Reclaimed Image
When you think about how rivers are designed, you see that they have a starting point that begins to flow down to many different points. Some end up in different rivers or streams, and others might end their journey in the ocean or sea. The importance of the river imagery for us today is the idea of one starting point flowing down to many. This imagery gives us a picture.
How has sin affected our world today?
Adam and Eve committed the first sin in the garden. They were given a choice of free will, but in the end, they made the wrong choice. Their choice to try and take the place of God led them to listen to the enemy.
“The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. ”
Our conversation today will not focus on the shame that comes from sin and how God's grace covers us; that was the emphasis of the last post, Eyes of the Shameful, which you can read here.
What we are focused on today is how one person's sin has, like the river, flowed to every person in the world.
This is often referred to as Original Sin Theology, it looks at how the sin in the garden became a part of our human nature. We could take the conversation in many ways, but for brevity, we will look at a text from scripture to see how Adam and Eve changed the course of history with their choice in the Garden.
Noah and the Flood Narrative
Almost every children's Bible contains the story of Noah and the flood, a vital part of the biblical narrative. With the children's version, you will see how the animals were led onto this great boat called an ark built by Noah. God shut the door and saved all of the animals with Noah and his family. The best part of the story is the promise displayed in the sky from God, as a rainbow.
“I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. ”
It is a great ending to the children's story that God put a rainbow in the sky as a reminder that he would never flood the earth again. But if we go back to chapter eight of this text, we will see God's true feelings about his new covenant with the people; the information not included in the children's story.
“The Lord smelled the soothing aroma; and the Lord said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done. ”
Noah made an offering to the Lord after God delivered them from the floodwaters.
The Lord loved the smell of the offering, which meant he accepted their offering. In taking the offering, he stated that he would never flood the earth again for the sins of man because humans are evil; from their youth.
At this moment, God revealed that humans had only evil in their hearts from the beginning. We can take the words of God here to say that sin is born in us. From conception, we are born into a broken world and are a part of that broken world.
“For I was born a sinner- yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. ”
Eighteenth-century pastor and theologian John Wesley saw these verses and the doctrine of Original Sin as having two theological impacts on us today. First, there are no good people, and we need Christ. Secondly, no part of human life is free from original sin, including our nature as humans.[1]
Wesley describes how our image is broken down; all parts are affected by sin from the original source.
““In that moment he (Adam) lost the moral image of God. And in part, the natural; He commenced unholy, foolish, and unhappy. And “in Adam all died:”[2] ”
So, we see from scripture that sin came from the first humans in the garden and made its way to us through our fallen nature.
The conversation could go several ways at this point, and we could look at the role of grace and original sin, or predestination (the elect) versus Arminianism (all can be saved). But we will go back to scripture to see what the apostle Paul thought on the topic in his letter to the Romans.
There is a pivotal point in the beginning sections of his letter: Paul has shown how Adam stands as the example of human judgment (Romans 1.18-3.20), and Jesus stands for the justification of all believers. (Romans 3.21-5.11)
“ For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through the one man, Jesus Christ. ”
Paul encapsulates all of what we have been discovering about the nature of humans and the need for a savior. Left to our own, we will, like Adam and Eve, choose to take the place of God in our lives. Since the fall, the separation from God was complete; we were no longer in a relationship and had lost our righteousness.
Righteousness is reclaiming the image of God
Paul is making it clear that God's grace is abundant and available for all to receive; that is the vital point about Paul's statement, justification is available for everyone if you receive it through the death of Jesus. His point in this section is not to show us how to receive justification but to contrast the difference between Adam and Jesus.
“So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Through that difference, we can reclaim the image of God; Jesus is the perfect human who took the sins of all so that we could again live in righteousness and be in right standing with God as the first humans were in the beginning. Paul believes that God's grace will triumph over any evil in this world; that no matter the abundance of evil, God's grace is in greater abundance. It is through that abundance of grace that God reclaims the image in each of us; the question is, are we willing to receive to reclaim?
[1] “Wesley interpreted this verse to mean two things. First, the fallen condition we inherit from out first parents affects everyone, no exceptions. There are no “good people,” so there is no one who does not need the salvation that God provides in Christ. Second. Not only does original sin affect all people, but it also affects everything about them, No part of human life is free from this disease, since it goes all the way to the root of our actions and attitudes. Timothy J. Crutcher, John Wesley: His Life and Thought (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 2015). 127.
[2] Sermon 57, “On the Fall of Man” John Wesley, The Works of John Wesley: Sermons vols. 1-2, vol. 5-6 (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2007). §II.6; 223
