What Does it Mean to be Human? part 2

Sorry for the delay. This post carries on from the one below and continues the conversation through the last number of posts. I hope that you'll continue reading and enjoying them. Our summer camp season was busy and full and we're glad to have some time to spend together as a family. So, here you go:

So what I tried to argue was that from the bible’s point of view, starting in Revelation, it looks like it’s coming back here. What do we do with John’s odd description of this New Jerusalem that’s as big as the cosmos, shaped like a cube – track that imagery through the Old Testament and John’s vision is that God is going to come and dwell in a cosmic holy of holies with us. And that’s what he’s always intended to do and that makes sense all the way through the biblical narrative. Ours is a God who comes to us. He built us this wonderful place Eden, which means ‘the light’ and his concern is, he wants to dwell here with us. That’s why in Genesis 1 seven times, unparalleled in the rest of the biblical text, seven times God says this place is good, and we say ‘We believe the bible and all God wants to do is burn it up.’ How do you put that together? You don’t. That’s why Romans 8 Paul can say creation groans waiting for its redemption. That’s why John 3:16, the verse we all know, ‘For God so loved the ... cosmos.’ And now ... you ... know ... why! It’s his palace! It’s his temple! And he cares profoundly about it. You can ask people, ‘Do you love the cosmos? If you don’t this morning’s a good morning to become a Christian.’ So when you’ve gone walking through this extraordinary country Canada, you’ve stood on the beaches of Tofino and you’ve watched those breakers roll in and your heart wells up within you – this is not a non-spiritual aberration. That welling up is exactly what God intended. You’re struck with the wonder and the beauty of the temple of the palace He has made. Try thinking through that imagery.

When I’m driving on my way to work to Regent in Vancouver and I see the mountains rising up and in my mind I think of them as the pillars supporting the canopy of God’s temple. It changes the way you see the world. And this might sound really goofy, but I was out raking the leaves about two weeks ago and I had this epiphany. I was overwhelmed with emotion as I looked at each one of these … have you ever looked at a single leaf? Each leaf – the colour! And the shape. And this is all by accident. No. The bible rejoices in this. That’s why you get the Psalmist just overwhelmed by the beauty of creation. But what’s happened in the Christian tradition ever since the second century is we’ve been wanting to leave this place, get away from it. That’s what Nietzsche so repudiated about Christianity. He hated Christianity for that reason – because it treated the body and this present world with contempt and you know what, Jesus would agree with him in that critique. And we’re living with Nietzsche’s influence because we have lost sight of the biblical view of creation. Why should God care less? Because THIS IS HIS PALACE!! It’s HIS TEMPLE! And he’s going to get it back whether by hook or by cross. This is my Father’s world; I rest me in the thought. Yeah! Some of you look as if I’m speaking heresy here. [some laughter] How can it be any other way? So go search the scriptures.