Earth

• 1. The Big Picture: Two Creations
• God Created the world
  • Sin entered and the perfect creation was corrupted
  • God promised Eve that one day he would destroy Satan permanently
  • The Earth became increasingly rebellious against God
  • He destroyed it with the flood

Floodwater

• God made a new start with Noah
  • After a few generations it was as bad as ever

Abraham

• So God made a new start with Abraham and his descendents
  • The descendents grew into the nation of Israel

Tabernacle

Jericho

• So God made a new start with the next generation of Israel
  • That conquerored the promised land under Joshua
  • He gave Israel the promised land, but they became increasingly like the corrupt nations around

King David

• So he chose a man, David, to lead them back to him
  • he promised David that one day a totally new start would be made with one from his line
    • David made a new start in the worship of God, and established the “tabernacle of David”
  • God’s presence in their midst had purifying power
    • But they did not value his presence
  • But throughout this time the prophets start to whisper about a totally new creation
    • Particularly Isaiah

Babylonian Siege of Jerusalem

• God made a new start with those who returned from captivity
  • Eventually groups like the Pharisees and Saducees replaced true worshipers
  • But things were now ready for an entirely new creation in Jesus Christ

Sunrise

• But what Jesus did was totally unexpected
  • He began the new creation before the old one was ended
  • One of the words he used for it was the “Kingdom”
• This Kingdom is invisible to the old creation, but they can see its effects
  • love, truth, justice, faithfuless
  • but also healing, restoration, victory over darkness
• It would invisibly grow like yeast in bread
  • and seemingly small and weak like a tiny seed would grow into a great tree
• Jesus, with his resurrected body, became the first full new-creation being
  • But all people had to do was to believe him and they would receive the seed of this new life
  • Soon it was rapidly spreading over the whole world
  • Nothing can stop it eventually reaching every nation

Butterfly

• Then the old creation will finally be destroyed
  • and we will receive new creation bodies, like caterpillars turning into butterflies

Updated on 2011-08-09 by Andrew Fountain