Starting New Things – It’s all about Jesus
Starting New Things is all about Jesus. Jesus is the Alpha and Omega (Rev 22:13), the beginning and the end, and he’s also the middle. In John’s gospel chapter 1, Jesus is said to be, ‘in the beginning’, ‘with God’. In Genesis, ‘In the beginning’, God creates. John tells us that God created through Jesus. Jn 1:1-2 could be said to be Gen 1:0.
Genesis 3 tells us that the offspring of the woman would crush the head of the snake. In Genesis 12, God tells Abraham that through him all peoples on Earth will be blessed and in Galatians 3, Paul draws a line from this to Jesus. In fact, throughout the Old Testament the hope of the Messiah rises, until Jesus fulfils this hope by being born in Bethlehem.
Jesus is the incarnation, the God-human sent by God. The sending community of God sends the son into the creation as the very image of God, Col 1:15. He does not appear as God, but as a human with a human nature, Phil 2. To see Jesus is to see God, Jn 14:9. Jesus is sent from the father, Jn 8:42, and in return he sends the Holy Spirit, Jn 15:26 and he subsequently sends his disciples, corporately Mt 28:18-20 and individually, Gal 1:1.
Jesus is the Perfect Human. He is the second Adam, 1 Cor 15:45-49, Rom 15:12-19. A representative of humanity who will be obedient to God, even to death, Phil 2. He will uphold the covenants that God made with Abraham from humanities side and he will be faithful to them on humanities behalf. So that, all people who are found in and through Him will be credited as righteous. The plan that was first set in motion with Adam and Eve, in Genesis 1, that came apart in Genesis 3, is now back on track, in and through Jesus.
Jesus is the Image bearer, the priest. Christ (Gk) and Messiah (Heb) both mean anointed. Two groups of people are anointed (lit. smeared with oil) in the Old Testament, priests and kings. Jesus is the very image of God, as we have seen, and the role of the priest is to represent God. Jesus is the great High priest, Heb 4:14-16 who fulfils all the duties and roles of a priest and image bearer. Roles that Adam and Eve chose not to fulfil but roles he now passes on to us with the aid of the Holy Spirit, 1 Peter 2:9.
Jesus is the Justice Bringer, the King. Christ, Messiah is also King. He has rulership and reign over all things, over all creation, all people, Phil 2:9-11. A reign and a rulership that Adam and Eve rejected, that he now passes on to us as his disciples, 1 Peter 2:9. For a discussion about what rulership is, see the earlier blog post https://www.sheffield.anglican.org/starting-new-things-justice-bringing/
Finally, Jesus is the Seed, the multiplier. This is the subject of last week’s blog https://www.sheffield.anglican.org/starting-new-things-multiplication-and-fruitfulness/ Suffice it to recap here that this is something else entrusted to Adam and Eve and now passed on to us.
Jesus is the true Image Bearing Justice Bringer who Multiplies, the True Human. So as disciples, our mission, our place in the world, our identity all are found in Christ and we can only fulfil them in him and through Him.
For encouragement: Starting a New Thing may be part of your calling personally to fulfil your baptismal vows. It may be part of your churches calling to represent Christ to the world.
To think about: Is Jesus your beginning and your end? Is he your middle?
For more posts in this series click here
https://www.sheffield.anglican.org/category/rejuvenated/
If you want to talk about Starting Something New, or church growth, or mission in general do get in touch john.marsh@sheffield.anglican.org