I can only imagine...

I wonder if man imagined before the fall.

I bet Adam and Eve could imagine; after all, imagination is the first step in the act of creating anything, and God gave our first parents the whole earth in which to express their God-given authority and creativity.

But did they imagine?

I ask this because I have been struggling with the realm of imagination lately. Not in the I’ve-been-watching-too-much-Fringe-and-am-caught-up-in-alternate-universe-theory way, but in the sense that I have a tendency to picture myself in situations I am not, imagine people as who they could be rather than who they are.

I recognize imagination is not a universally bad thing. As I said, imagination is the first step in the act of creation, and we have everything from shelter and clothing to fiberoptics and biopharmaceuticals in part thanks to imagination.

But what I detest, what I absolutely hate, is how my imagination, even when well-intentioned, can lead me astray – whether simply leading me to a place of discontent (because what could be is not what is), or waking up one day to realize that some part of my world was built on sinking sand, rather than the solid foundation of faith.

Perhaps imagination is, like so much else in this life, simply a facet of humanity that can be used for either good or ill, depending on who or what shapes the imagination. I suspect the tendency for imagination to be shaped by ourselves, by this world, is the reason Paul calls us to bring “every thought captive to obey Christ” (II Corinthians 10:5).

And it makes me wonder if, in Eden, there was anything to imagine at all. Adam and Eve lived in perfection; anything they could picture would already exist, and why would you spend time imagining imperfection?

But then again, that’s usually what I do.

The first time imagined imperfection happened, incidentally, is recorded in the Genesis account, when Satan plays on Eve’s desire for what she didn’t have. “You will be like God, knowing good and evil…” I wonder what she thought it would be like. I wonder if she pictured the world as it is today. (Obviously not, or she wouldn’t have eaten.)

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter whether Adam and Eve imagined or not. The real motivation behind my question is looking not behind, but forward – to a time when Christ will hold my entire being captive, when obedience is as natural as breathing is in this life. Contradiction as it may be in the world’s terms, what freedom will be found in those confines – what liberty will be enjoyed by the subjects of the true King. And liberty not in the paltry political way we tend to think of it; but life abundant.

For now, I can only imagine what that will be like. And on this side of the fall, when imagination is directed by God’s Word, that capacity is a blessing and encouragement.