“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”
(Genesis 1:1). So begins the Bible’s description of the creation events.
Science and mathematics tell us the universe is not eternal.
If it were, the laws of thermodynamics tell us all the universe’s energy would
be long depleted. Even unbelieving scholars insist the universe began to exist.
And if it began to exist, there must be a cause, a “cause” sufficient to
explain the existence of all there is. Christians and other theists believe God—a personal,
loving, all powerful, all knowing, omnipresent being—is the only sufficient
cause.
When you survey the universe in which we live, you can only
stand in awe of the creativity and majesty of the Creator. It is not just the
myriad of galaxies and star systems which create the sense of awe, the earth
itself creates a sense of wonder and amazement.
Moses’ account of God’s creative activity pushes you to come
to grips with all he made. The sun, moon, stars, and seven—or is it eight—other
planets in our rather insignificant solar system draw our attention to God’s
interstellar handiwork. The majestic mountains, dry deserts, and fertile plains
remind us our God appreciates aesthetics. Consider the flora and the fauna on
the planet—huge creatures, feral cats, devoted canines, and all manner of
cattle, insects, sea life, and the smallest bacteria. God created all of it
from the depths of his creative mind. And man, male and female he created them—the
apex of his creative activity.
Consider, too, the fact he established the universal natural
laws—gravity, inertia; even the laws of logic—and put them into place. While he
maintained his power to rule over nature, he set the universe in motion
governed, for the most part, according to the laws he established. Could he
intervene? Of course, he is the Creator and the created is never superior to
the Creator.
Think of all the universes he may have considered and could
have made. A universe he created did not necessarily have to operate on the physics he established for this one. Writers
of science fiction have long written about life forms based not on carbon but
some other element. We see their fictional imaginations displayed in Star Trek, Star Wars, and, if you’re my
age, the Man from Planet X. Frank
Herbert created a completely different world in Dune and all its sequels. None of these imaginings, however, could
come close to imagining the variety of possible universes inhabiting the mind
of God.
But he chose to Create this universe and within this
universe is the Milky Way Galaxy a hidden in that vast space (to us) is a “bright
blue dot”—the planet earth.
The psalmist asked, “What is man that you are mindful of him…”
(Psalm 8:4). David, the author of the psalm, continues, “You have made him a
little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You
have given him dominion over the works of your hands and you have put all
things under his feet” (Psalm 8:5, 6, ESV). Obviously written after Adam’s sin,
this passage reveals God still values much in the being he created. He did not
wrest dominion from Adam and he still stands just a tad below the angelic
beings. In other words, human beings during David’s reign still possessed
something of the “image of God” (Genesis 1:27).
We all know the story! God placed Adam with Eve in a
beautiful garden. They had meaningful work—they were to “dress and keep the
garden” (Genesis 2:15). It was a lush and beautiful place in which to live. God
expressed to Adam only one caveat or warning, “You may surely eat of every tree
in the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you must not
eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16, 17,
ESV).
Why the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Didn’t God
know Adam would not obey? Wouldn’t it be better had God left that tree from the
garden? Why that tree?
Those who opt for Open Theology hold God may have considered
the possibility of Adam’s sin but could not know
he would sin. Open theologians believe God can know only that which can be
known. He may have goals for the future; goals which he can inexorably bring to
pass, but he cannot know precisely how the future will unfold. This is not the
place for a discussion of the philosophy of time or what omniscience means. I’m
only telling you how the proponents of Open Theology see it. Open theologians
believe God is giving Adam true freedom to choose, and Adam made a poor choice!
Arminians among us believe God knew beforehand Adam would
choose badly but permitted him the right of truly free choice. For Arminians,
Adam’s disobedience was no surprise to God because his foreknowledge informed him
of Adam’s choice. Because God valued Adam’s freedom more than he valued keeping
him safe, he permitted Adam to make his choice.
Reformed theologians take the view that God not only foreknew Adam’s choice, permitted Adam’s choice, but he actually
ordained Adam’s choice. According to
the Calvinist, God predetermined Adam’s fall long before creating Adam from the
dust of the ground. The Westminster Confession of Faith, the official statement
of faith/creed of most Bible- believing Calvinists, says:
God from
all eternity did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely and unchangeable ordain whatsoever comes to pass: yet so, as
thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty
or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.
(Westminster Confession of Faith, 3.1)
Reformed thinkers try to
get around this statement, but it is hardly clear in itself. If God ordains
whatever comes to pass, then Adam sinned because God predetermined he would
sin. (See my previous post.) The answer is compatibilism, which says each
individual is free to do what they sincerely want to do, but God arranges things so that they want to do what they do. Did you follow that?
Let’s look at one other
concern before I quit. The Bible says God created humans “in his image.” What
does that mean? It obviously does not mean mankind has omnipotence,
omniscience, or omnipresence. Adam did have sovereignty for God gave him “dominion
over the earth.”
What does it mean to be in “the
image of God?” At the very least, it means human beings are spirit beings.
Humans don’t just “have a spirit,” they “are a spirit.” Humanity’s spiritual
nature is not such because each person possesses a “bit of God entrapped in a
case of flesh.” That’s Platonism! Not only is man spirit but he is able to
communicate in words in the same way God communicates in words. In addition,
and most importantly, being in the “image of God” means that human beings are
capable of relationships. God, as he exists, is always in relationship. God,
the Father, relates to God, the Son, and to God, the Holy Spirit. (I’m not even
going to try to explain the Trinity. The nature of the Trinity is way above my
pay grade. I believe it because the Bible teaches it.)
When I speak of God’s image
in terms of relationship it is insufficient only to speak of relationships with
other humans. Being in the image of God means having a “built in capacity for
God relationship.” The “image of God” in man makes possible a relationship with
God and conveys innate knowledge about God. Human beings have the capacity
(form) for a relationship with God (content). The image of God in Adam was
complete: he had full form and content prior to Adam’s disobedience in the
garden.
What happened when Adam
sinned? The Bible says, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one
man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned…”
(Romans 5:12). Genesis three describes
the result. The relationship
between God and Adam fractured and God’s judgment came upon all things. Adam’s
relationship and the relationships of all things became different. Adam’s
disobedience affected the entire universe. Adam’s relationship with the natural
world changed. Adam’s relationship with Eve changed. Adam’s relationship with
God changed.
Death (separation) came
upon Adam and upon all things. Death is separation! When Adam sinned, he died
spiritually—he was separated from God. At the end of his life, he died
physically—his spirit separated from his body.
In all ways, Adam’s sin “marred/defaced/damaged”
God’s image. Adam did not lose the capacity for relationship with God (form)
but he did lose the relationship (content). The potential for relationship
remained but as long as Adam remained alienated from God restoration of the
relationship remained in place. To illustrate the extent of damage to the
relationship, God sent Adam and Eve from the garden.
There was one other effect
of Adam’s sin. The “damage to the image of God” created a weakness—or tendency—which
passed down to all humanity. The Apostle Paul expressed it this way, “For while
we were weak, at the right time
Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6). Adam’s sin left humanity weak and
sickly and prone to sin. It left humanity depraved
in a sense, but this is not total
hereditary depravity. Humans are depraved creatures because they sin—because they sin—not because
they are sinners. The Bible says, “For all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God” (Romans 6:27).
What does all this have to
do with anything? Salvation is the full restoration of the image of God in man.
This salvation is called a “new birth” and the individual “becomes a new
creation.” Being “dead in trespasses and sins” does not mean the individual’s
spirit is inert or without the potential to respond. It means the “spirit is separated from God” – they are not in
relationship. [This truth is illustrated in Jesus’ parables of the lost boy,
the lost sheep, and the lost coin. The prodigal, the sheep, and the coin are
lost precisely because they were not where they were supposed to be—they were “out
of relationship.”]
Reformed theologians argue
that the minds of those in sin “ The statement comes from Ephesians 4:18, “They
are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of
the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.” In this passage
in Ephesians Paul contrasts those who reject Christ with those who enjoy the
new life in Christ. I will grant the fact those outside of Christ are in
darkness, ignorance, and are lost. I insist, however, they are lost because
they choose to be lost not because God so arranged their lives they want to be lost.
What is it that brings
light into dark places? I remember being in the depths of Missouri’s Marvel Cave
when the guides turned out the lights. The result was total darkness—darkness so
thick you could feel it. One small match lit in the darkness expelled the overwhelming
blackness. So it is with the Gospel and the Holy Spirit working through the
Word of God. The truth of the Gospel can penetrate the blackest heart and
Christ can draw them if they would only listen. Can you see Jesus looking over
Jerusalem and hear his words: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the
prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered
your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Luke 13:34,
35, ESV)
Contrary to the
Augustinians or the Calvinists who read my blog, God offers the opportunity to
freely (real freedom, libertarian freedom) to make a choice. He takes no
pleasure in anyone who rejects him. It is not that he can’t save them in spite
of themselves; he won’t save them.
