As the thief on the cross is nearing the end of his life, his gaze falls upon the one they call Christ, and he utters these words, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Lk. 23:42). Jesus’ response to this man of ill repute is the response all of us long for in our souls, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Commonly, the word paradise was a Persian word used to refer to an enclosed park where pleasure is enjoyed (Robertson, 1966), but Jesus uses it here to refer to the Kingdom of Heaven (Jamieson et al., 1961). Jesus’ message was always pointing forward towards the coming Kingdom of God and restoration of creation as a whole, just as it was meant to be when God initially made all things (Kuyper, 2011). Clearly, the world this thief lived in and succumbed to the temptations of, was a world not intended to exist on the days of creation (Kuyper, 2011) when Yahweh spoke the world into existence (Gen. 1). Jesus was declaring to the thief that he would be with the Savior in paradise for all eternity; a paradise that only Adam and Eve ever experienced.
Unfortunately, creativity is something that has been lost for many of God’s children. Due to the commercialization of creativity that started in the late 1800’s, and the diminished appreciation of creativity in institutionalized church (Kuyper, 2011), creativity has been replaced with hollow replication and commercialization with soulless pieces of creativity (Kuyper, 2011). Unfortunately, though mankind was created and endowed with an ability to create in a way that reflected the Creator Himself (Gen. 1:26-27), mankind has lost sight of this form of worship.
How can mankind reclaim his sense of creativity?
References
Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1961). Commentary, practical and explanatory, on the whole Bible. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan.
Kuyper, A. (2011). Wisdom & wonder: common grace in science and art (English Ed). Grand Rapids, ID: Christian Library Press.
Robertson, A. T. (1966). Word pictures in the New Testament. Nashville, Tenn.: Broadman Press.
