Lord of All Creation | Practical Theology

“Every believer is a new creation with a new capacity to do the will of God through the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Was Jesus present at creation? John 1:3 tells us, “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” Jesus, then, is more than our Savior; He is also our Creator.

Christ’s creative role goes beyond making all things in the beginning. Jesus is also the primary agent of our re-creation when we are born again. Second Corinthians 5:17 assures us that “if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” Jesus is the author of our new life in Christ.

You may wonder, What exactly has changed? Look in the mirror, and you will see the same old body with all its weaknesses and frailty. Today you will face the same struggles you had yesterday and perhaps even make the same mistakes. Yet something fundamental has changed. We have a different kind of relationship with God. We are no longer God’s enemies but are reconciled as His friends and children (John 1:12; compare with Rom. 5:9–10). We are indwelt by the Spirit of God who empowers us to live the Christian life and “testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” (Rom. 8:16). Like Abraham, who was “looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Heb.11:10), we are also looking forward to the day when the first heaven and the first earth pass away. The new Jerusalem will come down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And the enthroned Christ will declare, “I am making everything new!” (Rev. 21:1–5).

Is this merely “pie in the sky” theology with no practical value for the here and now? Far from it. Although the new heavens and new earth have not yet arrived, but “the new is here” (2 Cor. 5:17). New Testament scholar F. F. Bruce explains that anyone who has experienced new birth in Christ “has already crossed the bridge from the old age to the new.” Even now, every believer is a new creation with a new capacity to do the will of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the Lord of all creation, both old and new.

For Further Study

To learn more, read The Overcoming Life by D. L. Moody (Moody Publishers).

BY Dr. John Koessler

John Koessler is Professor Emeritus of Applied Theology and Church Ministries at Moody Bible Institute. John authors the “Practical Theology” column for Today in the Word of which he is also a contributing writer and theological editor. An award-winning author, John’s newest title is When God is Silent: Let the Bible Teach You to Pray (Kirkdale). Prior to joining the Moody faculty, he served as a pastor of Valley Chapel in Green Valley, Illinois, for nine years. He and his wife, Jane, now enjoy living in a lakeside town in Michigan.