How does the life,death and resurrection of Jesus relate to the whole of creation, and what does this mean for humanity?

Our view of God determines the way we live therefore our perception of the Life, death and resurrection of Jesus and how this relates to creation forms our response as humans to creation. Jesus’s life, death and resurrection show us a beautiful and full picture of a God that is constantly pouring out in love to the whole of the cosmos. The created order that the Godhead has made which is good and is reconciled to God’s ultimate intention, in the fulfilment of the prophecy through Jesus, life, death and resurrection to be a cosmos that is an image of God. Colossians 1:15-16 tells us of how Jesus relates to creation, in that he is the sum of creation. 

 ‘He is the exact living image [the essential manifestation] of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible],’¹ and that ‘by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, [things] visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him [that is, by His activity] and for Him.’ ² 

Showing us again that humans are in existence for God and that Jesus is the very expression of God in all of creation. The Christ therefore is the very expression of God in all of creation and by taking on the flesh of creation (1 John 1:1) Jesus is both the word and the wisdom. The fullness of all created order, every atom, every molecule clothed then in Jesus’s body, to be in solidarity with the cosmos and is not separate from.  Celia Deane-Drummond’s put this across in a statement that is both sensitive and expresses the very embodiment of the cosmos in being clothed in flesh when she says. 

“The view that Gods’ own logos (Wisdom and Word) was made flesh in Jesus Christ in such a comprehensive manner that God, by assuming the particular life-story of Jesus the Jew from Nazareth, also conjoined the material conditions of creaturely existence (‘all flesh’). Shared and ennobled the fate of all biological life-forms ( ‘grass’ and ‘lilies’) and experienced the pains of sensitive creatures (‘sparrows’ and ‘foxes’). (“Christology”)  ³ 

What does that mean therefore for humanity? We are called by God and made in their image (Gen 1), set apart in the created order to be a mirror of God’s love, a mirror pouring out from one to the other. We have been brought into the Godhead through Jesus as a part of the ultimate intention, that is to bring all of creation under one head that is Christ (Eph 1:10). We are to be like Jesus in his life, death and resurrection as we clothe ourselves in Christ through our individual salvation and are reconciled to the Father, we become a part of the great dance with all the cosmos. That humanity is not the sum of creation which is so often found in modern understanding of the gospel as it come from an anthropometric perspective, but Christ is. We however are a part of the whole of the cosmos/the created order, which is good, Richard Bauckham states,‘The creation was designed to be an interconnecting and interdependent whole……. The value of the whole is more than the value of the sum of its parts.’⁴  Having then clothed ourselves with Christ we are responsible to be the hands and feet of God to the whole of creation a part and not the pinnacle but ones that affirms and sustains all of life as Christ did in creation (Gen 1).  

Jesus cares about the body, and the embodied self, which is evidence in the creation of the cosmos, which was to be the present embodied expression of the love of God and is further evidence in Jesus taking on the flesh and deeply embodying himself in the physical in becoming Jesus.  We therefore are not to do away with the body in the form of the cosmos/ creation as God has value in it, Sarah McFague echoes this in her writing stating that ‘body is the closest bit of matter to us(it is us); it is important beyond all telling…….. it knits us together with all life forms…… it may be both the most intimate and the most universal way of understating reality.’⁵ So in Jesus taking on the whole of the cosmos (flesh) in life, death and resurrection God has deemed it good and is embodied also within. Therefore, humanity must seek to also embody the presence of God here in the physical and not depart from the embodied state for something that takes us away from the physical or does away with the created order for a seeming more spiritual holy state outside of the body.   

Jesus’s life showed us a way to live that was not of power, rule and oppression but that of love, Jesus constantly challenged the power and structures of the social systems for one that would be holy and included all without judgement. He healed those that were sick, he walked humbly and loved all. As Jesus has taken on the flesh of creation was bound then by the created order of life, death and conquered the broken order as we see in creation now through resurrection. It has been the common thought that Jesus’ life, death and resurrection was for the salvation of humanity alone, that we are being saved through Jesus to escape this earth for some high place in the heavens however if Jesus was clothed with all of the cosmos in taking on flesh it shows that God is invested in the cosmos, and that  

‘God has much more in mind and at stake in nature than a backdrop for man’s comfort and convenience, or even a stage for the drama of human salvation. His purpose includes redemption of all cosmos…. It seriously distorts both the Old and New testaments to say that man alone matters to God⁶  

Therefore, what does that mean for humanity, again as we are the mirror of God in the embodied sense connected to all that is in the cosmos we are also connected to the investment in the physical creation and that it is not just a backdrop for our salvation but a place to cherish and love as God does. 

Jesus’ death brought with it other aspects of how God views creation and how then this relates to humanities response and place within creation.  Jesus’ death shows again the embodied Christ who is invested in the whole of creation, taking on all aspects of the physical and not stepping outside of the boundaries placed on by the flesh God took on death and reframed it. Hebrews 1:2 tells us that Jesus is heir and lawful owner of all things (all of matter) and in death the kingship of this world is reframed by one of sacrifice and of a greater power, grace, love and servanthood. Humanity response to this should be to take on this servant heart with Christ and ask ourselves What does God require of us then? To be humbly, taking on compassion and loving justice. (Micah 6:8) 

In death the reframing of the heavenly kingship begun when the temple curtain was torn in two, Matthew 27:51 ^51 ‘And [at once] the veil [of the Holy of Holies] of the temple was ^[a]torn in two from top to bottom; the earth shook and the rocks were split apart.’⁷ Tearing down a system of separation and bringing with it the presence of God to fill the whole of the cosmos not just for those that are holy or for humanity but for all. In Jesus’s death all of humanity and creation have been made Holy and all have been brought under the head which is Christ Jesus(Eph1:10). Romans 8 tells us of creation is groaning for the sons of God to be revealed, for us to pick up our cross daily and be clothed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. What does that mean for us though, it is to be present within the whole of creation, to sustain and affirm as God did, to be those that live renewed.  To now live from the perspective of the kingdom of heaven that has been brought to earth through Jesus and that covers all of creation. Those that do not need power or dominance as society tells us we need, but to be servants as Jesus was and to be the sacrificial king that conquered death to bring renewal to all. Therefore Jesus death has brought heaven to earth, and is for all of creation that his presence flows all over (John 8:12 Jesus is the light of the world) and our response is to, ‘“Let light shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give us the Light of the knowledge of the glory and majesty of God [clearly revealed] in the face of Christ.’2 Corinthians 4:6 ⁸. 

Jesus’ resurrection brought to creation/cosmos renewal as Jesus is renewed in rising from the dead. Revel 21 :5 tells us of a God that has come to dwell and that ‘He who was seated on the throne said “I am making everything new (Kainos)”⁹. At the beginning we started with how Jesus’ the creator who relates to creation through love poured out.  In creating the cosmos a garden for God to dwell and then we end with a renewed garden in revelation because of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. 1 Cor 15 tells us of the new creation which started with Jesus and anyone that is in Christ is by faith to make up this renewed creation, in our interlinked connection to the whole. Job 19 :25 tell us of the God who lives upon the earth showing again that Jesus resurrected life is still connected to the earth and all that is apart of the flesh. Jesus’ resurrection brings shalom to the cosmos and it is for humanity to live from the inner connection to the father, son and spirt and from that centre where we are renewed by the water (psalm 23:1-3), we also bring peace, we sustain and affirm.  Jesus’ resurrection reframes death and Gods dwelling place, that the dwelling place is with the cosmos and for all, every atom.  

Jesus in his resurrection did not do away with the body, in fact Jesus asked the disciples to touch his scars Luke 24:39 ³⁹Look at [the marks in] My hands and My feet, [and see] that it is I Myself. Touch Me and see; a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.”¹⁰ Showing that God is invested in the body/cosmos, that in resurrection we are not doing away with the physical, but it is renewed in Christ brought back to a garden. Rev 21 ‘Behold, the dwelling place   of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his   people, and God himself will be with them as their God.¹¹’ It is a beautiful picture of God and the cosmos all under Christ as God’s ultimate intention was. Jesus’ resurrection therefore brings us back to the first 2 chapters of the bible only it is renewed and far better.¹² God delights in the earth and therefore humanity should also delight in the earth as God is bringing renewal, we seek to be that renewed life of Christ to the earth. We are to be gentle, we are to love, we are to restore, we are to be connected in love not to live a life for the singular only thinking of our own salvation but that our salvation is connected and joined to the whole of the cosmos.  

To concluded Jesus’ life, death and resection is in deep connection with all of creation/cosmos and Jesus along with the father and the Holy Spirit is deeply invested in all of creation. Creation is not the backdrop for humanities salvation but is the great design of a God that wants a dwelling place, a place that mirrors and joins in the great dance of love between the trinity and humanity has an important role to play in the narrative of the gospel. Humanity is to reflect God’s ultimate intention that is to bring all of creation under one head that is Jesus Christ. There are then four areas in which humanity needs to respond to Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.  

1. We are to live an embodied life, one that is connected to the physical. Not to do away with the cosmos or the flesh as the bible states because in clothing oneself in flesh Jesus took on every atom of creation in solidarity and gave each part of creation a home in Christ.  

2. We are to live connected to the whole of the cosmos, Jesus did not come for just humanities salvation but for all of the cosmos and our salvation is tied up with the whole. We are not the sum of creation Jesus is the creator and the beginning, and the end all is brought to the Father in Christ and Christ said it was good.  

3. We are to sustain and affirm creation as Jesus did in life, we are to walk humbly to act justly and to love mercy. We are not to be those that seek a rule of dominance by to be one that served as Jesus did, we are to live a life from love poured out, a sacrificial life. 

4. We are to live a life renewed, a life that see God at work in all things and pours out from Love.  

Jesus Life, death and resurrection calls us all to the garden, the renewed garden where God dwells with Gods people in life, love and shalom and humanity has the gift of being the mirror of this renewed life to the cosmos now. 

Bibliography  

1. Bauckham, R . (2010) Bible and Ecology: Rediscovering the Community of Creation. Darton, longman and Todd ltd 

2. Bauckham R 2012 Living with Other Creatures Green Exegesis and Theology. Paternoster, Milton Keynes UK  

3. Carl F .H Henry, (1979) God, Revelation and Authority, Word Books 

4. Dean-Drummond C. A Primer in Ecolotheology therology for a fragile earth. Cascade books. Eguene . Oregon 

5. McClearn, Brain D, 2024, Life After Doom, Wisdom and Courage for a World Falling Apart, Hooder and Stoughton – Audiobook 11h 

6. McFague, S. The body of God- An Ecological Theology. 1993. Fortess Press Minneaplois.   

7. Rorh, R (3 Nov. 2016) The Divine Dance: The Trinity and your transformation SPCK Publishing; First Edition  

8. Piper. J and Maths. D, 2014. The Romantic Rationalist: God, Life, and Imagination in the work of C S Lewis. Crossways  

9. Pope Francis, (2015). Laudato si’ (Praise be to you) – On care for our common home. Huntingdon, IN: Our Sunday Visitor. Primavesi, A. (2003). Gaia’s gift. London, UK: Routledge 

10. Warnes. D, Ryskamp.M, Van Dragt. Randall Reconciliation Ecology: A New Paradigm for advancing creation care. Perspectives on science and christian faith Volume 66, Number 4   December 2014 

11. Wright N.T and Bird M. F Jesus and the Powers Christian political witness in an age of totalitarian terror and dysfunctional democracies – audiobook 3h.58mins