Tag: Bible-notes

Spiders in Paradise (Genesis 1:24-25)

“And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. . . . And God saw that it was good.“(Genesis 1:24-25)

Were there spiders in the Garden of Eden? Did Adam and Eve wake up in that unfallen world and ever see spiderwebs glistening with dew? Were arachnids crawling and spinning webs from the trees of that paradise?

Maybe the very suggestion of spiders in paradise gives you the creeps. We usually picture Eden teeming with birds, cute, fuzzy animals, and beautiful trees and flowers—but spiders? They must be part of the later curse on creation, right? I certainly wouldn’t want any of those eight-legged creepers in my paradise!

I can’t give a definitive answer to these questions. But Genesis does tell us that with the animal kingdom, God also created everything that creeps on the ground (Gen 1:24). According to Old Testament scholar Gordon Wenham, the Hebrew word for “creeping things” (remeś) “refers to mice, reptiles, insects, and any other little creatures that keep close to the ground.”[1] It’s a broad, general word that very well could include spiders too. And after creating the animals and these creeping things, God saw that it was good (Gen 1:25).

Thus, Genesis 1:24-25 points to the creation of insects and maybe even arachnids. God created bugs. And it was good. God created ants, crickets, worms, and all the rest, and they joined the song of creation, praising the Creator. Unlike today, they must have lived in perfect harmony with the trees and other plant life (no worrying about aphids damaging apple trees in that garden!). And if there were spiderwebs in Eden, they may have had a different purpose than they do now. Regardless, Genesis points to the existence of creeping, crawling things in the Garden, maybe even spiders.

When we admire God’s creation, we often focus on sunsets, stars, mountains, and waterfalls. We focus on the obvious, marvelous strokes God has painted on the canvas of this world. But the small details also declare his glory. As Seth Lewis reminds us, God’s creation “is a message. It is the art gallery of reality, speaking as loudly as possible in the language of colours, textures, ancient stones and living scenes.”[2]

Even today, in our fallen world, the creeping things relay a message from our Creator. The goodness of the original creation still echoes in this fallen world. Crickets and cicadas sing a melody that exalts the Creator. The ants instruct us in the wisdom of God. And yes, perhaps even spiders have something to contribute to the praise of God and the edification of God’s people.

These thoughts about spiders and “creeping things” started when I tried to take down some spiderwebs outside our church building with a leaf blower. With the blower at full strength, pointed directly at a large, intricate web, I could not blow it free. It was strong, resilient, and also beautiful.

The design of a spider’s web is surely not the result of random chance. It also hardly seems like a mere result of God’s judgment on this world. Like stars and waterfalls, spiders and their webs testify to the creativity of God. They point to his power and his beauty.

In the words of the well-known hymn: “This is my Father’s world: The birds their carols raise, The morning light, the lily white, Declare their Maker’s praise. This is my Father’s world: He shines in all that’s fair.” Even in a spider’s web.

  1. Gordon Wenham, Genesis 1-15, Word Biblical Commentary, 25.↩︎
  2. Seth Lewis, The Language of Rivers and Stars: How Nature Speaks of the Glories of God, 25.↩︎

In Christ, You’re a Saint

“You’re a saint.” You’ve probably heard that phrase applied to someone who just did something really nice. Someone just agreed to help you clean up your shed this weekend, and you tell them, “Thank you so much! You’re a saint!” 

Even though this phrase may feel a little archaic, it captures one of the few ways we use the word saint today: someone who is extra holy or extra nice. Or we may think that a saint is a super godly person from the past, or maybe they are the older, super-spiritual men and women in the church.

But then here comes Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:2 where he opens his letter with these words:

“To the church of God at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called as saints, with all those in every place who call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord—both their Lord and ours.” (CSB)

Paul opens this letter to a church filled with dysfunction (see for example 1 Cor 5), and he calls them saints. Paul does not address this letter just to the extra holy people in the church. He addresses the letter to the whole church and says they are called as saints. 

In 1 Corinthians 1:1, Paul has just used a similar phrase for himself: “Paul, called as an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will” (CSB). Paul is called as an apostle. The Corinthian church is called as saints, God’s holy people. Even this dysfunctional church remains God’s holy people. They are called by God to be saints. 

The rest of verse 2 helps fill in what it means to be a saint:

Saints are those who call upon Jesus as Lord.

Paul writes that the Corinthians are called as saints along with everyone else who calls on Jesus’s Name. Everyone who trusts in Christ alone for salvation and submits to him as Lord is a saint. Becoming a saint isn’t something you earn by doing extra holy stuff. Becoming a saint is what happens when you call on the Lord Jesus Christ to rescue you. You have a new identity. 

Sainthood is a calling, not an achievement.

Paul also describes the Corinthians as “saints by calling”. God had called them to be saints. This doesn’t mean they were called to achieve sainthood anymore than Paul’s calling as an apostle meant he had to achieve his apostleship (he’ll let the Corinthians know he is an apostle only by the mercy of God, see 2 Cor 4:1). 

The calling here refers to the effectual call of God that calls us into fellowship with Christ (1 Cor 1:9). In 1 Corinthians 1:26-30, Paul connects the believer’s calling with God’s choosing (see also Jude 1; Rev 17:14). When they consider their calling, they will see that God has chosen what is weak and foolish to shame the strong and powerful of the world. We are saints only because we are chosen by the sovereign grace of God. We are called by God to be set apart as his people.

Both God’s sovereignty and human responsibility are in view here. God calls us to be saints as we call on the Name of the Lord. God’s call always comes first (this is the biblical pattern; for example, think about Abraham who was called out by God before he called upon God, Gen 12:1-3; 13:4). Yet, saints also call upon the Name of the Lord. Saints are called by God as his holy ones who call upon Jesus’s Name. 

In this way, saints have a holy position before God because of Jesus.

A saint is a sanctified person. Paul refers here not to our progressive growth in Christ, but to our position before God. Positionally, everyone who is united to Jesus by faith is sanctified and set apart to God as a saint (a holy one). 

Therefore, a saint is a person who is set apart to God by merits of their union with Jesus. They are called to be saints because they are called into fellowship with Jesus (1 Cor 1:9). Every believer is a saint. Every believer belongs to the holy people of God. To be a saint means to be set apart to God because you belong to Jesus. This is now your identity in Christ. 

Therefore, Christian, you are a saint. You might recoil at that or laugh it off as just archaic language. But Paul used the term for the Corinthians (and other churches) to encourage them that they are God’s holy people and to motivate them to live out this new identity that they have in Jesus. 

Like the church in first-century Corinth, we are often pretty clunky at living this out. Yet even in our continued struggle with sin, we remain God’s people called to become what we already are—holy. In Jesus, we are saints. Let’s live like it by God’s grace.