Published: July 03, 2009 09:53 am      

Are we in charge again?

In the beginning, apparently the original plan was for us to be directly involved with God in caring for the earth He created. That involvement included a regular time of walking and talking with Him in the cool of the evening. What did Adam and Eve discuss with God? Did they express humor and laugh together? Did they just walk together and enjoy each other’s presence?

Ever heard the wedding vow, “And because of our relationship, our joys will be doubled and our sorrows will be halved?” There seems to be a doubling of joy when it is experienced with someone you love and you know loves you. I wonder if they walked together and looked at creation with exclamations of “look at that!”

I’m guessing God enjoyed those walks, too. He apparently took special pleasure in us. After acknowledging His creation of everything else with the statement of “it was good,” He acknowledges His creation of man as “very good.”

He really loves us.

When our relationship with God was damaged because we decided we couldn’t trust Him to have our best interests at heart, He began the process of recovering our relationship to Him. He is relentless in His love.

So, Jesus came to show us again how God loves us, and how to live a life where we walk and talk intimately with Him again. Jesus left us with a mission/job description until He returns. He clearly modeled and charged us with the task of loving and caring for His creation- mankind. We get another chance.

I am sure you have heard the story someone imagined of Jesus’ return to Heaven. The angel Gabriel meets Jesus upon His return and says, “Are you sure you want to leave it in their hands?”

Apparently He does. This time our task has changed from one of maintaining God’s creation to recovering God’s creation. God apparently cares more about a personal relationship with us than any other thing He has created.

for some remarkable reason, He has chosen to do this recovery process through us. If the above conversation with Gabriel had actually occurred, I think Jesus would have told Gabriel that this time it would be different. Mankind would have the opportunity of having God within him at all times- strengthening him, rather than just with him, walking and talking in the cool of the evening.

What are we in charge of? We are entrusted with loving and caring for what remains of His creation. We love other people in practical ways. We don’t have to guess at what that means. Jesus clearly defined it-- “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation.'"

And here’s why: "I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, I was shivering and you gave me clothes, I was sick and you stopped to visit, I was in prison and you came to me." Then those "sheep" are going to say, "Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?" Then the King will say, "I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me."

Want the job?