This is part of the series “What is the Gospel?”
As we have looked at what the Gospel is we have not touched on one key question regarding the Gospel’s ultimate purpose. Some may say that it is the salvation of the world. Others may say that it is to appease the wrath of God. Still others might say that it is because of God’s love and grace that the gospel was and continues to be given. But I find Paul’s declaration in 2 Corinthians 5:17 to be interesting. Paul says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” It speaks to a reality of what God desires for all of creation. In Colossians 1:16 Paul tells us that “[Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” The idea here is that in Jesus we find that the creation was to have an existence similar to that of Jesus Himself. Jesus is not the first creation but is before creation.
The word “firstborn” speaks to his primacy over all things. He comes to us because God has sent Him. The importance of this to the Gospel is that in Jesus we find the purpose of creation—it is for Jesus [Colossians 1:16]. But there is a problem; the creation has fallen because of sin. The presence of the Gospel is God’s remedy in and through Jesus to correct the wrong of sin. The only way for that remedy to take effect is for there to be a new creation, not only in the world [Revelation 21:1], but also in the inhabitants of the creation. The Gospel’s ultimate purpose is re-creation.
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