Edgework

If it is true, as we have asserted earlier, that we all begin life in a state of “original blessing” instead of a state of “original sin,” we could say that our default orientation in life is to live out that true identity as created by God.

If it were the other way around, with a default orientation that tends only and always toward evil, then of course our first priority would be to remedy that drastic deficiency. Otherwise there would be no hope of developing a relationship with God. Being baptized as an infant or praying the “sinner’s prayer” are often seen as ways of getting us back on track. But, even in these models, remnants of that original sin apparently stay with us which makes living a spiritual life to be an “unnatural” endeavor; that is, we will continually have to “fight against who we are in essence” in order to be spiritual.

What if we were to say instead that the most natural thing for persons to do who are born in the “image” of God is to show forth the “likeness” of God in their lives? That is to say that becoming more spiritual is really a case of becoming more fully human as God created us to be. If we start with original blessing, it seems to me, the most natural thing is to continue on within that trajectory.

What, then, is one to make of “sin” which features so prominently in the Bible? It is true that sin is always crouching at the door (Genesis 4:7), always beckoning us to go against our true nature and do the wrong thing. And if we give in to that temptation we will soon find ourselves off the rails in one way or another; living in ways that are unnatural to who we really are. If we persist in choosing sin, we will find the image of God increasingly covered with the debris these sins leave behind. But these sins are always volitional – resulting from the wrong choices we make – not evidence of a totally depraved nature that naturally tends to choose evil options.

To help us understand how God’s image in us is the starting point of our spiritual journey, I find it helpful to reflect on the transcendence and immanence of God. When we speak of the transcendence of God we are usually thinking about God being far away and above all things. Psalm 8 speaks majestically about God whose glory has been set above the heavens. When we speak of immanence we mean that God is “…an ever-present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). It is common to become fixated on either one or the other, almost to the point of saying that you can’t be a true Christian if you haven’t “caught” God’s transcendence or God’s immanence.

Any way you look at it, to hold both at the same time moves us into the realm of mystery. But I will suggest that if we don’t see transcendence and immanence as polar opposites we will be able to hold both more confidently. What if we think of God’s immanence as being a characteristic of his transcendence? I think Psalm 139 portrays this kind of fusion. At first the Psalmist is overcome by how close God is; “Oh Lord, you have searched me and you know me…you are familiar with all my ways…you hem me in – behind and before.” Then the Psalmist begins to imagine if there might be places where God would not be that close. Would it be in the heavens, in the depths, or on the far side of the sea? No, he concludes, even there God would find him. Our conclusion must be that the transcendent/immanent God is present throughout God’s creation.

That is why we can say with confidence that God is present in every human being, intent on nurturing God’s “original blessing” in whatever way possible. Of course, this presence will not always be recognized, but it will be there nonetheless. Note Paul’s take on this idea: “He (Christ) is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17), and “…one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:5-6).

This changes a lot about our quest to be growing spiritually. It is not like we first have to invite God into our lives to help us fight against our depraved sinful nature. God has been present in my life from the time I was born even though I didn’t know it. Had I been invited to recognize and be shaped by that gracious presence instead of told that God could not even look at me in my sinful state because of his holiness, I would have been spared a lot of trauma. Had I known this truth, my life journey toward a living and dynamic faith would, instead, have been a more natural process.

This is a big deal – at least for me! I am part of the universal pattern of God’s presence. God lives in me and through me and invites me to participate with and in God’s divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). I have never been separated from God, except in my mind; separated by the delusion that God would not be interested in taking up residence in my being unless I first met some very specific conditions.

As Richard Rohr says in his January 11, 2018 devotional, “This realization is an earthquake in the brain, a hurricane in the heart, a Copernican revolution in the mind and a monumental shift in consciousness.” St. Irenaeus expressed it this way already in the second century: “God passed into man so that man might pass over to God.”

If only I could have known this truth sooner! If only the downtrodden and forgotten of this world would hear this message today!