When Things Go Wrong

Spiritual growth is our goal, but as with most things, growing in our spiritual life takes hard work and discipline.  What was meant to be natural in the beginning has become a chore.  Why is that, why, after a beautiful beginning, has the condition of the world become so desperately far from God?

Last week I mentioned that in the beginning God was the source of all creation, man was created for a relationship with God and people, each of us has a role, and God is the boss.  However, all that changed the moment Adam and Eve turned God’s program upside down.  The forbidden fruit in the garden wasn’t to deny Adam and Eve of anything, but rather a test of their resolve to trust in God’s goodness.  The serpent (we know him as Satan) placed a question in their mind, is God good?  If he were, the serpent queried, why would he withhold anything from you?  As soon as Adam and Eve stepped outside of God’s set boundaries they set into motion a consequence that has affected us ever since.

God as the source.  The serpent tempted Adam and Eve to be like God, to be the source of their own knowledge, the source of their own moral choices, and the source of what they could or could not do.  In that instance they said they didn’t need God.

Relationships.  Man was made for a relationship with God and with people.  Their choice severed that relationship.  No longer would their relationship with God be the same.  There was now a barrier between them, but it also impacted Adam and Eve’s relationship.  They began to blame, accuse, and foster distrust.  God’s curse was a mirror of what was to happen when people didn’t live according God’s plan. 

Roles.  God had given roles to man and woman that created order and satisfaction.  After their sin those roles no longer were a joy but a burden.  Women would be subject to their husband, and they would continually try to usurp man’s responsibility to lead.  It would be a constant strain.  God’s role as head of the home would be replaced by lusts, possessions, and power.

God is boss.  The fall into sin did cause man to feel guilt over their, confession, and repentance.  Instead man, in his arrogance, has pushed God away, thinking that his own way is best.  Meaning, purpose, contentment, peace satisfaction, joy, and happiness are sought everywhere but within the framework God’s law, rather in his effort.

What was meant for good has been turned upside down.  All one has to do is look around and see the devastation that permeates the world.  Wars, immorality, abuse, broken marriages, homosexuality, self-indulgence, hatred, and greed are not the exception but the rule when sin reigns. 

From our perspective we hope that we would have made a different decision than Adam and Eve.  Yet, each day we chose the same course as our forbearers.  We need something, someone, who can return us to a state that would allow us to chose a different course.  There is hope, God has not left us alone, He, in His grace, has made a way.  I’m just saying….

In The Beginning

Growing is a process, and that process is often riddled with difficulty, hardship, and frustration.  Yet the outcome of growth is good and full of hope.  Growth is painful, always has been, but its pain is endured for the prize that it brings.  Sin, however, has caused the natural process of growth to be more difficult than God had intended.  In order to grow the way God desires we need to step back and take a look at God’s perspective from the beginning.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).  God is the source of creation.  He is the source of both the spiritual and material, and He is the source of all life.  “Then God said,” and out of what didn’t exist came into being all of creation, and He declared it good.  He gave life to the plants and breathed life into the crown of His creation – man, “The Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7).   Man became, not of his own volition, but from the grace of a loving creator.

But not only is God the source, he created man for a purpose, to have a relationship with God and with those like himself, “Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him” (Genesis 2:18).  He placed them in an environment that encouraged intimate fellowship, communication, interdependence, and love.  He walked with them in the garden, talked with them, and helped them to discover who they were in Him.

Yet, they weren’t the same; God, man, and woman.  They were not only different physically they had different roles.  God was the creator, source, and sustainer.  Man was the head, the leader, and the provider for his new family.  The woman was his helper, supporter, encourager, and eventually the bearer and caregiver of their children.  Roles were important for social order, not to exert superiority but to efficiently divide responsibilities.  God set these parameters and each found fulfillment as they lived out their roles the way God intended. 

In the beginning there was no question as to who was in charge; God was the boss.  As the creator He alone had the right to decide what was good and what was evil, what were the man’s responsibilities and what were the woman’s.  “But from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat”  (Genesis 2:17).  God in his goodness provided for all the needs of his new creation, and only prohibited them in one area, “Don’t touch that fruit, or you will die!”  It was the ultimate test of authority, to establish a rule that had the potential to be broken.  Who is the boss, was the question.  Live within the bountiful garden that I have given, with all its beauty and provision, or disobey and die.  Who is the boss?  Who had the right within Himself to declare good and evil? 

There was nothing sinister in God’s placing a choice before them, if it hadn’t been the fruit it would have been something else.  Adam and Eve had an opportunity to grow close to one another, find satisfaction in their roles, enjoy their creator, and to live life in abundance.  It was an environment that we all long to return, because deep in our hearts we know it was good.  Yet, paradise was lost, and the process of growth interrupted, and the results were devastating.  I’m just saying…

Spiritual Growth and Formation

I have been doing some thinking and reflection about the nature of spiritual growth.  We talk about it in the church, but failure, stagnation, and immaturity seem to be more common then the development of the fruits of the spirit.  The following passages have been central in guiding me in my own understanding of spiritual formation.

Matt. 28:18-20 “Go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you 1always, even to the end of the age.”

Col. 1:28 "We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ."

Heb. 6:1   "Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,"

Tim. 1:5 "But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith."

There are common threads that run through the scriptures that these passages highlight.  Spiritual growth comes from Teaching, Teaching about the Godhead, obedience, action, and process.  Evangelical Christianity is good at teaching, but most of us have become educated beyond our ability to apply.  We know a lot, or at least we think we do.  We have sat under preaching, Sunday school teachers, small group leaders, Christian radio, Christian television, books, and even personal devotions, but if you are like me you find yourself struggling, daily, to live out the kind of life that is “worthy of the Lord.” 

Yet, if God wants us to grow, then why am I still wrestling with the same issues that have plagued me since becoming a believer?  Why is my progress spiritually more like walking backwards?  Over the next few weeks I will be blogging about the spiritual growth process, and looking at what is necessary for spiritual growth to take place, and why, when I seem to desire it most, I fail in the process.

Three broad themes will help guide us as we take this journey together:

In The Beginning – How it was suppose to be.

Out of the Garden – How the fall affects our growth

Being Made New – God’s reclamation process

Spiritual growth is not an option for the believer.  If we are not growing, progressing in our faith, then there is a disconnect between the Father and us.  My hope is that together we will renew a process that began at our conversion, and leads us into a deeper relationship with the Father, in the Son, through the Spirit.  I’m just saying….