Emmanuel Magazine September/October 2014 | Page 7

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