Heaven (5): God's Love for his Creation

The Mission of Jesus

Many modern Christians have associated “materiality” with “unspiritual.” We hear talk of “spiritual” blessings, “spiritual” needs, saving “souls” and other lingo that seems to imply the secondary nature of God’s material world. This attitude as we have seen in Heaven (2) and Heaven (3) has far more in common with Platonism and Gnosticism than with historic Christianity.

I reject a definition of “spiritual” that means “non-material” or “non-physical.” Rather I have a working definition for “spiritual” as “Godly.” The ministry of Jesus is the criteria here. Jesus defines his ministry in Luke 4.18-21 in a very “non-spiritual” way if we buy into that modern view of “spiritual.” Jesus declares that his ministry is the Sabbath of Sabbaths. He is the Living Sabbath, the Year of Jubilee. This work of Christ is declared in very concrete and “material” terms in the Gospel of Luke. He is to preach good news to the poor. He gives sight to the blind. He releases the oppressed. He proclaims the year of the Lord’s favor. These were not preliminary for the “real” mission of Jesus but part of his entire mission of redemption. Every blind person given sight is a moment of redemption. Every leper healed is redeemed. For example the Centurion’s daughter is “saved” by Jesus (7.3); the sinful woman experiences “salvation” (7.50); the demoniac is “saved” (8.36); the little girl that died is “saved” (8.50) and Zacchaeus experienced the salvation of Jesus (19.9). Salvation is as broad as the Year of Jubilee These examples, and many more, are the outworking of the Jubilee mission of Jesus. Jesus’ mission is to reverse the curse that had invaded God’s good creation. The work of Jesus is inherently “spiritual.” Even the healing of limbs, feeding the hungry, touching the leper ... these are spiritual, not because they are immaterial but because the are the work of God.

The Belief of Gnostics on Creation

The work of Jesus to reverse the curse is part of the overall love of God for his good creation. The Hebrew Bible proclaims loud and clear that Yahweh is the Creator God and his work is very good. It was this point that Plato denied. It was this point that the Gnostics went ape over. They believed that creation was such a mistake (with a capital "M") that only a secondary and evil god could be responsible for it (The Gospel of Judas calls him Nebro, a Coptic word that means “rebel.” He is in no way the "father" of Christ! See more on the Gnostic "Gospel" of Judas here). The Platonists and their Gnostic disciples believed that “God” was only interested in a pure spiritual environment free from the physical and material ... anything less to them was not "spiritual." The beliefs of Gnostics relating to creation directly impacted their view on the incarnation of the Word of God that John is so passionate about. Because they rejected creation they had to rejecte any enfleshment of the Word (past or present).

Yahweh's Passion for His Creation

The Hebrew Bible, however, says not only did God create the world but it is proof of his love and that he lovingly cares for it. If you ask an Israelite “how do we know God loves us?” He/she would respond with two affirmations: God created the world and God rescued us from Egypt. Both of these are declared in Psalm 136 but I will focus only on the creation part,

To him who alone does great wonders

his steadfast love endures forever;

to him who by understanding made the heavens,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

to him who spread out the earth upon the waters,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

to him who made the great lights,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

the sun to rule the day,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

the moon and stars to rule over the night,

for his steadfast love endures forever.”

(Psalm 136.4-9)

The physical universe reflects the warmth and love of Yahweh. Indeed God’s own glory is displayed through the created world (Psalm 19.1-4). In terms of biblical theology it is interesting to see that Psalm 24, when answering the question of who may ascend the hill of the Lord it first declares “The earth is the LORD’s and everything in it, the world and all who live in it …”

Psalm 104 (worthy of deeper study) explores the purposes of creation. With images that recall God’s creation as a palace/temple (see Heaven #4) we read of beams and chambers. Israel in this Psalm praises God for his loving care of the universe. He protects it from the chaos, he sends the rain for the beasts of the fields and birds of the air ...

“He makes grass grow for the cattle,

and plants for man to cultivate—

bringing forth food from the earth …

The trees of the LORD are well watered …

These {animals} look to you to give

them food at their proper time.

When you give it to them,

they gather it up;

when you open your hand they are satisfied

with good things”

(Psalm 104.14, 16, 27-28) 

God lovingly cares for his good creation … a task that humanity was commissioned to do and failed and continues to fail. Even though sin has pervaded this world and it suffers from the curse … it is still God’s. The Hebrew Bible declares

“for every animal of the forest is mine,

and the cattle on a thousand hills.

I know every bird in the mountains,

and the creatures of the field are mine”

(Psalm 50.10-12)

God so loves and sustains his creation that he even builds provision for the non-human in his gracious Torah. Animals themselves are to be blessed with a Sabbath rest according to Exodus 20.10 and Deut 5.14, “On it you shall do no work … nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals.” God explained to Jonah that one reason he did not want to destroy Nineveh was not only the people but because of the “cattle” (Jonah 4.11). Interestingly enough though folks will go to war because of the evil that pervades this fallen creation he limits its impact on the environment. "Are the trees of the field people, that you should besiege them" (Deut 20.19, this passage has always intrigued me).

Jeremiah when speaking of God’s covenantal promise to house of David he assures Israel they can believe it because it is like God’s covenant with the created order,

“If you break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night will not come at their appointed time, then also my covenant with David my servant may be broken” (Jer 33.20-21)

The reliability of creation is rooted in the faithfulness of God.

Final Thoughts

This post has grown long and we have not even begun to touch the tip of the iceberg. We have said nothing of creational praise of Yahweh, we have spoken nothing of how the Exodus ties into the creational narratives in Genesis (remember the Bible is an integrated six act drama/play). We may come back to those in the future. 

One thing is for sure, we will never have a true understanding of the biblical longing for the New Heavens and New Earth as long as we have a sub-biblical view of God’s good creation and his incredible love for it. Like any art is an expression of the artist so God’s creation is an expression of himself and for us to think it is “unspiritual” is to view it in a totally different light than what Scripture does. 

God is redeeming humanity as part of his goal to redeem his entire creation. Jesus is doing in his ministry what God has done all along. He is the embodiment of the Year of Jubilee that brought rest to God’s suffering people … and his creation.

It was the Gnostics who rejected the goodness of God's creation and its "spiritual nature" not the Bible. It was the Gnostics who denied that God aims to redeem his creation. It was the Gnostics who sought salvation as a means to escape God's creation. In light of the testimony of the Hebrew Bible is is no surprise that the Gnostics who rejected creation ultimately rejected the One who created it. I think these facts should give us cause for pause ...

Humans were created to be God’s co-regent in ruling his good creation. We failed … but God has not given up on his dream.

More later,

Bobby Valentine