The redemption of the world through Christ and His Church isn’t a new idea. It’s simply the fulfillment of God’s original plan. God’s redeeming work does not scrap creation but restores and renews it. Remember that it is not only God’s people who are longing for Christ’s return, but it’s creation itself as in Romans 8. In Christ, Christians are called to participate in God’s renewal of His creation as His representatives.

When you hear the word “creation,” what comes to mind? For many Christians, the notion of creation is bound up in concerns about the age of the Earth or the important battles between intelligent design and naturalistic evolution. In these instances, considerations of creation are primarily focused on how the world was made.   

As important as those questions are, there are also other things Christians must consider, especially in a culture like ours. Namely, we must consider the implications from both that God created the world and why God created the world. Another way to think about it is that Christians need to be clear on what creation is for and what our place is in it.  

It’s tempting to see the biblical story of creation as God’s Plan A, something discarded on account of our sin. In this view, Christ’s work to redeem the world and the work of the Church is just the backup plan. In this view, the Christian life is often reduced to personal salvation, and the world around us to a kind of ticking time bomb waiting to be destroyed.  

This, however, is not consistent with the deep hope that the Gospel offers.  

According to author and theologian Edward Klink, God’s purposes have not changed since creation. In his latest book, The Beginning and End of All Things, Klink argues that “the goal of every Christian is not a departure to an otherworldly ‘heaven’ somewhere in the clouds but a ‘coming down’ of heaven to the earth … and the renewal of all creation.”  

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