Shaun Groves
We’re continuing to build a biblical theology of justice together that will eventually lead us to Jesus and the part He has given us to play in doing justice.
First, we talked about what it means for humans to be the “image of God” on earth.
You know what happened next, right? Adam and Eve chose not to rule and subdue the world God’s good way, but their own way instead. They chose not to order the world to represent God’s will and God’s character, but their own.
And instead of the world being a place of abundance where everyone had what they needed to flourish, it became a broken place of scarcity where people were harmed and harmed others.
Adam and Eve’s son, Cain, was exiled from the Garden for murdering his own bother. Then, Cain built a city in his own image, a reflection of his character, ruled by his definition of good. In that city we meet Lamech, the first polygamist, a man who collected women like property and boasted that he was even more violent than Cain. (Genesis 4:18-24)
On and on humanity spiraled, spreading out upon the earth; ordering their families, neighborhoods, cities, and nations their way and not God’s. Humans flooded the earth with scarcity and hurt until God flooded it with water because…
“The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.”
Genesis 6:5
From chaotic waters, God formed a Garden where humans could experience the goodness of God and flourish in abundance. But humans redefined goodness for themselves, ruled their way, and returned the world to chaos, scarcity, harm…and water.
But God is still king. He is still determined to form an image of Himself that will faithfully order the earth His good way and transform chaos into abundance and flourishing again.
Hurt is evil. Scarcity is ungodly. And they WILL be defeated by the King!
