The “Big Picture” (part one)

We want to change but sometimes we focus on the wrong issues. We focus in on the “problem” such as depression or anxiety, as though this is the main issue. We address a pattern of behavior we think is the sin behind the struggle, and we think that if we can get that person to be good enough (for us), and then we have helped that person. We speak to “symptoms” and we miss the real life-changing dynamics of this “ministry of reconciliation”.  As we enter into the specifics of personal growth, we must not lose the sight of what God is doing in the world: “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation” (2Cor 5:18-19).   

Almost everyone who desires to grow as a Christian understands getting back into relationship with God and people is primary. We are commanded to love God first and then other people. Also, part of God’s plan for our lives to be holy, righteous and fully sanctified unto Him. But there is more to be done. Spiritual growth is not only about coming back into relationship with God and each other, and about pursuing a pure life, but it is also about coming back to life – the life that God created for people to live. This life of deep relationship, fulfilling work, celebration, and more gives us the life we desire and that solves our problems. As Paul says, we are “separated from the life of God” (Ephesians 4:18). We must be reconciled to life the way it was created to work. In looking at the “big picture” we see God’s creation, the fall, and redemption. Not unlike any path or journey, we must know where we came from, where we went from there, and where we are heading.

Creation: Let’s start with were we came from. In creation, everything starts out with God as the source. God is the creator of life and growth. Nothing was before Him and everything that exists comes from Him. God created all the resources, principles, purposes, and meanings. After God made these things, He created Adam and Eve and He breathed life into them. In the same way, we can begin to understand that God brings life back into the dead situations in our lives like a failed marriage or business.

God created humans for relationship first with Him and then with other people. Our relationship with God and people was created to be open and vulnerable, without brokenness or separation. Adam and Eve’s order and position in creation was to take care of the Garden and obey God. It was a high position, but it also had its limits. They were to live life, but to live it in submission to God or not have life at all. Life and submission to God were one and the same. So the Bible begins with the ideas of God as Source, relationship as primary, and God as the authority.

God’s role was to be the source and provider. Our role was to depend on the Source. He provides, we depend and trust. God’s role is to be in control of the big picture, and our role is to be in control of our self and our responsibilities. Many of life’s problems are a result of trying to control things outside of our control. Independence is not an option for us. God existed without us, not the other way around. So the role that we must take in life is not only for dependency, but also against self-sufficiency. Our role is to recognize our limits and to transcend those limits by looking outside of ourselves for life. God’s role is the Judge of life. Our role is to experience life. God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. We were not to judge, but to live the good life apart from judging it. Instead of being concerned with “Am I good enough?” we just lived and experienced life. God makes the rules and we are to follow them. God did not consult us when He designed life. God did not ask our opinion to see if we liked what He created. He just made the reality and then told us to obey it.