First of all, God’s mission is to inspire people to work with the materials He provides to bring forth new and good creations and to order the natural world. The world God created is good, and when humans begin to work alongside God in creation, things become “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Unfortunately, because of the Fall of humanity, the world comes up far short of God’s intent, and the human condition ranges from very good (still, at times) to dismal or worse. Nonetheless, over the entire course of history — concentrated first in the nation of Israel, centered on the life, death, and resurre…