of the Lord’s marching orders to Israel with 7th being Sabbath rest:
Exodus 25:1, Exodus 30:11, Exodus 30:17, Exodus 30:22, Exodus 30:34, Exodus 31:1, Exodus 31:12
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
What are some examples in Scripture where we can trace the thread of creation?
Does anything change about your days when you remember that God is in the business of keeping his promises?
What is one thing you learned about God and his Word from this conversation?
How does thinking about the theme of Creation and New Creation point you to Jesus? What ultimate hope do you have in regards to this topic?
What might you do or implement based on what you learned in this week’s episode?
RECENT CONVERSATIONS
IMPORTANT NOTE
Journeywomen interviews are intended to serve as a springboard for continued study in the context of your local church. While we carefully select guests each week, interviews do not imply Journeywomen's endorsement of all writings and positions of the interviewee or any other resources mentioned.
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