God’s plan for creation

The Fall didn’t only affect human beings – it affected the whole of creation, which though created as “very good” became flawed.  The goodness of the created order has been disrupted, mainly as a result of humanity’s unwillingness to act as God’s stewards.  Instead, human beings have wanted to dominate and exploit creation for their own purposes.  So the harmony of creation has been ruptured, causing an enormous amount of pain and disorder.  Rather like a computer virus, it means nothing quite works in the way it should. (3)

So Jesus came to restore the broken harmony and unity, not only of human beings and God, but of all Creation.  As St Paul wrote, ”…the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (NRSV, Romans 8:21).  And in the Book of Revelation we read that God will make all things new and there will be a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:5,1).

God has yet to complete his original plan for creation but when he does, thousands and thousands of angels, and people of every race and language and nation, and “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them”, will make their adoring response to the love and beauty and perfection of God (NRSV, Revelation 5:9-14).

SUMMARY

1. Once human beings loved God above everything and took a delight in pleasing him in every way.

2. Then human beings obeyed the Devil, the spiritual and personal power of evil, and pleased themselves by doing on purpose what they knew to be wrong.

3. So human beings separated themselves from God and became unable to go on doing right or to be the kind of people they were meant to be.

4. God’s answer was to put things right himself by becoming a human being in the Person of Jesus Christ.  He came to:

• save us from the evil around us and within us;
• bring us back to himself;
• help us become our best selves by changing us into his likeness.

5. Jesus came to heal the divisions and conflicts of the whole of creation.  God has yet to complete his original plan for creation.

References

1) Tomlin, G. (2006) ‘Salvation’ In McGrath, A. (editor) The new Lion handbook of Christian belief, Oxford: Lion Hudson.
2) Tomlin, G. (2006) op cit
3) Tomlin, G. (2006) op cit