I love reading N.T. Wright because his language is eloquent, poignant and powerful as is challenging for our souls to convey.  Mostly, the tension of this world confuses us and makes us feel alone and isolated.  Most of us think we are the only ones feeling the things we do.  This is a lie.  We were made for the beauty of the garden, why wouldn’t our hearts long for it in its absence?  There is a lecture that N.T. Wright gave at Seattle Pacific University that I downloaded for free on Itunes.  It is called “The Bible and the Christian Imagination.”  It is in that lecture that Wright comes up with this brilliant way of describing the world in which we, via sin, are forced to live in.  He states, that we live in a world that is, “achingly beautiful and awesome ugly.”  (As I have mentioned in an earlier blog…sorry I just love that phrase)  What a mouthful!  Yes!  That is exactly it!   Tension is felt right there!

In his book, “Simply Christian,” N.T. Wright so poetically and practically brings his readers to the conclusion that Christianity makes sense.  I know this is incredibly vague, but you will just have to read it for yourself.  In the beginning, he introduces this idea that as humans we all have “echoes of a voice” inside of us.  Those echoes are a longing for justice, spirituality, relationships and beauty.  Wright constantly reinforces the fact that, as humans, we have this inherent need to see the world set to rights, for justice to be served.  We want to see things that were made wrong, made right. One can’t help but be moved by a child going hungry at night or innocent people being murdered in Dar Fur.  One’s heart is stirred by a couple experiencing miscarriage after miscarriage, when they so desperately want children and would make amazing parents. 

Our souls are grieved by a world that has spun off its tilt.  We desire a world where things are set to rights.  Things were right in the garden.  And we feel that, or the lack thereof, everyday.  Everything the human soul longs for, God made us for.  Here’s where it really gets epic!  2,000 years ago Yahweh sent His only Son Jesus to put the world back to its rights.  Everything that was wrong was made right in Him.  For he makes all things new as it is written in Revelation 21.  We now live in a time that theologians call “the already, but not yet.”  Christ has launched new creation, the rescue and recovery of humanity has taken place, God’s Kingdom has been inaugurated, however, it has not yet seen its fullness or completion that is to come in the “new heavens and new earth.”  The veil has been torn; we can access God-each and every one of us via the cross.  Yet we still live among the debris of humanity’s sin.  What an incredible paradox. 

The thing I love about the Bible is that it totally reverses that paradox.  It answers the why question that is asked in all the confusion…it fills in all the holes if you will…it does so with Christ…check this…

Genesis 1-2 Adam and Eve created in God’s image

…now just a disclaimer on my part…this is meant to be a theological history (the history of God and His character), not necessarily and history of exactly how the world was literally created.  We know that God created everything.  However, this story is to represent the union of God with humanity, His intention towards humanity and the separation of God from humanity. It sets the stage for the most beautiful story of redemption every told…

With that being said…moving on…