Origin Stories And The Christian

I recently started listening to a new podcast called Imaginary Worlds. It's really quite fascinating to hear each episode explain why we are so fascinated with sci-fi and fantasy worlds, why we are willing to suspend our disbelief. The podcast doesn't just leave you in an imaginary world, but also begins to show how these worlds touch our reality. It's really a fascinating show.



The first episode was about origin stories of super heroes. At one point in the show, one of the guests, professor Benjamin Saunders, said that "the inability to...create a coherent narrative of your own life would be one sign of mental illness". This doesn't always mean our personal narratives are the most accurate, however. We will always want to be the heroes of our own narratives and will often rewrite our origin stories in the most self-aggrandizing way possible. At another point in the episode, Saunders also said that "the things that the characters can't outgrow do get written in the origin". These are both very astute observations about the human condition and they got me thinking about mankind's origin story.

The two-Adam structure of Scripture gives shows us that there are two origin stories working in Scripture. The first origin story follows the first Adam, the father of all mankind. Over the span of seven days, God brought the entire universe into existence ex nihio (out of nothing). Mankind alone was created in the image of God, created as vice-reagents of creation. Adam was created as the king of creation; he was created to rule the earth, along with his wife Eve. Their task was to spread the Garden of Eden across the entire face of the earth and to fill the earth. Mankind failed to do this, however. One of the fallen ones, Lucifer, the angel of light, deceived mankind, and they fell from their state of perfection into an estate of misery and death. Earth became cursed because of the sin that entered the world through mankind, and all men have been born into this estate of misery and death ever since. All mankind, from Genesis 3 on, was born into this cursed reality.

The second origin story follows the second Adam, the seed of Abraham, the redeemer of God's elect. As the first Adam was placed as federal head over mankind, so was the second Adam. In contrast to the first Adam's failure, Christ accomplished what he was sent to do. Just as the first Adam was created uniquely by God, the second Adam was conceived uniquely by God. Christ, the second Adam, came down from heaven and lived a perfect life, ultimately submitting himself to death on the cross. The curse that came into the world because of the first Adam was defeated by the second Adam. Death was swallowed up in victory as Christ was resurrected from the dead. Christ was the firstfruits of the resurrection into new life, eternal life. As death and curse came through the first Adam, resurrection and glory came through the second Adam.

The first origin story in Scripture has a lot of similarities with what professor Saunders was commenting on. We identify with our stories, we reshape them to fit our needs, and we are trapped into circumstances outside of our control. All religions have origin stories. Whether they are from chance or design, mankind can't escape the fact that we came from something. In Scripture, we also see that, from the beginning, man has tried to recreate our story in the best light possible. From the moment of judgement, mankind has put himself in place of God, as was the promise of the Serpent. Eve, when faced with her guilt, blamed the Serpent. Adam, when faced with his guilt, blamed his wife. Mankind is determined to understand our history in the best light, but Scripture doesn't give us this option. Scripture doesn't allow us to believe that we are the victims, or the heroes, of our story. Scripture tells us that we are sinners, enemies of the Most High God.

The second origin story in Scripture is the story of redemption, the story of recreation. Scripture tells us that we are spiritually dead in our trespasses and sins. We will also physically die because of sin. In order to be saved, there must be resurrection. Sin and death must be defeated by someone greater than ourselves; they were defeated by the God-man Jesus Christ, the second Adam. Because he defeated sin and death, he brings resurrection power to those who were cursed by sin and death. He resurrects us unto life spiritually first by regeneration, and then we will join him in glory after we are physically resurrected on the last day. Scripture teaches us that the second origin story is not a story about protology, the first things, but it is a story about eschatology, the last things.

For the Christian, our origin stories are not about our beginnings from which we can create a variety of possible futures. As Christians, our origin stories are actually a cosmic drama between the seed of the Serpent and the seed of God. Our origin stories show us what our future looks like and promises us hope in the resurrection and the world to come. In the first Adam our life is carnal and cursed. In Jesus Christ, the second Adam, our new life is eschatological. Our origin stories are about the consummation of all things.