The New Song of the New Creation
… persuaded to worship, those who are far from God will be called through faith in Christ and will come to know the King and Lord of all: the word of the prophecy shows this very clearly.
For he commands those who have received mercy from God to glorify him, and he speaks thus: 'Sing to the Lord a new song, you his dominion; glorify his name from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea and sail on it, you islands and those who dwell in them' (Isaiah 42:10).
The song is new, and fitting for the newness of what has taken place. For 'if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation,' as it is written, 'the old things have passed away, and all things have become new' (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Those of the blood of Israel were indeed redeemed from the greed of the Egyptians, with the all-wise Moses acting as mediator at that time. They were rescued from brick-making, from the empty sweat spent on earthly tasks, from the savagery of the taskmasters, and from the inhumanity of the ruler. They were brought across through the midst of the sea, they ate the manna in the wilderness, they drank water from the rock, they crossed the Jordan with dry feet, and they were brought into the land of promise.
In our case all these things are new, and beyond comparison better than the old. For we have been rescued not from a slavery of the flesh but rather from a spiritual one, and in place of earthly tasks we have been set free from the defilements that come from love of the flesh. We did not flee Egyptian taskmasters, nor a tyrant who was godless and savage, yet a man like us, but rather the wicked and unclean demons who drive us into sin, and the one who stands over their herds, that is, Satan.
We crossed, as though it were a sea, the surge of this present life, with its turmoil and its truly pointless distractions. We ate the spiritual manna, the bread from heaven that gives life to the world (John 6:33). We drank water from the rock, delighting in the streams of Christ, spiritual streams, of course (compare 1 Corinthians 10:4). We crossed the Jordan when we were counted worthy of holy baptism, and we entered the land promised to the saints and fitting for them, which the Savior himself also mentions when he says: 'Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land' (Matthew 5:5).
So for new achievements the song had to be new, coming from 'his dominion,' that is, from those who have come to be under him and are ruled by him. And this song, that is, the praise fitting for him, had to arise not only in the land of the Jews but from one end of the earth to the other, that is, through all that is under heaven. For of old God was known in Judea, and his name was great in Israel alone (Psalm 76:1). But since we have been called through Christ to the knowledge of the truth, … has become full …
Greek
ῶν ἀναπεπεισμένοι προσκυνεῖν, οἱ μακρὰν ὄντες Θεοῦ, κεκλήσονται διὰ πίστεως τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ, ἐπιγνώσονταί τε τὸν τῶν ἁπάντων Βασιλέα καὶ Κύριον, διαδείκνυσιν εὖ μάλα τῆς προφητείας ὁ λόγος. Προστάττει γὰρ τοῖς ἠλεημένοις διὰ Θεοῦ δοξολογεῖν αὐτὸν, οὕτω τέ φησιν· 9Ὑμνήσατε τῷ Κυρίῳ ὕμνον καινὸν, ἡ ἀρχὴ αὐ- τοῦ, δοξάζετε τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἀπ' ἄκρου τῆς γῆς· οἱ καταβαίνοντες εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν, καὶ πλέον- τες αὐτήν· αἱ νῆσοι, καὶ οἱ κατοικοῦντες αὐτάς.9 Καινὸς ὁ ὕμνος, καὶ τῇ τῶν πραγμάτων καινότητι πρέπων. "6Εἴ τις γὰρ ἐν Χριστῷ, καινὴ κτίσις, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον, καὶ τὰ ἀρχαῖα παρῆλθε, γέγονε δὲ τὰ πάντα καινά."6 Λελύτρωνται μὲν γὰρ ἐκ τῆς Αἰ- γυπτίων πλεονεξίας οἱ ἐξ αἵματος Ἰσραὴλ, μεσι- τεύοντος τὸ τηνικάδε τοῦ πανσόφου Μωσέως, καὶ πλινθείας ἐξῄρηνται, καὶ ἱδρώτων κενῶν τῶν ἐπὶ γηΐνοις σπουδάσμασιν ἔργον κηδεστῶν ἀγριότητος, καὶ τῆς τοῦ κρατοῦντος ἀπανθρωπίας· διεβιβάσθη- σαν διὰ μέσης θαλάσσης, ἔφαγον ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ τὸ μάννα, ἔπιον ὕδωρ ἐκ πέτρας, ἀβρόχῳ ποδὶ διῆλθον τὸν Ἰορδάνην, εἰσεκομίσθησαν εἰς τὴν γῆν τῆς ἐπαγ- γελίας. Τάδε ἐφ' ἡμῖν πάντα καινὰ, καὶ τῶν ἀρχαίων ἀσυγκρίτως ἐν ἀμείνοσιν. Οὐ γὰρ σαρκικῆς, μᾶλλον δὲ πνευματικῆς δουλείας ἐξῃρήμεθα, καὶ ἀντὶ τῶν περὶ γῆν σπουδασμάτων τῶν ἐκ φιλοσαρκίας ἀπηλ- λάγμεθα μολυσμῶν· οὐκ ἐργοδιώκτας ἐφύγομεν Αἰ- γυπτίους, οὐδὲ τύραννον μὲν ἀσεβῆ, καὶ ἀνήμερον, πλὴν ἄνθρωπον καθ' ἡμᾶς, τοὺς συνωθοῦντας δὲ μᾶλλον εἰς ἁμαρτίαν πονηροὺς καὶ ἀκαθάρτους δαί- μονας, καὶ τὸν ταῖς τούτων ἀγέλαις ἐφεστηκότα, τοῦτ' ἔστι, Σατανᾶν. ∆ιέβημεν καθάπερ τινὰ θάλατ- ταν, τοῦ παρόντος βίου τὸν κλύδωνα, καὶ τὴν ἐν αὐτῷ τύρβην, καὶ εἰκαίους ὄντως περισπασμούς. Ἐφάγομεν τὸ μάννα τὸ νοητὸν, τὸν ἄρτον τὸν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, τὸν ζωὴν διδόντα τῷ κόσμῳ· ἐπίομεν ὕδωρ ἐκ πέτρας, τοῖς Χριστοῦ νάμασιν ἐντρυφήσαντες, νοητοῖς δὲ δηλονότι. ∆ιέβημεν τὸν Ἰορδάνην, ἀξιω- θέντες τοῦ ἁγίου βαπτίσματος, εἰσήλθομεν εἰς τὴν τοῖς ἁγίοις ἐπηγγελμένην καὶ πρέπουσαν γῆν, ἧς καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Σωτὴρ διαμνημονεύει, λέγων· "6Μακά- ριοι οἱ πραεῖς, ὅτι αὐτοὶ κληρονομήσουσι τὴν γῆν."6 Οὐκοῦν ἐπὶ καινοῖς κατορθώμασι, καινὸν ἔδει γενέ- σθαι τὸν ὕμνον παρὰ τῆς ἀρχῆς αὐτοῦ· τοῦτ' ἔστι, παρὰ τῶν ὑπ' αὐτῷ γεγονότων καὶ ἀρχομένων ὑπ' αὐτοῦ· γενέσθαι δὲ τὸν ὕμνον, ἤτοι τὴν αὐτῷ πρέ- πουσαν δοξολογίαν, οὐ κατά γε μόνην τὴν τῶν Ἰου- δαίων χώραν, ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἀπ' ἄκρου τῆς γῆς εἰς ἄκρον δηλονότι, τοῦτ' ἔστιν, ἅπασαν τὴν ὑπ' οὐρανόν. Πά- λαι μὲν γὰρ ἦν ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ γνωστὸς ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ ἐν μόνῳ τῷ Ἰσραὴλ μέγα τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ. Ἐπειδὴ ‹70.861› δὲ κεκλήμεθα διὰ Χριστοῦ πρὸς ἐπίγνωσιν ἀληθείας, πλήρης γέγονεν