Easter is what we could call “the cosmic U-turn of history.” Up until Easter, ever since Adam’s sin, everything had been moving downhill to more and more corruption, destruction and evil.
But Jesus put on the brakes to this and spun all of creation around by his death and resurrection. He set all on the road of re-creation by turning the whole universe onto an upward course leading towards healing, reconciliation and restoration.
This re-creation will culminate in a new heaven and new earth, which will be pristine, perfect, pure and perpetual. Because of Easter that’s where the universe is now going. Are you coming along?
Let’s look at two parts of this cosmic U-turn.
First, on a physical level. God, as you know, created all as good, and perfect; but when Adam sinned, the whole creation was twisted. If we think of the universe as a complex mechanism, when Adam rebelled and chose to follow Satan rather than God, every part of that mechanism was violently bent and warped. The machine still works, but with gears grinding and an out of balance spinning, like a washing machine with a lumpy load.
Adam’s sin brought into existence the second law of thermodynamics: that is, everything moves from order to chaos. His sin brought in death and destruction, pain and problems, tragedies and tears, sickness and strife, thorns and thistles. His sin also brought storms and earthquakes, floods and volcanic eruptions, the death of stars and random electrons.
Everything went from beautiful, supreme stability to ugly destruction and deterioration. In Rom 8:22 it says, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”
But we also know from Rom 8:21 that because of Jesus’ resurrection, the direction of all creation has been reversed; and that at the right time the physical universe “…will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.”
For those of us who are born again, we have the initial aspects of our new life, but wait for the fulfillment of the re-creation ofMoreall. As Rom 8:23 says, “…we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”
We are called to live in the light of this truth, in the sure hope of eternal life and in the certainty of God’s continual presence.
More to come on this tomorrow
