Ben Gatrelle

"And God looked around
On all that he had made...
With all its living things,
And God said: I'm lonely still...
Til he thought: I'll make me a man!"
-- from "The Creation" poem by James Weldon Johnson

      Before time, before anything that is or was or will be, was God. He existed without beginning, without end, all sufficient, all in all. And out of this solitude, God created the heavens - his throne room. Beasts of heaven, with wings, faces, bodies made to bow, breath given to praise. Angels of light, endowed with thought, and freedom, the servants of the almighty. For an eternity the beasts of heaven praise, and the angels choose to serve. And yet in all the hosts of heaven God could find no suitable companion. There was no one with whom He could share his throne. The beasts fulfill their created role. The angels choose to serve or to rebel. God longed for someone like himself, made in his image, someone to know him even as he is known, someone with the will to choose to love or not to love.

      God created the earth and formed man out of the dust of the ground in his own image, and breathed his own breath into this man, endued him with the capacity to love. And man breathed deeply of the breath of God and became a living soul. But it was not good. It was not good that man was alone. So God brought to him all the beast of the earth that had been created for their purpose, to live and multiply, and fill the earth. Among all these the man searched for a kindred spirit. He named them, tamed them, had dominion over them, but in all these there was no one suitable found for him to share his life with, no one to love. And like God before him, the man was lonely.

      So God put him in a deep sleep and formed a suitable companion for him, like unto himself, indeed flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone. And God took what he had made of one physical entity, two separate individuals, and spiritually joined them together again as one, as husband and wife. And God walked with them.

      But their will to choose to love was soon put to the test, and they chose the love of self over the love of God. They sinned. Yet God remained faithful. He made a new covenant with them, in blood, and covered their shame. He made a way where there was no way. He promised that one day he would do more than just sacrifice an animal to cover their shame but would one day provide a perfect sacrifice that would be so much greater, that would not just cover their shame but would take it away altogether.

      A holy, perfect God, in whom is no selfishness, no variableness, no shadow of turning, promised them that he would restore their relationship by providing himself a sacrifice. If they would only believe in this perfect sacrifice their fellowship with God could be restored again. If they would choose to love Him more than themselves he will come to them, lavish them with love, restore them, and give them everlasting life in his presence.