‘Finish Then Thy New Creation’: God's Promise to Inherit the World

In Romans 4:13, Paul characterizes God's promise to Abraham as the inheritance of the world. This promise, Paul argues, extends to Abraham's descendants, not according to the flesh, but to all who believe in the one who raised Jesus from the dead (Rom 4:25). What does it mean for believers to be heirs of God's promise to ‘inherit the world’? This article considers God's promise in light of the apostle's confidence in the reconciliation of the whole world and the renewal of creation, and also in the context of the hymns and sermons of Charles and John Wesley. The promise to inherit the world indicates that God has not abandoned God's creation, but is actively engaged in redeeming it. This article was originally presented as a paper at the 2018 Oxford Institute of Methodist Theological Studies.