Scripture Reading: Isa. 40; 2 Cor. 4:3-6; 5:17; Gal. 6:15
Ⅰ
In the Old Testament of thirty-nine books, the main thing covered is the old creation, and in the New Testament of twenty-seven books, the main thing revealed is the new creation—2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15:
A
God's two creations make the boundary between the Old Testament and the New Testament.
B
In the first thirty-nine chapters of Isaiah, the old creation is covered, including God's chastisement of Israel and His judgment of the Gentiles, whereas in the last twenty-seven chapters, the center of Isaiah's prophecy is the new creation.
C
The coming of the new creation does not involve the immediate end of the old creation:
１
After the new creation comes, the old creation remains for a period of time.
２
The end of the millennial kingdom will be the termination of the old creation as well as the completion, the consummation, of the new creation as signified by the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth—Rev. 21:1-2.
D
First Corinthians 15:45 implies two creations:
１
The old creation is with man as a living soul to be the center—v. 45a:
ａ
Because God created Adam a living soul, his main part was the soul, which is for the old creation—Gen. 2:7.
ｂ
In principle, if we live in our soul, by our soul, or for our soul, we are in the old creation—1 Cor. 2:14:
⑴
The soul is the center and lifeline of the old creation.
⑵
A person may be moral, but if he lives in the soul, he still belongs to the old creation.
２
The new creation is in resurrection with the life-giving Spirit as the center and lifeline—15:45b:
ａ
Christ being the last Adam implies a termination and conclusion of the old creation.
ｂ
The new creation comes into being by resurrection.
ｃ
The germinating element of the new creation is the resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit.
E
In Isaiah 40 we have a comparison between Hezekiah, a godly man who was still in the old creation, and a regenerated and transformed person in the new creation—v. 31.
Ⅱ
In Isaiah 40 Christ is revealed as Jehovah the Savior:
A
Jehovah means "He who was, who is, and who will be"—Exo. 3:14:
１
God's name is I Am; His name is simply the verb to be:
ａ
I Am denotes the One who is self-existing, the One whose being depends on nothing apart from Himself.
ｂ
The I Am is also the ever-existing One; that is, He exists eternally, having neither beginning nor ending.
ｃ
Apart from God, all else is nothing; He is the only One who is, the only One who has the reality of being—Isa. 40:12-18.
２
As the self-existing, ever-existing One, God is the reality of every positive thing; the Gospel of John reveals that He is all that we need—6:48; 10:11; 8:12; 11:25; 14:6.
３
God requires us only to believe that He is—Heb. 11:6.
B
Jesus is Jehovah—Exo. 3:14; John 18:4-6:
１
The Lord Jesus is I Am—the eternal, self-existing, ever-existing God, the One who is everything to us—8:24, 28, 58.
２
The name Jesus means "Jehovah the Savior" or "the salvation of Jehovah"—Matt. 1:21.
３
When we call on Jesus, the whole universe realizes that we are calling on Jehovah as our Savior, Jehovah as our salvation—Rom. 10:12-13.
Ⅲ
Christ as the glory of Jehovah is the center of the gospel for the new creation—Isa. 40:5; 2 Cor. 4:3-6; 5:17; Gal. 6:15:
A
In the Bible, glory signifies the expression of God—John 1:1, 14.
B
Christ as the image of God is the effulgence of God's glory, and this effulgence is like the shining of the sun—Heb. 1:3:
１
Christ's first coming was the rising of the sun—Luke 1:78.
２
When Christ appeared, the glory of Jehovah appeared to be seen by the God-seekers and Christ-believers—Isa. 40:5, 9.
C
The gospel is the gospel of the glory of Christ, which illuminates, radiates, and shines into the heart of man—2 Cor. 4:4:
１
The illumination, the enlightenment, that makes the glory of Christ's gospel known to us issues from the shining of God in our hearts—v. 6.
２
The old creation came through God's outward shining in darkness, but the new creation is accomplished by God's inward shining in our hearts—Gen. 1:3; 2 Cor. 4:6.
３
God's shining in our hearts brings into us a treasure, the Christ of glory, who is the embodiment of God to be our life and our everything—2 Cor. 4:7.
D
Today, the glory of Jehovah is the resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit dwelling in our spirit—1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17.
E
If we would experience the Lord's shining, we need to have direct, personal, affectionate, and intimate contact with Him—Psa. 27:4; 2 Cor. 3:18.