The Garden, The Thorns, The Dawn
Why do I want to point us toward being a “Godward Songwriter”?
I want to help people flourish in their gifting. Therefore, I want them to help them create in a way that’s healthy -in a way that God designed them to.
How did God design us to work -to create?
Let’s discover that in God’s story of Creation, Fall, and Redemption, starting with Genesis 1-3.
I. Creation: we were made to live, work and create, Godward.
God is trinity -one God but three persons in relationship of other-focused love. God created us to work and create, and to do so in relationship with Him, and as a consequence, in relationship with others. To live, work and create, Godward. God modelled work and creativity for us. He created us to cultivate the earth -to fill it with cultivated flourishing. ‘Cultivate’ comes from the word ‘culture’, which involves making artefacts including art, and creating services to help others. In other words he created us to make things that will extend His love, and help other people flourish. Living Godward is to live our lives in service to God and to others. That’s what I’m aiming to do: help songwriters flourish in their gifting. And all work is designed to be some form of that.
God created us to create in a way that images Him and how He created. He created in delight (the stars rejoicing in creating). We should create with delight -to enjoy the act of creating. He created rhythms for working: night -time for resting and delighting in God and His creation, including each other. Then day, a time to work hard -put our hands to the plough and use the gifts and opportunity God has given us with “all our might” (Col 3:23). The rhythm of 6 days to work, and one day to Sabbath (rest, and enjoy and celebrate God and His creation -and celebrate the work we have been given to do -to call it “well done”).
II. Fall: we turned from God and became self-ward.
But, Adam and Eve caved in to the temptation of Satan to gain knowledge (tree of knowledge) apart from relationship with God. They desired to live self-ward -to please themselves primarily, and live separate from God. Therefore, God gave them over to the results of what they wanted: to be wise (live life) without God (without relationship, submission and obedience to their Creator). The results were thorns and thistles in their work and in their creating. Now, we struggle to truly enjoy and find satisfaction in work. We over-desire (Greek: Epi-thumia) what we want to get from work (pleasure, power, fame, fortune, rest). Therefore we over-work, leading to burnout. But God designed us to enjoy working and creating -doing it in His presence and delighting in Him being the main audience.
III. Redemption: God redeems and re-creates us so we can live, work and create Godward
God’s purpose and plan for our work and creativity remained. So, to redeem us from the curse of sin, God sent His Son. He came to save us from all the curses of the fall and reconcile our relationship back to Him -back to living Godward. To realign how He created us to be -to be centered on Him -to love and serve Him, and to love and serve others.
His kingdom has already come, but has not-yet come in its fullness. Living this side of His second coming, we will continue to struggle with the temptation of Eve and the results of the fall. We will struggle to fully love and serve Him and love and serve others. But He is building a new garden -a garden-city -a temple that God fills, and is full of people from every nation.
His kingdom has come and we have the resources of that kingdom -that new creation -at work in us. His Spirit is awakening Godward desires, realigning our hearts to Him and to how we were created to be. He is mending the brokenness of this world, including our work and creating. We ourselves, are part of that mending -our work/creating is part of mending the world. He is straightening out our curved-in selves. The God-ward gaze is like the freedom and joy of the sun-ward sunflower. The new creation, like the dawning of the sun, is currently breaking in to our world. One day it will all be gloriously renewed -where our work and creativity will come into its intended fulfilment -when our work and worship will at last be one.
Let us create out of the revelation of His story and resources of His new creation. Let us live and create, Godward -and help create a world of Godward realignment and focus -where the garden (where God is known) eventually will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.