Teaching the Broader Gospel: Creation
Editor’s Intro: This is the first installment in a month-long series about Teaching the Broader Gospel and will trace the gospel-thread from Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Glorification. If you’re not familiar with YPT’s emphasis on the “Narrow and Broad Gospel” please read the linked article.
If you ask students to explain the gospel, they will probably say something like, “Jesus died for my sins on the cross, and through faith in him, I am saved.” Even though this is a true statement, as one of our previous articles has explained, it is the “narrow gospel.” Although this is sufficient for salvation, it does not fully encapsulate the story of redemption communicated through Scripture. Though the core of the gospel may be “narrow,” we must also give our students a “broader” picture of the gospel that will help them to see the world through a biblical lens.
So, where does the gospel begin? It begins with God. We must first know who God is before understanding how our sin offends him, how we are under His judgment, and how we can receive His mercy through Jesus. By viewing God’s glory, goodness, and grace in creation, we can help students see the beauty and wonder of this “broader” sense picture of the gospel. This means starting our presentation of the gospel where the Bible does: at creation.
Creation Declares God’s Glory
The creation story in Genesis declares the glory of God by highlighting his eternality and power.
God’s Eternity
Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God. . .” From the first verse in the Bible, the author assumes God’s existence. Nothing precedes God, nor is there anything that created God. Instead, He just is, eternally. As the Psalmist says, “Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from eternity to eternity, you are God” (Psalm 90:2). God is eternally self-existent, in that He needs nothing to exist. This makes Him completely unlike the rest of the created world. He is the only uncreated being. This means He decides how His creation should act and function since He designed it for His own glory.
God’s Power
God’s glory is also seen in His power to create and sustain all things. God created the universe out of nothing. He needed no tools or materials, but simply spoke the universe into motion through His Word. God exhibits this same power in his governance over his creation. Hebrews 1:3 says that Jesus “upholds the universe by the word of his power.” Our God is the Almighty One who can do all things.
Creation Displays God’s Goodness
Contrary to other worldviews that attempt to bring God down to the same level as His creation, the Bible proclaims that God is completely different, set apart, and distinct from it, being perfectly good, and creation itself proclaims this reality. Throughout the creation story in Genesis 1-2, the author repetitively states that everything God made was good. The word tob in Hebrew does not simply mean “morally good,” but communicates something perfectly fulfilling its design and purpose. Likewise, the Hebrew word shalom communicates perfect peace and harmony between God and his creatures. There was no enmity or strain in God’s relationship with his creation. Instead, everything was in a state of perfect peace. In the beginning, everything was good, right, and the way it was supposed to be.
This is important to remember because, as we said above, the “narrow” gospel tells people we have sinned against a holy God. But if we start with that message we can unintentionally imply that an evil world is all that has ever been. However, by starting evangelism at creation we can help our students see God’s goodness in the world He originally created. After all, only a good God can create good things.
When God made man and woman, He looked over them and said what He had made was very good (Gen 1:31). He did not create evil people. Instead, we are the ones who corrupted God’s good creation in sinful rebellion against our Maker.
Creation Demonstrates God’s Grace
Grace can be defined as receiving something that we don’t deserve. God’s grace is seen finally in the work of Christ, but it is depicted much earlier than that. The very act of creation is a gracious gift from God. God did not have to create us, let alone make us His image-bearers and royal vice-regents over all creation. But God, in His grace, freely chose to do this so that we could know, love, live with, and glorify him. The fact that we exist is only by the grace of a loving God.
And this same God will eventually restore everything that has been broken by sin. The ultimate promise of the gospel is that when Jesus returns, God will not destroy all things and start over. Instead, he will restore and enhance creation according to how he first created it to be: a universe that exudes perfect shalom. Grace will bring restoration to all things.
Gospel Applications from Creation
I want to offer three ways the “broader” gospel in creation should affect the daily lives of our students.
The world is not the way it is supposed to be
When students come to us asking why there is so much hatred, evil, suffering, and chaos in our world, we can tell them that this is not what God originally intended. God did not create evil. Everything was in perfect shalom in the beginning. And ultimately, God has provided an answer to the effects of human sin in Christ, and through Him, God will fully restore His good creation and reconcile all things to Himself. The gospel in creation gives our students hope that all things will be made right one day.
Everyone is worthy of dignity, honor, and respect
The gospel in creation also teaches us that all people have been made in God’s image. Therefore, if our students are going to live out the gospel faithfully, there is no room for partiality of any kind. All people, regardless of their ethnicity, sex, socio-economic status, lifestyle choices, or disabilities have immeasurable value and should be loved, honored, and respected. James and John both say that since people are made in God’s image, how we treat and view others is how we treat and view God (Jas. 3:9-10; 1 Jn. 4:19-21). Therefore, we must love God by loving His image-bearers.
We should have dominion over creation, not vice versa
God created us to rule and have dominion over all His creation. One aspect of having dominion over creation is not allowing any created thing to control us. Too often, students allow their phones, entertainment, clothes, academics, and athletics to have dominion over their lives. As people made in God’s image, we are not to submit to creation but to subdue it under God’s rule and reign. The broader gospel in creation helps remind us that we are servants of God, not our own desires. Our world is not an end in itself; it is a means of fulfilling our original purpose in Christ.
To understand the full scope of the gospel story, it’s important to start at the beginning, teaching students how the broader gospel in creation enables them to see themselves, their world, and their God in the proper light; that in reflecting on where they came from, they would discover clarity of how to walk in faith. By better understanding their essence, they will understand the importance of their ethics, helping them live in ways that are pleasing to their Creator.