Assignment: Christian biblical narrative
Assignment: Christian biblical narrative
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What do the four parts of the Christian biblical narrative (i.e., creation, fall, redemption, and restoration) say about the nature of God and of reality in relation to the reality of sickness and disease? From where would one find comfort and hope in the light of illness according to this narrative? Explain in detail each part of the narrative above and analyze the implications.
The Christian biblical narrative creation, fall, redemption, and restoration describe the nature of God and of reality in relation to the reality of sickness and disease.
Creation: In creation, God created the earth and man in his own image. The earth was made for man to thrive on by being loving, kind, peaceful according to the Lord’s purpose by glorifying him. Earth was full of God’s glory and peace, heavenly peace in which everything worked according to God’s will and every creature lived in peace forever.
Fall: In the fall, Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s promises by not abiding by God’s ways. They fell because they were made of flesh and represented all of mankind and their sinful action affects all of us today. We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. This behavior opened us up to physical and spiritual death.
Redemption: In the redemption, God our heavenly father and redeemer sent his only son Jesus Christ to come and die for our sins. He saw what the wrath of sin was causing for the world. There was hate, killings, stealing, wars, so much evil and suffering that he had to redeem the earth. So he had a major plan through his only begotten son Jesus Christ whom he sent to revive the world by dying for our sins and on the third day he rose again and ascended into heaven.
Restoration: According to the scripture, God is coming back to restore the world from all the sin and evil. The glorious future will be that God will come back to earth and judge the living and the dead of all their sins and guide in righteousness and peace. God will completely eradicate evil and sin from all of the earth.
One would find comfort and hope in the light of illness according to this narrative in all four parts of the narrative because according to Shelly & Miller, (2006), “The concept begins in Genesis 1:26: Then God said, Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth”. For us to be made in God’s image we must live according to the scripture and finding our life’s purpose. We have to walk the Lord’s path by loving our neighbors as ourselves, being kind to one another, caring, giving, sharing and reflect these qualities of our Creator. God has equipped every one of us with these qualities; it is for us to live by it according to his word. As Christians, our relationship with God being made in his own image is the main purpose of our existence. For us to seek comfort and hope during illness we have to appreciate and understand the nature of sin after creation in the Biblical narrative of the fall. Through the behavior of Adam and Eve, we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God which is why we are exposed to earthly effects such as disease and illness. But in redemption, which gives us hope. God had a master plan where he sent his only begotten son Jesus Christ to come and die for our sins which free us up from earthly wrath if we are obedient to his word, abide by his way and believe that by his blood and stripes, we can be saved and healed according to his promises.
Healing begins through understanding, believing and accepting the word of God and the consequences of sin and its pitfalls and also how Christ came to earth to die for our sins in other to restore the relationship between God and us to make us whole. During disease and illness, God is present and his wisdom at work even though we tend to feel that we are being neglected. That should give us courage during times of troubles and difficulties just like in restoration. The occurrences in life can be difficult to comprehend at times but according to his word faith comes to play by believing in God’s promises which we have control over. Illness and suffering are penalties of the fall as Adam and Eve disobeyed God because they eat the forbidden fruit from the serpent instead of abiding by the word of God, leading to doubt of God.
