We opened the study with a question — well, actually two: “What is your favorite vacation memory?” and “Why?” The answers from our group were interesting, and I pulled out elements that captured the essence of each memory. We found that things like floating in the Dead Sea evoked a harmony with nature. Taking a walk along a seaside shopping promenade evoked a sense of relaxation and rest for others. Still others recounted walking in the footsteps of Jesus in Jerusalem and witnessing the peaceful coexistence of many faiths and peoples within the city. One person shared about a special location set apart by all the meaningful experiences they had there throughout life. Our pastor shared about a road trip where the whole family experienced new things together at the same time.
The point is that we take vacations to get away from the mundane and to connect with a purer experience of life. We may not always feel in harmony with nature. We may often grow weary from labor. We might not always feel as though we are walking with Jesus step by step. The mundane nature of everyday life can seem devoid of special meaning, and the same four walls and daily commute can become dulling to the soul. We vacation in search of a connection with Eden-like conditions.
(Note: the sections referenced below are indicated by numbers.)
That’s what this section of reading was about. It explored the nature of the world before the Fall (1–4). We saw that God created a good world, designed to sustain human flourishing by providing the perfect ingredients for man to learn, master, and subdue creation. We also saw that honest work in this good world is noble (6). This work is the provision of God that allows a person to bring forth from the earth the sustenance necessary to support not only the individual worker, but also the establishment and flourishing of human relationships.
Those relationships — supported by noble work and the subduing of the good world God made — find their highest expression in the covenant of marriage, then parenting, then fellowship with believers, and finally in peaceable relationships with the broader community (9).
There are two more things that we did not cover in class. The first is the development of ethics (10) that govern not only our relationships with one another, but also our relationship to the world and to the God who made it. The last section concerns the rightly ordered life (11).
What is the value of understanding these things? It is to discern the invitation baked into created existence: to enjoy and delight in the reality God has created and in the relationship He has made us for with Himself (7).
If you haven’t had a chance to read these sections, please do so. You will find them both encouraging and edifying.