Whether we acknowledge it or not, our life's story is defined by God's story (the one He's been working out since the beginning of time). God is at work around us. We can deny this but we can never get away from it! And so if we want to understand our lives then we need to understand God's meta-narrative (that is, the BIG story that God is working out that explains everything). So what is God's meta-narrative? Well you don't have to go far in the Bible to find it...The Bible begins by framing it up. (Hint...Hint...I think God's subtly implying that it's important that we understand it!)
Genesis 1 makes it abundantly clear that everything God created in the beginning was GOOD (in fact he emphasizes this seven times over). The author also makes it clear that man's role in God's creation is to rule over the earth (the land, sea, and sky) by preserving and multiplying God's GOOD created order. Part of this task involved GUARDING the tree of the knowledge of good and bad and NOT EATING its fruit. But Adam and Eve rebelled against God and ate from the tree. This changed everything...and I mean everything!
But how are we to understand the tree of the knowledge of good and bad? Did the fruit from this tree, if ingested, give people the knowledge to discern moral right from moral wrong? Did Adam and Eve not know right from wrong before they ate the fruit? Some people think so. But I'm not sure that's the best explanation. Why? Well in the Hebrew language, 'knowledge' does not just refer to book smarts but it refers more specifically to street smarts, i.e. knowledge gained through experience. And so from the Hebrew perspective you don't really 'know' something unless you've experienced it. And so maybe the tree is better referred to as 'the tree of the experience of good and bad'.
So what specifically did Adam and Eve experience after they ate from the tree? Shame...Pain...Separation...Curses...more simply put, Adam and Eve experienced a bunch of BAD stuff. But these BAD things were not necessarily morally BAD (or evil). I mean are 'birthing pains' morally BAD? No. They're just plain BAD. Is 'painful toil' morally BAD? No. It's just BAD. In fact, in the Hebrew of Genesis 2:17 and 3:16-17 the author uses a play on words to remove any confusion about the nature of this tree. The author indicates that from the ETZ (tree) came ETZev (pain). And so by eating from the tree, BAD things were mixed into God's GOOD creation. Death, disease, violence, hatred, jealousy, slander, gossip, natural disasters, poverty, and spiritual warfare now became a part of humanity's everyday experiences. And not only this, but Adam and Eve were also expelled from the garden of Eden where God's presence resided. And so now humanity has lost its relational connection to God! Humanity now suffers from a spiritual death!
But all hope is not lost! We learn in Genesis 3:15 that one of the woman's offspring will strike a death blow to the serpent (Satan) but only after he is bruised and injured by the serpent. Who do you think the woman's offspring is referring to? JESUS, of course. It's no wonder that this passage is often spoken of as the proto-evangalion or the first gospel. The work of Jesus is to strike down the BAD in this world and restore and redeem creation back to God. Jesus accomplished phase one of this mission through his death, resurrection, and the sending of the Spirit. The final phase is yet to come. But in the meantime, what are Christ followers to do? JOIN Jesus' mission. After all, Jesus didn't give his followers the power source of the Holy Spirit so they would sit around and wait for Jesus to return while eating a potluck dinner!
But how do we engage in this mission? Simple, we look to Jesus' life and example and follow him. Jesus demonstrated through his life that he was about the business of reestablishing God's rule in this world (a.k.a. God's kingdom) by restoring the GOOD order back to God's creation. Jesus clued people into this, first of all, through his miracles: he healed the sick, he tamed out-of-control storms, he cast out demons, and he raised the dead. By doing these things Jesus showed that he was the true messiah who could reverse the curses of Genesis. And believe it or not, Jesus gave his disciples the same authority to do miracles so they were able to follow his example in this way.
But let's say you don't believe that miracles are for today (often referred to by theologians as a cessationalist). No problem. You can still engage in Jesus' mission of restoring good back to God's creation by living out Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. What does this look like? For beginners you can demonstrate love to the brutal and unloving world that you find yourself in. By loving your enemies you can stop the cycle of retaliation that is destroying our world. (And let me tell you, the ability to love your enemy is a miracle in my opinion.) Jesus wants his followers to be salt and light!
Finally (and most importantly in my opinion), you can reconnect people back to God by introducing them to Jesus so that their lives can be restored under God's rule and design for living. Jesus gave his followers the Great Commission because he wants to expand God's kingdom by renewing and restoring people's lives!
Bottom line, God doesn't just want us to KNOW a Biblical worldview, he wants us to LIVE a Biblical worldview. We'll only be able to do this if God's meta-narrative is driving our Biblical worldview. This is because the meta-narrative gives significance to everything. HISTORY...God is working out his plan to overcome BAD in this world...Join Him! ANTHROPOLOGY...People are in need of restoration and God wants to restore them...Join Him! MORALITY...People need to live by God's good design for life because God wants to overcome evil with good in this world...Join Him! SCIENCE...God created everything and, therefore, has the right to be king over the lives of his creation (that's you and me)...Join Him! You get the picture hopefully. A Biblical worldview (with God's meta-narrative clearly spelled out) should drive a person to find themselves and everything they do in God's story. Are you finding your identity in God's story? I hope so because whether you acknowledge it or not, your life story is being defined by God's story!
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