Among the most delightful concepts in the Bible is creation. The idea of the Master Craftsman making a new thing is sublime, for creation shows God in special action, engaged in the work of the artist. When we think of creation, our minds go naturally to the Book of Genesis.
But the Bible actually contains two creation stories.
The First Creation
The first creation story in Genesis impresses readers with its short and elegant summary of what were highly complex actions by God. At first there is nothing but a void, and then there is light, sky, land, and plants and animals of all kinds. The sun, moon, and stars are put into place and then the crowning glory appears—man in the image of God. God ends creation week with a Sabbath rest and beholds the work of His hands.
The creation story figures largely in what follows: the entrance of sin and death and the degradation of humanity. As we look at the first creation and subsequent events in the Book of Genesis, a single aspect of creation stands out. God created man in His own image. The rest of the Bible concerns itself relatively little with the first physical creation. Instead, the focus is on salvation, what might be called the second creation: the re-creation of the image of God in men and women who choose to cooperate with the divine plan.
The Bible uses the original physical creation as a sign of the existence, power, and love of God; that is, as an aid to those being saved and a demonstration for those being lost, that a God does indeed exist.
The Second Creation
The closing two chapters of the Book of Revelation contain the culmination of the second creation story. Between Genesis 1 and 2 and Revelation 21 and 22, the Bible describes the actions of the Master Craftsman in restoring man to his original condition. A comparison between the first and second creations bears much encouraging fruit.
Revelation 21 and 22 do not contain an obvious rehearsal of any days of creation, so no literary pattern is evident as it is in Genesis 1. Revelation 21 describes instead an already accomplished set of facts about the future. The New Jerusalem will descend from heaven to the new earth after the millennium. It is adorned as a bride. This image is from the Old Testament’s understanding of the intimate relationship between God and His people.
The New Jerusalem is described as a fact, though future. The bride is properly clothed. The names of key biblical figures are etched on the foundation of the walls and on the pearly gates—the names of the apostles and the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. Their individual stories stand as powerful examples in the history of salvation. Each apostle and each son of Israel is part of the kingdom of God and worthy to enter the New Jerusalem.
Who is worthy to enter the city? David asks the same question: “LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart” (Psalm 15:1-2). Revelation indicates the same concept this way: “He that overcometh shall inherit all things” (Rev. 21:7). Another equivalent idea is that those who abide in the New Jerusalem are those who “see [God’s] face; and his name shall be in their foreheads” (Rev. 22:4). Each of the redeemed has a re-creation story to tell.
Thus, the second creation story has not taken place over a six day period, but over a six thousand year period. The second creation is a re-creation, not of sun, moon, and stars, but of the image of God in the souls of men. God has imprinted Himself on the overcomers who have applied the merits of Jesus to themselves.
Difference Between the Two Creations
Each of our personal stories is implicitly contained in the Bible’s second creation, because we are hearers of the Word preserved through the ages. Our experiences are referred to explicitly as well, especially in the Books of Daniel and Revelation.
The story of the second creation as portrayed in Revelation 21 and 22 shows important differences from the original story in Genesis. But it is critical that we see the two stories as closely connected. Revelation notes that the first heaven and the first earth are passed away and that there is no more sea (Rev. 21:1). The sea plays a key role in the first creation. The first creation opens with the Spirit hovering over the “face of the deep” (Gen. 1:1).
Revelation 21:3 shows God in a different relationship with man. At the end of the second creation we see that God is with man in contrast to the first creation where God places Adam and Eve in their own garden. God is personally present for a beautiful reason. John says, “And God will wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Rev 21:4).
The salvation story involves a great amount of suffering and sorrow—so great that man needs the continual presence of God Himself. The intercessory work of the angels is over. In fact, all intercession is completed. The New Jerusalem does not have a temple, “for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it” (Rev. 21:22).
The “living water,” so often noted by Jesus, is present in the second creation in abundance as is the tree of life (see Rev. 22:1-2). The new tree of life is described as bearing twelve times as much fruit as the tree of life in Eden, as well as twelve different kinds of fruit.
In stark contrast to the first creation, there is no night in the second creation. Night has become symbolic of death and loss, and God chooses to banish this element of the first creation (see Rom 13:12, “The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” (ESV).
One key difference between the first and second creations is the role of the Holy Spirit. In the beginning, the Spirit is shown hovering over the surface of the water as if beginning the imposition of order on a chaotic, formless Earth. Each of the messages to the churches in Revelation 2 and 3 is from Jesus, but Jesus points to the Holy Spirit at the conclusion of each message.
Note what Jesus says in Revelation 2:11: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.” The Spirit is bringing order, not to the physical planet, but to the human heart.
Those who have listened to Jesus through the intercession of the Spirit are overcomers. As the Book of Revelation closes, we see a union between the Spirit and the bride. John writes, “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17). There is no doubt that the Spirit in the second creation story urges upon the hearts of men and women the need to listen to Jesus and partake in the gift of life.
Conclusion
Every individual saved has gone through the second creation. Jesus says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life (John 5:24).
Every individual saved has already drunk of the water of life offered by Jesus in the here and now, and will have experienced the new birth in a world antagonistic to the second creation--thus, the need for God to dwell with them forever to wipe away every tear they have shed in the second creation. It has been a desperate experience in some senses, joyful in others.
But the second creation offers an unfathomable reward for the dreadful battles and trials endured by the righteous who, through the merits of Jesus, have the right to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Marcus Sheffield is a retired Professor of English from Southern Adventist University. Sheffield grew up in Southern California and later spent three years as a missionary's kid in North and East Africa, Beirut, Lebanon, and Singapore. He was educated at Pacific Union College, Andrews University, and Michigan State University. His main scholarly interest was in the relationship between Puritan theology and American literature. He enjoys mountain biking, golfing, and studying the Bible.