Abundance in a World of Scarcity - Gen. 3.17-19, Leviticus 25 // How the World Is Pulled Apart - Jeremiah Lepasana

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• In Genesis 3.17-19, we see a fourth layer of alienation w/ nature, “cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life” It is an unraveling that impacts that sits at the intersection of how we worship (Lord), how we work (labor), and how we live in God’s creation (land).
• Our post-fall predicament is that we have lost the experience of abundance, security, and resource-fullness of Eden. Instead our work lives, even in the backdrop of materially wealthy global city, are marked by scarcity, severity, and insecurity.
• What we are facing is (at-least) two-fold: 1) scarcity of soul/inner world, and 2) scarcity of resources. This dual-scarcity leads to work-creep, where work and longing for security moves to the center of our existence. And, this experience of scarcity leads to overwork (for ourselves) and overuse (exploitation of God’s creation).
• In a world reeling from an alienation from nature, God prescribed for his people a Sabbath rest for us (every week) and for the land (every seven years). Yet, his people did not adhere to God’s invitation for Sabbath rest.
• Therefore, what is the hope for us in a world marked by scarcity? Scripture says the hope is found in our adoption. We are adopted by a King and we are adopted into the Kingdom! Our adoption by a King infuses us with a new identity that transforms the scarcity of our inner world. Our adoption into the Kingdom places us within Jesus’ Church. And, when the Holy Spirit falls on the Church in Acts 2, the Church receives a capacity for generosity that stands as a counter-cultural example of supernatural abundance.