A Word Most Underappreciated

Deem: /dēm/  Regard or consider in a specified way.

Redeem: /rē DĒM/  To regard anew, to redefine, to reassign value, to buy back, to recover

In the Eden of Genesis 1 and 2, we were deemed, above all else of Creation, to be very good. Our worth was defined and declared by the very God who spoke into being galaxies bathed in the light of manifold maelstroms of nuclear fusion, the very smallest atoms igniting with the holiest of fire to form the stars of unimaginable size and power. And that declared worth was of a caliber exceeding these marvels.

In the Eden of Genesis 3, a single choice dismantled to naught the declaration of the Most High. We, valued above the wonders we have yet to imagine, made ourselves antithetical to our potential. We fell in ignorant greed. We had not yet grasped the true glory of our position before we casually tossed it aside for a veneered imitation with slightly brighter paint. Our ignorance did not protect us from the consequences of our actions because we chose to ignore that of which we were cognizant—a single command, almost trivial in its burden, until it was disobeyed.

With that simple choice, all of the weakness bound in our frailty was enflamed by our potential. Base animalism animated with the divine spark emancipated horrors from the vacuum of inconception—murder, lust, war, greed, death. Things that failed to even cross the infinite intelligence of the Almighty sprang into being fully formed, pregnant to bursting with still more evil, suffering and tragedy. Paradise became Purgatory on a good day. Faith turned inward on itself, seeking surety in self reliance, only to collapse when strength sagged. Hope failed. Love faded like embers starved for air.

We fell. We fell from ‘very good’ to our best efforts being accepted as one would blood- and filth-soaked rags. We fell from a blessing to all to fatally dangerous to heaven. We fell from the beauty beyond Adonis to the ugliness of a tumor, and still farther we fell, until holiness was as foreign a concept as eternity, something we could define, yet never comprehend.

Yet, the Creator refused the inevitability of the tragedy. He formed all of His effort into a solution. We would not be forever deemed ‘condemned.’ He purposed to make all things new, and without losing what had been destroyed. He redeemed us. He embraced our warfare, our love of death, our hatreds, our rebellion and rejection. He drew them into Himself, drinking in our poison through syringes of thorns, nails and a spear. He pulled every drop in until He consumed it all to the last hint of taint. He separated us and our guilt.

He deemed us again, not just ‘very good’ but ‘precious children,’ ‘friends,’ ‘joy of my heart’ and ‘wife of my soul.’ He ransomed us. We are not who we were. We are declared new. We are bought free. We are beloved.

We are re-deemed.

SDG