I’ve been giving Mel Lawrenz’s most recent Everything New devotional some thought this week. In “Putting the Pieces Back Together,” Mel provides a powerful description of the order with which God originally imbued Creation—and the subsequent loss it suffered as a result of the Fall.
Eden was a place of perfect harmony. But as soon as we—in the persons of Adam and Eve—took our lives into our own hands, that harmony was disrupted and we were plunged into a new reality of brokenness:
Life would be easier, wouldn’t it, if all its pieces held together. If they always made sense. If nothing ever broke off. If no part were ever lost, or twisted, or detached….
Imagine life in Paradise. Eden was the wonderful opening chord of life, complete harmony with nothing in excess, nothing missing, nothing broken. But when that break did happen (and what an awful shattering sound it made), when human beings said, “we think we can do this on our own,” all creation shuddered and cracks spread throughout.
Our only hope from then on was that someone, somewhere would help us put the pieces back together.
When the Bible says that “in him [that is, Christ], all things hold together,” it is describing the fundamental structure of all reality. “All things” means all things. Go down to the level of the molecule, then the individual atom, and science will tell you that it is a mystery how atoms and their particles hold together. But they do. How is it that you put into your mouth meat and potatoes and vegetables, and they are broken apart, but you yourself don’t break apart? Your body keeps reorganizing itself, growing, healing. The biological pieces keep coming together, with some interruptions for illness, until that last breath moves out across your lips and the spirit departs. Only then does your body return to dust….
Our only hope of surviving in a broken, disconnected, fractured world is the fact that God created everything according to a grand pattern. The very meaning of the word “creation” is taking pieces and making a whole. Heaven and earth do fit together, even though it oftentimes seems as if they are two different universes. God created the visible and the invisible as one reality, though now we so often choose to live merely as bodies without souls. Why, at creation, did it all hold together? Why are there patterns to the pieces? It is because “all things were created by him and for him.”
We owe what little order we have in our lives to God and His original plan. Jesus Christ works to restore that order—to bring us back into harmony with God’s plan. It’s not always easy to discern anything resembling a divine plan in the often messy reality of our everyday existence… but take time this weekend to look for signs of God’s plan in your life. God can bring His order into even the most chaotic of places.
If you find Mel’s observations thought-provoking, be sure to sign up to receive his free weekly Everything New devotional, which is sent out each Tuesday morning!
Eden was a place of perfect harmony. But as soon as we—in the persons of Adam and Eve—took our lives into our own hands, that harmony was disrupted and we were plunged into a new reality of brokenness:
Life would be easier, wouldn’t it, if all its pieces held together. If they always made sense. If nothing ever broke off. If no part were ever lost, or twisted, or detached….
Imagine life in Paradise. Eden was the wonderful opening chord of life, complete harmony with nothing in excess, nothing missing, nothing broken. But when that break did happen (and what an awful shattering sound it made), when human beings said, “we think we can do this on our own,” all creation shuddered and cracks spread throughout.
Our only hope from then on was that someone, somewhere would help us put the pieces back together.
When the Bible says that “in him [that is, Christ], all things hold together,” it is describing the fundamental structure of all reality. “All things” means all things. Go down to the level of the molecule, then the individual atom, and science will tell you that it is a mystery how atoms and their particles hold together. But they do. How is it that you put into your mouth meat and potatoes and vegetables, and they are broken apart, but you yourself don’t break apart? Your body keeps reorganizing itself, growing, healing. The biological pieces keep coming together, with some interruptions for illness, until that last breath moves out across your lips and the spirit departs. Only then does your body return to dust….
Our only hope of surviving in a broken, disconnected, fractured world is the fact that God created everything according to a grand pattern. The very meaning of the word “creation” is taking pieces and making a whole. Heaven and earth do fit together, even though it oftentimes seems as if they are two different universes. God created the visible and the invisible as one reality, though now we so often choose to live merely as bodies without souls. Why, at creation, did it all hold together? Why are there patterns to the pieces? It is because “all things were created by him and for him.”
We owe what little order we have in our lives to God and His original plan. Jesus Christ works to restore that order—to bring us back into harmony with God’s plan. It’s not always easy to discern anything resembling a divine plan in the often messy reality of our everyday existence… but take time this weekend to look for signs of God’s plan in your life. God can bring His order into even the most chaotic of places.
If you find Mel’s observations thought-provoking, be sure to sign up to receive his free weekly Everything New devotional, which is sent out each Tuesday morning!
ABOUT
The Brook Network is an exchange of ideas and growing set of relationships aimed at helping Christians find God’s wisdom to be people of influence in our needy world. Sponsored by Elmbrook Church, the Brook Network offers events and group experiences, learning opportunities, audio and print resources, and a blog where you can engage with the issues of the day.
Mel Lawrenz serves as minister at large for Elmbrook Church and is the director of The Brook Network. Having been in pastoral ministry for thirty years, for ten years as senior pastor of Elmbrook, Mel seeks to help serious believers engage with each other. Mel is the author of thirteen books, the latest, Spiritual Influence: the Hidden Power Behind Leadership (Zondervan, 2012). See other books here.
To get the weekly digest of offerings through The Brook Network, make sure you sign up for The Brook Letter.
A letter from Mel Lawrenz
Dear friend:
We live in amazing times! No one knows when the next catastrophe will be upon us, or the next opportunity for the kingdom message of Jesus to be that clarion call, the singular call, that pushes us to a new level of obedience. We need people of influence today–good, informed, wise believers who occupy every sector of our society. And in that we need each other. The Brook Network (www.thebrooknetwork.org) is a new commitment by Elmbrook Church to be a resource for you, focusing on two things: sharing ideas, pursuing wisdom.
Over the past decade as senior pastor of Elmbrook Church, and in the years previous in other responsibilities, I’ve witnessed an amazing spreading of creative new forms of ministry. Many leaders have gone from protecting the past to envisioning the amazing opportunities for the future. We have gone from talking about “engagement” to actually engaging. Not a vague engagement that means tasting the soup of our culture, but engagement in the sense of closing the gap between divine resources and human need. Not grinding the gears (the machinery of ministry), or merely revving the engine (all talk, no action), but really getting the clutch engaged. Engagement in transforming worship, in genuine koinonia, in community action, and in global initiatives.
At a practical level, we need to pay attention to the nuts and bolts of Christian life and witness today–but if we never get beyond that point we will be creators of machines and not movements. We need good ideas from each other. But we need more than that. Whether the subject is global mission, local outreach, worship, spiritual growth, or evangelism, we need good ideas that are rooted in great ideals. People of influence need more than passion and vision–we need wisdom. The Brook Network is founded on this metaphor from Proverbs 18:4; “the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.” We need to drink from that source today!
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