God’s Plan in Creation
Alienation is an overarching theme from the very beginning of the Bible:
alienation from God (Adam and Eve), from other persons (Cain and Abel),
nation from nation (Babel), and from the very elements of the universe
which work against humankind (the flood). It’s not just humankind, but all
of creation that experiences alienation, as if it were created without plan
or purpose. Paul reflects on this in Romans 8: “Creation was subjected to
futility by the will of the one who subjected it in hope. We know that the
whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only
the creation, but we ourselves groan inwardly” (20-23).
Paul goes on to find the answer to our own alienation, as well as that of all
creation, in “the mystery hidden throughout the