Contents of this Post
The basic meaning of a Christ-following faith turns on this fact – God is among us
- by the presence of Jesus in the 2+ decades following the first Christmas stories
- by the brutal experience of Jesus in the arrest and crucifixion
- AND by the ongoing presence of God in the Holy Spirit – called the “Spirit of Christ” – ever since
“God Comes to Us”
It has thus been made possible for us – for all humans – to learn to walk in this very damaged world with the Presence of the Christ, the Almighty Father, the Eternal Spirit, the Absolute, the Holy.
This is of the greatest value,
and it is costly to
ONE: God
It costs God – Christ – the Spirit – ongoing involvement with a Project that depends somewhat on the free will of humans who tend to not bother to learn to use that free will in active service of that Project. It cost the incarnation and the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ. It costs ongoing love toward these creatures; and ongoing suffering in their suffering. It costs sustained patience in the building of that One True Good Kingdom. It costs being frequently slandered, misrepresented, despised, ignored.
TWO: Us
It costs us that rending readjustment of life from the ways we learned growing up to the ways in which the One True Good Kingdom actually works. It costs us bearing with the damage and suffering that are part of this world as it now is, and still loving the Creator – and our neighbors.
This Kingdom Project asks us to live with and WITHIN THE GRACE EVEN NOW,
in this profoundly messed-up world, whose most deadly and most blatant messed-up-ness is on perpetual display in human social life – also known as politics, or economics, or religious systems – civic life, family life, etc.
God’s grace is enormous, and perpetual. It comes at a cost, but a cost we will likely pay anyway (suffering in this world, going through changes) so we’d be wise to pay it in this way of finding newness of life and following that – in all areas of our lives.
[click_to_tweet tweet=”It is thus possible for all of us to learn to walk in this very damaged world WITH the Presence of the Christ, the Almighty Father, the Eternal Spirit, the Absolute, the Holy. This is of the greatest value, and it is costly to God.” quote=”It is thus possible for all of us to learn to walk in this very damaged world WITH the Presence of the Christ, the Almighty Father, the Eternal Spirit, the Absolute, the Holy. This is of the greatest value, and it is costly to God.”]_____________________________
Four Basic Facts: (introductory post)
- There is Beauty All Around.
- Everything is Damaged.
- God Comes to Us In Costly Grace.
- God is Building His New Economy.
See also: