I am a Jesus pusher!!! Jesus promised that the meek would inherit the Earth (Matthew 5:5). He declared a link between the physical and the spiritual. Man’s sin affects the Earth, which shows the connection between man and the Earth. Listen to what God said, “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field” (Genesis 3:17-18). Paul recognized that the sin of man infected the offspring of all mankind as well as the earth and all creation. In other words, man is so linked to all creation that his sin ushers everyone and everything under its curse. Paul said, “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:22-23).
As the story of redemption unfolds through the patriarchal stories, the writers highlight the “land.” God began with Abram, giving him a command with a promise. “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1). Israel believed that God had promised and ordained their possession of Canaan. God was also focused on “land” when he said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you” (Genesis 31:3). Our physical lives are to be blessed by God’s spiritual presence in us! Jesus is the answer to our spiritual and physical life! I am a Jesus pusher!!!