65. What is the relationship between the work of creation and the work of redemption?

65. What is the relationship between the work of creation and the work of redemption?

(Comp 65) The work of creation culminates in the still greater work of redemption, which in fact gives rise to a new creation in which everything will recover its true meaning and fulfillment.

“In Brief”

(CCC 348) The sabbath is at the heart of Israel's law. To keep the commandments is to correspond to the wisdom and the will of God as expressed in his work of creation.

To deepen and explain

(CCC 345) The sabbath - the end of the work of the six days. The sacred text says that "on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done", that the "heavens and the earth were finished", and that God "rested" on this day and sanctified and blessed it (Gen 2:1-3). These inspired words are rich in profitable instruction. (CCC 347) Creation was fashioned with a view to the sabbath and therefore for the worship and adoration of God. Worship is inscribed in the order of creation (Cf. Gen 1:14). As the rule of St. Benedict says, nothing should take precedence over "the work of God", that is, solemn worship (St. Benedict, Regula 43, 3: PL 66, 675-676). This indicates the right order of human concerns.

On reflection

(CCC 346) In creation God laid a foundation and established laws that remain firm, on which the believer can rely with confidence, for they are the sign and pledge of the unshakeable faithfulness of God's covenant (Cf. Heb 4:3-4; Jer 31:35-37; 33:19-26). For his part man must remain faithful to this foundation, and respect the laws which the Creator has written into it. (CCC 349) The eighth day. But for us a new day has dawned: the day of Christ's Resurrection. The seventh day completes the first creation. The eighth day begins the new creation. Thus, the work of creation culminates in the greater work of redemption. The first creation finds its meaning and its summit in the new creation in Christ, the splendour of which surpasses that of the first creation (Cf. Roman Missal, Easter Vigil 24, prayer after the first reading).

(Next question: In what sense do we understand man and woman as created “in the image of God”?)