and posted in Explore
In the beginning God created all things good. Out of all he made God chose man and woman, not only to reflect him more than any other part of his creation, but to also live in an intimate friendship with himself. To us he gave a special role, inviting us to work alongside him to serve, care for and cultivate the earth.
But when humanity rebelled against God, sin entered the world fracturing our relationship with God, each other, our inner self and the creation we were to care for. God, however, loved his creation too much to abandon it to the destructive and decaying force of sin and so promised to bring restoration and healing through Jesus.
Jesus was God in the flesh sent by Father God to live as one of us. He revealed Father God's love for us and taught us a new and better way to live. Through Jesus' death and resurrection, Christians believe that God conquered sin and its power and that one day Jesus will return to bring fully into being the healing and restoration he has won.
The Bible is the authoritative record of this amazing love story. The Biblical authors, as they were inspired by God, recorded their experiences of God in such a way that the Bible speaks to all generations of believers, including us today. This record of the story we find ourselves in reveals a loving God who is inviting us to be in an intimate relationship with him and who, through Jesus, gives us the opportunity to experience something now of the final restoration yet to come.
This story of love and restoration is still being outworked today through followers of Jesus. It is this story that drives and moves us as Christians, causing us to live and act in a certain way in order to participate as fully as we can in its continued telling.
By following Jesus you can enter and participate in this story too.
