I was recently reading an entry over at Mark Robert’s blog discussing how we must discover contentment in light of our creation as the image of God (you can read the full blog here). He begins by unpacking the popular idea that contentment is a willful relaxation free of cares or responsibilities, but then responds to this fashionable ideal with a reflective look at scripture’s depiction of humanity as the image of God. At one point, he wrote:
Human beings are not simply to sit on a beach and enjoy the beauty of creation. Nor are they simply to sit in a cathedral and enjoy the beauty of God. Rather, they are to be actively involved in creation and cathedral, being fruitful, multiplying, and exercising dominion. This suggests that we will be truly content as creatures when we are doing that for which we have been created. Moreover, by implication, if we are not being fruitful in our lives, if we are not exercising dominion over creation, then we will be rightly discontent.
Right on, Mark. I happen to agree that, if we want to discover contentment, we have to discover what we were made for. If we want to discover what we were made for, we have to go back to the beginning, to the creation of humanity. Even more, we have to go back and look at the setting into which humanity was placed. Namely, we have to look at creation as it was meant to be.
The first chapter of Genesis establishes a kingdom (a point I will unpack in much greater depth in a future blog). There are three salient points to this understanding. The first is that this creation account details order overcoming chaos, ie. a kingdom. The second is that God’s rest on the seventh day, when understood from the perspective of an ancient Near Eastern mind, conveys the idea of a deity settling down from His creative act to then take up His throne and rule over His creation. Essentially, this connotates a king ruling over His kingdom. The third point is that, in the midst of this, God creates humanity to bear His image and govern under His authority. It is within this context that we come to understand our purpose, and thereby our sense of fulfillment.
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Gen 1:26-27)
In this context, we can discern three truths for discovering fulfillment and contentment in our lives.
We discover contentment in a whole, healthy relationship with our creator.
- Love is not fully expressed without someone to pour that love out upon. God is love. We therefore become the objects of God’s desire. Similarly, we are shaped after the image of a God in perfect relationship displayed by the trinity. This is demonstrated in the plural reference “let us make man in our image”. Thus, we also find our expression in returning the love that God so lavishly pours out upon us.
We discover contentment in whole, healthy relationships with each other.
- Jesus made clear that while the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God, the second is like it: love your neighbor as yourself. The idea that we were created for this is demonstrated in the final line of the Genesis quote. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” We were created male and female for the purpose of relationship.
We discover contentment in fulfilling our purpose as vice regents in God’s kingdom.
- This is first set against the backdrop of creation which, when established and functioning under God’s intended order, becomes the kingdom of God. Within this, we are created to exercise God’s delegated authority under that kingship. “And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Dominion, not to be confused with domination, gives us purpose, authority, and responsibility. In a world that exists after the fall, however, this translates into a necessary participation with the Spirit of God, in accordance with His will, in restoring the kingdom into proper order under the authority of the King. It is in this context that mercy and justice become so vital. It is here that service, love, and sacrifice are given life. It is here that we who have been reconciled find our contentment in being agents of reconciliation to the world.
Well done, Mark. In my humble opinion, you nailed it.
Related articles
- Original Sin: Is Humanity Naturally Good or Evil? (ofdustandkings.com)
- Podcast: Haiti and the Kingdom of God (ofdustandkings.com)
- Cultivating The Soul, p.1 : Discipleship and Spiritual Transformation (ofdustandkings.com)
Kristen Joy March 10, 2012 at 12:40 am
It makes a lot of sense to say that since each of us is created for relationships with God, relationships in community, and for work, we need those things to be content. However, since Genesis 1-2, sin has entered the world. I don’t think it’s always possible to have whole, healthy relationships with one another. But contentment is still possible. For example, the Apostle Paul was imprisoned for his faith. This was not evidence of a whole, healthy relationship with the Romans, and it also kept him apart from other believers. But Paul had found the secret of being content in every situation. (Philippians 4:11-13)
I would probably agree with Mark Roberts’ line, “we will be truly content as creatures when we are doing that for which we have been created.” But I think this takes a lot of trust in God. We know what we’ve been created for in a broad sense. We often don’t know the specific relationships and ministries we’ve been created for until we’re living them out day by day. We can discover contentment as we experience relationships, ministries, and work given to us by God, but it’s so dangerous to place our contentment in those things. None of those things are permanent.
T. E. Hanna March 10, 2012 at 1:17 am
Thanks for sharing! Those are some astute insights.
I absolutely agree with you, Kristen. In fact, if you look at the temptation to sin in the garden, it specifically targets our relationship with God, our relationships to others, and our identity as the image of God (which was intricately link to our role in the kimgdom). I unpack this in more detail in my post on original sin, which you can find linked to at the end of this post under ‘Related Articles’.
What Jesus offers us, however, is a restoration in all of these areas. We are first restored in our relationship with God, which transforms us in our relationship with others. This is why the greatest commandment Jesus gives is to love God; the second is to love each other. Then, as transformed people, we are called to be agents of transformation in the world, participating in the work God is doing in bringing forth His kingdom on earth. It is for this reason that, in Mark, the first thing Jesus does after declaring that the kingdom of God is at hand is to go call disciples (Mark 1), and it is our current context for exercising the dominion for which we were created.
Our salvation is so much deeper than heaven/hell; it is a process of restoration into who we were intended to be before sin took its toll.