God’s Creation: Good but Broken
God made the universe and declared it to be “very good.” God loves what he has made and everything in it belongs to its creator.
God made human beings in his image, with ability to reason, relate, love and rule. We are accountable to God for what we do with the capacities we've been given.
From the beginning, we human beings have lost our innocence by choosing to become independent from God, and setting ourselves up as our own gods. In addition to spiritual death, the result of that Fall has been self-destruction, injustice and violence in all dimensions of human life.
But God loves humanity passionately and initiated restoration projects.
Jesus: God’s Ultimate Restoration Project
Beginning with Abraham and Sarah, God chose Israel to be his people, the channel of his love and justice for the world. Finally, as his ultimate work through Israel, God sent his Son.
Jesus is God’s Son, God “in the flesh,” showing us the full capacity of God-filled humanity to love God, others and all creation.
Jesus went to death to take the just judgment on all human beings for the sin and self-centeredness of humanity. God has judged all humanity at the cross. God’s judgment, which we thought was reserved for the end of time, has happened in the middle of time.
Jesus rose from the dead, paving the way into the final transformation of all humanity to be like Jesus. God will raise all humanity at the end of time. Those who are in Christ will receive the destiny of Christ. Those who have rejected Christ have condemned themselves already.
The Holy Spirit: God Restoring his Creation Now
God poured out his Spirit on all the followers of Jesus at Pentecost and ever since, inaugurating a union with Christ that will be fulfilled at the end of time. That union cuts across gender, race, culture, class, and begins the uniting of all things in Christ in the here and now.
We can personally enter God’s movement to set all things right through turning from self’s way to God’s way and placing our faith in Jesus:
- We trust Jesus for forgiveness through the cross.
- We commit ourselves to Jesus’ leadership for every part of life.
- We are baptized as a sign of our union with Christ and our incorporation into the church.
- And we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit makes us one with God and begins transformation in our individual and communal lives, as we cooperate. This transformation – begun now – will be completed when we are raised from the dead and glorified to be like Jesus in his resurrected life.
What then is Salvation? It’s Personal and Much More
SO, salvation is the restoration of God’s gracious rule, in the past, present and future, for individuals, communities, and creation.
Salvation is physical and spiritual. No part of us is left unchanged when God comes to us, forgives us and fills us.
Salvation is individual and communal. The Holy Spirit doesn't just recreate individuals. The Spirit fills the whole community of Christ’s followers, creating us as a body. We cannot come to God and remain isolated individuals. With the forgiveness of sins and union with Christ through the gift of the Spirit, we are already connected to the Kingdom community.
Salvation is personal and social. The Holy Spirit is transforming human relationships. The Spirit connects us to the poor, to people of all races and to Christ’s followers in all nations. The Spirit calls us to live out that unity that has already been established among us.
Salvation is human and cosmic. God’s intention was that humans would use our capacities to rule over and care for creation. As we are forgiven and made one with Christ by being filled with the Spirit, that intention is renewed in our inner and corporate lives in ways that can begin to influence even nature.