'Mother Earth' from a Biblical Perspective

The phrase 'Mother Earth' is never mentioned in the Bible. Indeed, it is commonly associated with paganism, and accordingly attracts disdain from many Christians. In one sense, though, the concept is thoroughly Biblical.

It should come as no surprise that my exposition begins in Genesis, the beginning of all things. In Chapter 2 Verse 7, we read that "the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature." In a very literal sense, we are made from and of the earth. God breathing His Spirit into that earth was a divine act of conception - a miraculous union of the physical and spiritual. To say that the earth is our mother is not to flirt with New Age mumbo jumbo; it is merely to state a fact. The New-Agers and their ilk are mistaken because they fail to acknowledge Father God, not necessarily because they acknowledge Mother Earth.

With that said, God and earth categorically are categorically not equal in status - not even close. The earth is God's footstool (Isaiah 66:1), not His Bride - that role is reserved for the Church (i.e. us), and is more closely analogous to the personage of Eve (Ephesians 5:22-23), the "mother of the living" (Genesis 3:20). Eve, of course, was formed not from the earth, but from Adam - a type of Christ, whose name is a pun on 'adamah', meaning 'earth'. At an even more fundamental level, before reading of man's creation, we learn in the very first chapter of in the Bible that the earth was created by God; and if it represents His creation, it can in no sense be considered equal in status to Him (Romans 1:25).

In a physical sense, though, it is still true we are born of the earth. This is not merely mystical gibberish - our bodies are, quite simply, carbon-based collections of atoms! Indeed, Jesus Himself tok on such a form when he came to the earth (John 1:14). Notice, moreover, that He did not simply appear, but was rather conceived in the womb of a woman. Recall, moreover, the supernatural process through which this conception occurred, whereby the Holy Spirit came upon the virgin Mary (Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38). This narrative has a clear parallel in the aforementioned creation of the 'First Adam', whereby the Holy Spirit was breathed into the earth (1 Corinthians 15:45ff). Mary is categorically not the Mother of God; but she was the mother of Jesus the man, and therefore plays a role comparable to that of the earth.

Speaking of which, there is a more direct connection between Jesus and the earth, namely that He was buried in it for three days. In the story of Christ's burial and resurrection - whereby a physical body was sown, but a spiritual body was reaped (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:35-49) - I can't help but see a picture of gestation. After all, why wait three days to be resurrected - why not simply come back to life immediately? How interesting that the earth acted not only as the tomb of Christ, but also as the womb!

The rebirth of Jesus from the earth mirrors our own rebirth, which has transpired (respired?) through a fresh impartation of the Breath of God; we have been impregnated once again with the Holy Spirit (John 20:22; Acts 2). Just as the life of a child begins at conception, so too our new life began at our own Immaculate Conception. Clearly, that life is still gestating, since we are still undergoing the process of sanctification and look forward to our 'Big Day' of glorification, the final (re)birth; but as that day approaches, we are beginning to experience "the pains of childbirth", manifesting the "first fruits" of the new creation, as it says in Romans Chapter 8 Verses 22-23.

This passage in Romans reinforces the gist of my argument, since it refers not only to people, but also the earth itself, as waiting for the final birth. Indeed, the earth ("the whole creation") is mentioned first: "For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies." The passage does not say that the earth possesses the Spirit in the same way that we do - which makes sense, since there is no corresponding passage in Genesis that would imply such. Remember, though, that "the whole creation" came into existence through the Word of God - his speech, which also involves His breath, i.e. His Spirit. Remember also what happened at the very moment when Jesus "breathed His last", thus "giv[ing] up His Spirit" - the earth shook, its tombs breaking open (Matthew 27:50-53; Mark 15:37; Luke 23:46; John 19:30). Remember, finally, that He "is making all things new" - not just us, but all things (Revelation 21:5). The "firstfruits of the Spirit" to which Paul refers are also the "firstfruits of His creation" (James 1:18).

I think it is accurate to say that, while we carry the Spirit in a special, personal way, the entire earth - indeed, the entire universe - is pregnant. The physical is laden with the spiritual. At this point in time, we cannot fully perceive it, seeing only as in a mirror dimly (1 Corinthians 15:12; 1 John 3:2); but just as John the Baptist, who would herald the first coming of the Messiah, leaped in the womb when the expecting Mary greeted Elizabeth (Luke 1:41-45), so too we, who contain within us the testimony of the Spirit (Ephesians 1:14; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22; Romans 8:16; John 15:26; Hebrews 10:15-18), can feel the immanent creation kicking, squirming, pushing. It is painful at times; but it is nothing when "compar[ed] with the glory that will be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18).

From Everlasting to Everlasting

We usually conceive eternal life as 'going on forever' into the future. Many have pointed out that, if that is true, eternity starts now - rather than when we die, as is often intimated. Others have gone further to indicate that our English translations of words like 'eternal' fail to capture the original Greek and Hebrew meanings, which relate not so much to duration, but rather to quality. In this post, I wish to make a minor addition: eternal life relates not only to the future and the present, but also to the past. Not only is eternal life never ending; it is also never beginning - that is, always existing.

One peculiarity of translation is that a single word which appears in several places in the original text may be rendered variously, depending on the contextual meaning interpreted from it. In the Old Testament, one of these words is "olam", which occurs 438 times and is rendered into 26 different words or phrases (see also ad and netsach). The most common rendering of olam in the Standard Bible is "forever", which however comprises less than a third of total renderings (136). The second most common is "everlasting", the temporal direction of which, in terms of connotation if not definition, is distinctly less clear. Meanwhile, several renderings of the word - "ancient", "ancient times", "days of old" - relate explicitly to the past.

Due to the frequency and ubiquity with which olam occurs, it would basically require a complete study of the Old Testament to elucidate its full significance. Hopefully, a single example will suffice to demonstrate the point of interest. In Jeremiah 6:16, the Lord tells Israel to "ask for the ancient paths". David appears to obey this commend, asking the Lord to "lead [him] in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139:24). The same word - olam - is translated as "ancient" in the first case and "everlasting" in the second. One rendering involves the past; the other, though less definite, seems to involve the future. 

It is noteworthy that olam is mainly used to describe the the sacred facets of God - His existence, His covenant, His laws, His promises, His word, and His kingdom. These facets remind us that God is outside of time; and when this is taken into account, the dual meanings of past and future eternity can be construed as merely two sides of the same coin. This is clarified by the phrase "from everlasting to everlasting" - "from olam to olam" - which appears in three Psalms: once to declare praise to God (41:13), once to describe the nature of His existence (90:2), and once to characterise His lovingkindness (103:17). God is "the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end" (Revelation 22:13, emphasis added); He is the Great I AM (Exodus 3:14).

An analogous word in the Greek is aiónios (from the root aión), which is of particular interest due to its appearance in the verse most commonly associated with 'eternal life', namely John 3:16. Like olam, aiónios denotes a state of being that is simultaneously 'without end' and 'without beginning'; indeed, it is perhaps more explicitly indicative of timelessness (and quality) rather than merely perpetuity. Like olam, it refers to the things of God - His redemption, salvation, and glory, and also His judgement, punishment, and destruction. Moreover, in parallel to the Old Testament phrase "olam to olam", in Revelation 22:5 John envisions that the servants of God will reign "eis" - that is, throughout, beyond, or even before - "the aiōnas of the aiōnas".

How is it possible for us to assume the infinitude of God? The author of Hebrews (9:14) gives us the answer when he speaks of "the Spirit aiōniou", i.e. the eternal Spirit. That same Spirit has been joined with our spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17), which acts as a guarantee of our coming glory (Ephesians 1:13; 2 Corinthians 1:22; Colossians 1:27), testifying that we are children of God (Romans 8:16). The more Spirit and the less flesh that we become - and therefore the more like God we become (2 Corinthians 3:18, 5:17; Ephesians 4:22-24; 2 Peter 1:4) - the more aiónios and olam we become. We become not just people who will always exist, but also people who have, in a sense, always existed. Our past and future status in turn sheds light on our present - which, indeed, is often the tense in which both the Hebrew and Greek words are employed.

Inspiration, Motivation, and Enlightenment in the New Year

It is common at this time of year, when the momentum of January begins to subside and our good intentions begin to founder, to seek inspiration, motivation, and even enlightenment. I would like to encourage you that, if you have the Spirit of God dwelling within you, you are already inspired, motivated, and enlightened.

Let's start with inspiration. Etymologically, the word means to "breathe in". It seems to have derived its customary connotation - of providing an animus of some sort - from the original act of inspiration, the original act of animation: when God "breathed into [man's] nostrils the breath of life", "man became a living creature" (Genesis 2:7). Like us, Adam was - quite literally - an "earthen vessel", which nevertheless received an inspiration so powerful that it came to life (2 Corinthians 4:7). An analogous event occurred in the New Testament when Christ breathed His Spirit first onto His disciples (John 20:22) and then onto the Church as a whole (Acts 2:1-13).

While it was God's Breath that inspired man, moreover, it was his Word that created the soil to begin with. Breath and Word are inextricably related: a word can only be communicated if it is breathed (think of the diligent scribes who know the scriptures by heart, but whose hearts remain unchanged) just as breath can only communicate if it contains a word (think of spiritual experiences that fail to produce any sort of direction). "It is the Spirit who gives life", and His words "are spirit and are life", the Gospel of John (6:63, emphasis added; see also John 6:68; 2 Timothy 3:16) tells us. If you have the Spirit, you are by definition inspired, for the Word who existed before the foundation of the world - and who created the world itself - also existed before you, created you, and now dwells within you (e.g. John 1; 2 Corinthians 3:16; Romans 8:9).

Let's 'move on' to motivation, which, indeed, derives from the root word meaning "to move". Again we encounter the Spirit, and again we do so right at the beginning. Even before the seven days of creation began, when the earth was still "formless and void", we read that "the Spirit was moving" (Genesis 1:2). Paul later remarks that "in Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28, emphasis added). If you have the Spirit, you are motivated; for, although we often seek motivation as a means of achieving something, the motivation of God it is a matter of "being", not doing. Perhaps to be truly motivated we need to "be still and know that [He] is God" (Psalm 46:10).

Finally, we reach enlightenment. It should be obvious that the word 'enlightenment' has something to do with light. Indeed, the relationship between light and knowledge in the Bible is 'blindingly' obvious (cf. Acts 9). In Psalm 119:130, for example, we learn that "The unfolding of [His] words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple". It was, after all, "God, who," in the beginning, "said, 'Light shall shine out of darkness'"; and it is the same God "who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6; see also Ephesians 1:16-21). We normally think of enlightenment as something kind of end destination, a kind of final achievement; but God's act of enlightenment was actually His first act of creation (Genesis 1:3).

"New Year, new you" - that's what we are often told, and how we often think. This, however, is folly; for those of us who are in Christ have already been made new (2 Corinthians 5:17), are constantly being made new (2 Corinthians 3:18) , and will one day be made new once and for all (Revelation 21:1-8).

The Spirit of God and the Breath of Life: Creation and Recreation

Genesis presents two creation stories: the first, outlined in 1:1-2:3, involves the creation of the world in six/seven days, while the second, outlined in 2:4-7, involves the creation of man specifically. It is often pointed out that the first story uses the word Elohim for God, while the second story uses the word Yahweh. The trinitarian significance of Elohim is often highlighted, as is the covenantial significance of Yahweh. I find it especially interesting, however, that both of the creation stories - along with their respective names for God - are connected with the idea of breath.

In the first story, after Elohim creates the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1), we are told that "ruach Elohim moved on the face of the waters" (Genesis 1:2). Ruach, though normally translated as Spirit, can equally denote wind or breath. In the six days of creation that follow, moreover, Elohim brings the world into existence by His words - that is, by His breath. On each day, Elohim creates something new by saying something new. This idea is reiterated in the parallel perspective on creation provided by John (1:1-5), according to which all things were created through the Word - that is, God, who existed in the beginning.

After the first creation story is finished, Elohim rests (Genesis 2:1-3), apparently 'catching His breath' before embarking on the second story. In this story, Elohim takes what He has already created through His breath - namely soil - and breathes into it "the breath [neshamah] of life" to create man as a "living [i.e. conscious] being" (Genesis 2:7). Thus, whereas the 'first breath' had created the substance of the body, this 'second wind' creates the substance of the soul.

Job (33:4; cf. 32:8, 34:14-15) alludes to this two-stage process when he states, “The Spirit [ruach] of God has made me, And the breath [neshamah] of the Almighty gives me life." In the same vein, Psalm 33:6 reads, "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host." Ezekiel's (37:1-14) vision of the valley of dry bones is similarly germane, although it relates not to creation per se, but rather to resurrection - that is, recreation. In that passage, the "word" of God forms bodies by causing tendons and flesh to attach to the dry bones (Ezekiel 37:4) - which evokes the "dust of the ground" of Genesis 2:7 - while the "breath" of God causes these bodies to come alive (Ezekiel 37:10).

Ezekiel's vision was, expressly, a prophecy for Israel. In the Bible, though, all things - not least Israel - point to Jesus. Indeed, in John's (1:14) account of creation, we learn that "the Word" - note, the Word, signifying Jesus - became flesh and dwelt among us". Jesus coming to earth and taking on human form was therefore a cosmic act of (re)creation in itself, akin to Elohim breathing his neshamah into the mortal soil once again.  For that to occur, Jesus first had to let the breath of life depart from him (Mark 15:37). The final result is a (re)creation that surpasses even the second story of Genesis; for whereas "the first man, Adam, became a living soul", "the last Adam" - Jesus - "became a life-giving spirit" (1 Corinthians 15:45; cf. 1 Peter 3:18ff).

It is true that in the Old Testament, the ruach of God - the Spirit of Elohim identified in the first creation story - often comes upon people, as if it were "mov[ing] on the face of the waters" (Genesis 1:2). However, it is only after Jesus breathes into His apostles (John 20:22) - an act which takes place on a wider scale at Pentecost, when a "mighty rushing wind" enters the room (Acts 2) - that the Spirit dwells within people (e.g. 1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19; Ephesians 2:22; 2 Timothy 1:14). Indeed, although we normally translate John 1:14 as "dwelt among us", the Greek preposition is actually just en, which can also mean within (cf. Luke 17:21; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Revelation 21:3). Incidentally, this alternative rendering would tally with Ezekiel's (36:25-27, 37:14) prophecies over Israel.

A remarkable implication of this distinction is that, although all people are conscious beings, and therefore created through the breath of God in a way that sets them apart from the rest of creation, not all people have been recreated by what we might conceive as the 'third breath' - they are not spiritually alive, and will therefore not avoid the second death (Revelation 2:11, 20:6,14, 21:8; cf. Romans 8:9-11; John 11:25-26). The "God-breathed" Word (2 Timothy 3:16), which is "Spirit and Life" (John 6:63), continues to distinguish "between soul and spirit" (Hebrews 4:12), thus showing us "the life that is truly life" (1 Timothy 6:19).

Redeeming Work Revisited: Four Types of Work in Genesis

I have written previously on the possibility of redeeming work - both in the sense of work possessing a redeeming quality and in the sense of Christ redeeming those forms of work that would otherwise lack this quality. In this post, I would like to delve a little deeper into the topic of work, especially as it is addressed in Genesis. I would, in particular, like to concentrate on four different kinds of work presented to us in this foundational book[1].


As I pointed out in my original post, work was there right in the beginning. In the very first verse of the Bible, we are told that "God created the heavens and the earth". The Hebrew word here for "create" is bara', which refers to bringing forth ex nihilo - creation out of nothing. This was the first form of work. It is an everlasting, spiritual form of work that can only be performed by God Himself.


In the second verse of the second chapter of Genesis, we encounter the first word to be customarily translated as 'work', namely melakah, which refers to craftsmanship or workmanship. This form of work is inherently purposeful; indeed it is sometimes translated simply as 'purpose'. It is interesting to note, moreover, that the word first appears in the context of rest - it is used in relation to God resting from the work (viz. bara') that He has already completed. As Hebrews 4:3 tells us, the believer can rest in the fact that "His works were finished from the foundation of the world". At this point in the story, however, the creation of man has not yet occurred. This paradox is evidently a foreshadowing of Christ, in whose good, finished work (John 19:30) we find our rest (Hebrews 4), are re-created (2 Corinthians 5:17), and thus begin our own labour of requited love (Ephesians 2:10).


When we read of God's intention to create man a few verses later (Genesis 2:5), we learn that our original purpose was to cultivate (abad) the land - the third form of work. Apparently, tilling the soil was part of God's plan even before the curse was incurred. Indeed, in addition to cultivation, abad connotes worship and service. The primacy of  this type of work therefore reminds us that our mundane activities, which so often seem futile and tedious, are profoundly spiritual acts (Ecclesiastes; Romans 12:1; 1 Corinthians 10:31). We have the privilege and responsibility of interacting with God's creation - His heavenly bara' and His purposeful melakah.


When the curse finally does arrive in Genesis 3:16-17, the act of tilling the ground is tragically transformed from abad into itstsabon, denoting pain or toil - the "sweat of [one's] brow" (3:19). Significantly, itstsabon is applied not only to the irksomeness of labour suffered by man in the form of cultivation, but also to the anguish of labour suffered by woman in the form of childbirth. Both forms of work, however, contain a kernel of redemption in that they recover the life relinquished by sin, be it in the form of sustenance or offspring (often rendered 'seed' in the Hebrew). Indeed, I find it interesting that bara' can also signify 'to cut down' (Joshua 17:15,18) and 'to make fat' (1 Samuel 2:29), as if the process of 'giving and taking away' was part of the plan all along.


Of course, Christ's work on the cross was the archetypal itstsabon - the most excruciating, agonising form of work imaginable, yet simultaneously the ultimate act of redemption. Christ Himself tilled the soil; indeed, He was interred in it for three days, like a foetus in a womb. From that cultivation, that gestation, emerged New Life; for although Christ died, He also rose again, and through Him we too are resurrected. The very curse that held work ransom was thus abo1ished (1 Corinthians 15:55-57; Galatians 3:13; Revelation 1:18), miraculously transforming itstsabon into abad, melakah, and finally bara' - the cosmic coming into existence of something when before there was only nothing. Indeed, throughout the Bible we see that bara' refers not only to the formation of the physical world, but also to the process of birth (Ezekiel 21:35, 28:13), the election of Israel (Isaiah 43), the renewal of our hearts (Psalm 51:12), and eventually, the conception of a New Heavens and a New Earth (Isaiah 65:17).




We long for that New World. Romans 8 tells us that "all of creation has been subjected to futility until now"; but now that we have the "first fruits of the Spirit", we are experiencing "birth pangs", i.e. the labour that will eventually bear a new world. We "groan inwardly" for the day when God's untarnished work - and with it, the true meaning of our own work - is fully revealed.








Note:


[1] I do not deal with asah, a more generic form of work meaning to do, make, or accomplish, found throughout the creation story.

Money and the Non-Existence of Idols

A number of passages in the Bible make the ironic point that idols do not have any real existence beyond their physical form, which is only a creation of those who worship it (e.g. Psalm 115:4-8; Jeremiah 10:14, 51:17-18; Habakuk 2:19; Acts 19:26; 1 Corinthians 8:4-6). Of course, whereas idols back then were generally statues or effigies of some sort, the idols of today are generally activities (e.g. sports), people (e.g. celebrities), or possessions of various kinds. Unlike ancient idols, these modern idols do not purport to be gods in a categorical sense, as they normally have some function beside taking the place of God (with the possible exception of celebrities).

Perhaps the ultimate idol of modern times, however, is money. Like the olden-day idols, money does not really exist in the way that we normally imagine. Indeed, this has been the case ever since money first emerged. Although there were times when usable commodities like cattle were used as money, more often it appeared in the form of objects like shells that otherwise contained little value. Gold is the perennial currency; but, as the Diamond-Water Paradox demonstrates, the presumed value of gold is specious.

Today, of course, we normally think of money as cash. As the famous images of people using Reichsmarks or Zimbabwean Dollars as tinder attest, bills, coins, and cheques would be virtually useless if they did not function as money. The situation appears even more stark when we consider that most money today exists not as physical cash, but rather as virtual bits.

Like ancient idols, money is a creation of human beings. In the modern economy, moreover, money is constantly being created or destroyed in the blink of an eye, at the push of a button. Indeed, the counterfeit nature of money is most obvious when too much money is created (as hyperinflation wipes out its value) or when too little is created (as consumption and investment grind to a halt). When real or potential resources lay idle while people struggle to survive, the divinity of money is called into question.

Money has no real existence, and in this sense it is the quintessential idol.

First Fruits of the New Creation

Once a fecund garden, the earth has become a barren wilderness; but this is beginning to change.

It was prefigured long ago, when Israel was chosen as God's first fruit (Jeremiah 2:3).

It was prophesied in days of old, by those who foresaw the coming glory (Zechariah 14:8; Ezekiel 47:1-12; Isaiah 35).

It started with Jesus, who, with his own body, sowed the seed of peace and righteousness (Hosea 10:12; James 3:18; Proverbs 11:18; Psalm 85:10) and re-emerged as the first fruit of the new creation (1 Corinthians 15:20-23; Romans 8:23).

It continues with us, who have the “first fruit of the Spirit” (Romans 8:23; cf. 2 Corinthians 1:22). Though we were created last, we too have become a “kind of first fruits of His creation” (James 1:18; cf. 2 Thess. 2:3; Romans 11:16; Revelation 14:4), our bodies of dust merely kernels of their future glory (1 Corinthians 15:35-58).

The Tree of Life is beginning to sprout; it is breaking through the parched desert just as Christ rolled away the stone of His tomb. What we see of the New Creation is merely a glimpse of what is to come (1 Corinthians 13:12). Noah had a similar experience when the dove retrieved a single olive branch (Genesis 8:11); but in our case we trust not that the waters of destruction are subsiding, but that the waters of restoration are rising.

The implication of all this is that we should not be surprised that the world around us does not tally with our "anxious longing[s]" for a different world; these are merely birth pangs (Romans 8:18-25). We have become new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17), but a completely New Creation is, quite literally, upon us (Revelation 21-22).