Wednesday: A Broken World
One thing God gave Adam and Eve that He didn’t give anything else on earth was moral freedom. They were moral beings in ways that plants, animals, and trees could never be. God valued this moral freedom so much that He allowed the possibility that His people would choose to disobey. In doing so He risked all that He had created for the larger goal of a relationship with His human creatures based on love and free will.
Image © Classic Bible Art Coll. Goodsalt.com
But there was also a destroyer (this moral freedom existed for angels, as well), one who wanted to disrupt the good and complete world God created and sought to use God’s special creation on earth—human beings—to do that. Speaking through the serpent, the devil questioned the completeness and sufficiency of what God had provided (see Gen. 3:1-5). The primary temptation was to covet more than God had given them, to doubt the goodness of God, and to rely on themselves.
In that choice and that act, the relationships that were integral to the creation as God had designed it were broken. No longer did Adam and Eve enjoy the relationship with their Creator that they had been designed for (see Gen. 3:8-10). These two human beings suddenly realized they were naked and ashamed, and their relationship with each other was almost irreparably altered. Their relationship with the rest of the earth was also strained and broken.
Read Genesis 3:16-19. What do these verses tell us about the changed relationships between human beings and the natural world?
Because of the reality of sin, life suddenly got a lot harder for Adam, Eve, and the rest of creation. The consequences of sin are real, particularly as they affect humanity and our relationships. In a sense, we are distant from God our Creator. Our families are also affected in many ways, and our relationships with others are often a challenge. We even struggle in relation to the natural environment and the world in which we live. All aspects of our lives and our world show the brokenness caused by sin.
But this is not how God created the world to be. The “curses” of Genesis 3 also come with a promise that God would make a way to re-create our world and to repair the relationships that had been broken by sin. While we continue to struggle with sin and its effects in our lives, we are called to uphold the original goodness of the world and to seek to live out in our lives the plan God has for this world.
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I was in my late teens when I first met a Christadelphian. I was selling books door-to-door in an (unsuccessful) effort to pay my way through college. He saw that I was selling religious books and knew that he had a ready listener. He tried to convince me that Satan was not a real identity but rather a name given to the principle of evil, mainly manifest in one's self. His Bible study was long and delivered with fervor. Although he did not convince me that he was right about the "person" of Satan, he left a lasting impression on me about the role of "self" in the problem of sin.
It is a bit cliche to note that the central letter of "sin" is "I", but it is essentially true. Sin shifts the emphasis from others to self. Right from the very beginning, it was all about "what is in it for me". The fall of Lucifer, the temptation of Eve, the murder of Able, all point to the role of self in the sin affected universe. So in one sense, my Christadelphian friend was quite right in principle if not in substance. Ultimately we make the choice to act selfishly.
In a series of lessons about moral responsibility toward others, we need to remember our inclination towards self-centeredness and take back our God-given free choice to think of the needs of others and indeed our environment. It is more than conscience-salving donations. It is a way of life.
It may seem easier to blame an "identity" for the wrong choices we make, rather than take full responsability for our own actions. Somehow this attitude "relieves" the being from blame. Cowardice, neglect, denying, negative responses in the face of our own limitations. May we return to the Fountain of all goodness and open our hearts for the restoration of our minds, so our choices can recognize the Superiority that is out of us, with boldness for receiving the distinctive opportunity called freedom!
Is there anything more frail than a bruised reed? We have all seen one at the water’s edge. A once slender and tall stalk of sturdy river grass, it is now bowed and bent. It’s bruised and broken.
That’s a pretty accurate picture of what can happen in our lives. Once we stood so tall, so strong, so proud, and so confident. Then something happened, you were bruised and broken because of any number of reasons in life.
Simply put, this happens because we live in a fallen and broken world. We should expect disappointments in all facets of life
How do you mend a broken reed, a broken life?
1. The good news is this: With God all things are possible.
2. The good news is this: We have a Redeemer who also is a Healer.
Luke 4:16-19 KJV
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
3. The good news is this: Jesus passion is to the poor and needy just like you and me who are bruised in life.
The word bruised refers to broken in heart as well as broken in body.
"to smite through, shatter," is used in Luke 4:18, "them that are bruised," i.e., broken by calamity.
4. The good news is this: God has overcome the world; God is our companion in life’s battles.
However, unfortunately for us, our faith does not insulate us from hardships in this life
a) How many of you have been bruised by life, bruised by people who didn’t understand you, or bruised by events that brought pain into your life.
By harsh words
By a friend’s anger
By a spouse’s betrayal
By your own failure
b) Bruises sometimes cause us to limit ourselves.
We think because I have this or because that happened to me, I could never…
Jesus is saying the Spirit of the Lord is upon me in order for me to mend your bruises and set you free from the limitations they have caused you.
5. The good news is this: God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way.
(1) The crowning attribute of Christ was this: his heart was spiritual. His thoughts reflected his intimate relationship with the Father.
(2) If you are going to grow in your walk, you must be willing to allow God to help you to change, to be more and more like Jesus.
6. The good news is this: Our Lord offers the best answer and the most hope for living in a fallen, broken world. Even though we don’t always recognize it.
May God's promise to repair the sin broken relationships be manifested in our lives, in our families, our churches and our environment. May this promise repair the world we live in and reverse the adverse effects of sin everywhere around us! May we be restored!
When sin entered the world, it was God who allowed thorns and thistles to be brought into the world.
There was a broken wheel, it would visit the forest and talk to the trees birds and animals in the forest complaining of it's broken condition
It really wanted to be made wheel and fixed up.
One day the owner of the wheel fixed it so it would move around smooth without bumpiness.
Now fixed up this broken wheel rushed pass it's waiting friends and was busy running here and there.
Are we busy running for the Lord or are we running to fulfill and satisfy our selfish needs of this world?
If broken glorify God because God's name is glorified in and through you.
Brokenness of the heart of Christ brought forth the redemption of humanity.
Psalm 40:1-2
I waited patiently for the LORD to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.
The Lord is waiting patiently to mend our brokenness. Why not surrender your all to Him? There are countless blessings in store for us and our family! Thank you Lord for your patience, love and faithfullness towards us.
In the practice of life, it is so easy to jump to simple solutions for complex problems because they minimize effort and involvement. But at the origin of man’s sin, God chooses a different path, one that would take millennia to accomplish and one that would involve him intimately and impact him personally.
This is the way that the outworking of the principle of love must be. The transgression of the law of love requires working out the solution in blood, sweat and tears. There are no quick and easy solutions to broken relationships and broken hearts.
My experience with animals is that they do have moral freedom to choose what they will do. They do tend to follow the choices of humans and respond in like manner to the way human attitudes are set in their presence.
Many years ago, I had an experience with my dog Teiko. We were out for a hike in a gravel pit. She took a path where she ended up six or seven metres above me (about 20 or so feet). I remember her looking down at me and whining. So I told her to come, thinking she would backtrack and join me. Instead, she locked her gaze on my eyes, gave a short whine and with only a moment’s hesitation jumped to me.
I managed to catch her without both of us tumbling down the embankment I was on. It was an object lesson to me. She had faith that I would catch her if she jumped because I had called her, so she did.
I often think of that incident when God calls to my heart on some issue and asks me to come to him.