The Secret Longing to Go Back to Eden

The Secret Longing to Go Back to Eden

Matthew 15:29-31

Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain and sat down there. And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.

John 4:10-14

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”  The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

The secret longing

Inside each man, woman and child in this world is a secret longing to go back to a place that is undefiled. We all long for a perfect environment to live in that is unspoiled, a perfect family relationship that is characterized by harmony, love and affection, a perfect job that is not stained by trouble, challenges and results that we would rather have to be better, and perfect bodies that don't get sick, don't hurt, perform as desired, and look great.

While this longing is inside us all, I think we seek to meet this longing in our actions and attitudes.

Externally

Externally, we try to do our best to take care of our environment, be loving and kind in our families, work hard at our job, and workout and don't eat too much junk.

Yet we are cursed. Natural disasters come and spoil the beauty of nature. We forget to recycle and others don't care and wreak havoc. Our spouses and children live like they are the only ones that matter, and so do we. Divorces happen, children rebel, parents get sick and die. Our jobs aren't as fulfilling as we would like them to be. Others mess up, we mess up. Customers are demanding, colleagues are demanding, and the nature of the work is demanding. Our bodies are born with deformities. Bodies don't work as they should. Some are born without some appendages. Some are lame. Some are born blind. Some become lame. Some become blind. Some can't speak. Some are plagued with minds that don't work right. Some are plagued by constant sickness. Hearts fail. Livers fail. Kidneys fail. Appendixes fail. Eyes fail. Legs fail. Hands fail. Cancer happens. On top of this, we don't eat right, don't exercise enough, and generally don't take care of ourselves.

So our dreams of and aspirations of living in the garden of Eden where everything is perfect and unspoiled is so far from reality that it is even depressing to think about it.

Our world is either falling apart or already is apart, our families and friendships are either falling apart or already are apart or are a struggle, our jobs are either falling apart or already are apart or are just a struggle, our bodies are falling apart or are already on the way out.

Our world, our relationships, our work, and ourselves are all in pieces. Everything external is sick. We need help!

Internally

But if it is not our world, relationships, work and ourselves that are apart externally, we are falling apart, or already are apart internally.

We are great contributors to all the problems and the defilement and spoil all around us. In some ways we could care less what happens to the world after we die, we don't work hard at our relationships, and live selfishly, as if we are the only ones that matter. We don't work hard at work, or just do a bad job, or become angry when things don't go our way, or contribute to the chaos. We ourselves don't care enough about the bodies that we have to do something about all the trouble that happens.

Our mind is polluted with thoughts that are not loving to God and mankind. Our affections are set on the things that please us and our own desires, rather than pleasing God and mankind. Our will seeks to bend all things to itself, rather than being bend towards fulfilling God's will.

So our mind, will and affections are completely spoiled and corrupt. We need help!

Redemption

So what do we do? Everything is spoiled externally and internally.

The two passages in this brief meditation answer the question.

First, in Matthew 15, this description of the miracles of Jesus came after a run in with the Pharisees because the disciples weren't doing the ritual of washing their hands. Jesus was clear that the issue at hand is that the corruption is not what comes into our mouths, but what flows out of our hearts.

This world and ourselves, external and internal is corrupt and spoiled by sin. It is sick and dying and dead because we are completely corrupted and evil in our hearts. The natural outworking of our corruption is to destroy ourselves and everything around us.

Yet, this is what Jesus came for. He did not just come for us to get a get out of hell free card. No, he came to give us a new nature. To heal us from the inside out. He came to give living water as John 4 says. This living water renews and regenerates. It changes who we are and what we do.

We can't meet this healing savior and not be changed internally only though. He renews our mind, our  will and our affections. This produces change that drives outward. This is the part of the significance of Jesus healing the bodies of men, women and children. Jesus cares about the world, our relationships, our jobs and our bodies. He wants all of these things to not be ravaged by sin and destruction and death.

So he came and healed in order to show that he came to restore what was lost. The second Adam came and lived right, and by his death brought us back into relationship with God. He came to live out Eden as it was supposed to be, and show us that even though this world is fallen and broken, that we are to live as we should be, and not just as things appear to be. We are to live and be light in the darkness, healing to sickness, peace to trouble. We are to be eyes for the blind, feet for the lame, hands and feet for the disabled. We are to come and be a source of life-giving power to all around us.

We are to care about God's creation and the environment and do are best to not only not destroy it, but actively restore it. We are to care for our families and neighbors and do are best to bring love, joy and peace wherever we go. We should help the hurt and bring peace to the troubled. We should do our part to be life-giving balm. We should work hard and our best at our jobs. We should be known as those who care, and those who work for a greater master. We should care about our health and our bodies. Just as Jesus cared about healing our bodies, we should not actively, or passively, seek to destroy them.

This redemption that we have in the cross of Christ is all about restoration. Restoration of our relationship with God, man and the world. Jesus came to seek and save what was lost. He came to bring hope and joy to a broken world.

I am not saying that our salvation is in us being restorative agents in this world. What I am saying is that our salvation naturally produces in us the desire, power and effort to be restorative agents in a lost and dying world. We seek to restore people's souls, their bodies, and the world to its proper place under the rule, dominion and peace of God.

Political agendas won't solve the problems. Activism won't solve the problems. Exercise won't solve the problems. Ten step programs won't solve the problems.

The gospel of Jesus Christ, changing hearts from the inside, and the outworking of this on the outside is what will change the world. And maybe, just maybe it can be said of us, like Paul and his companions, these men are turning the world upside-down. But not upside-down from good to bad, but upside-down from bad to good.

Let us be restorative agents for Christ, by preaching Christ in our words and actions, and sharing the healing power of a new mind, will and affections.