Read Romans 8:18–23, Isaiah 11, and Psalm 104.
The third relationship marred by sin that God wants to restore is between us and creation, which includes our physical environment and the creatures that inhabit it. This renewal is subject to and dependent upon restoration of the other two relationships we explored previously: our relationship with God and with each other. Isaiah chapter 11 describes our relationship to creation once the Lord Jesus Christ, the Branch from Jesse who bears the seven Spirits of God, returns to reign. We see that Jesus will establish justice (vs. 3–4), followed by peace among all living creatures.
God is eternally dedicated to a physical earth, and He will renew it once and for all (2 Peter 3:13). But Scripture teaches that our own renewal is key:
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies (Rom. 8:18–23).
As we’ve already discussed, mankind was given authority over the earth and everything in it. We are called to restore creation, but the environment over which we have authority is not just natural. Our spheres of authority also include our homes, workplaces, schools, and communities.
In the summer of 2002, three newly minted college grads and future founders of Love Justice International traveled to Nepal in search of two things: adventures hiking in the Himalayas and opportunities to volunteer with an NGO. They found both, but they were also faced with injustice on a scale they hadn’t seen before and discovered a calling that still compels the organization they started.
While volunteering in Kathmandu, these young men began working with and ministering to the scores of young, homeless orphans who lived on the streets. These children, through no action or misdeed of their own, were left without family, abandoned by society, and forced to navigate a violent world in search of survival at an age when most children are learning the rules of the playground.
There is a hierarchy to injustice; some injustices are more severe than others. But by any reckoning, children abandoned on the streets and left to fend for themselves is among the worst. There is no way this scene was included in God’s perfect, untarnished original design.
God’s kingdom is characterized by order, beauty, and abundance.4 Our sin yields the opposite: chaos, ugliness, and scarcity. Street children face injustice at multiple levels: chaos from the loss of parental guidance, ugliness from a society that is too self-centered or disinterested to provide care, and the scarcity of poverty driven by humanity’s constant struggle over limited resources.
God’s plan for justice in the midst of this was our Children’s Homes, places where orphaned children would be cared for at every level—physical, emotional, spiritual, and educational—by moms and dads who love the Lord and love each other. Our Children’s Homes don’t just distribute resources to people in need; our vision is to establish shalom in a particular place. And everywhere our influence spreads, we seek to secure shalom for new families of children. We’ve purchased barren ground and built vibrant homes, and God has returned that patch of earth to life. By the grace of God, we now support 17 Children’s Homes in 3 countries providing peace for 212 children. The name of our most recent home is “Shalom House.”
4To explore these and related ideas, read Futureville by Skye Jethani.
Sweet Jesus,
