Past and Future of His
Meta-Narrative
Dear reader, in this paper, I hope to present the wonders
of the Old Testament, showing God’s past purpose for Israel, in components one
through three, focusing on creation, the fall of man, and God’s covenantal love
for Abraham, Moses, and the people of Israel. The fourth component is very
personal to me, since it delves into how my own life, as a Christian, connects
with metanarrative. It is an exciting and glorious story. Join me.
Composite 1: Nature of God as Creator
Stories. They are how humans
communicate from their earliest days to the last years of their lives, from the
mother telling her baby the tale of Humpty Dumpty, to the old man describing
his days in the Vietnam trenches and jungles to a group of rapt little boys,
aspiring to be soldiers. People love to be told stories about other times and
places, since it wets the appetite, sparking the imagination; children love to
be told over and over again scenes from their parents’ childhoods, for it gives
them a sense of where they came from, and gives them an understanding of the
two people who brought them into existence.
This is something every person, young and old, can relate to: one is
always asking, through words or actions, “Who am I?”, “What brought me here?”,
and “Where am I going?”. While most rummage through articles, self-awareness
programs, and therapy sessions, there is one book, while it is simple in
nature, can help and heal the most confused mind. The logos, Word of God, more commonly known as the Bible, is this book.
The aspect to be noted when taking a
first glance at the Bible is that it is filled with a story, not just any
story, but the metanarrative, the story of the creation of the world, man, and
what rebellious man did to break that world. It is a compelling story, full of
vivid imagery, all painted against the backdrop of the Creator God. His
personality is without definitive dimension, but Genesis, chapters one and two,
zoom in on three attribute that correlates with his creative nature: God is an
artistic being, and he made the world for beauty, for practicality, and for
relational intimacy.
When we first look at creation, it
is easy for anyone to see beauty of some sort: the beauty of the passion flower
is displayed in its ornately complex blooms, while the desert succulent’s
beauty is demonstrated by a heartiness no other plant possesses. This beauty
surrounding us can only be explained by the fact that God is artistic; he has a
sense of what is attractive, in different manners and settings. God thought of
what would be beautiful and glorifying to himself, and brought it forth, by the
word of his power. Francis Schaeffer notes:
“The artist
conceives in his thought-world and then he bring forth into the external world.
This is true of an artist painting a canvas, a musician composing a piece of
music, an engineer designing a bridge or a flower arranger making a flower
arrangement…And it is exactly the same with God. God who existed before had a
plan, and he created and caused these things to become objective” (Shaeffer
27-28).
Mr. Schaeffer goes on to state that
there is yet another layer to God’s artistry. Just as critics and laymen alike
analyze and recognize different styles, special details, and unique flavors
that every artist brings to the table, so we can see, through creation, that
God is the one who made it all. Who else could have formed such an intricate handiwork?
“Here is power beyond all that we can imagine in the human, finite realm. He
was able to create and shape merely by his spoken word” (28). The creation
account repeats over and over that “God saw that is was good”, meaning he was
satisfied with his work (Gen 1.10). His world was beautiful, it was as he had
envisioned.
But, even the most aesthetically
minded artist understands that there is a practical side to art. A painter
cannot draw upon cheesecloth, but must have a sturdy canvas; he cannot build a
cathedral from straws, but must have stones; he cannot play music upon a
feather, but must have a violin. As one reads through the creation narrative,
it is seen that God pays attention to all the details: he makes light for the
day and the night; he ensures that
creation has a means to regenerate itself (“Let the earth sprout vegetation,
plants yielding seed…”); he creates Man to tend his earth, and look after the
animals and plants he has placed upon the planet (Gen. 1.11). “The God said,
‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness’”, then he made man,
intricately, and breathed his very breath into the man’s lungs, giving him nepesh, or soul. It was a truly amazing
moment. John Calvin makes unique commentary on the state of essential man: “…His
dead body was formed out of the dust of the earth; that it was endued with a
soul, whence it should receive vital motion; and that on this soul God engraved
his own image, to which immortality in annexed” (Calvin 112). Man was perfect,
flawless, the crowning jewel to God’s kingdom on earth, the steward to which
God commanded, “‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and
have dominion…” (Gen 1.28). When all was said and done, God’s creation was
good, beautiful, and perfectly detailed.
By deduction, we know that God
yearns for fellowship, because man, created in his own image, craved a
companion. God, knowing that there was no helper for him, had Adam sort through
all the animals of the earth. In the end, the man found no suitable mate. “‘I
will make him a helper fit for him,’” said God, as he put the man to sleep and
molded the first woman. “…For since Adam did not take a wife to himself at his
own will, but received her as offered and appropriated to him by God, the
sanctity of marriage hence more clearly appears, because we recognize God as
its Author” (Calvin, 134). He not only promoted intimacy between Adam and his
wife, but he also shared a close bond with the humans. He loved them. He had
created the stunning Eden for them to live in, walking and talking with him.
“Humans are made for God, and also for one another and for the creation, to be
at work within it…it is our glory to work at so to present the image of God”
(Bartholomew, Goheen 38-39). He had given them the perfect place to constantly
reflect the creating he had done in six days, as they developed the beautiful,
intricate world, one with each other and with God. Intimacy was perfected in
all ways. But would it remain that way?
Component 2: How Sin Twisted
Creation
Independence means something
different to everyone. To some, it means having the right to think or say
anything without getting in trouble; it means being under no authority, such as
teachers, governments, and parents; it might mean treating others with whatever
passion takes you at the moment; it might mean just being able to attend church
without being arrested. In our culture, independence is fed and watered, with
insignias like YOLO (you only live once) or the Pepsi slogan, “Live for Now”. Perhaps
YOLO was only true for Adam and Eve, but they took that beautiful, pure life
and threw it away, “…claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the
glory of the immortal God of images resembling mortal man…” (Rom. 1.22-23).
Like methylene blue, sin spreads from
one part of creation to the next, tearing down the perfection and replacing it
with brokenness, especially in man’s relationship with God, man’s relationship
with other humans, and, last but not least, man’s relationship to the creation.
It was simple enough: Elohim had only given one simple
probation, forbidding Adam from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil “for in the day that [he ate]
of it [he would] surely die” (Gen 2.17).
Yet, he had also created an essential man, a being who could choose to
sin or not to sin. “They can yield to God’s law and enjoy life, or they can try
to find their own way, and experience death” (Bartholomew, Goheen 42).
Unfortunately, the serpent used just this tactic, he appealed to the woman’s
pride and self-absorbtion, incredulously quizzing her whether God really commanded that “ridiculous”
thing. One can almost imagine Eve, suddenly made to feel ashamed that any being
should be over her or wiser than her, giving into the oily words of Satan. She
took the fruit, sunk her teeth into it, and savored its juicy sweetness; her
husband followed. They did not fall down dead. But, this death that had taken
hold of her can be described negatively: “The deeper knowledge of “life”, of a
future life, brought also a deepening in the understanding of that evil which
is “death” or deprivation of life (Lyonnet, Sabourin 7). Their foolish desire
to be as wise as God had ruined their lives, for “humility’s eminence is the
only true eminence and glory, granted as it is by God, the only ground of
glory” (Jenson, 36). Before they knew it, God was heard, walking in Eden,
lovingly calling their names, knowing fully that Adam and Eve hid, desperately
covering their new-found nakedness. God must have sighed inwardly: their
intimate, pure relationship had been shattered.
Guiltily, Adam and Eve stumbled from
their hiding spots, while the man took the initiative to stutter out a weak
excuse, which, in and of itself, gave away their transgression immediately.
Filled with holy anger, God asked, “‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you
eaten of the tree I commanded you not to eat?’” (Gen 3.11). Instantly, the next facet of perfect peace
was broken. Turning to his wife, Adam vehemently blamed her for giving him the
fruit, while implying that God might have made a better helper, one less prone
to temptation. Not responding to the man’s sinful accusation, God turns to Eve,
who hopelessly points to the serpent, or Satan, telling God that he tempted
her. What a chasm has opened between the woman and man! Their relationship has
twisted itself into a disgusting muddle, where Eve becomes the leader in sin,
and Adam becomes a coward by blaming his wife, whom he is to protect.
God administers judgment, while
making it clear that creation will also turn upon the humans in various ways:
“To the woman he
said, ‘I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall
bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule
over you.’ And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your
wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, “You shall not eat of
it,” cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the
days of your life’” (Gen 3.16-17)
Adam’s task to grow food and plants
was once an easy, enjoyable task, placed in the midst of Eden, but “servile
work is enjoined upon him, as if he were condemned to the mines” (Calvin 174).
The ground will now protest, fight, and eventually kill Adam, absorbing his
body back into itself. Eve, on the other hand, now has the joy of natural
labor, tainted by excruciating pain, sending both parts of the creation mandate
into the blackness of sin. The humans can no longer multiply without being
reminded of their rebellion, and they can no longer subdue the earth without
tears and backbreaking labor (Gen 1.28).
But, there is one more key to God’s plan for his creation: redemption.
God, burning with anger, turns to the serpent, and condemns the animal itself
to crawl on the ground all its days, symbolizing the base treachery it took part
in. Graciously, he shines a light into his broken creatures hearts before he
banishes them from Eden. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and
between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you
shall bruise his heel” (Gen 3.15). Even though the woman was dragged down by
the tempter, she shall emerge victorious, but only through this promised zera. With faith, Adam and Eve leave the
garden, and begin their broken lives together, fighting against the earth, and
separated from God.
Francis Schaeffer keenly makes a
perfect culminating statement: “Man’s sin causes all these seperations between
man and God, man and himself, man and man, and man and nature. The simple fact
is that in wanting to be what man as a creature could not be, man lost what he could be” (Schaeffer 100). There is
hope; the promised seed will do what Adam couldn’t do… fatally conquer Satan.
Component 3: God’s Mercy to Israel
One can almost see the scenario
played out, black among the golden memories of childhood. It has happened to
all of us, that horrible moment where the unthinkable happens: mom’s priceless
china breaks, a child back-talks his father or lies about stealing those peanut
butter bonbons, even though he was caught “sweet”-handed. As children, we can
only see the sternness of our parent, during that awful moment; we even think
that our parent is “angry”. However, in retrospect, and thinking as adults, we
see that love motivates discipline, and our parents trained us, not just to
make us miss out on fun, skip dinner, or give us a smarting behind, but to make
us into respectful, thoughtful adults. The same can be said of Adam and Eve:
they did not know or understand God’s ultimate plan for the future of humanity,
a plan so beautiful and perfect, filled with grace and mercy.
In the ultimate sense, the fall of Adam and
Eve set the stage for the rest of the drama of humanity, played out by God’s
relentless mercy in sharp contrast with man’s sin and rebellion. This next step
in God’s eternal plan has almost infinitesimal facets, but if one zooms in and
focuses on the early stages of this redemptive plan, three important relationships
come into focus. The first relationship is between God and Abraham and the second,
involves Moses, Israel, and God, Yahweh.
God’s relationship with Abraham is a
distinctly covenantal one, riddled with both disbelief and complete trust, both
on Abraham’s part. It all started when
God appeared to Abraham, in the peace and prosperity of his homeland, Ur: “‘Go
from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I
will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and
make your name great, so that you will be a blessing’” (Gen. 12.1-3). In his commentary, The Treasury of the Old Testament, Charles Spurgeon discusses both
the double blessing from God, but also the faith demonstrated by Abraham, by
asking “What was the blessing which God gave to Abraham? It was the blessing
which He will give to all who lived as Abraham lived, and believe as Abraham
believed; and, first, Abraham had the rest of faith” (Spurgeon, 62). Rest of
faith? Abraham rested in God’s promises; he rested in them to the point of
uprooting his family, and becoming a nomad, with no permanent land or rest, but
looked to God in faith. “And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as
righteousness” (Gen 15.6) But, Abraham and God made other covenants and
promises, culminated a ceremony where God passed between dead animals, as a
sign that he would fulfill his promises of a son to be heir and a land flowing
with milk and honey, or be killed like the animals. In Hebrew culture, this is a unbreakable
bond, pointing to a covenant in blood. But, God gives Abraham a covenant duty
as well, a blood sign of his belief in God’s promises and symbolism of his
cleanliness in the Lord. “‘This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between
me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be
circumcised…So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant’”
(Gen. 17.10, 14). In faith, Abraham obeyed the Lord in this, shedding blood to
bond with the Lord.
But, trusting
and waiting for the Lord’s time was harder than Abraham could have ever
imagined. Desperate for an heir, the child of Promise, he took matters into his
own hands, and “Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and
gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived”
(Gen. 16.3-4). Unfortunately, this was the beginning of enmity between the
child of man’s sinful will and the child of promise, who had not yet been born.
Thus Ishmael was born, but God stated to Abraham that he was not the heir, and
“Abraham had faith in a promise which it seemed impossible could ever be
fulfilled” (Spurgeon, 83). Spurgeon sketches the seemingly impossible situation
which Abraham found himself in, a scenario through which few would possess an
unwavering faith: “A child was to be born of his own loins, but he was nearly a
hundred years…His own body was now dead as
it were, and Sarai, so far as childbearing was concerned, was equally so. The
birth of a son could not happen unless the laws of nature were reversed” (83).
God saw that Abraham doubted him, but he kept renewing his promise, until, he
finally blessed them with a son, Isaac. Even then, God tested Abraham’s trust;
the Lord came to him and “said, ‘Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you
love, and go the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering’” (Gen
22.2). What thought must have been churning in Abraham’s mind? “It may have
suggested itself to Abraham that he would in this way, by the slaughter of his
son, be rendering all the promises of God futile. A very severe trial that, for
in proportion as a man believes the promise and values it, will be his fear to
do anything which might render it of no effect” (Spurgeon, 113). Once again,
the Lord provided for Abraham, as he had during numerous years of wandering,
and saved the child of promise through a ram caught in a thicket. Could this be
pointing to a child greater than Isaac?
The second demonstration of God’s
love and mercy in covenantal relationships is displayed through Moses and
Israel. Before Moses could even talk or walk, God had already set his special
love and favor upon him, saving him from the decreed murder of all Hebrew
babies, bringing him into the very palace of Pharaoh himself. Until he was a man, Moses lived with all the
pomp and privilege of the Egyptian court, but, one day, he killed an Egyptian,
who was beating an Israelite. He fled into the wilderness, there becoming an
outlaw from justice and a shepherd. “He was not seeking for God. But God was
seeking for Moses. God spoke to Moses, and the whole course of Moses’ life was
changed” (Dobson, 19.) Immediately, God revealed himself to Moses (in the
burning bush) as a covenantal God, but by using the name Yahweh, “he does not
merely proclaim himself as some heavenly power, nor claim for himself the
general name for God, but recalling to memory his covenant formerly made with
the patriarchs, he casts down all idols” (Calvin, 65). At first the presence of God fills Moses with
a holy fear, then doubt: what if the Israelites do not listen? I am not a good
speaker, Lord, what will I say? God, knowing his frailty, provides Moses with
powerful signs, and then forcefully sends him to Egypt saying, “Now therefore
go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.”
Moses, accompanied by his brother
Aaron, became the mouth piece of God, demanding that Pharaoh release the
children of God, the Israelites. But “Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he
would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.” And Yahweh used Moses against
the Egyptian deities, bringing them low, showing that they were not to be worshipped,
preparing the Israelites’ hearts for a covenant with him. This covenant came in
the Passover, when the Lord required that Israel paint the blood of a lamb upon
their doorposts: “For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and
when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will
pass over the door, and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to
strike you” (Exd. 12.23). This covenant was to be statute to all generations,
mirroring the expiation of blood found in circumcision and in the substitution
of the blameless ram for Isaac, the son of promise. “For it was necessary that
the Israelites should first be reminded, that by the expiation od the
sacrifice, the were delivered from the plague, and their houses preserved
untouched…We elsewhere see that the Paschal lamb was a type of Christ, who by
His death propitiated the Father, so that we should not perish with the rest of
the world” (Calvin 221).
Triumphantly, Moses led the
Israelites, as God’s chosen, out of Egypt and into the wilderness, where an
official covenant was made between the people and God. “In Exodus 24 the
covenant is ratified in a ritual ceremony as the Israelites commit themselves
to obeying it. Moses recites the laws that the Israelites are agreeing to and
then writes them down. Next, he builds an altar…finally, Moses dashes half of
the blood from the sacrifices against the altar and sprinkles half on the
people” (Bartholomew, Goheen, 70). While the people swear wholeheartedly that
they will serve the Lord faithfully according to the law, they are a sinful
people. (In a throwback to the Abrahamic covenant, God had blessed the
Israelites to be a blessing to the other nations of the world, to be holy and
set apart, to shine the light of truth and purity in the raw and savage country
before them.)The Lord cannot dwell within a sinful people, and he gives them a
law to live by. At first glance, this covenant of law may seem simple, but the
Israelites cannot (and will not) keep the terms set by God. They need grace. Like Adam and Eve, they
believed that they knew better, and decided to commit idolatry with other gods.
However, Moses continued patiently to be the mediator between the rebellious
people of Israel and God. “Moses was well fitted to be the type of the true
Mediator of the gospel covenant. He was himself in great favor with God, so
that the Lord hearkened to his voice…note his self-sacrifice for Israel, so
that he once said, ‘Blot me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written’”
(Spurgeon, 258).
Even in the face of utter idolatry,
God remains faithful to his chosen, remembering his covenantal relationships
with both Moses and Abraham, showing goodness to his rebellious children. In
grace, he gives them a way to pay for their sins, through blood sacrifice of
animals (pointing to the ultimate Sacrifice), yet Israel continues to sin.
Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy are beautiful pictures of God’s holiness (in
the law), his justice (as regards sin), but also his infinite and unfailing
mercy (as regards Israel). Just before Yahweh brings his people into the
Promised Land, he reminds them of his mercy and their own unworthiness: “Do not
say in your heart… ‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought
me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is…that he may confirm the word that
the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and to Jacob” (Deut. 9.4,5).
But there is more to God’s plan for Israel than just animal sacrifices and
patriarchal promises: those promises will be fulfilled by someone greater, the Zera, and those animal sacrifices will
be pushed aside by a much more powerful blood.
Component
4: His Story is Mine
My life is a story; it is a story of
which I do not know the end. In moments of doubt and wavering, I look to God’s
word in faith, knowing that because I am in Christ, his story is my own, our
eternal destinies are unified by his blood. This gives me a whole new
perspective on the Old Testament metanarrative.
What is my purpose as a child of
God, made in his image? While he gives me life and breath, I am given the
beautiful task of “[worshiping] the Lord in the splendor of holiness” giving my
all to his purposes for me (Ps 96.9). God designed me to be a helper and friend
to others, and a steward over his creation, and, eventually, a godly parent,
who teaches all the words of God to my children. I want them to know and
understand who has brought me to this place, who has sustained me, and who will
care for them, with the tenderness of a father.
Yet another piece of the story
affects me: the fall of my first parents. In them, I sinned, and have never had
a moment of purity in my life. At times, I doubt wondering if I am a child of
Christ, but know that if I repent, he is faithful to forgive. When I turn from
him, and walk in my own way, stubbornly seeking my own pleasure, instead of
serving, I scorn his love. He, like a father, disciplines me gently, when my
“evils have encompassed me beyond number; my iniquities have overtaken me, and
I cannot see” (Ps 40.12). I know that he will give me grace, but I also know
that he will chastise me for my wrongdoing, making me learn my lessons.
If my salvation solely depended on
my works, I would be lost forever. Knowing this from eternity past, God
predestined that his Son, Christ, would save me from my iniquities. God has
justified me, making it as though I had never sinned, and adopted me into his
heavenly family, as a beloved child. As a sinner, I fail every day, only
looking to my one hope: I am promised sanctification, and one day I shall be
with Christ and like Christ. This is my beautiful hope, a hope which is my
Savior, Jesus. “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil
within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation” (Ps 42.5).
Suddenly, my soul is filled with assurance of pardon, and a sense of love for
God and others—this changes my relationship with the world and my Father. It
gives me something to live for, a purpose, and knowledge that no matter how
many times I stumble, he will always be near to me, to save me time and time
again from my wickedness.
Grace has transformed my life in
incredible ways. Having grown up in a Christian household, I always took my
relationship with the Lord for granted, but within the last eight years, I have
come to penetrating realization of my sin. I strive every day, with the Lord’s
help to conquer, also desiring to read his word daily. Through his grace, I
want to show other the love he has shown me, and attempt to help those, who do
not know the Lord, to find solace in his loving arms. Every new day, I look
forward to seeing the wonders his grace will work in my life. His plan is
infinitely more beautiful and perfect than any plan I could ever imagine.
As I work towards a career in Public
Representation, I see this as an amazing opportunity to set myself apart from
the worldly communication of other agents. While I will not be directly sharing
the gospel, the love of Christ is a distinctive catalyst, and people, whether
Christians or not, notice and like the difference. A person with the love of
Christ processes an ability to be kind to everyone, no matter how they are
treated, and with God on their side; they are slow to foolish speech. These
aspects will make a huge difference in the communication field, especially when
dealing with important corporations, documents, and ideas.
God has changed my story along with
his, making me a trusting child and follower of Christ. The unfolding of this
metanarrative, in his restoration and second coming, is truly something I await
with eager anticipation. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.
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Book House, 1998. Print.
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T&T Clark, 2006. Print.
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