Incomplete by God's Design 2

     This morning, as I was reading John McLaren's book, "The Story We Find Ourselves In," I came across something that, at least for me, was fresh—so fresh, that I had never even had the thought. Here is the line: What a crazy thing! In the Genesis story, the rib is taken out of Adam—by God! God seems to want Adam to feel incomplete on purpose: God nicks a part of him on purpose! That means that Adam is—meaning we are too—incomplete by God's design! The story is telling us that we were designed to be incomplete and unfulfilled in ourselves as monads, as isolated individuals. We feel an ache in our side, like some part of us is missing, so that we'll always be looking outside ourselves for belonging and connection, for it is not good for a person to be alone--not in this story! And so in this story we live in a garden, with all the creatures around us, and we walk with God in the cool of the day. WOW! (That's from me!)
     Yes, I am aware that we are incomplete without Jesus—very aware; however, I had never made the connection of this "incompleteness" and "Adam's rib." From the very beginning, God set us up to be needy and to be needy, not just for something, but for what is missing—the part of us that that makes us incomplete! As a result, we feel an ache in our side, actually an ache that radiates across our entire body and soul (especially our soul), an ache that tells us that something is missing. Quite naturally (by God's design), we spend our lives looking, always looking, outside (beyond) ourselves, trying, desperately, to put an end to the relentless, God-given, ache, the ache that constantly reminds us that something (something very significant and critical) is missing. The symptoms are obvious (or so it appears to me): we do not feel loved; we do not feel valued; we do not feel accepted, nor do we feel that we belong (connected), AND all by God’s design!
     Those of you who know me are aware that I have known for some time that marriage is imperfect by God's design. When this dawned on me, I was just minutes from assisting a couple renew their marriage vows, after 25 years of marriage. Having never had the thought, the thought of speaking this newly-discovered truth nearly scared me to death. Even so, I spoke it, having no idea how I would navigate through it in such a brief time. Well, I did but I have never forgotten the experience or the truth!  
     Now, I am confronted with this newly-discovered truth: In removing Adam’s rib, God purposefully made him feel incomplete and, thereby, declared (though it was much later before we could realize it), “The Christian life is incomplete by God’s design!” (Now, I know this might precipitate a reaction from you but that is OK, as long as you continue on with me.)
     Have you ever stopped to consider just how many versions of the “Christian life” exist? Well, if you haven’t, let me, simply, tell you that there are many, even more than that! There is the Baptist, the Methodist, the Presbyterian, the Lutheran, the Greek Orthodox, the Pentecostal, the Church of God, the Church of God of Prophecy, the Primitive Baptist, the, oh heavens, I cannot begin to name all of them.  So let me repeat what I just said: THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS INCOMPLETE BY GOD’S DESIGN! (I seriously doubt, in fact, I am certain, that Jesus could not be talked into being a “Christian” today because doing so would place Him far outside everything He is!)
     So, now, I have two very interesting truths, with which I must deal: (1) Marriage is imperfect by God’s design; and, (2) the Christian life is incomplete by God’s design. Obviously (well, maybe not), these two truths are very closely related because one shadows the other, which is material for another article.
     Anyway, God set Adam up to spend his life feeling (and acutely so) incomplete—unloved, unaccepted, undervalued, and with no place to belong. Try as he might, there was, simply, no relief for the ache, other than brief moments, the kind that are necessary for surviving intense pain—the drinking-dirty-water-kind. Sure, Eve was, at least in theory, the rest of him—his completer—but she was never able to ease his pain (nor could he ease hers, for that matter). Their “marriage,” like most of ours, was, well, it wasn’t what they probably thought it would be; especially, in light of their knowing that God arranged it! How could the Good God, who has infinite resources, create or establish anything that proved to be less than perfect?
     Here is where I think we miss the point: although Eve was “the rest of Him,” his “completer,” she was never intended to be the “fix” for his ache.  Much to the contrary, she would be the one whom God would use to keep him aware of what the “missing rib” announced—“Adam, you are incomplete by My design!” And, guess what? It worked and it still works! (Again, I feel sure that this will stir a reaction from you but, again, that is OK, as long as you continue with me.)
     What becomes obvious, at least to me, is this: both the Christian life and Christian marriage have become for us something that God never intended—the salve that heals the “ache.” Actually, we have done the same thing with the Law; we have allowed it to become the same kind of salve—the salve that heals the “ache” that sin produced.
     Now for my point: As you well-know, unless and until we look to Jesus to be the One who satisfies the deepest longing of our hearts, the One who heals the “ache” that, simply, will not go away, we will never feel complete and whole. However, we will NEVER look to Him, until we rid our minds of the “Jesus” we have conjured up in our minds. Our looking to this “Jesus” is no different than Adam’s looking to Eve, or your looking to your mate, or the church’s looking to the Law. It is all religious legalism—conjuring up our own ways to find what only the true Jesus can provide.
     Somehow, we must realize that the Jesus we need to look to is the Jesus who said, “To hell with religion!” He is the Jesus who always colored outside—way outside—the lines of religion; the Jesus who refused to blend in with the status quo of His day; the Jesus who refused to allow the expectations of others to control his life; the Jesus who refused to spend His life trying to appease those, who disagreed with Him; the Jesus who seemed to do everything possible to discourage folk from becoming His followers; the Jesus who never compromised in order to entice someone to follow Him; the Jesus who would allow someone to walk away from Him, rather than make them false promises; the Jesus who said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you love one another”; the Jesus who not only gave us a new commandment (not an 11th commandment), but also provided us with the example—Abba, Abba, not My will but Thine be done!
     In my opinion, we need to take a careful look at the “Jesus” we say we follow because I have the strong feeling that he is the fruit of our own frantic religious efforts to find a way to have our “ache” healed.
     The Jesus of the Cross, the Christ of God, the Messiah of Israel, the Gentile’s Redeemer, the Son of God, really is all we need, and He really does satisfy our thirst, and, thereby, eliminate or eagerness to drink the “dirty water” of legalism and self-righteousness. He is the water of Life that heals forever our God-given “ache!”
     You know, I really am glad that He set up both the Christian life and Christian marriage to fail; otherwise, I would be merrily (well, not so merrily) traveling along in the deception that held me captive for so long.