Let There Be

There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. "Rabbi," he said, "we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you." Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God...I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life."
          - John 3, NLT

This conversation is one of a few places in Scripture that give us the concept of salvation being a rebirth of sorts - a recreation. What Jesus is telling Nicodemus here is that our spirits must be made new again if we are to see God's Kingdom here on earth. The theme of God making his people new again, though, is a thread throughout the Christian cannon. In fact, salvation is best understood, I believe, in terms of the grander scheme of creation. Specifically, we are created "ex nihilo" or "out of nothing" and so to this "nothingness" we have the propensity to return without the sustenance or sustaining power of God. So you and I, right now, are being held together by God's will that we do so. This is why, at death, we would face eternal separation from God; that is, our ultimate return to our base "nothing" state. Incredibly, our Creator longs for us to be with him and so salvation is essentially accepting his will to keep us with him forever and totally forsake our "nothingness".

It's important to remember, however, that we are in process. You and I are not able to achieve this higher state on our own. This is one of the reasons for Christ's coming, that you and I can become what we were intended to become: God's perfect creation. So, when we find ourselves in darkness and reverting to nothing, remember the words that called us from that nothing.

This idea was rattling in my head the other day when I was listening to this song. It is a song about creation and it's opening line says "darkness hovering, grasping everything it seems...". It then goes on to describe primordial earth: void and chaotic. Through a series of calls from afar, the song masterfully builds to the revelation of God's command "let there be light".

Application:
 
In our lives, we periodically find ourselves in dark times. Life can tend to feel - spiritually, emotionally and sometimes physically - like that chaotic mess that was before creation. With Christ as our base for faith and his love as our motivator for new life, day in and day out, we can sing "let there be light" and see his love illuminate our lives once more.

This is a short blog and there could be much more said about the connection between the Genesis poem of creation and our daily martyrdom to our chaotic and dark falleness. Still, I hope that in these few lines, you remember to think of your mornings as a new birth - every morning - and when life gets a little "primordial", I hope that you remember to sing "let there be light".

peace,
C.M.

Why Am I Here?

I think we've all asked this question at one point or another. Most people ask it with the less-articulated question rising in the background, "what is my purpose?" or perhaps the more communal question "what is humanity's purpose?" Instead of kicking a dead philosophical horse (I only call it that because this is one of those "unanswerable" questions in philosophy, so wheel spinning is about all the farther you end up with it), I'd like to answer this question with a different intention and you'll see why...

Q: Why am I here?
A: Because God loves you.

 Now, I know that at a brush this answer seems flippant and perhaps wouldn't be the best place to start in a moment of evangelism, but I think this is the truest answer available to us with any certainty.

We -- you and I and the people on television and the man on the radio and the dictator overseas and the woman in that "mens" magazine -- are here because God loves each of us. Beyond that, creation itself is here for the same reason. The ground you walk on, the air you breathe into your lungs, the forests we clear, the oceans we abuse, the quarries we dig -- all of it because of love.

Clearly the underlying intention behind my answer is a bit different than the initial question. My answer is predicated on a question of existence or, rather, of sustinence: "I shouldn't be here in this condition (whatever your situation) and yet I am. How is this so?" Instead of function or purpose, the existential question begs at a deeper query in our souls, "how does someone or something like me get to enjoy beauty and existence as such?"....Love. Divine love is the only thing that makes sense here. Furthermore, it is a love that is not contingent on your form or function, but on the source of your existence which is located in the same place as the source of love itself: God.

Now, I believe the other question is worth asking also. We ought to find something productive and Kingdom-growing to do with ourselves and our resources. We should not, however, become so distracted with what we think we ought to be doing that we forget who we ought to be being.

We -- each person of humanity, both individually and collectively -- are loved. That is why we exist. That is why we continue to exist. That should drive our purpose. Praise God.

Peace,
C.M.