Why God is Beautiful - A reflection on the first half of Genesis

Just got back from a holiday in the French Alps with the family. There we were all gathered round the dinner table, entrepreneurs, doctors, managers, aid workers, young and old. The conversation was lively as the educated thrashed out the concepts of right and wrong and how they might protect the lives of the next generation from decisions and choices that would damage and spoil. There was something familiar about the answers. Previously we had discussed Sudan and sat bemused as what to do. Should the outside world intervene. Should we send the military in. Should we cut out the perpatrators of this terrible evil. We reflected on Iraq and other messy situations where we thought we had a clever answer.

It seems to be a question everyone asks, "why doesn't God intervene". Most of our lives we fight against intervention. For most of us it starts young and we push our parents away and wonder why they always have to interfere. As we get older we get frustrated with our managers at work; the inland revenue, the nanny state. In politics there is a constant battle for the devolution of decision making to a local level. In fact when you really think about it most of us don't really like intervention at all, well certainly the strong handed authoritarian stuff.

Despite our dislike of such intervention one of the first objections we make against God is "why didn't he stop that, why didn't he step in". As I've been living in Genesis I've started to realise that actually God is normally one step ahead of us. Some people think the flood is just a story but just imagine for a minute that you were God. Imagine for a moment that time stood still and you could cast you eye across every human interaction on the earth. Yeah sure you would see some beautiful things; people sharing their food with the hungry, nurses caring for the sick, families laughing together, couples making love but you'd also see some deeply distressing things; a machete lifted against an pregnant women, a young girl being abused by an old man, a crying child as parents raged against each other; a drunk verbally assaulting his fearful wife; a deceptive preacher teasing money out of the vulnerable; a holy huddle closing their doors to societies outcasts; a rich man walking past the homeless. What would you do if every where you looked all that you could see was 'human evil was out of control. People thought evil, imagined evil - evil, evil, evil from morning to night." (Genesis 6, The Message). I think you would call your friends up and you'ld all sit round the table and you'ld say someone needs to intervene. You'd wonder why God didn't and you'd probably even doubt that he cared. You expect the perpetrators to be stopped and to never again be allowed to do this. You'd soon realise that actually you were a passionate interventionist.

You know what? God took your advice...He did what everyone expects of him. He did what everyone thinks he doesn't do (or hasn't done)...He intervened. He stopped the murderers in their tracks, he rooted out the deceivers, he cut off the proud, he removed the religious con men, he shackled the selfish rich men, he crushed those who crushed others. You know what the result was? Just one man and his family was left. The problem is that when we curse God for not stepping in we somehow want to isolate ourselves from the worlds problems. We deceive ourselves into thinking there is some easily distinguishable line between what is right and wrong and that by some remarkable fate we fall on the right side of that line. Sometimes I get forgetful and think that I'm not really part of the problem, that I'm good. I forget that I think about myself most of the time, buy things that were made in sweat shops, walk past homeless people daily and always find I'm too busy to anything about some of the terrible things I'm party to.

You know what happened after God tried the "stick your boot" in method? He promised he would never, ever, do it again (on that scale). Why? Because it didn't fix the problem. Noah got drunk, Canaan raped his father (or least dishonored him), the people of Babel tried to make themselves into God and the proliferation started all over again.

Sin is not a benign cancer that can be cut out, it is ragingly malignant and knows no boundaries. God cannot be the surgeon you want him to be because that method just won't work, you must discover another, wiser, more beautiful means of hope.

It was at this point in my thinking that I suddenly realised the significance of God's promise to Abraham. Suddenly it all became so much more meaningful. The heart of the promise was not about creating a little pocket in the world where everything worked and people were good. No! The vision was much bigger, much more enchanting, much more beautiful. God's promise was given for the purpose of a world wide blessing. A blessing that would extend to every family and touch every life. As far as I can see the rest of this great book (the bible) goes on to explore the fulfillment of this promise. God's method of intervention changes from 'strong hand' to a relational approach in which he would embody his love.

God's unrestrained passion to bless, restore, renew and rescue the earth advances despite human sin. It advances despite the fact the deceit marred the lives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It advances despite the blood on the hands of the vengeful fathers of the 12 tribes of Israel (Jacob's sons). It advances despite famine and barrenness. It advances in the face of great human suffering. God's intention to reach us with his love, despite our sin, prevails as the bible unfolds. Centuries of rebellion, spiritual adultery, idolatry and yet still God would not go back on his word. Despite humanities refusal to work with him he would pursue his vision of bringing blessing to the whole earth once again.

The out working of God's promise to Abraham becomes clearer when God's promises to David a Son in 2 Samuel 7. This is the first explicit articulation of the person that would come to establish God's vision. It is a great signpost in the story that would reveal Jesus as the hope of the world. This new, relational, method of intervention would reach the world in an unexpected way. Sadly many still haven't grasped this restorative story.

Many people fail to realise the Old Testament is a great story of grace. It is about the advancement of a promise despite human resistance and pride. It is a story where love triumphs despite evil. It never hides the ugly things that marred the journey, it speaks honestly and lovingly into our reality. It speaks loudly of why God is beautiful.