This promise is fulfilled through the life of Jesus and his res-
urrection from the dead. Both the whole of creation and the
desires of the faithful through history seem to be moving to-
wards this point, as it is expressed in Psalm 16:10 (NIV): “...
because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful one see decay.” And it is precise-
ly in the resurrection of Jesus, in that conquering of death,
where the faithful finds that his hope has been fulfilled. As
Pope Emeritus Ratzinger beautifully writes in his book, A New
Song for the Lord:
“Resurrection means that through the twisted paths of sin
and more powerfully than sin God ultimately says: ‘It is
good’. God re-establishes his definitive ‘good’ to creation by
taking it up into himself and thus changing it into a perma-
nence beyond all transience” (Ratzinger 79).
This means that the good that God spoke in the resurrection
of Christ fundamentally transforms reality, allowing the hu-
man body of His Son to be incorruptible and beyond the laws
of death—essentially reversing the introduction of death af-
ter the first sin. Thus, the light of eternity enters into human
history and creation itself, and a full disclosure of the good
that God thought in the beginning is realized in the Risen
Christ. It is as if when God said “Let there be light,” He not
only thought of the original creation, but also of the second
creation through the resurrection of Christ, who is the true
light of the world (John 8:12).
What does it mean to live in this good creation, under this
promise? To live in a good creation means that God’s power
is effective in our lives and in the world. It also means that the
statement “love conquers death” is not mere optimism, but a
profound assertion about the way the world was designed to
operate. If we believe this, we cannot become passive in our
faith, but must bear witness to the reality of God’s action in
the world through our own actions and words. Furthermore,
to live in a good creation implies the responsibility to take care
14 Spring 2019
of it. This responsibility arises from God’s own promise found
in the good of creation, and it is twofold. First, should we be-
lieve that God is the true authority on what is good, there is a
responsibility to trust, listen and be attentive to His word. Sec-
ondly, we have a responsibility toward our fellow men to help
them share in the promise of
Therefore, through the
God. If the good creation
of God is fulfilled in the merits and victory of
resurrection of Christ, then Christ, we are creat-
we should follow the Risen ed anew, and through
Christ, who sends us on a Christ and in Christ, our
mission to make disciples of image and likeness to
all nations. He himself says
God is perfectly restored.
in John 20:21(NIV): “As the
Father has sent me, I am sending you.” Lastly, we must forego
things that may seem good according to man’s perception,
but can ultimately cause us to reject God’s definition of good.
In this way, we allow the light of God to shine forth through
us and to the world. As we hold onto this promise of good,
now in the form of the return of Christ, Christ himself still
encourages us and confidently says through the gospel of John
16:33 (NIV): “...In this world you will have trouble. But take
heart! I have overcome the world.”
As a conclusion, let us note that Christ as the true image of
God is the fulfillment of God’s good creation. Therefore,
through the merits and victory of Christ, we are created anew,
and through Christ and in Christ, our image and likeness to
God is perfectly restored. Thus, the supreme good is reestab-
lished to humanity and creation and it consists in our union
to God. This is what Jesus expresses in his prayer before his
Passion, as recorded in John 17:20-21 (NIV): “My prayer is
not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me
through their message, that all of them may be one, Father,
just as you are in me and I am in you.”
Jorge Muñoz is a facilities management employee at Brown University.