Feeling beleaguered? Back to the beginning...

As Christians we may well feel beleaguered by a number of pressing issues in the world today.

There is first of all our society’s insistence on the rights of personal sexual freedom and identity, threatening the church with ‘conversion therapy’ bans if we dare to disagree. Then there is the related issue of family breakdown, and the undermining of marriage. What about environmentalism, and the impending ‘climate crisis’? This is linked to warnings of world overpopulation, and a whole generation considering childlessness ‘for the sake of the planet’. Or is it systemic racism and injustice in society which is of primary concern?

Is there a common thread in all of these issues? In Romans 1 we are told that an unbelieving world rejects its Creator and is given over to a rejection of the pattern of creation. By contrast, the purpose of God is to see creation redeemed. As Christians we are to be restored in righteousness to the true image of God (Eph.4:22-24). Christ died to reconcile all things to Himself (Col.1:19-20, Eph.1:10). The goal is a glorious new Eden (Rev.22:1-2).

As we consider the various challenges of our unbelieving world, we can see that they can all be summarised by a rejection of God’s creation purpose set out in Genesis 1 and 2. There is rejection of marriage and sexual morality; rejection of ‘fruitfulness’, undervaluing childbearing and even killing the unborn; rejection of our one humanity in racism, or subdivision of society into different tribes and factions. There is distortion of a proper stewardship of the environment into the idea that humanity should be subservient to ‘Mother Nature’. And of course there is a rejection of authority structures, rooted fundamentally in rejection of our Creator as Lord.

Once we grasp this common thread, not only do we have a key to understanding the challenges of today, but we also have a template for the Christian life. The purpose of God is to restore us to live according to the pattern He ordained in creation. In other words, we are called to live as our Creator intended. We are to be ‘fully human’ according to our original design. As church families, we are to be communities which are models of what it means to love one another, work together, and fulfil the purposes of God. We are to commend to the world this better way of life as God intends.

In the Christian life there is to be no spiritual/secular divide. We are creatures designed to worship, and devote ourselves to the service of our Creator. Our Creator is also our Redeemer. And as we present the gospel to an unbelieving world, we do not just present a partial message of ‘spiritual’ salvation, but call for repentance and faith to serve God in all of life. The gospel is presented by a church which demonstrates how the Christian life works out practically in all areas of human activity. We are not just critical of the world; we offer a vision of a better life.

In other words, we need to go back to the beginning. Genesis 1 and 2 is not simply the prologue of the Bible before the exciting story of salvation begins. It is a picture of how life was intended to be lived, and an anticipation of final glory when God’s creation purpose will be consummated.