The new creation (Gk καινὴ κτίσις) is a concept found in the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

, related to the new life (ἐν καινότητι ζωῆς) and new man (referring to the spiritual rebirth through Christ Jesus) (καινός ἄνθρωπος) but with reference also to the

Genesis creation narrative The Genesis creation narrative is the creation myth of both Judaism and Christianity. The narrative is made up of two stories, roughly equivalent to the first two chapters of the Book of Genesis. In the first, Elohim (the Hebrew generic word ...

In the letters of Paul

The language of a new creation is not limited to the two verses in the

Authorized King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...

that include that actual phrase (Gal. 6:15, 2 Cor 5:17). Other passages, such as Galatians 6:12-16, 2 Corinthians 5:14-19, Ephesians 2:11-22, Ephesians 4:17-24, and Colossians 3:1-11 present new creation teaching also, without that exact phrase. Other references to the concept include Ephesians 2:10, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." The old, Adamic creation could not be said to be in any sense "in Christ," so this must therefore be speaking of ''new'' creation. Often the themes of the Genesis creation and new creation are contrasted, according to

N. T. Wright Nicholas Thomas Wright (born 1 December 1948), known as N. T. Wright or Tom Wright, is an English New Testament scholar, Pauline theologian and Anglican bishop. He was the bishop of Durham from 2003 to 2010. He then became research profe ...

, in Colossians chapter 1, where the old creation and new creation in Christ (1:15-20) are compared with the new creation (vv. 21-23).

Other New Testament references

The first words of Matthew may also be an allusion to the idea of a new creation, with a

double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, of which one is typically obvious, whereas the other often conveys a message that would be too socially ...

in Matthew's word ''genesis'' (γένεσις) between the meanings of "origin", "Genesis" (the first book of Moses) and "genealogy": * Genesis 1:0

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond th ...

: The Book of Creation

f Moses F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. Hist ...

(Βίβλος γενέσεως �ωσέως * Matthew 1:1

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

: The Book of Creation of Jesus Christ (Βίβλος γενέσεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ) There are also allusions of new creation in the Gospel of John including: * John starts with the words "In the beginning was the word," mirroring the beginning of Genesis * Jesus' final words in John are "it is finished" John 19:30, mirroring the words of "completed" in Genesis 2:1 * Emphasising twice that the resurrection events occurred on "the first day of the week" John 20:1,19 * The resurrection of Jesus being the implied eighth sign after

seven signs in the Gospel of John In Christian scholarship, the Book of Signs is a name commonly given to the first main section of the Gospel of John, from 1:19 to the end of Chapter 12. It follows the Hymn to the Word and precedes the Book of Glory. It is named for seven no ...

, indicating a week of creation and then a new creation beginning with the resurrection. * The resurrection of Jesus takes place from within a garden tomb (19:41) and, upon encountering the risen Jesus,

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cru ...

initially thinks him to be "the gardener" (20:15). This emphasis on the garden and Jesus being the gardener, may be an allusion to Eden, the garden God planted (Gen. 2:8) to which the first humans were sent to be gardeners. * Jesus breathes on the disciples, saying "receive the Holy Spirit" John 20:22, mirroring God breathing into Adam in Genesis 2:7. References in the other Gospels include: * The story of the two disciples and Luke stating that "their eyes were opened," 24:31, mirroring Genesis 3:7.Wellington Cathedral "Emmaus: Fallible Frightened Friends" April 2012
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References

{{reflist, 2 Biblical exegesis New Testament words and phrases

In the letters of Paul

Other New Testament references

See also

References