You were made for love. You were made for relationships. You were made for joy. You were made to know the One who is the source of all love, all relationship, and all joy; who alone will satisfy you. You were made to know God.
Before the universe existed, God alone did. Yet somehow, He existed as a community in Himself; an eternal relationship. He existed as a Trinity; one being shared by three Persons: Father, Son, and Spirit. He has perfect delight and harmony in Himself; the Father, the Son, and the Spirit all perfectly loved each other before anything was made. In other words, the God who created everything quite literally isthe very thing that makes life worth living: love. God is love; His being is defined by relationship and joy. He is the source of all joy, all good, all life, and all beauty. And in an act of love, God decided that He would overflow His joy so that others could participate in it.
In the beginning of this world’s history, God spoke everything into existence. He created everything to portray His beauty. All stars, all trees, all rocks, all streams, every single person you love–all things were created to portray the beauty of God. Everything was made as an invitation to see and savor Him; to press into the One who loves you. And in the beginning of human history, God made man in His own image. That doesn’t mean that God is some human-like thing in the sky; no, God is like nothing formed by our imagination. He is beyond anything in creation. Rather, God created man as a kind of mirror; we were made to experience God’s love for us and to reflect His love, care, joy, and wise rule into the world.
This is what the story of Adam and Eve is all about. God gave our first parents the role to reflect Him into the world. And yet, their story is our story; rather than obeying God, Adam and Eve chose to make themselves the gods of their own lives. They decided to carve out a destiny for themselves, apart from the destiny God designed for them. We became the captains of our own souls. When man rebelled against God, his mind became set against everything good. In rejecting God, humans became a mix of beauty, life, love, and selfishness, hostility, and cruelty . And in rejecting the source of all life, humans severed themselves off from life and embraced death and suffering. Creation fell into disarray as its Creator was rejected.
What is God to do with these rebellious creatures? Imagine a Judge who puts a robber on trial and lets him go. Would he be just? Then how much more must God, who is perfectly just, judge these humans? And if God is the sum of all good, then to rebel against Him and reject Him is to reject all good in reality. In other words, sin–any wrong doing against God and against people–is really, really serious. No matter how much good we do, it doesn’t change the fact that we have all sinned. So no amount of good we do can get us out of judgment.
Yet, God is rich in mercy. He knew we would sin. And He already had a plan in the works to cover our penalty. God, in the second Person of the Trinity, came to earth, and lived as the man Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus lived with the poor, the outcast, and the oppressed of his society. He healed the sick and opened the eyes of the blind. He fought spiritual forces of darkness that oppress people daily in our world. Jesus is a picture of what it looks like when God becomes king.
This Jesus embraced crucifixion on a Roman Cross 2000 years ago. Why? When He came into the world, Jesus willingly chose to represent humanity; He chose to assume the consequences due to mankind for sinning against God. And somehow, Jesus bore every sin, every grief, and every bit of suffering–in fact, He suffered God’s own wrath against evil. He paid the penalty we owed to God. And Jesus died the death we owed to God, and died under the weight of our penalty.
However, this is not the end of the story. On the third day after His death, Jesus rose from the dead. When you put your faith in Him, you accept the payment Jesus made on your behalf. And somehow, the third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, unites you to Jesus. Jesus’ death serves to kill the bitterness, the anger, the evil that dominates who you are. His new life somehow becomes yours; over time, the Holy Spirit causes you to embody more and more of the love and life of Jesus. As His life flows into you, you experience more and more of God.
One day, Jesus will return to judge the world, and God will raise all those who have been united with him. There is a link formed between Jesus and His people, where somehow His resurrection causes their resurrection. And on that day, Jesus will abolish the death and decay in our bodies–and even in creation. The creation that was plunged into disarray will be reordered and rescued, because God never planned to destroy this world but to deliver it. The sea, the trees, the wind, and every glory in creation will be perfected to reflect who God is forever.
And the best part is that God Himself will dwell with His people. He will wipe every tear, heal every bit of pain. On that day, nothing will hinder His children from knowing His love for them. Nothing will hinder our relationship with Him. Yet, since God is perfectly good, nothing evil can be accepted in His presence. He will forever be opposed to all those defined by evil. If you want to know God, you must embrace Jesus. Apart from Jesus, you have nothing but your sin. In Jesus, you have the sum of all good things: the God of the universe. Softly and tenderly, He is calling to you to come. Come, and He will give you rest.
“Now is the shining fabric of our day
Torn open, flung apart, rent wide by Love.
Never again the tight, enclosing sky,
The blue bowl or the star-illumined tent.
We are laid open to infinity,
For Easter Love has burst His tomb and ours.
Now nothing shelters us from God’s desire —
Not flesh, not sky, not stars, not even sin.
Now Glory waits so He can enter in.
Now does the dance begin”
-Elizabeth Rooney, “Opening”