For the Jews, as for the early Christians, belief in resurrection drew together two other foundational beliefs. First, God was the creator of all things who had made a world full of beauty and power. Second, God intended to sort out the mess into which the world had fallen. He would judge it – that is, he would get rid of everything that corrupted and defaced it, in order to renew it and make it, even more gloriously, what it was supposed to be. Creation and judgement thus meet in resurrection. That’s when the Creator says yes to his world and no to all that damages, distorts, or destroys it.
