The Full Picture
We are often given a partial representation of Christ and His work on the cross. We are rarely presented with the same God of creation in redemption. In the limited and temporal human understanding, it is easier to think of creation and redemption as two separate events and it is easier to have two different persons associated with them and conveniently God the Father is associated with creation and God the Son with redemption, and almost always God the Spirit is left out.
Sadly, that's how it is often displayed. But in truth, that is not the case at all. The triune God is one God and all three persons are involved in all that God does. Likewise, creation, redemption, and judgment are all one event but observed as distinct events because of the times we live in. At least for me, that makes much more sense than the conventional approach. The tree of Life in the garden of Eden is the same rod of Moses leading Israel out of captivity and the same cross of Jesus saving all mankind from the curse of sin.
Therefore, I find it essential to talk about Christ not only as the "Plan B person of the Godhead" but as God of creation. I find it essential to talk about the new creation through the work of Christ in light of the creation story and the many prophecies of the Bible.
One beautiful example is the story of Elijah and the widow at Zarephath found in 1 Kings 17. During the times of great drought, God told Elijah to go to Zarephath where He had appointed a woman to feed him. Elijah found the woman in a famine state and asked her to give him the last of what she and her son had to eat. He obeyed the Word of God and so did she. She was later blessed with abundance as a result of what she participated in.
As Adam and Eve disobeyed God's Word and turned paradise into a desolate place, so did Elijah and the widow obey God's Word and turn the desolate place into a place of abundance. Christ reversed the curse and recreated humanity out of the curse of this fallen world.
I believe it is essential to talk about the work of the cross as a work of creation, and not just of deliverance apart from creation.
Why you might wonder? The answer is simple. Other than the fact that it is the truth, the very obvious reason to consider this is because in the cross lies a treasure and power greater than one of escape from destruction, and greater than one of a 'post-salvation church-going life'. In the cross, lies the very life power of creation and that is why the first fruit of the cross was the resurrection. Now, we might put a split between creation and resurrection, but again the only difference is the interruption which came in between when looking at it from our own perspective, but in reality, there is no difference in the power itself, there is no difference in the Life of God itself. In reality, the same "God who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:6), or the same God who created all the animals during the creation is the same God who ordered Noah to build the ark, which represents the cross and have all of the earth re-created through the fruit of that ark.
Why is this so important? The main reason that comes to mind is the knowledge or awareness it brings to the creative life force that dwells within us and can manifest through us to display God's glory in the desolate world we live in. We spend so much time and effort in evangelization but miss the very gift that God has provided us through the cross. We preach the cross but do not use its power in our preaching. Why? Because we do not associate the cross with our need for ministry. we are convinced that the cross is for the unsaved and maybe the gift of the Holy Spirit for us who minister. If they were such distinct things, Paul would have never said "For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power." (1 Corinthians 2:2-5).
This split that I am talking about has, I believe, cost the church dearly. Some think that they emphasize the cross, but ignore its power altogether, others preach the power, thinking that the cross is taken for granted and doesn't need to be emphasized at all.
The author to the letter of Hebrews puts it beautifully when talking about the Son, he says: "He (God) has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe." (Hebrews 1:2)
The God of redemption is the same God of creation. Redemption is creation overcoming the fall. When we start looking at things from this perspective, we will find within the confidence and the knowledge of the glory in a much more tangible way. The creative power in creation resides in us through the cross of Jesus Christ. God bless you!
