Genesis 1:31 says, "God saw all that He had made, and it was very good." The first chapter of Genesis is very familiar to most of us. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Through each of the days He created light, darkness, water, every living creature and man. And after He created these things He said they were good. In the end He said it was very good.
Fast forward to the scene where Adam and Eve eat fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of God and Evil. This is where it starts to go wrong. That was the only tree that God specifically said was off limits. But temptation is great and they partake of the fruit. This is the first sin we hear of in the Bible. Just like a child touching a hot stove, Adam and Eve were curious. And their curiosity cost them the Garden of Eden.
God created this world to be good. He created it to have fellowship with is as humans. But when we disobeyed Him, the world started to unravel. It's not much later when we see Cain murder Abel. Then Cain lies to God and says he doesn't know where Abel is. See how this is progressively getting worse. You can keep reading and see that sin continues forever.
There is a redeeming grace though. God sent His Son to die for us so that we could be saved.
We are here on this earth to bring glory to God, to sing His praises, to change the world as best as we can so that more and more people are living for Him. Gandhi said, be the change you want to see in the world. Gandhi wasn't a Christian but his words ring true for us as Christians. We have to be the change in the world. We have to live for God and bring about a fundamental shift back towards the Lord. Be that change today. Peace and God Bless
I think Eschatology is important here. Whether we believe in the fall in Genesis 2 (as most Christians do) or in Genesis 6 (as most Jewish people do), what's truly important is not where it began, but where we are, and where we will end. What we believe about the end, manifests itself in where we are. This is the importance of eschatology and a renewed understanding of Jesus as Messiah (something we Christians have neglected). Jesus is going to save us, but under certain terms, and in certain time.
ReplyDeleteMike I agree with you. I think we as Christians, have neglected Jesus as Messiah. One of the things that I try to bring to the youth at my church is an understanding of Jesus as Savior, that it's more than just belief but we have to let Christ live in us and be manifested through us. I think that the church has gotten away from Jesus as its center but instead in many churches there is almost an entertainment factor that has taken over. Church is worship of Jesus, the body, not a source of entertainment. Not that church shouldn't be fun and entertaining but that there is a time for that and a time for discipleship, learning and worship.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I hold important with Jesus as Messiah is that the hope began when he incarnated himself into a human being, but the hope hasn't ended. His presence is hear through the Spirit, but he's coming back again, to restore and renew. Therefore, the job of the spirit is to do that work here and now, so that the messianic calling of Jesus can be fulfilled completely.
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