[Beaver Dam & Houses, 2009, JAVanDevender]
image taken near Bog River, NY.
"....and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Gen 1:28, NKJV).
If you look closely you can see two beaver huts just prior to the tree line near the center of the image. Stopping along the road, trying to shield the camera lens from the drizzling rain and, with even more difficulty, attempting to stablize the camera in the freezing wind, I had to grit my teeth to finally get a workable image. But I'm glad I did. Those beavers had done a beautiful thing, taking a marshy stream bed and transforming an entire meadow into a life sustaining haven for all kinds of creatures. And on top of that, they made it beautiful.
I think there's something to glean from that idea. Those beavers didn't go around making alot of noise about what they were doing. They just started work where they were placed, grunted and groaned in hauling their logs, fought off the foxes and the hawks, went to sleep when they were exhausted and then got up the next day and did it again. And, in God's good time, a lot of change had been made. Why aren't we Christians more like that?
I recently was given a copy of a sermon preached by B. M. Palmer many years ago. It's entitled The Transforming Power of the Gospel. In that sermon Palmer asked two very good questions: "What would be the effect on the world if all men were sincere Christians? and on the other hand, "What would be the effect upon the world if all men were consistent infidels?" Those are good questions to ponder.
I think the answer to the last question is easier for us to envision. We look around us and we have all too much evidence of what those who are, in fact, consistent infidels have produced. Extend that to all men and you pretty much have the world as it existed when Noah was building his ark. It's the other question that is more difficult.
I think it was G. K. Chesterton who once said that "Christianity has not been tried and found wanting, rather, Christianity has been found difficult and never tried." There's some truth there. If we Christians really embraced the power of the Gospel, the transformed reality of our regenerate humanity, the potential that is inherent in the promised Holy Spirit, and set our eyes to see the world around us in terms of the mandate given in Genesis 1:28 (quoted above), I think there is an awful lot of change that we not only could, but absolutely would make. Think of the impact on our culture if that huge percentage of our society that professed Christ, actually came to grips with what it means to be a Christian.
Think of the impact of our social order, on the institutions we have so complacently handed over to Satan as well as on the selfish materialism which rules our economy and seals us unto an overly prideful competition. Think of how millions of Christians, laboring in concert, dedicated to the Kingdom of God and mindful of its righteousness, could transform the marshy, unhealthy, vile smelling mud hole that presently kills our spirit and perpetuates our sin, into something far more beautiful... far more healthy... far more conducive to Christ's Spirit.
Do I believe that a truly Christian social order can exist at any given time prior to the Lord's return? Yes and no. A self-perpetuating secular social order, even one that is founded on Christian principles and which truly reflects God's Presence, is not possible. Such a social order has to be continuously re-created, sometimes every day, certainly every generation. It does not automatically self-perpetuate. Satan's attacks are vehement and deadly. Our cry is always semper reformanda, "always reforming". But such a social order is in fact not only possible but commanded. It is called, in Scripture, the "ekklesia", the people of God, who as a Holy Nation, a Royal Priesthood, build within their community a beautiful testament to the power of Christ.
We need to stop selling the Holy Spirit short. His work is not just to the gaining of spiritual converts and sealing them to eternal bliss. His work is also and, in fact teleologically, purposefully, to the end of causing those converts to walk in the good works that God has ordained for all eternity for them to do (Eph. 2:10).
So, come on beavers, rise from you slumbers... there's work to do.
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