When I read Genesis 2 it seems to be a wonderful narrative
rooted in the Jewish idea of shalom. Adam and Eve understand who they are, they
have a healthy relationship with each other, they have a life-giving relationship
with God, and know their place in God’s wonderful creation.
That is what I describe in my Theological Foundations for
the Christian Life class as “God’s intentional purpose at Creation.” It wasn’t good for the man to be alone, the
woman was created and community in fellowship with God was born. My personal
favorite way to describe what eternity with God will be like is to dream of
“Eden restored.”
In a wonderfully thoughtful new book titled For the Life of the World: Theology That
Makes a Difference Miroslav Volf and Matthew Croasmun express concern that
theology has lost its way and as a result, the discovery of a “flourishing
life” (for me, think Genesis 2) is ever more difficult to find.
One of their more direct concerns is expressed this way: “No
longer experiencing ourselves as constituents of a meaningful cosmos and
members of a social body, we modern human beings imagine ourselves and act
first and foremost as individuals, ideally sovereign owners of ourselves and
our actions.” (pages 20, 21) When I first read that statement, it seemed to be
such a great explanation for so much of the self-centered, overly
individualistic spirit that I see in the newspaper daily.
Yet unless I have completely misread the Jesus story, it
seems He came to help us find a flourishing life – “life abundantly” as He
calls it in John 10:10. Could Paul’s imagery in 1 Corinthians 12 of “one body,
many members” be a definition of what Jesus had in mind? A flourishing life
isn’t so much about “stuff” we own and control as it is “to whom we belong.”
There’s hardly room for the kind of individualism that sees ourselves as
“sovereign owners of ourselves and our actions” in a body where, “if one member
suffers, the whole body suffers.” (1 Corinthians 12:26)
In a few weeks we will celebrate anew the resurrection of
our Lord. His resurrection made possible for humankind to begin our journey
back to Eden. To that place where shalom defined life. A place where we
discover what a flourishing life can look like.
As we approach Easter Sunday, April 21 this year, may we
pray daily that our thoughts and words about life and about the gospel’s impact
on life will help us in our partnership with God to renew and restore creation
to its God-intended purpose at creation.
That for sure is theology
that makes a difference!
Eden restored.
