“For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.”
Romans 8:19-21 (NIV)
Paul tells us in this passage that creation – who he says has been a victim of our rebellion and wrongdoing – rests in the hope that, in the end, it will be freed from its bondage to decay and brought into freedom and glory. But because of the all-too-common preconception that God intends to destroy the physical world and take the faithful away to heaven for all eternity, it’s somewhat common for people to “read between the lines” and interpret Paul as saying that on the last day God will “free” creation by destroying it.
As a matter of fact, I recently read an article in a longstanding Christian publication referencing this passage to make that very argument. And as I read this preacher talk about God bringing “freedom” to creation by obliterating it, a long-forgotten name suddenly popped into my mind: Jack Kevorkian.
Or as he later came to be known by some: Dr. Death.
Jack Kevorkian (who died in 2011) was a physician who was discovered to have performed at least 130 assisted suicides/mercy killings over the course of his decades-long medical career. As a physician, he worked with many people who had chronic diseases and terminal illnesses — people who desperately wanted to be freed from the limitations, dependencies, and severe pain caused by their ailments. Many of these patients, seeing no relief from their respective conditions, wanted to speed the arrival of death — and for a number them, Dr. Kevorkian was eager to oblige.
With this infamous doctor now in mind as I read a minister talk about God eventually “freeing” His creation by killing it, I was struck by a sobering realization…this interpretation of Paul’s statement in Romans implicitly makes God out to be a cosmic Dr. Kevorkian. God being some great power up above that looks down and sees a hurting world, terminally affected by the sins of man — a world wracked with anger, grief, abandonment, abuse, lust, and greed — and in his “goodness” and “mercy” he decides what’s best is to eventually take the old dog behind the shed and put it down.
But there’s a problem with this picture of God’s treatment of creation…the problem is that it provides a solution to pain and dysfunction that’s distinctly human.
When a situation is terminal humans have only two options:
- manage/numb the pain
- hasten death
But we must acknowledge that those are our limitations, not God’s.
Humans don’t have the power to create life, nor do we have the power to prevent death or reverse it. But do you know who does? God does! The God of the Bible has the power to create life and reverse death.
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HEAR THIS:
God’s doesn’t put hurting things out of their misery by killing (or numbing) them.
God puts hurting things out their misery by healing them!
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Now think about this…understanding that Jesus was the perfect embodiment of God and His heart (Colossians 1:15)…try to think of even one example in the Bible of a time when Jesus saw someone in pain, struggling, alienated from others, and his solution for their situation was to kill them so they wouldn’t have to suffer any longer…
You’ll have trouble finding an example though, because Jesus performed a grand total of zero mercy killings as a part of his kingdom-driven work on earth. But do you know what he did all the time?
He performed mercy healings!
The lame and the deaf, people with shriveled limbs, and others with calloused hearts — people of all walks and ailments (whether physical or spiritual) came to Jesus, not to die, but to more fully live!
And he was eager to heal them because his mission was to restore his Father’s creation (not least of which being humans, His image-bearers) to the physical and spiritual wholeness that they were created for. What the Bible shows us is that God demonstrates in His son – the one in whom He is pleased to have His fullness dwell (Colossians 1: 19-20) – that He has no interest in mercy killings.
As a matter of fact, you could probably call him Dr. Life, because this Great Physician, in His great mercy and pure goodness, has only ever been interested in healing every good thing that has been broken. His heart is for bringing things that were once whole and holy, back to their original, perfected, God-glorifying state.
If we’ll simply listen to the words the Bible is speaking (like the ones highlighted above from Romans chapter 8), we’ll see plainly stated that, in the end, it’s this same healing that God will bring to our entire broken world – things visible and invisible – so that they are whole again.
The story the Bible’s telling isn’t one that ends with the destruction of creation, instead it tells of a good (albeit damaged) creation that will be fully restored by the One who made it and still loves it deeply.
For God, true freedom for damaged things comes through restoration, not obliteration.
And it’s this healing that we look forward to.
Your brother in healing,
Alex
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P.S. –
Our modern Christian view of end-time destruction-and-escape gives valuable insight as to why our individual lives and our collective movement can often be so incredibly lacking. You’ve probably felt it at some point — this feeling that you’re not as whole as you should be.
I believe this is because, generally speaking, we Christians today don’t fully understand God as a God of healing and restorative power. Because of this, we don’t tend to move in this world with eyes and hearts set on real healing — individually or collectively — in the present.
Instead, we tend to lean into behavior modification, with the result of our behavior being a future reward to be given based on our good behavior.
Because of this, when people become Christians, what’s usually communicated (either explicitly or implicitly) is something along these lines:
“OK, no more cussing, no more drinking, no more sleeping around (etc.) and make sure that you start attending church, reading your Bible, and praying regularly (etc.).”
(Note: the list of do’s/don’ts can vary significantly depending on what Christian tradition you’re in)
And if you’re faithful in doing (and not doing) all the things, when you die you get to be a part of the Big Escape to the good place.
Because of our underlying belief, we are not meaningfully and consistently encouraging one another to participate in the healing that God intends for us (and the world) right now where we are. As a result, we become Christians who get better at doing the things Christians “should do” while often remaining just as broken, fearful, compulsive, and worldly as we were before we came to follow Jesus.
We wait for a future escape, rather than participate in present healing.
Followers of Jesus aren’t supposed to be a group of people working to earn their escape, they should be people drawing themselves into their king’s healing. As the church we should be seeking this deep healing, which would result in us becoming a source of that healing for the world around us (and not just spiritual healing, but physical healing as well).
Jesus’ mission was healing and reconciliation — right now. Likewise, that’s our mission too. And behavior modification (no matter how well-meaning) does not equal, nor does it necessarily indicate true healing.
In order to be healers for the world we must first seek and encounter Jesus’ healing for ourselves.