Creation and New Creation

Know that in that day, when Christ takes us to himself fully and finally, one moment in heaven will be worth a thousand lifetimes of trial. All of our regrets, failures, worries, will be assigned to oblivion when we enter into the joyful presence of our supremely kind Saviour and Friend, our Lord and Brother, our King and our God.

Christ clothing you with his very self. You are a dressed, adorned “particularly,” specially, providentially gracious participant of Christ’s sacrifice and self-sanctification. Your bridegroom has come, given you the robes of faith, and dressed you in them.

When Scripture reveals that God is light, it speaks of an overwhelmingly beautiful light that shines forth in radiant goodness. A light that brings life and warmth and joy and abundance to all the places it touches. All flourish and abound under its rays.

God intends that we become conformed to the image of Jesus. Why? So that Jesus will have many brothers. And what does that conformity look like? It’s relational through and through.

The church derives its life from the sweet fellowship of the Father, Son, and Spirit, creating a people of worship, fellowship, and mission who are animated by the gospel and empowered by the Word of God.

Do we need permission to grieve? Is grief selfish? Should we be afraid of what others think? Are we letting the side down? Is it better to tell lies and pretend we don’t feel any grief, saying we are okay when really our lives are falling apart?

God’s mission in creation and redemption is to bring men and women into the fellowship that Father, Son, and Spirit have always shared.

Has it been a long time since you were deeply, genuinely wonderstruck at the nature of God? One of the healthiest things we can do is recalibrate our perceptions of God by looking afresh at his Word. Put simply, the Bible is impressed with who God is. And rightly so, because of who God actually is.

Jesus promised his disciples that he would one day return to bring them to a place that he prepared for them. It is a place where all things are made new, free of sin and sorrow. As Christians, we seek not fame or fortune but a heavenly city whose builder and maker is God.

Friends, humility is the only soil in which unity will grow. Only when Christ is more precious to us than our reputations, will we give up our petty rivalries and personal agendas. Only when his glory eclipses all else in our eyes will we live for him and not for another purpose. The peace and unity we so desperately need will be, friends, the fruit of a fresh humbling before the glory of Christ. It is only the gospel, the good news of Christ our saviour, that creates true peace. The gospel creates peace, and the gospel defines peace.