Illustrations of Salvation: Creation

Metaphor: Creation- Jesus gives us the opportunity to be born-again, to be a new creation. It is more than a fresh start. It is the right start (John 3:16-18).

Positive: New Creation-

• Jesus used the language of being born-again: "Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again. (John 3:3,7; 1 Peter 1:23)
• Those born of God are children of God: "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister." (1 John 3:9-10)
• Christians are a new creation: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:The old has gone, the new is here!" (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15)
• Jesus is presented as the second Adam: (Romans 5:15-17)
• Jesus is the firstborn of the new creation: "The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation." (Col. 1:15; 1 Cor. 15:17; 2 Cor. 5:17; Phil. 3:21).

Negative: Old Creation-

• Sin transformed all of creation: "We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time." (Rom.8:22; Gen. 3:18)
• Sin entered through Adam's disobedience: "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned" (Romans 5:12).
• This creation will pass and God will make all things new: "But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells." ( 2 Peter 3:13) (Rev. 21:1)
• Nothing of the old creation can enter the kingdom of God: "Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit." (John 3:5)

Illustrations:

• Jesus illustrated this point with a common object of his time: an unshrunk cloth to patch an old garment (Matt. 9:16).
• The illustration is clear: when the garment is washed, the patch will shrink and tear the garment beyond repair. The old and the new do not mix with each other.
• In the same way, God's grace requires a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26).
• Just as God makes us a new creation, God will make all things new one day (Rev. 21:1).