Session Notes

What We Will Learn Today
  1. Thematic Layering of Creation
  2. Thematic Layering of Exodus
  3. Metalepsis in Scripture
  4. Reading with a Christ-Centered Lens
  5. Creation ex nihilo
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The two most pervasive themes in the bible
  • Creation
  • Exodus
Genesis 1-3 is the Christological microcosm of the Bible.
The entire identity and ministry of the Son of God is compressed into these chapters.
Exodus is Genesis Part II
In saving his people from slavery by using elements of creation for his redemptive purpose, God demonstrates that he is the Lord of new creation.
To create ex nihilo (Speak into) is another way of saying saved by grace alone
Metalepsis: This phenomenon of using a word or phrase that beckons hearers/readers back to an original context
Metalepsis in scripture:
John 1:1, “In the beginning [en arche] was the Word.”
This brings us back to Genesis 1…
Matthew 1:1, “The book of the genealogy [biblos geneseos] of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”
Same phrase in the Greek translation of Genesis 2:4 and 5:1-2.
Mark 1:1, “The beginning [arche] of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Again, bringing us back to Genesis
Psalms 135 and 136 show how Israel saw the relationship between creation and exodus.
The two naturally go together from an OT standpoint.
Isaiah 35
Eden-like desert, disabilities healed, and a holy highway to lead the exiled home to Zion.
Isaiah 65:17-25
The new heavens and new earth will be like a new created Zion; all emblems of a fallen creation will be gone; images from Genesis 3 affirm that this new creation will be free of death, sin, and evil.
“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean”
Ezekiel 36
This is the language of the tabernacle taking us back through metalepsis
Isaiah 11
Brings together the story of the exodus and pictures the work of the Messiah as a second exodus
How the NT uses OT themes of New Creation and New Exodus:
  • As the New Israel, Jesus retraces the steps of old Israel to Egypt and back (Matthew 2:14-15)
  • At the Transfiguration, Jesus talks with Moses and Elijah about his exodus that he is to accomplish in Jerusalem (Luke 9:31)
  • Jesus is crucified and resurrected during Passover
  • Christ creates a new heavens and new earth, gathers all his people to Jerusalem, which has become the new Garden of Eden (Rev. 21-22).
  • Paul related the baptism in the Red Sea, the manna and the water all to the NT sacraments
  • The OT prophets saw creation and the exodus as the blueprint for the Messiah’s work
  • They read Genesis and Exodus through a Christ-centered lens
Both creation and the exodus preach the Gospel of Christ with an OT accent, and invite us to do the same