Broken Part 3: The Restoration of Creation
With the thoughts of brokenness and emptiness we can easily seem to think that we are at the center of the Universe’s attention. This isn’t to trivialize our struggles, for they are indeed very difficult. Our brokenness is a real brokenness. In the larger scheme of the world and in creation, we see a larger brokenness that has shattered the very nature of creation.
The world itself is broken.
The world at its outset was created perfect. There was a peace and harmony that creation birthed. Death and decay were not in the original design. However, when sin was introduced into the perfect system, the world was broke. In hospital sterile rooms, the slightest imperfection destroys the validity of the entire room. Once a room becomes “not sterile” you cannot claim that a specific part is okay. The entire room is labeled as not sterile. The “sterility” if you will, of the world had been compromised in the Garden of Eden and the creation is broken.
Creation is awaiting its healing from an eternal and loving God. The earth is crying out for a Savior and awaiting the healing it cries for. No where is this more vividly seen that in Romans 8.
For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. – Romans 8:19-25 (NIV)
In the same way, we as people are eagerly crying out for that same salvation from a Savior. As much as the world has been deeply affected by the introduction of sin, we as humans are the ones who brought it into the world. None of us are innocent. All of us sin. All of us, like the world and creation itself, long for the restoration that comes from a perfect and loving God.
When we introduced sin into the world, we became cracked. We broke. Through our own actions, we severed our communion with God, removing ourselves from the Garden of Eden. We were not created or designed to die, yet death was brought into the system.
Our loving God was not content to allow us to get was we deserve. God’s rescue story throughout the whole of human history flies in the face of the idea of Karma. We do not get what we deserve. Jesus, the only Son of God, dies for our sins and is resurrected, ascending in to heaven to speak on our behalf. Not only will everything be made new, but we will be reformed and created to wholeness greater than where we started.
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” – Revelation 21:1-5 (NIV)
We have a God who is so utterly dedicated to rescuing His people that he would send his own Son to die in our stead and then collide heaven into earth to ensure that evil is destroyed and those who identify with Christ are saved. Heaven will collide with Earth. Both will be destroyed in the process. God will reign over all. Brokenness will give way to perfect. Groans of agony will turn into shouts of praise. Weeping will turn to joy. Brokenness will be restored.
When we put our trust in Jesus Christ, we will arrive back in that Garden where man walked with God in Holy Communion. We will walk with God, know Him, and be known by Him. We will find our restoration with the whole of creation declaring together in one voice “Jesus is Lord.”
