When Adam and Eve took that first bite of forbidden fruit in Genesis 3, everything changed. Before then, mankind lived in a very good creation—in perfect fellowship with God, in harmony with one another, and in a world without pain, suffering, and toil. Afterwards, however, all creation fell under a curse; the world was broken, and everything about the human experience was fundamentally changed.

            No longer did mankind live in fellowship with God; instead, their relationship with Him was severed. In the first chapter of Romans, the apostle Paul spends a considerable amount of time explaining how people—made to enjoy fellowship with God and to honour him by rightly bearing his image—hardened their hearts and began to worship anything and everything apart from Him. As a result, their eyes were darkened, and they were given over to ignorance and foolishness from which they could not recover (Romans 1:18–32). Ever since that first act of sin, humanity’s relationship with God has been hopelessly broken.

            No longer did mankind live in harmony with one another; instead—beginning with Adam and Eve’s own children—people began hurting, killing, and exploiting one another. The harmony that once existed was replaced with enmity and strife. In the book of Titus, Paul tells us that our natural state is living “in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another” (Titus 3:3). Relationships between husbands and wives, parents and children, siblings, friends, coworkers, and strangers are now characterized by the brokenness of sin. We all sin against one another, and we all suffer because others have sinned against us.

            No longer did mankind live in a world free from pain, suffering, and toil; instead, pain and suffering became a normal part of the human experience. The world became hostile where it was once peaceful—natural disasters of all kinds overturn entire cities, people find themselves wounded or even killed by the animals and plants over which they were given dominion. Even the act of sustaining our own bodies on a daily basis is fraught with difficulty, failure, and harm.

            Where the world was once whole, it became hopelessly broken. And in all these things, if left to themselves, there would be no chance for humanity to set the creation back in order. However, what is impossible with man is possible with God (Luke 18:27), and from the very beginning—even in Genesis 3 where all of this brokenness began—God promised He would restore His creation to its former glory.

            Through the redemption accomplished by His Son on the cross, God is in the process of making all things new (Revelation 21:5). One day, all of God’s people will be completely restored in their relationship with Him and with each other, and they will live in a perfect new creation once again free from pain, suffering, and toil. Let us praise God for the amazing act of new creation He is accomplishing in His church even now!

All the best,

Luke

Prepare your heart for Sunday by reading the passage and listening to the songs we’ll sing.