“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
2 Corinthians 5:17
When we make something new, it is always old matter rearranged in a fresh way. Our “original” is only old concepts given a new angle. God alone can make a truly new thing. He created the universe out of nothing. It wasn’t a rearrangement of previously existing matter. “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Genesis 1:3).
Some scientists speak of the “big bang” origin of the universe, explaining that an incredibly dense, very small ball of matter exploded and threw all the constellations into space. If this was the start of all things, how did that initial matter come into being?
Only God by His Word can create something out of nothing. He speaks, and it is! He is what the philosophers call “the first cause.” God achieved a pinnacle of the new when He made mankind to be like Him—good, conscious of their identity, capable of love and creativity, rational. He made human beings in His own image.
We are new creatures, created like Him and by Him where there was nothing before. What an auspicious start!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Rev. Ieuan Lloyd-Jones, 89, is a retired Anglican minister who also worked over 40 years in the oil industry. He was an associate chaplain at Oxford University and specialized as a speaker on issues of Faith and Work. He has served as assistant vicar in churches in Surrey and Oxford. A life-long learner, he enjoys reading and jazz piano, and is currently studying poetry and updating his Welsh. Rev. Lloyd-Jones lives in Guildford, England, with his wife, Valerie. They have three daughters (the eldest is Sally Lloyd-Jones who wrote The Jesus Story Book Bible) and five grandchildren.
Some scientists speak of the “big bang” origin of the universe, explaining that an incredibly dense, very small ball of matter exploded and threw all the constellations into space. If this was the start of all things, how did that initial matter come into being?
Only God by His Word can create something out of nothing. He speaks, and it is! He is what the philosophers call “the first cause.” God achieved a pinnacle of the new when He made mankind to be like Him—good, conscious of their identity, capable of love and creativity, rational. He made human beings in His own image.
We are new creatures, created like Him and by Him where there was nothing before. What an auspicious start!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Rev. Ieuan Lloyd-Jones, 89, is a retired Anglican minister who also worked over 40 years in the oil industry. He was an associate chaplain at Oxford University and specialized as a speaker on issues of Faith and Work. He has served as assistant vicar in churches in Surrey and Oxford. A life-long learner, he enjoys reading and jazz piano, and is currently studying poetry and updating his Welsh. Rev. Lloyd-Jones lives in Guildford, England, with his wife, Valerie. They have three daughters (the eldest is Sally Lloyd-Jones who wrote The Jesus Story Book Bible) and five grandchildren.
Scripture Focus
Genesis 1:26-31
Insight
Did God make a cosmic mistake in creating mankind? Absolutely not! He looks on you as the apple of His eye (see Deuteronomy 32:9-11).
Bible In A Year
- Genesis 1-2
- Psalm 1
- Matthew 1-2
