Recovering Eden

Zack Eswine:

"But I commend to you that God has been about nothing but seeking to restore and recover what was lost in Eden."

In other words, grace restores nature. What was corrupt and lost in the fall, is now being regained in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Why Keep it Hidden?

"Because of Jesus' sacrificial love, we are safe to begin a process of being completely truthful about ourselves. We are met by a capable physician who comes to us and says, 'I already know.' When Jesus asks the disciples questions, he is not seeking to gain information. Rather, by asking, he seeks to trigger a process of self-understanding. When Jesus asks, 'Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear?' (Mark 8:18), he confronts them with themselves. He pursues the ultimate purpose of cleansing their hearts so that their inner eyes and ears would open and be amazed by two things: how sick they really are and how powerful and good Jesus really is. We are called to full honesty because the One who has power to heal us already knows our condition. We can rest assured that we will not surprise our Master with anything he will discover in our souls. So why keep it hidden? Why live with it anymore? Why continue a divided life between the outside (pretense) and inside (reality)? Why continue the hopeless battle when, in fact, the One who calls us has power to overturn our self-centeredness?"

Bayer, Hans F. A Theology of Mark: The Dynamic Between Christology and Authentic Discipleship. (Phillipsburg, N.J.: P&R Pub, 2012), 71-72. 

Everything in Common

Here's a quick update on the latest Bible study we've had with the ministry I work with, Rebirth: East St. Louis. Pretty sweet to be discussing the story line of Creation-Fall-Redemption-Restoration with a bunch of 13-18 year olds. I'm amazed at God's story of redemption, and even how he brings people together who seemingly have nothing in common. 

Yet, in the story of God's grace, we have everything in common. We are all beautifully and uniquely made in the Creator's image, created to intimately know God, and be shamelessly united to each other. We have all rebelled, and as a result, we all experience deep pain, brokenness and struggle. Our relationship to God is severed, and our relationships with one another are broken. Yet, we are left with echoes of Eden in our hearts. We all still long for what life was supposed to be like, what it was like in the Garden of Eden. We long for to be reconciled to God and to each other. This reconciliation that we all to some degree or another desire and long for, is found in God's Son Jesus, who came to die, so that WHOEVER believes may inherit true life. And for all of us who trust in Jesus, we will one day be united to him, back in perfect harmony. We will experience the intimate fellowship with one another that we long for. There will no longer be death, or tears, or crying, or pain, or struggle. Everything will be made new, and together, as one people, we will worship God. 

Francis Schaeffer on the Heart of Rebellion

From Francis Schaeffer's, 'True Spirituality',

"The beginning of men's rebellion against God was, and is, the lack of a thankful heart. They did not have proper, thankful hearts-seeing themselves as creatures before the Creator and being bowed not only on their knees but in their stubborn hearts. The rebellion is a deliberate refusal to be the creature before the Creator, to the extent of being thankful."

More so, as God's creatures, we have every reason to bow down before Him and give Him thanks. Our Creator is not a cruel taskmaster to whom it would be a dreadful duty to give thanks. No. Rather, He is a compassionate, gracious and loving Father. He is almighty, yet He humbled himself to the point of death, even death on a cross, so that we may know and serve him joyfully. God so loved the world that He sent His only Son. This is the Creator I want to bow before and give thanks to. 

Grace Restoring Nature

"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him." John 3:17

"The whole world, then, has been given over to corruption through sin, but through grace it is also being saved in its entirety from sin"

Jan Veenhof

"It is grace alone. And this grace does not abolish nature, but affirms and restores it."

Herman bavinck

"So Christianity did not come into the world to condemn and put under the ban of everything that existed beforehand and elsewhere, but quite the opposite, to purify from sin everything that was; and thus to cause it to answer again to its own nature and purpose."

Herman Bavinck

For the most part, my thoughts about God's restoring grace are way to small and limited. I usually think of God's grace in a personal, individualistic sense. Jesus came to save ME. Well, this is true, that Jesus' death and resurrection secure my individual justification with God. However, Jesus doesn't just save us as individuals and leave the rest to waste. Jesus came that the WORLD might be saved through him. If sin's corruption has stretched to every sphere of life, God's restoring grace stretches as far as the curse is found. God created the world. By nature, God's creation is good. But, every part of the world has been corrupted by sin. Therefore, Jesus came to restore God's creation to its original nature and purpose. God's restoring grace is way bigger than just me.