From Creation to New Creation

From Creation to New Creation
by Tim Chester
Paternoster Press

This is a superb overview of the story of the Bible from God's creation of the universe in the past through to God's new creation of heaven and earth for eternity in the future. The book's subtitle is "Understanding the Bible Story" and that about sums up this book's intent and method. It sees the Bible not as a collection of proof texts but as a grand narrative, as a series of stories. He also makes it very clear, in line with the Emmaus Road appearance of the risen Christ, that Jesus Christ is the central figure and focal point of the whole Bible, both Old and New Testaments.

At times the scope of the story that Tim Chester helps us to understand simply staggers the mind. We see the story of God creating the world and human beings and the story of Adam and Eve choosing to disobey God. Chester's explanation of the danger of men and women "knowing good and evil" was not one I've noticed before, but it struck me as obviously correct. He argues that it was not being aware of good and evil that was the problem (this is often the way the verse is interpreted), but human beings deciding for themselves what constituted good and evil. This ties in much better with the Bible's picture of fallen humanity and our rebellious, sinful nature.

The story continues with God's choice of Abraham to be the one through whom he would create a nation, through whom the Messiah would come and ultimately through whom "all the nations" of the earth would be blessed.

Chester then charts the development of the nation of Israel through Isaac, Jacob and the Twelve Tribes, to the formation of a nation that was freed from slavery in Egypt, becoming a powerful nation with its own monarchy. He also traces the decline of the nation from David's day through to the exile in Babylon in the time of the prophets.

The narrative reaches a crescendo with the coming of Jesus as God's Messiah in the New Testament. Again some of what Chester writes here was new and fascinating to me. He talks about the decline and decline of Israel until there was only one faithful Israelite left - the faithful remnant was reduced to just one man, Jesus Christ. So, as Elijah had thought he was the only one left who trusted in God, so later that would be the case for Christ. Christ carried out the task of blessing the nations that national Israel failed to do, through his life, death and resurrection.

The rest of the New Testament explains the creation of Christ's new people - the new Israel - who fan out from their covenant head just as national Israel grew out of Abraham. But as Christ is also the second Adam, this new Israel includes people from every nation on earth.

The story culminates in more than the restoration of Eden, but a new creation and a new heaven and earth where God and his people will live in peace and blessedness forever.

It's quite a story when you see it all laid out before you in broad vistas. Chester does an excellent job in this short 160-page book in which he unfolds the basic theme of the Bible, God's promise of salvation in four key elements:

• The Promise of a People who know God
• The Promise of a Place of Blessing
• The Promise of a King and a Kingdom
• The Promise of a Blessing to the Nations
  

It really made me want to re-read the biblical narrative for myself again. I think that by keeping the big picture in mind, it helps us understand the details of the narrative along the way.

I would recommend this without reservation. There are few Christians who would not benefit from reading this either as a guide before embarking on a journey through the Old Testament or as a refresher for the more experienced traveller.