Our rescue is on the way. Jesus is coming and his return signals restoration in all the ways we have squandered what we were meant to be. The groaning of creation will cease and the whole of creation will celebrate in its restoration to God’s original intention. As a redeemed people, our days will be full as we revel in the glory of the one, eternal God, who is three persons in one essence—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Out of love, God created the heavens and the earth from nothing and proclaimed it good. Every earthly creature exhibits divine imagination. God, the Alpha & Omega, chose us and loved us before we took our first breath. Our days were meant to be in full communion with our Creator. One can barely imagine the wholeness of person when humanity was first formed in God’s image.
Exploiting the gift of free will, the curse of sin has gripped every generation and our very nature has been corrupted. We cannot fully grasp how far our sin alienates us from God and from one another. We ignore injustice when it is inconvenient for us; we seek after creature comforts and nurture habits that break our relationships with the ones who matter to us most; we are apathetic toward social evils and deny responsibility for interventions we are called to. Far too often, we ask “What’s in it for me?”
Jesus, Word made flesh, fully human and fully divine, came in the fullest expression of humility. Born without documents, to unwed teenagers, he lived a sinless life and showed us God’s character through his ministry to the “least of these”.
In God’s greatest act of love, Jesus Christ went to the cross for us and through his death atoned for our sins. Salvation comes solely by God’s grace and mercy. Jesus’s death and resurrection mark victory over sin and death and the promise of eternal life and the new creation to come.
The Church is sent out into the world to proclaim the gospel, make new disciples, and baptize new believers. We have many expressions but are ultimately one, holy body in union with Christ and one another, the priesthood of all believers. Both the Holy Spirit and the Word of God equip us for ministry.
The Spirit illuminates the Bible for us and moves us to apply its teachings to our faith and life. Inspired by the Holy Spirit and written by human hands, the Bible is the trustworthy, sufficient, and authoritative word of God for all.
Together we worship God through the proclamation of the Word and in the celebration of the sacraments through the waters of baptism and at the table of the Lord’s Supper. In baptism, we are adopted into the family of God and proclaim new life in Christ. As a covenant community, when we drink of the cup and eat of the bread, Jesus administers grace to us through his life-giving Spirit. These gifts are tangible signs and seals which mark us as united with Christ and with one another.
I look forward with hope to the full realization of the reign of God. Until then, I follow the way of Jesus and love God with my entire being.
