we are creation's hope

Christ's victory over death means we can celebrate Easter every day, as the truism goes.  In that vein, here's another meaningful reflection on redemption from Dean Ohlman, and what it means to our relationship with wild creatures someday:

Having grown up in a Christian home, having gone to a Christian university, having taught in Christian colleges, and being familiar with the Bible from toddlerhood, I have no idea how I missed understanding for so long the truth found in this passage from Paul’s letter to the church in Rome: the creation itself, in its own non-human nature, looks forward to the coming of Christ just like we do.  In his paraphrase of this passage, J. B. Phillips elaborates on just how much creation looks forward to the Consummation: “The whole creation is on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of the sons of God coming into their own.” 

But reflective of Adam’s task to understand, care for, and name the animals, note that the creation is looking expectantly for something from us: it is eager to so see us “coming into [our] own.”  Nature has been suffering under God’s righteous, man-disciplining curse (Genesis 3:13-19) and under the abuse of sinful mankind and it is looking forward to our being sinless, Eden-like stewards once again.  Simply said, we are not what we should be, and nature knows it.  Every time animals flee from me or try to attack me out of perceived self-defense when I mean them no harm, I hurt.  Don’t you?  And when wild animals do take the risk to venture close, I thrill at being trusted. 

Eden resides down deep in us—and in the animals.  O how I long for that day when things will be even better than Eden and trust returns between us and the creatures.   Margaret Clarkson’s poem “Expectation” from her poetry collection All Nature Sings, expresses this longing in a way that has long touched my soul:

... Washed in new gold
all nature waits on tiptoe
watching
wordlessly questing:

“Is this the day?
will it be soon,
the hour of earth’s redemption,
Life’s return?”

(You can read the rest of Clarkson's beautiful poem at Dean's original post ...)

(a sincere thanks to our regular contributor Dean for sharing "We Are Creation's Hope," originally posted at his blog The Wonder of Creation; photo copyright Duncan Noakes/123rf.com)

Comments

[Lee]

Wonderful to read your spiritual perspectives here on NOS as well, Dean! Yes - what a day that will be when "trust returns" to all of God's creation. As in Isaiah 11:6, where it is foretold that there will be a day when the wolf dwells with the lamb, and a leopard lies down with a kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together... and man will bear witness and live amongst God's creatures in peace.

[Ben DeVries]

Thanks for the note, Lee! I made sure to forward it on to Dean, and I love that passage in Isaiah as well ... Ben