This is Good

I've been spending a lot of time lately wondering about the word "holy". What it means to live fully into what we were created for. I honestly don't know how to explain or debate Genesis with you. You might be surprised how many different things can be said about the details of creation even within one denomination. And I'm just not wired to obsess over carbon dating and dinosaur bones. But I do think an awful lot about relationships. And what does the phrase "restoration of creation" really look like?

If you are like me and your earliest memories smell like crayons and feel like warm ditto copies straight out of a spiral duplicator of happy giraffes and lions and a sinister snake dangling from the branch of an apple tree, then you probably know all about the creation account. If not, it's found in  Genesis 1 and 2.

Sometimes when I read it I'm transported back to those classrooms with the shag carpet in my childhood church and I'm again filled with child-like wonder. I let my mind mull over those not-so-deep questions like where was the garden and what kind of fruit did they really eat? Did snakes really have legs before being cursed to slither on their bellies? How cool would that look?! And, if there was no killing, did that mean that everyone from Adam to the king of the beasts enjoy a vegan diet? Did all those organic, non-GMO greens actually taste delicious and less like kale?

In the past month I've learned a few interesting things about creation. I've learned that when we want to know what perfect looks like, what holiness means, we can look to the garden. What had God created us to be?

One of the more interesting things I have learned has to do with the relationship between Adam and Eve. Many times throughout the old testament women such as Deborah the prophet lead ministry and are used by God. But also throughout the old testament times we saw a culture in which women were subservient and of far less value than their brothers, fathers, and husbands. But, not before the fall. Not when everything was as God made "good". In a video lecture by Joseph Coleson I learned that there was a word used in reference to the creation of Eve, which we have translated as "help meet". It has sometimes been used in a way that is limiting or lesser. But the actual word, "Ezer Canegdo" translates as "a power like him" in a way that is "facing him." Does that change the way you picture the relationship between men and women that God originally intended?

The fall brought so much change to our world. Horrendous things happen every day and God mourns that with us. I am so thankful for the hope of Heaven. But we are also called to make "here" better. We can always be asking ourselves, "Was this how we were created to be?" Because God saw all that he had made and it was good.

Coleson, Joseph, “Ezer Cenegdo: A Power Like Him, Facing Him as Equal”, inversion.app.box.com, 11, June 2014.

The Holy Bible, New International Version. Grand Rapids, Zondervan House, 1984. Print.