18 | In the Beginning, God Created . . .

If the God we worship, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is the proactive God visible in Scripture, there is then an undeniable connection between the glorious kingdom the Son completes and hands over to the Father and its meager origins from the mist and the dust of the earth.

One of the first presuppositions to be dealt with before addressing the Genesis 2-3 narrative is our mistake of assuming it’s all about us – the children of God. If we accept the claims of Christ and inspired Scripture regarding the establishment of his role as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, we cannot ignore the impact this has on the context for God’s work in Christ. Not only are we forced to reconsider our traditional views of the Genesis 2-3 narrative, we’re faced with a context in the unseen realm we’re ill-equipped to explore except by inference.

When considering that glorious and spiritual kingdom we read about in earlier chapters, which constitutes the culmination of all God’s work in Christ, one can’t help but ask, what is so unique about mankind’s creation from dust to glory that it would require such sacrifice on God’s part and such suffering and misery on our part?

The First Creation

Before the creation of the world and the expansive universe necessary to support it, doesn’t God already dwell amidst a glorious and spiritual kingdom of his own creation? Since inference is where we’re operating from, let’s ask the questions we’d be inclined to ask seated at the Lord’s table in the kingdom of God.

• Do not the myriad of created and spirit-embodied beings, elohim and Malak, adequately represent the glorious work of God’s hands?
• Do they not possess some form of immortality within the spirit-realm to which they were created and now dwell?
• Are they not granted levels of responsibility and authority within the heavenly kingdom?
• Do they not possess free will and the knowledge of good and evil, by which they can choose obedience or disobedience to the will of God?
• Were not all these glorious beings begotten by God and created according to his will and purpose?
• Are they not intelligent and discerning beings, expressing wisdom and subtleness?
• Are they not dependent on God for their being and live under the context of his righteous judgment?
• Though created as spirit-embodied beings, are they without sin, having all the same capacities of free will, self-determination, and the knowledge of good and evil attributed to humanity? According to Scripture, they do have the capacity for disobedience and even rebellion.
• What then would be the form of their judgment?

 

With all that God has created before the creation of the world, what was to be gained through the physical realm that was not already achieved in the unseen realm? From the perspective outlined in the chapters of this book, I observe and have concluded several distinct advantages to the two separate and unique creations; one spiritual in nature, the other physical and natural:

1. The natural children choose the Father; a unity of wills.
2. As a means of testing and judgment for those of the unseen realm.
3. As an expression of God’s wisdom and glory by overcoming evil in his everlasting kingdom with good.

Receiving the Gift is a Choice

When comparing the first creation of the unseen realm and all the spirit-embodied participants with the completed creation of mankind from dust to glory, one distinction stands out for the latter; the expression of free will in its highest sense. In what way, you might ask? Like the children born to human parents, those created in the unseen realm did not choose to be so. The idea seems absurd I agree. And like human children, they can choose to align with the will of the Father or rebel. Scripture is clear that some have rebelled.

 

In the case of those who arrived to the unseen realm spirit-embodied because of the new creation in Christ, theirs is a destination of choice. Though begotten by the Spirit of God and nurtured into the maturity and likeness of Christ, they chose to receive the gift of grace offered in Christ and to be governed by the obedience of faith in him.[1] They chose to trust God and to be reconciled with him.[2]

 

Did we arrive at this choice from a position of glory and strength? Obviously not! Ours was a choice arrived at from the mist and the dust of the earth, from a position of weakness and death. And like the prodigal son who eventually came to his senses, we too, when responding to the nudges of God’s calling in the Spirit, came to our senses and received the gift of God’s grace in Christ our Lord. Considering all that our Lord endured to redeem us and all that we’ve endured in the flesh, is there anything that could separate us from the love of God freely given and freely received? I think not.

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39)

 

It appears to me that God’s desire is that we come to have the same affinity and love for him that he has poured out on us. That love from us can’t be coerced but must be freely given, as a choice, if it’s to have any real lasting value. Are there some that will not respond to that love, nor will they be willing to surrender to the authority of Christ and the obedience of faith? It appears so. These will find their names missing from the Book of Life, and having rejected the source of reconciliation and eternal life, they must pay the penalty for their own sin, which is death, the second death of judgment. Here, they are separated from God and his kingdom and are consumed, to use the worldly terms, body and soul in the lake of fire.

A Means of Judgment

As we can see, the judgment of those emerging from the mist and the dust is clear, reasonable, and just. But what of the judgment for those created in the unseen realm? How will they be judged justly? In part, the test and judgment of the unseen realm comes about through the fruit of the new creation in the lower realm of the physical and natural. Though created lower than the angels,[3] God in his infinite wisdom and power is able to harvest many sons and daughters from the dust of the earth, from the grip of sin and death, and even from rebellion and lead them into the glorious kingdom of the new creation in Christ; a creation which they have never seen with their own eyes but trust willingly in the promise. Does this not stand as a judgment upon all the elohim born into the unseen realm and who dwell continually in the Father’s house?

 

When considering the parable of the prodigal son, who is the least grateful and appreciative son? Is it not the son who dwelt in the Father’s house all those years who fails to appreciate the graciousness, faithfulness, and mercy of the Father? Was not the Father’s expression of these toward the wayward son a judgment upon the expectations of the son who dwelt in the Father’s house?

 

In this parable, I see humanity as the wayward and prodigal son, the ones who departed the provision in the Father’s house, though out of necessity.[4] They are restored to the Father from the corruption and misery of the world only after coming to their senses and considering again the Father who can provide all things one has need of; a Father that shows himself generous even toward his servants. Is not the younger son elevated above the firstborn son? Is this not a test for the firstborn son? Notice that in humanity’s reconciliation to the Father, have they not succeeded in overcoming the lie of the serpent, setting aside the pride of life and their own will in order to abide in the obedience of faith?

 

Notice also that the father would not settle, nor did he want, for the son to return as a slave but as a son. A slave is purely dependent without independence. A son, however, in the fullness of respect and appreciation to the father, is neither dependent (slave-like) nor independent; he is interdependent. That is the character of Yeshua the Christ which he himself describes as unity; unity of purpose, unity of faith (trust), and unity of wills. That is the goal for each of God’s children. Regardless of where they started, each can attain to the image and likeness of Christ by receiving him and surrendering to the obedience of faith.

 

And what of those who’ve dwelt in the Father’s house, within his spiritual domain? Are they rejoicing with the Father at his reconciliation with the wayward sons, those redeemed from themselves and from the sin and corruption which so easily ensnared them? Or are they, like the first son, jealous, blind to, and unappreciative of the grace and faithfulness expressed by the Father on the wayward son’s behalf? This is their test. A test that some in the unseen realm have failed.

Overcoming Evil, not Removing Evil

This leads to the third advantage of two separate and distinct creations; as an expression of God’s wisdom, power, and glory to overcome evil in his everlasting kingdom with good. I’ve observed that it’s only the immature or foolish who consider or expect that evil can be eradicated or removed from the world so only good can remain. This has been a delusion and desire of many throughout human history, especially in more recent centuries. If, however, they were to learn first the wisdom of God and his Christ, they might come to realize that in order to have morality and free will, it requires the existence of both good and evil as a basis and context for making choices. Removing either one removes the free will necessary for relationships based upon genuine expressions of grace, mercy, love, trust, faith, and fidelity.

 

God, in his infinite wisdom, understands this and more. The divine question isn’t how to rid the kingdom of God of evil. The question becomes how you build a kingdom whose inhabitants willingly choose, through wisdom and moral maturity, good over evil for themselves and others? The answer lies in the character of those inhabitants. The character to govern one’s self and to live for others and not just for themselves.

In order to remove evil from the picture, God doesn’t eradicate its existence. Instead, he leads his children into the same wisdom, knowledge, and character he possesses, which is necessary to choose good over evil always. In this way, evil still exists as a choice, but those making the choices are motivated and inspired toward the good, thereby emulating the character and likeness of Christ their Lord. Those with the character and likeness of Christ will always operate in alignment with the will of the Father; expressing the same unity of will Yeshua revealed.[5] It’s in that will of God that we’ve come to know and trust the fruit of his wisdom and character, which always leads to goodness and glory. It’s only through Christ that they’ve come to know what God seeks to reveal to them; that virtue is its own reward.

The Prodigal Creation

The prodigal creation of the world becomes a larger context from which we can see and understand more fully the work of God in Christ from beginning to end. God set out to build an everlasting kingdom comprised of his children, seeded in the dust of the earth and consigned to futility and disobedience, yet brought forth as children of light. These are brought together with the countless malak and elohim who’ve been judged and shown to be faithful and committed to the will of God as one creation. All were created by the Logos of God, and all will be governed by Him in the unity of faith and trust in the one God and Father of all.

 

In this, we see the completed work of two created realms. Though derived along different paths and seeded in different ways, both are an expression of God’s power and glory in creating a kingdom where trust, mercy, and faith reign forever. It’s from this perspective then that we can look at God’s second creation in a new light; the light of Christ.