Episode 6

This session looks at how God promises to transform all of creation in the new heavens and new earth through the resurrection of Christ. As citizens of this promise, Christians are called to live as a sign, a holy foretaste of this final act of redemption.
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Episode Outline

The Resurrection: The resurrection is God’s vindication of Jesus and an unexpected fulfillment of Israel’s hopes.

Jesus’s Resurrected Body: Jesus’s resurrected body affirms the goodness of physical creation, acts as a sign of the new heavens and the new earth, and challenges misconceptions we may have about heaven.

New Heavens and New Earth: The resurrection points to the promise of cosmic shalom—the complete transformation and renewal of creation.

Citizens of Heaven: As citizens of heaven, we are to faithfully live out the story of Scripture as a sign and foretaste of this final restoration.
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Lecturer
Rikk Watts

Interviews
Hans Boersma
Vincent Kong
Mariam Kamell Kovalishyn
J.I. Packer
 

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Sample Questions

Reflection

  • What has God been saying to me through this episode (encouragement, challenge)?
  • What was significant or new? What questions did it raise?

Discussion

  • Where have you experienced a sense of hopelessness when seeing the brokenness of the world around us?
  • What are common cultural pictures of heaven? How do these pictures compare with Christ’s resurrection and the promise of our own resurrection?
  • How does the promise of the new heavens and the new earth make a difference today? How might it make a difference for what we do now?

Activity

We live between Jesus’s resurrection and the promise of new heavens and new earth; the Kingdom is here but not fully. This means we experience tension—difficult moments when we encounter the world as it was not meant to be. However, God promises that our labour is not in vain and Jesus’s resurrection is God’s ultimate commitment to restore all of his creation and dwell with us.

Pray for the brokenness around you: a difficult job situation, a hurting friend or colleague, a struggling neighbourhood, broken institutions and systems in our society and world. Remember God’s resurrection promise that through Christ, everything will be made new. Consider saying a prayer in those places of brokenness, or as you begin each day.

Prayer

From Steven Garber, a teacher, writer, and founding principal of The Washington Institute For Faith, Vocation & Culture.

“God of heaven and earth, we pray for your kingdom to come, for your will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Teach us to see our vocations and occupations as woven into your work in the world. We ask for your great mercy, for ourselves and those around us. Give us eyes to see that our work is holy to you, O Lord, even as our worship is holy to you. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.”

Adapted from Visions of Vocation by Steven Garber. Copyright (c) 2014 by Steven Garber. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press, P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515, USA. www.ivpress.com.
 

Additional Resources

Episode List

Download Leader Guide (PDF, 4.4 MB)

Download Participant Guide (PDF, 4.3 MB)

Subtitles: Spanish | French | Korean | Traditional Chinese | Brazilian Portuguese