Utopia

In many cultures, societies, religions, and
cosmogonies, there is some myth or memory of a
distant past when humankind lived in a primitive
and simple state, but at the same time one of
perfect happiness and fulfillment. In those
days, the various myths tell us, there was an
instinctive harmony between man and nature.
Men's needs were few and their desires limited.
Both were easily satisfied by the abundance
provided by nature. Accordingly, there were no
motives whatsoever for war or oppression. Nor
was there any need for hard and painful work.
Humans were simple and pious, and felt
themselves close to the gods.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia

Hmmm. Nice try, but not the final destination of the Jesus Bus. Utopia exists only in the minds of men, it's nowhere to be found in scripture. Wikipedia says that utopia is the product of religious myth. Well, maybe there are religious myths that look toward the idea of utopia. But it's not a christian concept.


The most glaring error in the passage above is the distorted idea that ' a primitive and simple state' is at the same time 'one of perfect happiness and fulfillment'. Any effort to apply this line of reasoning to the Genesis account in scripture will not
work. This is not the original state of creation. The problem with this idea is that creation was not a simple and primitive state. It was a state of perfection, and the most highly advanced condition man has ever known, according to scripture.


Ge 1:25 And God made the beast of the earth
after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and
every thing that creepeth upon the earth after
his kind: and God saw that it was good.


Over and again in the first chapter of Genesis is the phrase translated -- 'and G-d saw that it
was good'. This is not so simple a phrase as it appears to be. From the references that I have at hand, there is no direct substitute for the word translated here as 'good'. Sorta' begs the question of what it was exactly that G-d saw in his creation. It was not a primitive, simple state -- it was perfection.

In utopianism 'Men's needs were few and their
desires limited.' That is not perfection. In the original creation, Adam had every need fulfilled not just by the physical creation, but he had every spiritual need met, because there was no barrier to hinder access to the presence of Divinity. That, I would argue, is the focus of this passage. The focus is not on the creation of man, it is on the work of Creation and the Creator. It was not that man 'felt themselves close to the gods.' They lived with G-d, in the place that he had made for them to perfectly meet their requirements. There is a place called heaven. That is our destination on the Jesus Bus. That's were Jesus is.


Ladies and gentlemen, this is not utopia that is described here. This is the original condition of man. That's one reason why any attempt to reproduce 'utopia' here is destined to fail. The founders of the U.S. were aware of this. In this present earth, you will not find, and cannot create utopia. Utopianism is myth. As soon as you can get a handle on the notion of 'perfection', as in Divine perfection, the fantasy melts away.


Ge 3:17 And to Adam he said, Because you gave
ear to the voice of your wife and took of the
fruit of the tree which I said you were not to
take, the earth is cursed on your account; in
pain you will get your food from it all your
life.


18 Thorns and waste plants will come up, and the
plants of the field will be your food;


19 With the hard work of your hands you will get
your bread till you go back to the earth from
which you were taken: for dust you are and to
the dust you will go back.


This passage describes the fallen state of man.That's where we are now. Sin has separated us from G-d. This world has more in common with hell than it does with heaven, because there is no sin in heaven. So, when you want to ask the question, If G-d is so loving then, why is there war? There is war, because there is sin. War is the normal consequence of sin. War is not
an element of the original design.


If you read through the whole book, you will find that Jesus is going to come back and fix that little problem, because he loves us, and he hates sin. He is the only one who is able to put an end to sin. His death on the cross paid the penalty for our sin. And in the end, he will remove the problem of sin, once and for all. But in the beginning, it was not that way.


Wish I could say why it has to be this way. Job wanted the answer to that question as well. The best we can do for now is to accept the answer that Job got. To paraphrase, G-d told Job, Trust me, I know what I'm doing.


The biggest problem with the idea of utopia is that it rejects the reality of sin. Sorry. That dog don't hunt. Without sin, there is no need for a saviour. As soon as there is no need for a saviour, Jesus becomes irrelevant. But the problem of sin does not go away, just because we wish it away. Look around. Notice that the history of civilization is nothing but a running battle. The only choice that we have, is to pick which side we are on. You can find a seat on the Jesus Bus, or you can search for utopia.


Mt 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and NARROW
is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few
there be that find it.