Returning to our father-child analogy, we are created to be a family, loving each other across all humanity. God’s ideal is that we both love him and one another. This does not mean a blurring of individual distinctiveness; it is a unity in diversity. Each of us is unique and born to express our own being and brilliance in a totally unique way. But God’s vision is that we do so in love and unity, one people without war or division at any level.
Relationship with Creation and the World
A third dimension of relationship is found in the story of creation. Humanity was given the charge of caring for creation itself.40 The world that humanity has been given is to be carefully managed to retain ecological balance. We have been given the world to explore its splendour and glory and to use what we find with the creativity that is granted us, for human good. However, we must also show great care and concern for the natural world including the flora and fauna. God is concerned for every living thing, every tree, the animal world and every part of this creation. Hence, we should be deeply concerned at the current ecological problems and in particular, the disintegration of the environment, irrespective of its causes.
God’s hope for planet earth is that it will be a world of love and harmony, where people will live together in perfect love for God and one another, utilising the resources and caring for the world as people express their creativity in work and play. God cares for the whole of the world and his original intention is that human society would be full of goodness and love. So as people spread out and formed society, it was God’s desire that it be wonderfully creative and unified as it richly expressed its God-given creativity. We should value every part of human life. God cares about the arts, the sciences, sport, economics, family, governments, music, literature, ecology and life itself.
Each one of us is created by God (through the natural processes of human reproduction) with a purpose. Each of us is born with a unique set of talents to express our humanity. Each of us has a brilliance to be realised in relationship with God in and for this world and its people. Through this uniqueness, together we will build God’s world and bring into being God’s great dream and project.
Relationship with Self
Although not explicitly stated in the text, it is implied that the first humans were completely comfortable in themselves. There was no self-hate, lack of self-esteem, guilt, shame, depression, anxiety or personal angst. This is seen in their lack of shame.41 The first created humans were at total peace; their private worlds were in order and harmony. They were comfortable with who they were physically, intellectually, spiritually and emotionally. They did not experience jealousy or other desires which stem from a shattered inner being. They were whole and unbroken without the problems that blight us in this troubled world.
Freedom
There is another aspect of love that is an important part of the Christian message – the concept of freedom or volition. Initially humanity in the Garden was free. They were free to live there, work, enjoy it and be nourished by its produce. They could eat of the tree of life which would sustain them, meaning that this life of peace would be eternal; living forever with God and each other in God’s sensational world. However, they were innocently unaware of their freedom, not knowing anything other than the perfection in which they lived.
This is where the story gets a little more complex. If love is to be recognised and experienced as love, it requires not only the giving of freedom but the gaining of the knowledge or recognition of one’s freedom – the freedom to accept or reject love. This being so, God did not create humans as automatons or robots who would simply return his love without choice. Rather, he created humans in his image to have freedom and the ability to accept or reject him. His desire is for a genuine relationship with each and every human being in the world.
God enabled this awareness of freedom by first creating relational people with intelligence, creativity, emotions and discernment. He then placed them in a garden of perfection,42 full of the most wonderful food to eat and which they were to care for and enjoy.43 The first humans were utterly free and innocent within the constraints of the garden, but did not fully comprehend it as they were not aware of any alternative.
God made them aware of their freedom in two interconnected ways. First, he did so with a prohibition against eating from one tree in particular – the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.44 The introduction of this command created a boundary which the humans could not cross without suffering the consequences.45
Secondly, along with that prohibition, he allowed into the garden a spiritual antagonist who had already abused the freedom given by God’s love. This enemy is known as Satan and he is symbolised as a snake in the story of Genesis.46 This implies that Satan (or the devil) and his minions had at some previous stage violated their relationship with God and had suffered the consequence of being banished from God’s presence.47 In the garden, Satan twisted God’s words and used them to seduce Eve and Adam (the first humans) to respond to their own desire and eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil – thereby disobey God (this is examined further in chapter two).48 The combination of prohibition and Satan’s distortion provided the choice which the true knowledge of freedom requires.
In addition, the existence of Satan introduced the potential for utter evil to be released into the cosmos and, as such, made humanity aware of the distinction between good and evil. Good can exist without evil, but cannot be discerned as good unless the recipients are aware of the antithesis of good. Without the existence of Satan and evil, choice would not be genuine and knowledge of freedom would not exist. As such ‘the Fall’ (see chapter two), while very much a cosmic disaster, had a kind of positive spin-off for the purposes of God’s work on earth.
People would, in essence, become like Truman in the movie The Truman Show.49 Truman lived in a perfect world unaware that anything existed beyond the world created for him by Christoph and hence, not free or aware of the absence of true freedom. When an object fell from the sky and interrupted his seemingly perfect world, this set off a chain of events that made Truman aware that the world was not all he thought it was. He then became aware of his lack of freedom, and chose to leave the world created for him – he exercised this freedom to walk away. The difference between The Truman Show and our world is that Truman gained his freedom when he took the choice given him; whereas humanity lost their freedom when they took the choice given by God. As a result, we face death and a dreadful deterioration in our circumstances.
Thus God, in his great love, gave humanity choice (or ‘free will’) and with it the freedom to make a decision to love freely. Humans are volitional beings created by God with the capacity to accept or reject love. God’s purpose now is to win them over by his mercy, grace and beneficence.
Referring back to our parenting analogy, God is the ideal cosmic parent who, after providing everything his children would ever need, is prepared to release them to experience life and make their own choices. Just as parenting involves risk – including the risk of rejection, of rebellion, of children going off the rails – so there is an inherent ‘risk’50 in God’s actions. There was a possibility that some of his free people would turn against him. Yet, just as human parents are prepared to have children despite this risk, so God was prepared to create us. He believes in the power of love to overcome. He was willing to create us because, although many would turn away from him, he believed that it was worth it for those who would say yes.51