What does the New Testament say about creation?

The following was in a post, recently:

“The creation story is essential to the Christian faith and is as important as the death and resurrection of Christ, the entire being of the Triune GOD, and the inerrancy of the Bible.”

For what it’s worth, the author said that she believed in the Gap Theory of creation.

My response to this statement was to assert that the New Testament says a lot more about the death and resurrection of Christ than it does about the creation story. This implies that it’s not as important as Christ’s death and resurrection. I decided to see just what the New Testament does say about the creation story, using digital searches of the Bible for create, created, creation, and made.

The New Testament emphasizes the Who of creation. The how and when aren’t mentioned. The why is alluded to in Revelation 4:11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, the Holy One, to receive the glory, the honor, and the power, for you created all things, and because of your desire they existed, and were created!” (Unless noted, all scripture is from the World English Bible, public domain.) Apparently the why is because God wanted to. We aren’t told why God wanted this, and probably wouldn’t understand it if we were told. For more on the Who of creation, in the New Testament, see this post.

There is evidence, in the creation story, and elsewhere, that God the Father and God the Holy Spirit were also involved in creation, but there’s little or no evidence for that in the New Testament.

The New Testament indicates that we can understand creation through faith: Hebrews 11:3 By faith, we understand that the universe has been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which are visible.

There are uses of the phrase “from the beginning of creation,” but they aren’t really about the events of creation:

Mark 10:6 But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. [Referring to Genesis 1:27] Matthew 19:4 is similar.

Mark 13:19 For in those days there will be oppression, such as there has not been the like from the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will be.

Romans 1:20: For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity, that they may be without excuse.

2 Peter 3:4 … and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”

The “whole creation” is mentioned, as is “all creation”:

Mark 16:15 He said to them, “Go into all the world, and preach the Good News to the whole creation.

Romans 8:19-22 For the creation waits with eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of decay into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.

Colossians 1:23 … if it is so that you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the Good News which you heard, which is being proclaimed in all creation under heaven, of which I, Paul, was made a servant.

So is “new creation”:

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.

Galatians 6:15 For in Christ Jesus neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.

Revelation 3:14 “To the angel of the assembly in Laodicea write: “The Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning* of God’s creation, says these things:

*There is a text note in the World English Bible, indicating that “Beginning” may also be taken as Source, or Head. Some other versions have similar text notes. The same passage in Revelation, from the NIV, reads: 3:14 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. . .”

The Revelation 3:14 scripture may be about the events of creation. But it may also be about the renewal of the creation in the Final Kingdom, or mainly or entirely about that.

There are references to God’s creation which do not mention the Son:

Acts 4:24 When they heard it, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, “O Lord, you are God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them;

One aspect of creation is that humans are, somehow, in the image of God:

James 3:8 but nobody can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men who are made in the image of God.

There are some references to the creation of Adam, and of Adam and Eve, in the New Testament.

There are no direct references to the days of creation in the New Testament. There is a discussion of a “rest” for believers, in Hebrews. Hebrews 4:4: For he has said this somewhere about the seventh day, “God rested on the seventh day from all his works;” and mentions of not working on the Sabbath, such as Matthew 12, in which the Pharisees criticized Jesus, for healing on the Sabbath, and his followers for picking heads of grain on the Sabbath.

Ken Ham, of Answers in Genesis, claims that the New Testament does teach that there were six days of creation. Maybe, but I don’t think so. Ham’s analysis of what the New Testament says on the subject is a real stretch.

For more analysis of Mr. Ham’s view of the Bible, and its weakness, see this post, by Joel Edmund Anderson.

Where creation is not mentioned

Creation is not mentioned in Christ’s most significant teaching. It’s not in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), three discourses in Matthew (10, 13, and 18), or the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25, also in Mark 13, Luke 21). None of the parables mention creation.

The creation story is seldom mentioned in the New Testament. If there’s anything about the origin of the stars and the solar system, or of animals and plants, I can’t find it. The role of Christ in creation, and in sustaining the creation now, is an important part of the New Testament, but not as important as His death and resurrection.

In summary, although what the Bible says about creation, including in the New Testament, is important, it isn’t as important as the death and resurrection of Christ. The events of Genesis 1 and 2 are not explicitly taught in the New Testament, by Christ or the other authors.

Thank you for reading!

The New Earth and caring for the environment we have now

Tomorrow is Earth Day. E. Stephen Burnett has written a fine blog post, with plenty of scriptural material, on how care of the current earth relates to the New Earth.

You may also want to read my own post, more extensive, but not on the New Earth, about what the Bible says about environmental stewardship.

Thanks for reading. Read Burnett!

Biblical evidence for a physical body after death

The Bible teaches that there will be a physical body for the redeemed, at some point after death. Here is some of the evidence. All quotations are from the World English Bible, public domain:

Job 19:25 But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives.
In the end, he will stand upon the earth.
26 After my skin is destroyed,
then in my flesh shall I see God,

Christ had a physical body after His resurrection:
Luke 24:1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they and some others came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 They entered in, and didn’t find the Lord Jesus’ body. (Presumably because His body had been transformed, and He was still inhabiting it, and had left the area.)

Luke 24:38 He said to them, “Why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39  See my hands and my feet, that it is truly me. Touch me and see, for a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.” 40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 While they still didn’t believe for joy, and wondered, he said to them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”
42 They gave him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. 43 He took them, and ate in front of them.

John 20:17 Jesus said to her, “Don’t hold me*, for I haven’t yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brothers, and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”  *A number of translations say “Don’t cling to me,” or “Don’t touch me,” which would have not been possible, if Christ was only a spirit.

John 20:24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, wasn’t with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 After eight days again his disciples were inside, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, the doors being locked, and stood in the middle, and said, “Peace be to you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Reach here your finger, and see my hands. Reach here your hand, and put it into my side. Don’t be unbelieving, but believing.” 

Acts 10:40 God raised him up the third day, and gave him to be revealed, 41 not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen before by God, to us, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

We will be like Christ
John indicates that we will be like the risen Christ, indicating that we, too, will have a glorified body:
1 John 3: 2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. But we know that when he is revealed, we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is.

Romans 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us. 19 For the creation waits with eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of decay into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now. 23 Not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption, the redemption of our body.

1 Corinthians 15:51 Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable body must become imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 But when this perishable body will have become imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

Revelation 7:9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could count, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. Revelation uses figurative language, and it is clear that much of it was not meant to be taken literally. The redeemed presumably would not be able to hold palm branches in their hands, or wear robes, without a body.

New heaven and new earth
God promises a new creation, apparently physical as well as spiritual. (See also the Romans 8 passage, above.) Presumably a new creation with physical structure will be inhabited by believers who are physically resurrected. Revelation 20:1 I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more.

For more on the matter of "the sea no more" see here.

The Apostle's Creed is not scripture, but was a concise statement of what the church believes. It includes this:  
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
    the holy Christian Church,
        the communion of saints,
    the forgiveness of sins,
    the resurrection of the body,
    and the life everlasting. Amen. (This is the version used in the Lutheran Service Book. All the versions I saw use the phrase "resurrection of the body.")

It is not clear, at least to me, as to when we will assume this glorified body, but, in comparison to eternity, whether it is assumed immediately upon death, or after the Final Kingdom, with its new heaven and new earth, is established, or somewhere between these points, doesn't matter much.

The best fictional portrayal of the bodily resurrection is in The Silver Chair, by C. S. Lewis, when King Caspian is transformed, after his death, but only because of the blood of Aslan, the lion.

Thanks for reading.