The story of the fall in Genesis 3 has been trivialized to be a fairy tale about a naked couple talking to a snake and eating an apple. Trivial fairy tale? Hardly! It is the story of the human rebellion against the Creator, which led to the cataclysm that gave us the unfair world in which we live. The rest of the Bible’s story flows from this dreadful event.

The necessary risk of freedom

There are some patently silly statements intended to mock the idea of an omnipotent God. “Could God make a boulder so heavy that he couldn't pick it up?” “Could God make a round square?” Nonsense is not an argument!

What is less obvious nonsense is the idea that God could give freedom of choice and guarantee faithful obedience. Even in a garden of paradise, freedom means that one can say “NO” to God. Freedom is always, and necessarily, a risk. It is a risk the Creator took in order to have a genuine, loving, relationship with people. Being programmed to love is oxymoronic.

Human rebellion did not take God by surprise. Thankfully, God did not stop loving us, in spite of our rebellion. Instead, He moved, from the beginning, to reconcile us to Himself.

God, incarnate, in this unfair world

For the New Testament, the coming of Jesus was not a “Plan B” decided later in human history. Rather, the shadow of the cross fell across the Garden:

1 Peter 1:18-20 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. (NIV)

1 Corinthians 2:7-8 No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (NIV)

Revelation 13:8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast -- all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. (NIV)

At the right time, the Word became flesh, to live and die in this unfair world, and more importantly, for this unfair world!

How do we live in this unfair world?

Of course, we live by faith. That’s an answer we’ve already seen in these blogs. We affirm with Habakkuk, who complains to God about injustice, that the righteous live by faith, as they face unfairness.

The cross tells us that Jesus willingly endured the worst that this unfair world could give. We love and praise Him for that! Now hear Jesus, on what that means for us:

Mark 8:34-36 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (NIV)

Matthew and Luke repeat these words, and we need to listen to our Lord. I don’t just wear His cross as decoration, I take my cross—the emblem of my unfair death for His sake—and I do it every day. In defiant hope I carry my cross, not a sword, and say to the world, “I will not give in to injustice. In Christ, I am more than a conqueror!” Together, the church replaces every “I” with “we.”

The Resurrection—God’s not done

We strive for God’s justice, not simply political justice, in this world, by serving those whom Jesus served as the fulfillment of Isaiah 61:1-2.

Luke 4:18-19 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19  to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (NIV)

The old creation, devastated by the fall, is deeply unfair. But the resurrection of Jesus, who took on this unfairness, set in motion the New Creation that promises all will be made right. Now, the Old and New overlap, but one day, the New Creation will be complete. We call out with the church through the ages, Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus, soon, and set all right!