Below is a thank you letter I wrote to God after a high-level 6-week study and conversation about the book of Genesis. My trust in the Lord has increased through learning the story that book tells.
To the one true God,
You alone are King, for you alone are the One whose spoken word brought creation into existence and made each and every human being to be your image and reflect your character.
Thank you that your story tells us the truth that we were all made to represent you as co-equal partners to express your character and rule in the good world you made.
Thank you that we weren’t built to compete or jockey for position or importance with one another, but each and every one of us was designed as your royal image built to harness creation’s potential together by cultivating the environments you’ve given us in ways that life can flourish.
Thank you that you are Love, and your Love is so great that you allow us the dignity and freedom to choose for ourselves if we’ll allow you to define good and evil for us, or if we’ll do it for ourselves.
We trust that defining good and evil for ourselves is not the way of life, but the way of death. We trust that the true way to be like You is to image You; reflecting your nature and character through our bodies to each other and the physical world around us.
Thank you that from the beginning you already had a plan to rescue us. Thank you that although we continuously reject partnership with you to rule the earth on your behalf according to your nature and character, you always circumvent our rejection to fulfill your promises.
Thank you for the mystery of imaging you both individually and corporately together. What an amazing plan that you created one image of yourself and then split it into two just for it to become one again. Then that one multiplied into many just to become one family again. And on and on the many-to-one-to-many pattern goes to increase your image on the earth. What an amazing mystery you were unfolding from the very beginning.
We realize that your blessing comes from being who we were designed to be and refusing to elevate ourselves over anyone else. Through you becoming our Wounded Victor, you’ve restored each and every one who is a part of Abraham’s family as a priest to show what you are like.
Thank you that you’ve always subverted our failures and worked it out for good.
In response to Your great Love and Purpose, I will work to live like you are the King of the universe. I will work to live like Israel was supposed to live and what you birthed the church to be. I will work to live with others as co-equal partners of unity in diversity to be the highest expression of your image on earth and do my part to spread the blessing of the Garden of Eden that’s been restored and is being restored to those I encounter. I will work to continuously identify ways I may be defining good and evil for myself and contributing to the brokenness of human relationships.
Thank you for keeping your promise. My hope and trust is in You.
Michael Fleming, April 2021
Michael Fleming
Mike Fleming is the creator of Finding Healthy Church. Over 20 years ago, he was sparked by the frustration of failing to experience what the biblical story claimed a healthy church was like. He caught a vision and passion for seeing local churches be what they were designed by God to be. He shares what he's learning along the way so the health of local churches around the world are improved. He’s currently working on an eye-opening book that will help better understand what it means for a church to be healthy.