Editorial journey
From "In the beginning" to "Behold, I make all things new": the God who made the world by His Word renews it in Christ.
Written by HonestApologist's editors. The labels below are our own reading, checked against the Bible texts on this site; they are not part of the cross-reference dataset. Scripture in the notes and steps: King James Version (with Apocrypha). Old Testament steps can also be read in the Septuagint.
Scripture opens with God creating by speaking: He says "Let there be light", and there is light.
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness [was] upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Explore connections from here · Read in the Septuagint (Brenton)
Editorial note A link of theme drawn by our editors. Connects to step 1
The Psalmist sums up Genesis 1: the heavens were made by the word of the Lord, and their host by the breath of His mouth. In the Greek Psalter (Psalm 32) "breath" is pneuma, the same word used for the Spirit.
6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
Also in the cross-reference dataset (69 votes).
Explore connections from here · Read in the Septuagint (Brenton) · Read beside step 1
Shared wording The later text repeats distinctive words of the earlier one. Both wordings are shown below. Connects to step 1
St John begins his Gospel with the first words of Genesis. In Greek both open with the same two words, ‘En archē’ (‘In the beginning’), and the Word through whom all things were made is the Son.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
Ἐν ἀρχῇἘν ἀρχῇAlso in the cross-reference dataset (381 votes).
Shared wording The later text repeats distinctive words of the earlier one. Both wordings are shown below. Connects to step 1
St Paul joins the first day of creation to the believer's illumination: the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness now shines in our hearts "in the face of Jesus Christ".
6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to [give] the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Let there be lightcommanded the light to shine out of darknessAlso in the cross-reference dataset (84 votes).
Editorial note A link of theme drawn by our editors. Connects to step 1
Whoever is in Christ is "a new creature" (Greek kainē ktisis, also translated ‘new creation’). The renewal of all things has already begun in those united to Him.
17 Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
“the renewal of creation has been the work of the self-same Word that made it at the beginning.”
St Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation of the Word 1. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, vol. 4 (tr. Archibald Robertson), via New Advent. Read the source
Not listed in the cross-reference dataset.
Editorial note A link of theme drawn by our editors. Connects to step 1
Through Isaiah, God promises more than repair: "I create new heavens and a new earth."
17 ¶ For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
18 But be ye glad and rejoice for ever [in that] which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
Not listed in the cross-reference dataset.
Explore connections from here · Read in the Septuagint (Brenton) · Read beside step 1
Shared wording The later text repeats distinctive words of the earlier one. Both wordings are shown below. Connects to step 6
The last book of the Bible takes up Isaiah's words, "a new heaven and a new earth", and God says, "Behold, I make all things new." The story that began with the first creation ends in a new creation.
1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God [is] with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, [and be] their God.
4 And God shall 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.
5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
new heavens and a new eartha new heaven and a new earthAlso in the cross-reference dataset (64 votes).