Been thinking

When God created the universe, He spoke it into existence. Some even say He sang it into existence. The very sound of God's voice created everything that is. He spangled stars over blackness like diamonds on velvet.
But, when He created us, His children, His image, He got His hands dirty. He dug His fingers into the clay and formed us from the earth. Kneeling down over the man-formed mound of dirt, God placed His lips on Adam's and breathed life into him. "And man became a living soul."

Our anthropology doesn't start with 'the Fall' - it starts with 'a Kiss'. We are the descendants of Adam. We are God's very image walking around on legs... all of us. The good, the bad and the ugly... His image!
The problem is, we've been infected with a virus called sin and that virus has been passed down from generation to generation. But our Heavenly Father has found the cure and delivered it Himself... a blood transfusion. His blood. It was the only way He could reconcile His creation back to Himself.

I've heard well-meaning preachers raise their voices (usually when their outline got weak), pound on pulpits (usually when a deacon fell asleep) and proclaim that we are "dirty, low-down, good-for-nothing, sinners." I believe the message I heard (more from their tone than their words) was that I was sin itself - the sin that easily beset me was who I was. Yes, I am a sinner but I am NOT sin. And neither are you. We are the image of God. Broken? Yes. But His image, nonetheless. And He didn't think we were 'good-for-nothing', in fact, He sent the best He had to rescue us. He came Himself. "He thought it not robbery." He felt good about the deal: His life for ours.

I believe inside the DNA of every human there is something that remembers Eden. A faint recollection of footsteps crushing leaves beneath them in the cool of the day... our hearts jumping for joy as we ran to our Father. He always came in the cool of the day. You could count on it. He never missed. He would throw us in the air and catch us (like parents have been doing with their children ever since.) He walked with us and talked with us. Then, we were infected. We sinned. All of a sudden, we knew we were naked. We felt ashamed.

After we sinned, He still came in the cool of the day. We hid. But He still came. He didn't come because of our goodness, or because of our sinfulness. He came because we were His.

There's an ache inside of me that longs for Eden. And, every now and then, something will remind me of Home. It's almost like a 'thin place' - where the veil between this life and the 'other side' almost become one - the dark glass (that Paul referred to) clears for a second. And, for a brief moment, things make sense.

Something tells me our greatest days are ahead. And, it's going to be wonderful... beyond comprehension. A thousand Walt Disney's couldn't imagine it. I know it's there. I know it's real. I know it's Home. And everything will be clear. Perfectly clear. Where we're headed is even better than Eden. It's The New Jerusalem. Where, once again, we will hear His footsteps in the cool of the day. The God who came for us... walked with us... delivered us... and brought us back Home.