Sample Chapters

The manuscript is complete and I am happy to provide it for review.

Sample, including the Introduction and Chapters 1-3

Introduction

Unbelievable as it may sound, what follows is an explanation of the purpose and meaning of everything.

I believe it is the grandest and most thorough explanation of meaning you’ll ever find. And in fact, you already know it’s there. You sense it in the beauty of a flower, the majesty of a redwood tree, the smile of a baby. How the attention of a friend makes you feel. In these, we glimpse meaning.

But you must believe it to experience it.

I aim to give you specific clarity on the question of purpose and meaning, but understanding is merely an opportunity to explore further. Understanding must ultimately give rise to belief. Belief must turn to engagement. And engagement to experience. Then, and only then, will we be able to answer the questions that haunt us: “Is there meaning?” “What is it all for?”

How differently would we live if we knew? The quest for answers is noble. To give up the quest is tragic. So, the journey to find answers is important. It may well be the most important thing you ever do.

This book offers some first steps to begin that journey.

I will summarize what I understand to be God’s purpose and meaning for everything. You and I fit into that purpose if we choose to.

My thesis is this: we must begin by considering the concept of distinction.

In the end, my goal is just as much to provoke more questions and more conversation as it is to provide an answer. After all, we are talking about the meaning of everything.

There are some deep waters to wade through as we move forward together. But let me encourage you to press on to discover the rich meaning God has for everyone and everything.

Chapter 1

All Belongs

“For union exists only between distincts; and, perhaps, from this point of view,

we catch a glimpse of the meaning of all things.”

• S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

 

 

The concept of distinct differences between all things is familiar, so familiar that we take it for granted. Yet distinctions are all around us. Everyone we interact with and everything we see is special and distinct. The music we listen to, the food we enjoy, our favorite hobbies, and so much more rely on large and even minute differences between otherwise similar things.

What really are distinctions? The question may sound strange. But think about it. Distinctions are in the people we spend time with, the way in which we decorate, and why we love nature. Mathematics, sociology, philosophy, and theology are defined by it. The artist uses careful distinctions between light and dark as she paints, and the engineer considers distinctions while he designs. Distinction is so common and defining in our lives that we become used to it and dismiss it. Yet, I contend that it’s what ultimately forms the purpose and meaning of everything in existence.

How so? How everything is different and unique is also how it belongs and connects to everything else. In this connection, everything comes to belong.

This matters immensely because I believe ultimately, belonging is why we are here. Every person has a distinct purpose and belongs in the plan. I believe we are not just globs of chemicals, and our existence is not futile. We are meant to belong to something and someone. When we do, we are energized, the day is worth waking up for, there is satisfaction in our work, love in our relationships, and contentment in our lot. But when we don’t belong, life can feel meaningless.

 

Longing for a Cure

I learned this truth that life requires a sense of belonging in a time when I was deeply searching for meaning. I struggled for years, and the struggle leaked into my mind and body so that I eventually felt sick, depressed, and alone. But it wasn’t until I happened upon the cure that I finally knew what ailed me. When I discovered it, my eyes were opened to how loneliness, isolation, and hopelessness had eaten away at my soul. The despair was like a monster in the room, unsettling me. I tried to get away from it, but it followed me and began to cast doubt on my entire life. For me, I found hope when family and friends showed me empathy and concern and pointed the way. Their compassion and God’s call to not live by fear but by love brought me back out again. This book is my way of sharing what I found to be the cure.

And what is the cure? To belong to someone truly excellent, and to something of utmost importance. To be needed and wanted, and an essential part of how others discover the cure as well. Ultimately, I believe the cure is to know that what we do and make in life brings connection and affirmation, harmony and hope. Somewhere in this assurance of a meaningful belonging is the meaning of everything.

Which brings us to this important question: Is it really possible to know the meaning of everything? Haven’t philosophers and religions been hunting after this hidden treasure for millennia? Who am I to suggest there might actually be an answer, and that we could actually know it? Some would say the search is futile and that we need to accept that we are left without an explanation or reason for everything. But there are those of us in C.S. Lewis’s camp who believe with tenacious conviction that the universe and everything in it must have meaning, and even if it takes our whole lives and every ounce of energy to find it, the search is worth it.

Belonging is one way to understand the meaning of everything. Our need for it is like a key that unlocks understanding. Some of the ideas presented here may seem strange, but in a way, this book is like one of those applications for your smartphone that labels all the places in a city you’ve already become familiar with. I hope it helps you see things you thought you knew in a new way, through a different lens. Read the Lewis quote again. Is it true that appreciating distinctions between things is a key to understanding the meaning of all things?^[1]

The rest of this chapter and the next will provide our tools for navigating this idea. Then, starting in chapter 3, and for the rest of the book, we will work to turn that “glimpse” of what I believe Lewis means into a fuller view.

 

Marking Distinction

The best place to start is with what’s most obvious and basic. For this, we will need some metaphors, starting with one of the coolest places on this planet, Redwood National Park in Northern California. If you have been there to see these massive redwoods, then you know their beauty is unrivaled. Living in Southern Oregon, my family and I have the opportunity to see them often, and they never disappoint.

I’ve often wondered what exactly makes them so impressive. On a recent trip, I was arrested by the beauty around me, and I had to stop to take it all in. The giant trees skirted by ferns were lit by columns of angled sunlight that looked solid in the fog that slowly meandered through the forest. The stillness of it joined with the silence as if the forest held its breath, anticipating a beautiful crescendo. I stood alone, immersed in the beauty, and marveled.

I thought of Lewis’ statement, and it struck me that such beauty is only possible because of distinction. The redwood trees are distinct from the ferns, the ground, and the fog. They are old, unbelievably large, and their roots span out to take control of the terrain. Their height makes your hat fall off, and your mouth fall open. But the ferns have their distinct nature as well, and the fog, the sunlight, and every other thing in the forest. Everything simply is what it is, and not what something else is. Ferns are not redwood trees or fog, and in this way, we can understand what each thing is by comparing it to something else. Distinction then speaks to the material nature of a thing and its unique form.

So, this is the beginning point of a model that can help us understand how everything is given meaning:

Material—what something is made of—plus form—its shape—creates distinction. Something is distinct by its material nature and its form.^[2]

 

When Distinctions Meet

Obviously, redwood trees are not sunlight or fog but it’s here that we have our next step. Because things are different, they can interact. When things interact harmoniously, we can call that a complementary relationship. Redwood trees reach high to capture the sun, then create shade for the ferns to grow. The ferns collect fog water and decomposing soil, creating a safe home for animals and insects. The relationships are complementary because they work well together to cultivate each other’s thriving. When distinct things complement each other, the result is harmony and, in this case, a system that promotes life. In the big picture, complementary relationships are how each distinct thing relates to another in a complementary way that helps the other distinct things to belong.

The functions of things determine how they contribute to a complementary relationship. Redwood trees function as trees, ferns function as ferns. Everything else in the forest functions according to its distinct nature and enables a complementary relationship. So well do the things of the redwood forest function in complementary relationships that it inspires people to see beauty beyond the individual operating functions. For many, the beauty emerges from the harmony and speaks to something deeper, something felt but not quite understood. And what it connects us to, I want to explore more later.

For now, our model is expanded:

Distinction (material and form) + Function à Complementary Relationship

If we apply this to other things, like music, artwork, families, or even an auto body shop, we see a similar dynamic model at play.

 

Redefining Meaning and Purpose

And now it’s time to expand. This next step is huge for how it affects all of life, but we can start with another example to keep it simple. Take the cup that may be sitting next to you and think of it in light of our model. What’s its distinct material—ceramic or metal? What’s its distinct form— its shape is conical with a flat bottom to hold your drink and stay upright. Simple enough. When you pour something into it and use it to drink from, you are using it according to its purpose. You reach for a cup because you know something of this material and shape functions according to the purpose you need it for.

And so, we can add to our model:

Distinction (material and form) + Function according to its purpose à Complementary Relationships

Now, when you go to the store to get a cup, you go to the kitchenware section because we all agree that cups have a distinct purpose. Even if we disagree about what to drink from it, society is built on this agreement that a certain type of cup should function for a certain purpose. And for society to function, we need to agree on many of these types of things on a large scale. Without these agreements, society falls apart. And this is different than the redwoods because in nature, things act according to instinct and biology. But society is built on an agreement between people about the proper function of things. And this is where meaning happens.

If we explore for a moment how this word “meaning” is used in conversation, it narrows down to a few uses. We believe things are “meaningful” when they are of a high or special quality. A high-quality cup or an antique cup is often more meaningful than a common one. The redwoods are older, larger, and stronger, making them more “meaningful” to experience than the average fir forest. Enjoying these things with people we love also adds meaningfulness.  We also define meaning by what makes us happy—“good” things like an experience, a creative project, a good movie, good food, etc.

A third way people define meaning is when something is “significant.” Helping people or fixing something broken, rebuilding after a disaster, or reconnecting after a sickness is “significant.” It feels meaningful. The dictionary definition of “meaning” aligns with these and adds that it fulfills an intended purpose. This also aligns with the biblical definition that tightly links meaning to purpose and intention. Again, we will build on this later.

With these definitions, let’s take the discussion deeper. Does this mean something of low quality is less or not actually meaningful? And who determines what is “low quality?” This is especially important when applying these definitions to people. Or take the pursuit of happiness. By itself, happiness isn’t wrong, but it can be fleeting. Something or someone that made me happy before might bore me now.

In addition, if something is valuable only because it makes me happy, isn’t that a problem? Can’t sad things have value and therefore be meaningful, like sad movies, or going to a funeral? Valuing something based on how happy it makes me could come across as privileged or arrogant. Would it ever be fair to deem a person as less-than because they’re sad, depressed, or “boring?” So, we see the search for meaning can also be very subjective. If each person has their own definition of meaning, it can actually harm our ability to belong. If our definition of meaning is only individualistic, we will be in conflict and will not belong.

So, we need a definition of meaning that includes but transcends subjective quality, what the thing produces (happiness or sadness, for instance), or who embraces it. It must be true of everyone, accessible to everyone, and something we can all affirm. What might this be? The redefinition I’d propose is belonging. When something or someone belongs, they can be said to have meaning.

Let’s expand on that simple definition. Unpacking Lewis’s quote, how does Lewis say “all things” get their meaning? In their “unity,” Right? When distinct things are united, they have meaning. The model we’re using joins distinct things according to their purposes, and that creates a complementary relationship. So, when a distinct person joins other unique people and all function according to their purpose, they belong in that complementary relationship. Lewis suggests that when “all things” work together in complementary relationships and in unity, everything finds meaning.

So, our model becomes:

Distinction (in material and form)

+ Function according to purpose

à Complementary Relationships

= Meaning (belonging)

An example of how this works: I’m a basketball fan and was my son’s coach. After one disheartening practice, he asked me, “Dad, what’s the point of basketball?” Mentally rubbing my hands together, I explained it using this model. Each element of basketball, including the ball, the court, the backboard and rim, shoes, lights, scorekeeping, and rules, is designed with a distinct purpose and function, and the players, coaches, fans, and officials all agree on these things so the game can have its specific purposes of competition and fun. But ultimately, all these things contribute to help people feel they belong in the game.

My son, knowing his dad is a teacher who gives unnecessarily complex answers, hung in with me. “The point isn’t bouncing a ball or even scoring points. The point is for teammates to belong to this shared purpose, for coaches to belong and help them grow, for parents to belong as cheering supporters, for officials to belong by ensuring everyone follows the rules, and so on. When everything and everyone fulfill their distinct purpose, a basketball game can be a meaningful experience even beyond how well you play or whether you won or lost.”

He nodded his head, and even though he changed the subject, I knew the seed was planted.

To fulfill this larger purpose, it’s important to know your role: parent, coach, player, or official. When parents function like officials, or players function like coaches, it can get ugly. I’ve often felt the haunting feeling heading to our car: That wasn’t how that was supposed to go. Even a win can be tainted by flaring tempers. Most remember that, win or lose, the harmony of belonging and sticking to our assigned functions is more important.

And ultimately more fulfilling.

 

Where Things Fall Apart

The basketball example shows the complexity of how distinct roles and functions play out in a game—how much more so in society? If this model is important to follow in a basketball game, how much more important is it to follow on a much larger scale? What other issues arise? The reason I had to write this book was that, over and over, I saw how, when we begin to drill down on this thorny issue, all kinds of other questions typically come up.

For example, let’s say your five-year-old daughter made the cup you’re drinking from. Picture her tongue sticking out as she fashioned it with pride. Suddenly, it’s no longer a mundane cup. It is changed into something meaningful on another level–even if the cup doesn’t belong on the same functional level as your other cups, it now belongs to you far more sentimentally. It’s “special.” If I take the cup and use it to scoop cat litter, the words you use to describe how you feel might include “wrong,” “offensive,” or “angry.”

If someone cut down a twelve-hundred-year-old redwood tree and used it for a deck, we would respond similarly. Connecting morality to distinction is an important consideration: if you believe it is right or wrong to give something a different function that doesn’t respect its intended one, you are affirming that there are moral implications for how we treat distinct things. In other words, it is the distinct nature of something that says it should be treated a certain way. And to violate this denies its purpose.

Harmony can also be lost when, instead of complementary relationships, we create conflicting ones. Violating purpose can lead to conflicting relationships which then poison belonging and rob things of their meaning. Instead of belonging, conflicting relationships create anger, offense, and a deep sense of wrongness. In big things, they can even create despair and doubt about why we are here. They can undermine our very sense of self and pride because we were made for something more beautiful, complementary, and harmonious.

 

The Great Tragedy

If it’s true that in every complex relationship we’re really looking for meaningful belonging, this has implications for how we view and live our lives. If our model is true, then the great tragedy is when form, function, and deeper meaning are not respected and appreciated.

We create objects like art and buildings, and designate areas like parks for sports like basketball and soccer, because we all want to feel we belong to something meaningful that functions to promote the thriving of everyone and everything involved. When we achieve this, we find satisfaction in work and play, in voting, creating, or celebrating. And this is ultimately why we love or loathe what we do.

I’d suggest that the great tragedy of life is that things always fall apart when the above model is not understood or followed. When the rules of a game are not followed, it becomes ugly. When the rules of the road are not respected, it can be deadly. When a distinct place or person is not respected, tragedy may result. History is filled with examples of such injustices, wars, and failures that constantly testify to this lack of appreciation and to the resulting loss of thriving and meaning. So, our goal here is to unpack Lewis’s quote at the opening of this chapter, and to explore his point about the “union between distincts.” Putting aside cynicism, I hope to establish a clear understanding of the distinct nature of things—people, places, ideas, and values—and look at how to improve and enhance the complementary relationships that matter most. Rather than allowing important things to fall apart in chaos and discord, understanding distinctions and proper relationships sets the stage for order, coherence, integrity, beauty, and harmony.  I believe this harmony is the fruit of recognizing and honoring the complementarity of distinction and gives rise to what we consider the “ultimate meaning” of life.

But the question we must ask now is where to start, when everyone has a different opinion about form and function, and misunderstanding is so rampant? Let us start with what is pure. Let us access purity’s most profound expression as our primary source, to inspire, and to guide. It must be completely pure, or its imperfections will show through. It must be infinitely creative to supply complexity, immeasurably deep to sustain a draw, and perfectly consistent to be reliable.

As I see it, this leads us to begin with the Creator and what we understand to be the pure nature of God. In Christianity, the triune nature of God is thought to define and embrace much of our lives’ distinction and purpose. In fact, distinction could be seen as a main tenet within basic Christianity. To discover how, our journey begins with the “Three in One” nature of God, the key to understanding the meaning of everything.

So, it is to that we’ll now turn.

 

Chapter 1

Study

Think and Talk:

• Look back at the model used. Can you see other ways this applies to life? What other ways do you see this model applied on a personal level or on a society-wide level?

 

• Can you think of some examples where something did not fulfill its purpose, and there were bad results?

Read and Reflect:

Genesis 1:1-4 – In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness.

• From the beginning, God created with distinction, separating and dividing one thing from another. What other examples do you see God doing this the Genesis creation story?

Act:

• Contemplate how respecting distinctions plays a role in the purposes you find throughout your day-to-day.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 2

The Trinity

Q: What is the chief end of man?

A: To glorify God, and enjoy Him forever.

• The Westminster Catechism

 

Living in Southern Oregon, we have become tour guides for visiting friends and family who want to see the redwoods. I never hesitate to take them. Seeing them react to their first sight of the giants is worth the drive. Plus, I never tire of the trees. Walking among them renews the awe that I don’t realize slowly fades between visits. In fact, I need these moments of awe to remember that something in me wants to be awestruck and still can be. So, awe-filled trips to places like the redwoods or any national park renew my soul.

Clearly, many people feel this way. It’s the reason the national parks are so popular, and people come from all over the world and spend their time and money to experience them. The feeling of awe is experienced by people of any age, political or religious conviction, means, or ability. People can be very different but have similar reactions. Some whisper as if intuitively sensing they are in the presence of something special and calling for reverence.

This experience of awe is connected to worship and is considered one of the most meaningful experiences for the Christian. John Piper quotes C.S. Lewis to consider why: “I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation.”^[3] (italics mine) He then concludes with a slight change to the familiar Westminster Catechism, “The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying him forever” (italics his). Here, we will take it one step further by explaining how we enjoy God. Namely: the highest form of meaning possible in all of existence is for a person to enjoy the resplendent love of God. His love is not just a feeling or way to act; His love is who He is, and it exudes from Him, making and drawing all things to Himself. We need simply respond.

Exploring the distinctions and unity of the Trinity will help us better understand this. In the end, you will need to decide to experience this love. For now, let’s explore how the Trinity helps us understand C.S. Lewis’s statement.

While the subject of the Trinity can be intimidating because it’s beyond anything we know of, I encourage you to press in. I believe the key that unlocks the meaning of everything is the Trinity. Knowing who He is and how He functions opens the lock.

 

How God Functions

Christians claim there is nothing greater than the Triune God, “three-in-one”: Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Everything started with the Trinity and is sustained by Him. Let’s look at a few agreed-upon essential qualities. First, there is no greater being than the Triune God, or else He would not be God; that other being would. Second, all positive attributes, such as goodness, patience, love, or power, begin in God and exist because He does. Third, God is not accountable to anything or any limited standard. Everything is sourced in Him, so to judge God by some standard doesn’t work. And last, God is sovereign, which is all-powerful, self-sufficient, and uninfluenced by any outside element or environment.

God’s answer to Moses when asked for His name is “I AM,” and nothing more (Exodus 3:13). The fancy name for the transliteration of “YHWH,” which is the designation God is given in Hebrew, is “Tetragrammaton.” In Hebrew, it means “to exist.” He relies on nothing outside himself. He is set apart from everything else. This is the meaning of the word “holy.” God constantly reminds His followers that He does not exist in idols. Being holy means He is wholly other. So, we see the purity, depth, complexity, and consistency we need for the purpose and meaning of everything, only in the Trinity.

               Now, at some point in your life, you have probably slipped into deep thought and wondered, why is this the way things are? It’s that “bird’s-eye view” moment where you reflect on the big picture. When astronauts took a picture of Earth from the Moon, it had this effect on people. Knowing the big picture helps us understand how the pieces fit together. I believe appreciating the Trinity is how we get the biggest picture.

Simply put, my firm belief is that the distinct things of the redwood forest exist as they do because God is distinct. Put another way, everything in creation is distinctly different from other things because God is three distinct Persons. Things and people function as they were designed because God functions as He is. And things relate to one another in complementary relationships, as God does with Himself. Things and people can understand and desire to unite because God is perfectly united. We take these things for granted every day, but I think distinctions themselves exist because God is distinctly characterized and has endowed creation with these qualities.

With the Trinity as our starting point, we can know the meaning of everything. But how do we understand the Trinity? People often ask me, “Where does it show the Trinity in the New Testament?” I always find this question interesting since the Trinity is all over the New Testament. I have come to realize people are usually looking to understand the Trinity as a concept. If you search the New Testament for a watertight statement that illuminates the Trinity as a concept, you will come up short. But as many have said, God did not send a watertight argument (or concept), he sent a “watertight person.”

What does this mean? The Triune God reveals Himself to us as a person. We know Him by His actions and His words. When you read the New Testament, looking for the Trinity by His actions and words, you see Him all over with hundreds of examples. The Trinity is not a concept to be grasped; He is a person to be known.

To keep our study simple, we will use an example of His actions and words to see how the three persons collaborate to reveal His resplendent love.

For a simple start, let’s look at John chapters 14-17.

 

Jesus & the Trinity

These chapters in John reveal the beautiful inner workings of God. We are graciously given a peek into how the persons of the Trinity relate to each other in love. The persons of the Trinity honor each other and give to a degree beyond our understanding, yet we are invited to experience this love thanks to God’s self-giving generosity.^[4] For our purpose, this meaningful love is possible because of distinctions. Each person of the Trinity is revealed as a distinct manifestation of God, showing how His love is self-giving. To better understand how, read these chapters before moving on.

From this passage, we can see that there are three distinct Persons of the Trinity, and each functions in a distinct role relationally. Overall, we see Jesus credits the Father as the source and goal of everything. Specifically, He points out that the words He speaks belong to the Father and that it was the Father who sent Him (14:10). The Father cuts the branches and prunes those that produce fruit, and to the Father’s glory they bear fruit (15:8). Jesus points out that the Father gave Him the disciples, as everything Jesus has comes from the Father (17:7). It’s from the Father that Jesus received His work and for the Father’s sake that He’s finishing it (17:5). As God’s Son, He emphasizes that His task is to “do exactly what my Father has commanded me” (14:31). We see the distinction between the Father and Son while each works in their respective roles perfectly. The Father sends and supplies; the Son obeys and accomplishes.

The Holy Spirit is the means by which this is accomplished. He is distinct from the Father and the Son in that He functions as the “advocate” and the “spirit of truth” (15:26). His purpose is to “remind” the disciples of the teaching Jesus gave. His work is different but in tandem with the Father and Son, as is consistent in the rest of scripture, where the Spirit is at creation, gives words to prophets, conceives the Son, is at Jesus’s baptism, is the source of Jesus’s ability to do miracles, and more. Some would go so far as to say the Spirit is the very love and glory of God, and is the bonding means between the Father and the Son.^[5]

From this brief passage, we can see that the distinction of each Person in the Trinity works in a perfect complementary relationship. There is no conflict among the Persons; nothing is missing, and everything each does fulfills His role and affirms the others. Moreover, each Person is not simply operating as a mechanical object; each pursues the others in a self-giving way. The Father lovingly provides all that Jesus needs. Jesus’s obedience is love for the Father, and the Spirit mediates this complementary relationship in love.

To tie it back to our model, each Person functions perfectly according to His nature and perfectly fulfills His purpose, so that in the Trinity there is perfect belonging, and God constantly experiences and creates life’s meaning.

 

Unity and the Trinity

The three Persons are distinctly different, and the three are One. In John 14:8, the apostle Phillip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” Elsewhere, Jesus claimed to be equal to the Father: “I and the Father are one” (John 10:38), and “before Abraham was, I AM,” an obvious statement of his divinity for which His accusers killed him. He also equates Himself, the Father, and the Spirit, saying the Father will send another advocate. “I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you” (v18).^[6]

Notice the distinct three interacting as One as He shares His love with us in Paul’s letter to the Romans 8:10-11,

“ And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God [the Father] raised Christ Jesus from the dead, He [the Father] will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.” (Italics mine)

In the passage above, each person of the Trinity expresses love either as the Father (in giving), the Son (in receiving), or the Spirit (in raising). But it is the same love in all three. This is true of every attribute of God, whether it is patience, justice, etc. So, within the Triune God, we have distinction and unity in their purest, most potent expression.^[7] In this case, our salvation and hope are a collaboration of the Triune God to bring us into His love. We as humans can experience a privilege not given to anything else in creation.

Watching Our Step

^[8]

We are often drawn to trying to figure out God as a concept, which can lead us into false beliefs. Here are some things to consider when contemplating the Trinity. One important thing that separates the Triune God from other things, like the redwoods, our relationships with everything, and with other people, is the connection between distinction and unity. In the created world, unity is a product of distinct things (or people) functioning in complementary relationships. Imagine puzzle pieces with their distinct shapes. Unity only comes when the pieces fit together according to their proper shapes. Not so with God. The state of being three in one is eternal, so that the Father is always the Father, the Son is always the Son, and the Spirit is always the Spirit,^[9] and at the same time, “The Lord is the Father, is the Son, and also is the Spirit.”^{[10] [11]} Each Person is a distinct disclosure of the Eternal One’s divine essence.^[12] So it’s like each puzzle piece is separate while also united at the same time, and not really pieces at all, but one complete picture. This is because each person is fully God, and the fullness of God, disclosed distinctly in that person.^[13]

Rather confusing, right? This is why it doesn’t work to use metaphors from creation to describe God, such as a three-leaf clover, an egg with three parts, or even the human psyche. Even though everything in creation is distinct because God is distinct, and can unite because God is united, nothing accomplishes this to the absolute degree that God does.  But if the Trinity is the source of distinction and unity, what this means for creation and for us is that things were made distinctly different, made to function a certain way, so that they lead to complementary relationships. When things relate in this way, they belong. This is modeled after the Trinity so that when something functions according to its design and relates well to its context, it reflects God’s excellence.

His Self-Giving Love

At the personal level, this gets very deep. Is it possible for someone to love if they are completely alone? No, of course, love is only possible because we interact in complementary relationships with an “other.” Think of the movie Cast Away, where the main character personifies a volleyball to be his friend, “Wilson.” He has conversations with Wilson and even argues with Him. Why? Alone on an Island, he needed an “other” to compare himself against and relate to.

In the Trinity, there are three Persons, which means God constantly, thoroughly, and perfectly interacts within Himself. The Son constantly receives from the Father so that His position of Son is constantly affirmed. The Son affirms the Father’s position, and the Spirit’s interaction between the two affirms His place. And this gets even richer when we add collaboration. The Son and Spirit work together to accomplish the Father’s work He assigns. The Father and Spirit raise Jesus from the dead. And the Son and Father collaborate to send the Spirit for His believers.^[14] The relational dynamic is only possible because the Trinity is a diverse community of “others” that enables loving relationships. All relationships in creation, especially human relationships, are modeled on this rich Trinitarian reality.

Thanks to these distinct differences, God can act in constant reciprocal love within Himself. And this reciprocal love is complete, so that no person of the Trinity is hidden from the others. There is no need to hide, no threat, and no inadequacy or failure. God is constantly and perfectly experiencing the most potent form of belonging possible in mutually affirming love.

Let’s back up and ask: if the Triune God constantly enjoys this meaningful relationship and has no need, why create other beings? Maybe the answer lies in the question. If His act of creation comes from this enjoyment and exuberance of wanting to share love, creating beings to love is just more of His completion and desire to share Himself, which ultimately glorifies Him.

In light of this, God set out to create these new creatures. But how could He go about this? They couldn’t exist equally in the Trinity; that would be a contradiction. A created fourth person would not be equal to the uncreated other three. No, God would need to create this new and unique type of creature outside of Himself. The new creature would be able to experience the love that exists in the Trinity, but he would also need his own environment, distinct from the divine realm emanating from God. And this new type of environment would need to be more than just a bland, nebulous existence. It would require numerous distinct elements to draw out and support the complementary trinitarian and divine-human relationship, enabling them to experience His resplendent love.

So, God made a garden.

 

Study

Chapter 2

Think and Talk:

• What about this discussion on the Trinity confused or surprised you?

 

• In what ways do you see the Triune God disclosed as three and as One? Do you more often think of God as three persons or one?

 

Read and reflect:

“All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.” (John 14:23)

“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love.” (John 15:9)

• According to these passages, what type of love do we share with God?

Act:

• How might the Trinitarian love relationship inspire and enable you in the ways you pray, read, and interact with others?

Chapter 3

The Garden

“For, indeed, everything about is marvelous, and wherever a man turns his gaze

he sees the Godhead of the Word and is smitten with awe.”

• Athanasius

 

Once camping alone in the redwoods of Redwood National Park, I woke up in the middle of the night, the full moon invading my peaceful sleep. I was quick to leave my warm sleeping bag and tent, though, when I saw that the campsite had been transformed into a sort of enchanted land, silent and illuminated. The moonlight pierced through the trees, creating its own columns that shot to the ground. So clear were the distinctions between the milky moonlight and the shade that I could extend my arm into both and see the line that separated them. I continued looking around, knowing this moment was temporary, trying to soak in every observation I could make about how this light from space transformed dirt and trees into a monochrome wonderland.

Eventually, the cold seeped in, and I was forced back into my sleeping bag. I remember feeling sad as I fell asleep, not because I could no longer experience it, but because I could no longer share it. It was as if the entire universe—stars, moon, chemistry, nature, and God Himself—conspired to create this inspiring moment. More people should have seen it, I thought. It wasn’t fair that such beauty could go so unappreciated.

What would it be like to exist in a place like this and be able to share it with others forever? Is it possible to create this type of world for ourselves? I believe most people wonder about this because it was planted in us, and is the purpose for which we were made. Humanity knew it once in the garden, and it seems to echo within us: each meaningful experience a reminder that it’s still possible, and each failure a confirmation that it’s still beyond reach.

In that moment I experienced the beauty of the moonlight, I felt both a satisfaction that drew me to awe and a yearning that couldn’t be filled because it had ended. I wanted to experience life like this forever and to share it with others who would be inspired too. I believe God knows this yearning and can satisfy it. We were created to experience constant awe and to share it with others, especially Him. In fact, He takes joy in our joy of being in awe of Him and sharing His loving communion with others who feel the same.

The Genesis account shows that God created an entire universe to bring us meaningful belonging and fellowship with the One who is made of love. The Triune God, with His distinctions and unity, will serve as a model for everything He creates. Billions of distinct things will be made with their own distinct nature and purpose, and they will function in complementary relationships with many other things. Humans will be created with their own distinct nature, which will interact with all of these things and with one another. Together, everyone will enjoy fellowship with the Triune God, and all things will facilitate that fellowship.

The phrase “form follows function” is familiar. It means that something is built with its purpose in mind. When an engineer designs a gadget, he thinks first about what it’s meant to do (function), then designs it to accomplish this. When we see the gadget online or in the store, we might first notice its form and, from that, infer what it does. In creation, God is the Great Engineer who starts with purpose and designs creation to function accordingly. The complexity, variety, beauty, precision, and functionality of the universe are exactly what you would expect from an astonishingly brilliant God who creates all things purposefully. The opening verses of Genesis tell us that creation has its source in God. There’s no war, the earth was not born from violence, created creatures did not make it, and it did not emerge from the multiverse or something else. In the first two verses, we have God’s action and presence. God created, and His Spirit hovered.

Our first glimpse of existence is that it has no distinction. It was “formless”, “empty,” and “dark.” There were no distinct things or people that could interact. It had no purpose or meaning. To counter this meaningless existence, the Triune God, who experiences purpose and meaning constantly, immediately said to the meaningless chaos, “Let there be light” (v. 3).

 

The First Day

Immediately, “there was light” (Gen. 1:3). Some say the obedience of light to God’s command shows that He is Lord. From light’s first glimmer to its furthest reaches in the universe, it testifies that it is God who is Lord over creation. From this point on, into eternity, everything and everyone that obeys God will be in the “light.” Everything that doesn’t will exist in “darkness.”

There is much discussion about whether Genesis presents a creation story that aligns with modern physicists’ understanding of light, or whether it describes day-age theory or a literal seven-day creation.^[15] These discussions are important, but they miss the intended point. The creation story in Genesis was not written to satisfy our modern needs to know the material cause of things. It was written to show us that God is the source of something even greater: purpose. Genesis wasn’t written to tell us what we are made of, but why we were made. This takes us beyond mere explanations of existence to help us understand our value and worth as humans, and how we can have meaning.

Verse 4 reinforces this when it says, “and God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.” With every other distinction God creates, He calls it good after it is created, but he calls light good before He separates it from darkness. Why is this? The beginning point of the first purposeful distinction is God himself. Unlike the rest of the creation story, where He changes existing ingredients, light emerged directly from the will of God when He spoke it into existence. Light is good because it is from Him, and this light is God’s first purpose for creation.

God “separated” it from the darkness, then afterward, “there was evening, and there was morning, the first day.” This purposeful-good-light became the first day, which means the first distinct sphere of existence is time. Remember, God needed a separate environment for this new creature. Time is the first aspect of this new environment. It is the sphere in which all other distinctions will exist. As God continues to build this new environment, He has a purpose in mind for each one and an ultimate purpose for all of them.  And by design, they will all function for that purpose.

 

The Second Day

When you read verses 1:6-8, you might get the impression that the author is really trying hard to get something across. More so than any other day, it is emphasized that God separated the water, that purposeless, meaningless chaos, from verse 2. Separated is repeated, and then again, it’s emphasized that some water is over the expanse and some under. Why so emphatic?

The author wants us to know the most important thing: The weather in the sky is from God, and its purpose is from Him. He alone has given purpose to the chaos. Rain is not sent from Baal, and the waters above were not made from violence.^[16] People in ancient times had an antagonistic relationship with the weather, as even a single bad harvest could ruin lives, communities, and even entire nations. But God wants us to know that he created the weather and did so caringly. It was originally meant to be a service to all the things that would exist in this newly created sphere, which would rely on it for life.

So why, then, does God not call this day good like all the others?  Day two is about anticipation.^[17] The good of day two will be included with day three once the purpose of the weather is shown in day three. By itself, it’s important, but its real purpose is in how it interacts with the other distinct things God is going to make. It’s what the weather does, not what it is, that makes it good.

 

The Third Day

God continues His separation by making “dry land appear” and gathering the water into the sea. Now, in addition to time, a second sphere has been created, space. And within that space, there are three distinct spheres: sky, land, and sea. Within each of these will be even more distinct living things. So, the sky and its weather, the sea, and the land were designed for the purpose of interacting in a complementary relationship to support life.

If we could watch it on video, we might see the camera swooping through fields and hills as the brown, grey, and blue earth explodes in color, from lichen to flowers to redwoods, an explosion of variety coated the earth. This first form of life, plants, would be the food for all other forms of life to come later, too. Notice that their seeds and fruit are specifically mentioned, emphasizing that these are not just ornamental plants or ones that only herbivores would eat, but that they produce food. God is the origin of a functional planet that interacts with those beings yet to be created. This day demonstrates that God is the source of agriculture and the provider of the needs of animals and humans.

This creation of life was just the beginning of a planet that was no longer dead. God intended that, from that moment on, His speaking of life would echo on earth trillions of times, as each plant, and later animal, insect, and finally human, would perpetuate His call. For all of its existence, Earth would be an echo chamber of God’s voice to live. And so again, God has reason to call it “good.”

 

The Fourth Day

The luminaries, starting with the sun, then the moon, then the stars, are all given a named purpose by God: to separate the day from the night, provide light, and to provide “signs and for seasons, days and years.” These purposes revolve around human life in two important ways. First, they create a calendar of days and years to create order. The sphere of time is then broken into many distinct spheres of days. The second is cultural development. “Days and years” refers to the seasonal festivals and celebrations that give purpose to the spheres of time. The account avoids naming the stars and strongly emphasizes that, although they hang in the vast emptiness of space, they “give light to the earth” (v. 17). They are not gods; they are not eternal; rather, they were created by the eternal God. This day shows that earth is the focal point of the universe–that all of creation finds its purpose in something great that is happening on this planet.

 

Days Five and Six

Some of God’s anticipatory acts of creating a space for life are finally fulfilled on days five and six. Animals of every kind are created to fill the three distinct spheres of sea, sky, and land. The palette of colors expands, and the business of the world increases now that life is mobile. God’s echoing call of life grows as animals are given the ability to reproduce “according to their kinds.” This is probably why he blesses the animals of the sky and sea before he makes them–their ability to reproduce and create more life is a privilege, a blessing bestowed by a life-giving God.

The animals of the sky, land, and sea are anticipatory as well. They are the finishing touches on a world of complexity and beauty that work in harmony. Though still, even with the wonderful level of life the animal kingdom brings, there are yet no conscious beings capable of willfully answering God’s call. Everything up until now is obedient to God’s power as Creator and acts according to instinct. Though their diversity is great and beautiful, and makes a unity that is “massive,” as Dorothy Sayers put it,^[18] they’re all still made in anticipation of God’s crowning jewel.

Finally, the anticipatory acts of creation culminate in God’s magnum opus, humanity. For the first five days, God created more and more distinctions that started with the biggest and reached a point of diversity that there are now, at the creation of humanity, seemingly countless distinct things. With all of its beauty and complementary interaction, reality was made the ideal sphere in which to place God’s most prized creature.

The beginning of the creation of humanity starts with a plural, “Let us make man in our image.” Scholars have vigorously debated the meaning of this, and you can see why. Does “us” refer to the Trinity? Other gods? God’s counsel? Scholars are divided, but I believe it’s probably the first option. ^[19] God created humanity in His image to have “the capacity to reflect the attributes of the one represented and act on his behalf.”^[20] Meaning, God created human beings to reflect His image and be like Him in the way they act in “love, faithfulness, justice, wisdom, etc.”^[21] or as Grudem said, to “mirror His own excellence.”^[22]

We see that this is accomplished by distinctions. Each person is a distinct individual in the sense that they are equally made in the image of God. The Bible affirms this when it says, “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him…” If God had created the entire race at once, each individual would merely be a part of the whole. The starting point for identity, value, function, purpose, belonging, and meaning is God for each individual. Since each person traces his or her origin to the breath of God, each person has equal dignity and purpose.^[23]

We also know that God is both diverse and unified, and so being made in the image of God means that humanity is both diverse and unified. Just as distinctly different Persons are needed for community in the Trinity, so it is with humanity. Verse 1:27 continues, “male and female he created them.” Humanity is defined by two distinct sexes, male and female. The two distinct sexes are a form of diversity that makes community possible. When the two are united through the multiple avenues that God provides, then that diversity is unified in complementary relationships, and they live out their purpose and meaning, reflecting the excellence of the Triune God as they were designed.

 

Day Seven

We might be tempted to see the seventh day as a resolution, like after the climax of a movie. This probably stems from the belief that humanity was the pinnacle of creation. The new creatures may be the magnum opus of the unfolding of distinctions, but we are not the ultimate purpose.

The seventh day shows us the ultimate purpose for which all of creation exists: it is a sanctuary for God to dwell and to love His people. The creation story is like God building a house with all of its complexity and stages along the way. When He is finally finished on day six, he stands back, perhaps with a smile and a nod and says, “very good.” The seventh day is the day He enters the house to live in and enjoy. Except instead of a house, it’s a garden, and when he enters it, He’s not alone. His new creatures are there, and they get to enjoy His new garden with Him. All of the things He lovingly made communicate this love, and moving in means He gets to see the first couple enjoy them, just as they were purposed.

Notice that there was no “evening, morning” after the creation of the seventh day. Did God forget to close it off so the earth could get back to work on Sunday (their “Monday”)? Unlike the other days when God finished creating according to their purpose, there is no end to the sabbath. The seventh day was left open because for the rest of their existence, Adam and Eve, and all of their children and descendants, could enjoy God’s love in His creation forever. God intended to live with his creatures in the status of “very good” forever. The seventh day was the day God’s new creatures would live in the knowledge and experience that time and space are from God, that He is the Designer and the One who gave all things purpose. They could have lived forever, experiencing God’s resplendent love without interruption. There is no evening and morning because this experience was never supposed to end.

This is very important when we think about purpose and meaning. We are constantly striving, as a society and as a species, to find purpose and meaning in our lives. Sometimes people find it. Many times, people don’t. Many strive their whole lives to get what they think it is only to find out they were mistaken. Most people I know feel there is a lack. Sometimes they can name it, other times they just can’t seem to put their finger on it. What is our purpose? The seventh day gives us our answer: We were purposefully designed to belong in fellowship with God Himself, immersed in all the things He made to facilitate that relationship so that we could constantly enjoy His love. I believe this was the ultimate form of belonging, in which the best experience of meaning was known.

What would it have been like to live in this every day? The state of this existence is hard to imagine, a testament to our fallen nature. But we are given some descriptions which we will explore next.

 

Study

Chapter 3

 

Think and talk:

• What is one aspect of the creation story that jumped out to you? How does the concept of God’s creation bringing us into awe of Him resonate with you?

 

• Toward the end of the chapter, the ultimate purpose for humanity is revealed. What is your response to this?

 

Read and reflect:

Psalm 19 speaks of nature as a declaration of God’s beautiful craftsmanship:

“The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display his craftsmanship.
 Day after day they continue to speak;
night after night they make him known.
 They speak without a sound or word;
their voice is never heard.
 Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
and their words to all the world.

Whether it’s the Psalmist, preachers like St. Francis of Assisi, astronomers like Johannes Kepler, Physicists like Isaac Newton, or nature writers, their words continue to connect us to God. Newton believed science was a portal to God’s mind. He echoes Paul in Roman’s 1:20, “For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities.”

• In what ways do you see nature revealing one of God’s “invisible qualities, his eternal power” or “divine nature”?

 

Act:

• How can you treat everyone and everything around you differently in light of God’s purpose for it all?

 

 

[1] We will be switching between “everything” and “all things” throughout. They basically mean the same thing. “Everything” focuses on unity while “all things” focuses on the individuals. This is why we would say “everything is meaningful” and “all things are meaningful.”

[2] I included the article, “On Aristotle and Purpose” at the end for more on this.

[3] Mission Congress, Italy, Our Grand Obligation, June 3^rd, 2016

[4] Michael Reeves “Delighting in the Trinity” is a good introduction to the Trinity and is the source for this term. Reeves, Christopher, Delighting in the Trinity, (InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Ill, 2012).

[5] See B.A. Bosserman’s interpretation of Van Til for more on the persons of the Trinity. Bosserman, B.A., “The Trinity and the Vindication of Christian Paradox”, (Wipf and Stock Publications, Eugene, Or, 2014)

[6] For more see these verses where it is The Spirit of Christ. This is important because the Spirit proceeds from the Father. Acts 16:6-7; Romans 8:9-10; 1 Peter 1:10-11

[7] Bosserman, 88-89

[9] Against Modalism, that says God was the Father then the Son then the Spirit.

[10] Frame, John, Systematic Theology, An Introduction to Christian Belief (P&R Publishing, Phillipsburg, New Jersey, 2013) 692 (Emphasis his).

[11] Against Tritheism that says each person is a separate God united by a fourth means.

[12] Also note, the Divine essence is not some fourth thing that contributes to the person, nor is it split among the three. The three are as much united as One as distinctly three.

[13] Against Partialism that says each person is 1/3 of God.

[14] This is a historical argument called “filioque clause” and though it is too much to plumb here, we affirm that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son instead of just the Father.

[15] Though not the main point, much work has been done to reveal how the making of the material world glorifies God and scientifically affirms His design. See Creator and the Cosmos by Hugh Ross and Signature in the Cell by Stephen C. Meyer.

[16] As in the story in the Enuma Elish when Taimet is torn in two and split into waters above and below.

[17] Hamilton, Victor, The Book of Genesis, New International Commentary on the Old Testamen (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids Michigan, 1990, p.124

 

[18] “The vital power of an imaginative work demands a diversity within its unity; and the stronger the diversity, the more massive the unity.” Sayers, Dorothy, The Mind of the Maker, (Harper Collins, New York, NY, 1941) p. 53

[19] Dr. Micheal Heiser, “Unseen Realm” makes the case it’s a reference to God’s council.

[20] Walton, John H., Genesis: NIV Application Commentary (NIVAC) (Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2001) p. 131.

[21] Ibid.

[22] Grudem, Wayne, Systematic Theology, (Intervarsity Press and Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, 1994) p.218

[23] For a comparison to other religions see my article “The biblical Creation Story Compared to other Religions” in “Further Reflections.”