God's Collaboration and Man's Dominion Pt 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ck2_Hbx93g

As a follow up to my last video, I wanted to touch on some more slightly in-depth theological discussion so that we could focus on those thoughts that keep you from embracing the idea that even though there is suffering, loss, and injustice in the world, there is also a plan for your good and your benefit. The things you suffer can be redeemed. Whether you fully grasp it or not. Did you know that you have value? The things that you have gone through and the things that you have suffered, can be redeemed in a way to make them key moments of growth for you. It doesn't make them right, but they become reframed as opportunities to grow, to learn how to love, and to connect with that which is bigger than you and that which is outside of self. I know there is someone watching this video and you're looking at the world around you, wondering what's the point?

In my last video, I stated that the reason there was suffering, pain, and loss in this world was due to a combination of God's desire to work collaboratively with mankind and a series of rebellions involving both mankind and members of the heavenly host. Obviously, I hold to a Judeo-Christian belief system, but what I'm about to present to you might not be what you're accustomed to hearing. So hold on, because this is going to be an interesting ride.

We all know the argument. If God is an omniscient, omnipotent, benevolent being then why... Fill in the blank with whatever horror story or morally disturbed situation or thought experiment you desire. Why is there evil in the world? Why does life suck? Why trauma? Just why? I get it. It's so mind-numbing sometimes. However, if you are reading/seeing this, then you have an opportunity to find hope.

I stated in my last video that when God created mankind, God gave them two gifts, dominion and choice. These two concepts are vital to understanding the world we live in. (See Genesis 1:26-31, and Genesis 2:7-25.) God gave mankind dominion over the creation and commissioned them to care for it so that it would continue to flourish. We are the only creature on this planet who understands the impact we are capable of, yet treats it as though we have no consequences. This isn't the rant of an environmentalist or some extreme conservationist. This is someone who looks around at what we call progress, making the same observation Ian Malcolm made in the original Jurassic Park movie. "We were so busy wondering if we could do it, no one stopped to ask if we should". There is a phrase in John's apocalyptic book of Revelation that I'm willing to bet that very few American preachers even realize is there. In Revelation 11:15-19, the seventh trumpet is being blown and a declaration is given stating that it is time for the final judgement. Verse 18 says, "The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.” Notice the last phrase. This verse says that at this time, those who destroyed the earth will be destroyed. God gave dominion over the creation to mankind, and so mankind became responsible for it's fate.

This actually ties into the second gift God gave mankind, choice. Going back to the passage in Genesis 2, God told mankind he could eat of all the trees except one, the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the consequences of eating of that tree would result in death entering creation. Many of you know the story. Mankind ate the fruit and the grip of death took hold of mankind and everything under their dominion; the whole of creation. For the rest of time mankind, and all of creation with it, has suffered under the cycles of life and death.

At this point, I invite the educated philosophers to ask the question that so many before them have asked. "If God knew that mankind would fail, then why give the option in the first place?" The answer is love, more specifically the ability to choose to love.

Without the ability to choose, love has no value. God created all of the host of the heavens with free will, but without being allowed to choose. They were capable of making decisions, but to rebel meant judgement without opportunity of redemption. They were created for service without question. This contrasts drastically with the purpose behind the creation of mankind. God wanted to have something more than servants. God wanted family. So, God created mankind in God's own image with the ability to choose, but even more than that, God gave man the ability to learn to grow in love, which requires the space to choose, not simply a one time choice, but over and over again. This is why death is a process, to give space for redemption. God wanted a family that through the space of time and sequences of choice, they could learn to love and connect to one another, and to their Creator. Love grows by making choices over the course of time. Relationships are solidified through the process of time and by a series of choices. Only by consistently choosing one another can two become one.

The command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was just an opening catalyst for a process of choice, allowing for love, and the provision of redemption. If you have ever been the parent of a teenager growing into adulthood, then you understand in part the risk God was taking. This was the reckless love of God, to allow mankind to grow through the process of wrong choices in a hope that they will learn to love and choose redemption.

So we now understand in part that we live in a world impacted by choice. However, the intricacies become more complex when we realize that we don't just face consequences of our own choices, but the choices of all of mankind and their related interactions. Throughout the generations these choices have created a series of causes and effects through the interconnectivity of those choices.

Let's look at World War 2 for example. At the end of World War 1, Germany suffered because of their role in that war. This suffering, along with other factors, caused their economy to break down. They were looking for a solution. There is a story which states that Hitler, in his younger years attempted to get into art school but was rejected. So, he went into military service and politics. Due to the suffering of Germans, the Nazi party was able to gain popularity by promising a better Germany where they could again prosper. Hitler and the Nazi party began to create enemies of the state, unifying the majority against a common enemy, leveraging power throughout all avenues of society to become such a threat that the world entered into a second world war. There was no one single choice that brought this great evil to exist. It happened because of a series of interacting choices. Such is the suffering of life. There is rarely a single choice involved. It has been the interactions of the choices of mankind which has brought us to where we are today. And before you say you would never make such choices, choosing to remain silent, as many did with the rise of the Nazi party, is still a choice.

So, if the condition of the world is the result of mankind's dominion and the choices that have accompanied that level of authority, where does that leave the spiritual influences that many of us believe exist? This is the part of the story that most miss, and for those of us among the Western civilized world it's mostly denied. Even among those who claim to be religious or spiritual, the belief in spiritual things is stripped down to the bare necessities of having a religion; a God, a Devil, angels, demons, all of which barely exists except in the ethereal afterlife, and of course the occasional unexplained miracle. Anything beyond this is too primitive and a system of archaic superstitions unbecoming of a civilized world.

But what if there is more?

The scriptures, historical writings, orally transmitted stories, and mythologies all speak of a human history rich with spiritual influences and interactions. If we were to do an academic comparison, we would definitely find common threads and kernels of truth. I'm not saying that all religions are the same, nor am I trying to give you an in-depth theological dissertation, but you do need to understand that since it's beginning creation has always been apart of something bigger and complex than just the natural world of existence, and it has been this connection between the natural and the spiritual that makes up the whole of existence.

Earlier, I spoke of a series of rebellions that have played a part in our current conditions. God's desire to work in collaboration with mankind required that mankind be connected to both the natural and the spiritual. We were created mind, (that is our consciousness, emotions, and personality), body, (that is our natural, physical and chemical makeup), and spirit, (which is the part of us which connects to that which is beyond ourselves, think of it like existing across dimensions). All three parts work together, are interconnected, and have an effect on the whole of who we are. It has been through this spiritual connection that mankind has participated in three key rebellions along with members of the heavenly host which has contributed to the corruption of our world. Without going into extreme detail, these rebellions are recorded in Scripture, as well as other writings. The first is in Genesis 3, with Adam and Eve and the serpent, who by the way is more than just a serpent. The second is spoken of in Genesis 6 where the Sons of God take wives from the daughters of mankind and brings about corruption to the creation which results in Noah's Flood. Finally the third is in Genesis 11, where the Tower of Babel occurs resulting in God dividing the nations and placing over them proxies from the heavenly host who set themselves up as gods over the nations. (For further information on this subject Michael Heiser's The Unseen Realm is a great resource.) Such rebellions along with mankind constant choices to choose their own way over God's way, has brought our world to its current condition.

Now for the good news!

I have stated multiple times that God's plan for creation was to work in collaboration with mankind as part of God's family. Knowing that the freedom to choose would eventually result in wrong choices, God included a plan to allow for the redemption of mistakes. My wife says, "God stood on the precipice of creation and chose to have His heart broken over and over again throughout history in order to have a family in the end". This is the reckless love of God that He gave people the space to not only be imperfect, making imperfect choices, but to learn and grow, and to have their imperfections made into something beautiful. However, we must understand that even though God gave us the tools, the access, and the resources to embark on this journey, God doesn't force us to do so. You get to choose.