Easter - First Day of New Creation

Easter celebrates the start of the new creation!

Anglican Bishop N. T. Wright has written extensively on Jesus, the early believers and their church and especially about the amazing resurrection of Jesus, something no one was expecting, and an event that started a movement that set out to change the world.  In his book “Simply Jesus” on page 191:

“When Jesus rose from the dead on Easter morning, he rose as the beginning of the new world that Israel’s God had always intended to make.  That is the first and most important thing to know about Easter.”

“This is the real beginning of the kingdom.  Jesus’ risen person - body, mind, heart and soul - is the prototype of the new creation.  We have already seen him as the Temple in person, as the jubilee in person.  Now we see him as the new creation in person.”

In his book “Surprised by Hope”, Wright has a whole chapter:  “Reshaping the Church for Mission: Living the Future”.  He tries to get us excited about Easter:

“Easter is about the wild delight of God’s creative power . . . It’s about the real Jesus coming out of the real tomb and getting God’s real new creation under way . . . This is our greatest festival . . . This is our greatest day.”

He goes on to say that we each have a role to play in advancing this kingdom in this very real world of space, time and matter, we should not simply give up on this world.  “We must, rather, claim it for the kingdom of God, for the lordship of Jesus, and in the power of the Spirit, so that we can go out and work for that kingdom, announce that lordship and effect change through that power.”

Wright points out that if we are to be the agents of change for God’s kingdom, we must accept “that the whole world is now God’s holy land, we must not rest as long as that land is spoiled and defaced.  This is not extra to the church’s mission.  It is central.”

Working for this kingdom is a huge responsibility, and he adds “when the church is living out the kingdom of God, the word of God will spread powerfully and do its own work.”

He ends the book with one of his Easter sermons, in which he says, “When the final resurrection occurs, as the centerpiece of God’s new creation, we will discover that everything done in the present world in the power of Jesus’ own resurrection will be celebrated and included, appropriately transformed.”

Lots to get excited about, lots to do to work toward the fulfillment of this new creation!