I recently had the opportunity for a second year to give a series of presentations about the glory of God revealed in His world at a Christian camp in Kentucky. For one of my talks I spoke about the fact that, as Romans 8 puts it, "all creation groans" as a result of sin in the world. One of the campers remarked that she believed the bad things in the world today are God's punishment for our sin. While there are arguably some instances of this type of event recorded in scripture, I think that for the most part the brokenness of our world is simply the natural consequences of humankind's failure to "use only as directed."
What do I mean? I won't pretend to know for sure whether or not spiderwebs trapped freshly emerged dragonflies in the Garden of Eden, but I doubt it. I am confident however that there were no category 4 hurricanes, destructive earthquakes, brain cancer etc. in the perfect world; that the world described by God in Genesis 1 six times as being "good" and once as being "very good" fully reflected the goodness of God to His satisfaction, and that a world so beautiful, so intricate, so amazingly wonderful in its reflection of the goodness of God would of a necessity be shattered by the act of disobedience we read of in Genesis 3. I like the analogy of a broken mirror: there is still a reflection of the goodness and glory of God in the broken pieces of creation, but it is now fragmentary, and there is much there that does not belong.
I find great joy, however, in the promises of God that what has been broken will be made whole. The creation will once again perfectly reflect the glory and goodness of God. The Bible promises a "new heaven and a new earth" and Isaiah 11 speaks of a healing of creation such that "the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all." And while we who are followers of Christ rightfully rejoice in our personal restoration through His death and resurrection, it is also clear in Colossians 1 that "everything was created through him and for him" and that "through him God reconciled everything to himself" (vv. 16 and 20). God's work of redemption through Christ is intended for all of creation. Yes, as in the Garden, we who were given free will must make the choice to receive His provision-- as He did not violate the free will He gave us there He does not violate it now. We humans will not be saved against our will; thus the clear invitations to repentance and belief throughout scripture. For those who believe though, we too are made new:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come."
II Corinthians 5:17
