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Category: Creation
It has long been recognized that Adam was nearby to Eve in Eden, yet he was absent in attention, duty, protection, and care. Adam permitted the serpent to tempt Eve, spread lies, and usurp God’s well-designed order. Adam knowingly (1 Tim 2:14) ate the fruit that was forbidden. Though he was present, he was absent in heart, head and hands.
Since the connection between Adam and the whole human race carries so much theological weight, it can be easy to ignore other illustrations of the absence of Adam. Consider the sad declension of the story of Cain and his descendent Lamech. Cain commits the first murder (Gn 4:8), while Lamech becomes the first bigamist (Gn 4:19). Adam is nowhere to be found.
We know that Adam was alive because he fathered Seth at the robust age of 130 years old (Gn 5:3). But where was he when Cain was growing in bitterness, and losing strength to fight off the sin that was “crouching at the door” (4:7). Where was Adam when Lamech mused about breaking the monogamous one-woman-man pattern and taking a second wife? Did Adam aim to influence Lamech to hold fast to God’s design? Possibly Adam had to travel to Cain’s house and send that warning down the genealogical line.
We don’t know the reason for the absence of Adam from the days of Cain and Abel to the birth of Seth. The Scriptures don’t tell us what Adam was doing. But that’s the point. Adam was not acting in any significant way to warrant inclusion in the Scriptures. Adam had abdicated his responsibility as the patriarch of the human race, and as the patriarch of his immediate family.
Absent Adamic Fathers.
The pattern of absentee fathers is evident from Adam to the present day. Although they may be present physically, they are practically absent in their head, heart and hands. This absenteeism leads to devastating consequences. The Cains and Lamechs of the world lack fathers and grandfathers and great grandfathers who provide leadership, security, instruction, and correction.
Since Adam’s responsibility, and duty to provide and protect were mandated before God’s judgement, Adam’s duty to be ‘present’ was baked into the creation’s design. This is why many people today are able to recognize the need for fathers, even if they don’t have biblical commitments (such as the author of this Walrus article). It is in the nature of human beings that families need fathers (as well as mothers).
The Adamic Abdication
When Adam was physically present but unengaged with his duty as a husband, he abdicated his God-ordained responsibilities. This abdication is the plague of fallen fathers ever since. Fathers are forsaking their proper role in their families, while also neglecting the practical leadership, correction, protection and direction which fathers must give to their children.
Again, the problem is not that a father may be merely away from home. Many jobs require the father to be physically absent for stretches of time. If such jobs keep the father away too much, then he needs to reconsider his employment. He might have to sacrifice his preferences or status in order to take a job that keeps him closer to home.
But the frequent problem is that fathers are ‘around’ but unengaged. They are always distracted by other demands. The demands may be legitimate (work), or unimportant (sports, social media, hobbies).
The absenteeism can extend to the emphasis on organized sports or other calendar-plugging activities. Often a father can give the appearance of attention given to a child by driving them to practices and games where others will direct them. This commitment can be admirable in some ways. But it can also hide the fact that a father is not engaging with their son or daughter in a way that is directly guiding them. A simple test is to see what the father and child can talk about once the sport or hobby can’t be played any longer.
New Fathers
For fathers to take ownership of their responsibilities, they need to actively guide the development of their families. Fathers need to be present in their head, heart and hands, not just their feet. Adam’s absenteeism can be reversed. Father’s need to repent of their sinful tendency to care about things that don’t matter, more than they take action in their children’s lives. But the hope of the gospel is that there is forgiveness of sins among fathers. By God’s grace, fatherless fathers can know the guiding care, instruction and correction of a loving heavenly Father.
Fathers can aim to reverse the Adamic legacy and begin a legacy of the Last Adam as they share the gospel with their families. No other responsibility compares to that duty.
Many people are feeling a lot of anxiety about climate change. There are even strikes among school children aimed at raising awareness about the issues. These two words–“climate change”– represent a lot more than a surface reading. “Climate” is the broad word used to describe relative geographical temperatures and weather patterns. “Change” is just that. A change. And that change is causing people around the world to become very worried.
Climates Change
I live in Alberta where the proverb states, “If you don’t like the weather, wait 20 minutes”. The actor Leonardo DiCaprio famously witnessed evidence of climate change. He saw how quickly a Chinook can change the temperature, as the west wind descends from the mountains and melts all the snow as it heads east. The climate does change and indigenous people have been watching this “snow eater” for a long time.
So that’s just it. Climates change. Growing up on a farm, everyone who works out in the fields recognizes that within a few miles there can be different microclimates: some are wetter, some drier. Those microclimates can change with passing cycles of wet years and dry years.
Concerns, Presuppositions and Predictions
Of course when most people refer to “climate change” they are referring to something more like environmental deterioration or pollution-based changes in weather patterns. Climate change has become so familiar to us that we all know that these words are now equated with a whole range of environmental concerns, philosophical presuppositions and even accepted predictions about the future. To disagree in any degree with the concerns, presuppositions and predictions is to be a “climate denier” even though no one disagrees that there is such a thing as climate.
Empathy with Environmental Concerns
Into this mix, the Christian believer has empathy with the wider concerns for “climate change”, but Christians also have a surprisingly bleak outlook for the earth.
On the one hand, the stewardship of the earth is part of the mandate given to Adam and Eve in the second chapter of Genesis. Their calling required them to “be fruitful and multiply” and to “tend and keep” the extendable borders of Eden. Population control was not in view, but rather population expansion. More people would mean more environmental change. The wildness of the natural world would be brought under cultivation and put into a tamed order. At least that’s how it ought to have been.
With the sin of Adam and the curse upon his lineage, there was the accompanying curse upon the earth itself. Weeds would grow and require removal. Now consider this question. What do you do with weeds? You pull the weeds by hand if you’re a gardener. What do you do with the pulled weeds? You must put them in a pile somewhere. If you don’t dispose of them carefully the seedlings of the dead weeds can be carried by the wind right back into your garden. So we can say that the gardener’s weed pile is the consequence of the third chapter of Genesis.
Burning Weeds East of Eden
For millennia, people have burned their weeds. The reason being that they are not returning the weeds to the soil (to take root) or permitting the dead weeds to re-seed the cleansed field when they’re piled up. Incineration has always been the most effective disposal method. But when you burn things, you are releasing carcinogens, i.e. pollution. Imagine the weed piles burning east of Eden.
The alternative is to make piles, even if we call them organic piles of ‘compost’. Piles of refuse are the consequence of the Fall. These piles require quarantine and management. How a society deals with their piles indicates how well ordered they are. Municipalities everywhere are running out of room for their piles. But pile management is an old question which even the Levitical laws had an answer for.
Sin’s Pollution
So the point I’m making is that the curse upon Adam and the earth, combined with a mandate for population expansion results in a crowded polluted world. The sin of fallen mankind also ensures that human beings will care less about how their personal actions injure others. We will pollute because it’s convenient, or because we don’t have the ordered leisure to pollute in less injurious ways. Sin will also blind us to the reality that our plight in this fallen world is the result of inherited sin. It’s not curable by education, politics or any other man-made reform.
The End of the World
Added to this reality of a polluted earth is the prophecy which promises that the end will not be a utopia. As Peter indicated (2 Peter 3:7), “the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire”. The intention of this promise is to summon people to faith in Jesus Christ who offers security of life beyond the grave, and the hope of heaven beyond the sorrows of earth. As the United Nations predicts that there are only 11 years until “climate catastrophe”, isn’t it all the more reason for people to heed the message going out since the days of John the Baptist, ” flee from the wrath to come”?
Between Aspiration and Compassion
If the language of catastrophe is overblown, no one can deny that Christians want to be good stewards of the earth, just as the original dominion mandate indicated. However, this is also where the conflicts between aspirations and compassion come into play. In Mediterranean climates that offer little temperature change throughout the year and few distinguishable seasons, there is a geographical luxury to pursue experiments in addressing “climate change”. But for northern climates (like Canada’s) every apartment building, house and business is heated by hydrocarbons.
What if bread was denied to children in Revolutionary France because it was made in Royalist mills? What if a fire in the fireplace was denied to a single mother in Dickensian England because the fuel was not carbon-neutral? Our compassion requires us to admit that utopian visions don’t always square with practical realities. As James flatly stated, “if one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?” (James 2:16). As we seek good stewardship, just laws and practical compassion, we need to be careful that we don’t consign the weak and vulnerable to suffering in order to placate the consciences of the affordably secure.
People and Promises
When I speak with friends from other parts of Canada there is often an assumption that the bitumen-based oil-sands (or tar sands/dirty oil if you prefer) cannot be anything but a massive expression of the polluting curse.
I could make an argument in favour of fossil fuels generally. Or I could note that it is fossil fuel that heats my friends’ homes and powers all of the unnoticed networks that supply their needs. Or I could mention the hyper-sensitive procedures the oil extractors now use that aim to reclaim ground in better condition than it was before.
But there are really two key factors which drive me to support realistic thinking about fossil fuels and their circumspect use: people and promises.
First, the oil business is made up of people, dads and mums who work to provide the means for our needs to be met —from stocking our supermarkets to heating our furnaces. It’s a strange sight to see people driving vans to a rally that want to shut down the jobs of the people that gave them their means of transportation.
Our church prays regularly for people who are unemployed. The callous may say— get a different job. But that is where the utopian aspirations bump up against the realities of local compassion. I pray that the oil companies would start hiring again because many families are struggling.
The second factor that makes me think realistically about climate change is the promises of God. Even if God is going to use the climate catastrophe as part of the means of bringing his final judgement, there is a climate security that he has ensured until then. He made a promise to Noah, after the subsiding of the flood and the covenant ratified by the rainbow in the sky. God said:
While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”
Genesis 8:22
So the earth will remain— for a time. During that interim, we must use the earth’s resources responsibly, but use them we must. For if we ignore the resources God has given us, then we run the danger of showing contempt for God as well as our neighbour.
Comfort for Climate Anxiety
The exhortations of Peter remind us that:
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
2 Peter 3:9
As many people, especially young people, are being gripped by what is described as “eco-anxiety“, Christians need to offer an alternative eschatology. Our hope resides beyond this earth. As Peter concludes:
Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
2 Peter 3:11-13
Let us be good stewards of the earth, but let us set our deepest hopes on heaven, delighting to see our Lord Jesus face to face for eternity.
For me personally, one of the saddest results of the flood which ruined our home (alongside all our neighbours) was the loss of my library. I had invested money in building the library, but I’m much more sentimental about the time which I invested in many books that had become ‘friends’.
Without the library, how should I start again? Christian publishing is pouring out books steadily, but many of these books will not be the kind of classics which will last beyond a decade. Older books are available in public domain digital format. As a person thinks about books to acquire, to read and to absorb, you have to also remember the wisdom of the Preacher:
The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
Ecclesiastes 12:11-12
This is where a list of essential books comes in. Long before Greg McKeown’s book Essentialism became popular, John Newton argued that there are four essential books which every Christian should own and master. The books of the Bible, Creation, Providence and the Heart.
The Book of the Bible
These days we are finding ourselves less and less familiar with the language of Zion. The Old Testament narratives are not understood well. The New Testament is selectively known well, but hardly mastered.
To know the Scriptures well is to immerse ourselves (1 Tim 4:15) in the biblical world, biblical thought, biblical language and biblical priorities. Newton spoke of the language of the bible in this way:
The language of the Bible is likewise clothed with inimitable majesty and authority. God speaks in it, and reveals the glory of his perfections, his sovereignty, holiness, justice, goodness, and grace, in a manner worthy of himself, though at the same time admirably adapted to our weakness.
Works of John Newton, Vol 1, Letter XV
Mastering the bible ought to be the ongoing goal of every Christian. Even pastors must make extra effort for this. As Sinclair Ferguson stated in his Preacher’s Decalogue, the first commandment is “Know Your Bible Better”.
The Book of Creation
The second book that everyone can possess and read is the book of creation. Christians must continue to master this book, since many people today wish to misuse it or discard it in an attempt to discredit creation’s Author.
Yet even those who don’t believe in Jesus Christ are beginning to see that the expansive complexity of created things exposes our ignorance. As David Berlinski notes in an interview, the ability to understand the human cell is a goal that is “receding” as more layers of complexity are uncovered.
When binary sexes are being denied in favour of magically fluid genderless categories, the book of creation has been abandoned. Of course this should not be surprising since Paul spelled out the way that humanity “suppresses the truth in unrighteousness”, denying the full reality that God’s “invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse” (Ro 1:18,20).
Newton recognized that the book of creation is only used properly by those who see it with the book of the bible in their hands, minds and hearts. He wrote:
The Lord has established a wonderful analogy between the natural and the spiritual world. This is a secret only known to them that fear him; but they contemplate it with pleasure; and almost every object they see, when they are in a right frame of mind, either leads their thoughts to Jesus, or tends to illustrate some scriptural truth or promise. This is the best method of studying the book of Nature; and for this purpose it is always open and plain to those who love the Bible, so that he who runs may read.
Works of John Newton, Vol 1, Letter XV
So in the library, these two books will always be paired right beside each other, for the second is interpreted by the first.
The Book of Providence
In the ruling care which God exercises over all creation, with special attention to his people, Christian believers can “read” of this care as a sort of book of Providence. Newton wrote:
What we read in the Bible, of the sovereignty, wisdom, power, omniscience, and omnipresence of God, of his over-ruling all events to the accomplishment of his counsels and the manifestation of his glory, of the care he maintains of his church and people, and of his attention to their prayers, is exemplified by the history of nations and families, and the daily occurrences of private life.
Works of John Newton, Vol 1, Letter XV
Many Christians make it a spiritual discipline to keep a journal in order to record the events of God’s providential care for them each day. Whether written on paper or in our memory, we can read and see that God has been caring for us. By reading the book of Providence, we can come to know “that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Ro 8:28).
The Book of the Heart
The last book which Christians should have in their library is a studied understanding of the book of the Heart. Recognizing what is common to human nature, namely the wonders of being made in the image of God, yet the horrors of a nature corrupted by sin— understanding this will give us insight into ourselves and others.
Calvin made the observation that there is a reciprocal knowing of God and ourselves which occurs for the believer. He said:
Again, it is certain that man never achieves a clear knowledge of himself unless he has first looked upon God’s face, and then descends from contemplating him to scrutinize himself
Institutes, 1.1 (Battles trans.)
As we pursue this other knowledge, namely knowing God, we will get a clearer reading of the human heart. Unlike the world’s religions the book of the heart is not read in isolation, or as an inward journey of discovery by itself. Such a practice only leaves the searcher lost and ignorant. This knowledge of human nature can only be read, by reading the first book, the Holy Scriptures. Newton wrote:
The heart of man is deep; but all its principles and workings, in every possible situation, and the various manners in which it is affected by sin, by Satan, by worldly objects, and by grace, in solitude and in company, in prosperity and in affliction, are disclosed and unfolded in the Scripture.
Works of John Newton, Vol 1, Letter XV
Study of the Scriptures makes the believer a sage in reading the heart. As David put it in his psalm, “I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation” (Ps 119.99).
Four Books
These four books are not the literal replacement for my lost library. But the study of the bible, creation, providence and the heart will afford a lifetime of learning. The lesson can be summed up by that collecter of wisdom Quoheleth who said:
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
These four books provide a library that can’t be lost, but can only be left unread.
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No professing Christian can afford to ignore the topic of sexuality. The sexual revolution has swept across North America into unlikely places like Alberta the land of oil and cowboys. The sexual revolution refuses to be ignored. Conservative politicians would like to drop the topic. And Christians cannot merely act like it is a problem for “someone, somewhere”. Christians must talk about sexuality or else they are in danger of being blindsided by it.
Either Oil or Sexuality
Take Alberta for an example. The most prominent news events of the last decade, other than oil and natural disasters, have been issues relating to sexuality. In Alberta, school-based clubs have become a sexuality flashpoint. These clubs are places where children have legal privacy protections permitting them to pursue gay identities and activities. The name given to these clubs is Gay-Straight Alliances or GSAs.
Another sexuality issue shifted the politics in Alberta dramatically. That flashpoint was the so-called “Lake of Fire” blog post from a provincial political candidate, Allan Hunsperger. In the post, he spoke of the judgement which awaited those who will not inherit the kingdom of God (cf. 1 Cor 6:9-10). The problem was what he said about eternal judgement and how it applied to gay people. The 21st chapter of Revelation says:
“But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death” (v.8). Connecting “the lake that burns with fire” to the LGBTQ community set off a firestorm.
The candidate’s party lost the provincial election which many thought they would win. The “Lake of Fire” became a slogan that stood for ‘hateful comments that bring political disaster’. Maybe the candidate should not have phrased things as he did, or he should have clarified that “the sexually immoral” of Rev 21:8 includes all sexual lust and activity outside of monogamous heterosexual marriage, not just homosexuality. Regardless, it is clear that the bible’s view of sexuality would not be accepted in the public square in Alberta anymore.
Sexuality Views: A Case Study
For Christians in Canada, I think they should take Alberta as a case study for why they should talk about sexuality. Alberta can no longer be associated with so-called social conservatives. The province’s society has departed from publicly favouring Judeo-Christian values, even if they had no interest in the gospel. Alberta has shifted as radically as the price of oil.
A bellwether of this radical shift can be observed in American theologian Albert Mohler’s regular commentary. Normally Canada doesn’t register too highly on the attention meters of Americans, so it is worthwhile to consider the number of entries in Albert Mohler’s The Briefing relating to Canada or even the province of Alberta. Most if not all of his commentary about Alberta has to do with the sexual revolution (For a list of The Briefing commentaries that mention Alberta goto this link). Of course, the sexual revolution is so significant that it has its own category tag on Mohler’s site.
The personal autonomy and individualism which have marked Alberta since pioneer days have turned towards a radical autonomy in sexuality. Mohler observed what happens:
If we buy into the worldview that is undergirding this moral revolution on sex and marriage and the entire society and its ordering, we would have to understand that worldview says that human beings have an absolute right of self-determination when it comes to personal autonomy, gender, gender identity, sexuality, definition of marriage, or virtually anything else. But if you buy into that worldview, you have to extend it everywhere the logic would take us, even into the public schools, even into the lives of children and teenagers, even into a government policy that officially advises the schools they are to take the children through the process of choosing their pronoun, deciding what name they want on their report cards, deciding whether they want to play for the boys or girls team, and on and on.
The Briefing (January 20, 2016)
We cannot afford to be unclear about issues of sexuality. Our purpose is not simply to be better culture warriors or political operatives. Christians need to know what the Scriptures teach about humanity created in the image of God. Christians need to be clear about the creation design of male and female—binary sexes, which are designed to complement one another in their capacities and roles. The foundation is supernatural, as in the creative power of God. Yet the evidence of binary sexes is what even non-theist scientists defend.
Start To Talk About Sexuality
Christians need to start somewhere. Obviously the first place to start is reading through the first three chapters of Genesis, the affirmation of Jesus in Matthew 19, the sophisticated awareness of what is sexual sin presented by Paul in the first chapter of Romans, and the brilliant depiction of marriage in the sixth chapter of Ephesians which points to a higher reality, namely the union of Christ with his people.
Two contemporary resources to help us talk about these things are statements issued by the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.
The first, the Danvers Statement aimed to summarize the biblical teaching on binary sexes as designed to complement one another in marriage. The term ‘complementarian’ was coined to express this biblical viewpoint of equality in marriage with diversity in roles within marriage.
The second resource is the Nashville Statement which sought to address issues of transgenderism, homosexuality, polygamy, polyamory and more with biblical viewpoints in contrast to those beliefs.
So we can make a start. We can read the bible and learn from good resources. It can be uncomfortable, but we have to do it. If we start to be informed, we can “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15).
Let us be careful not to lose either truth or love.
If you are in the Calgary area, Saturday August 24 you should consider attending this conference:
Gender, Sexuality and Christian Witness Conference, Calgary, Alberta, Saturday, August 24 with Denny Burk, President of the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.
I remember a while ago how I had to study anatomy intensively in order to get my Pilates teacher training certification.
The intricate and complex design of the human body was a little overwhelming to comprehend. Having barely scratched the surface of the muscular and skeletal systems, I was struck by how each of the many muscles, ligaments, tendons and bones are integrated so perfectly for the human body to function.
Each detail has a reason behind it. There is a distinct purpose in the masterpiece of the human body. The study of anatomy points strongly to a Designer. I recall how the Pilates instructor said on the one hand, “We don’t really need the psoas minor anymore, it was only necessary when we walked on all fours”, yet on the other hand could say, “The way the femur attaches into the hip socket is a genius design.”
Later another student asked, “Why is the lumbar spine designed like…um…I mean…whatever you believe…what is the purpose of its limited range of motion in rotation?”
As we saw the purpose and function of everything, it was pretty difficult to talk about the human body as a mere random chance. Presupposing evolution made it hard for anyone to ask “why?” without contradicting themselves.
Psalm 139 says:
For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them.How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
Psalm 139
Creation undeniably points to the glory of the Creator. What joy to know that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” in a way that transcends even our profound physical make-up. Studying anatomy has helped me appreciate again the wonder of God having “intricately woven” us in secret.
Who can comprehend the greatness of the mind of God?