What is God Doing?

The world around us, the longings of our hearts and most importantly God’s words contained in the Bible convince us that God is the ultimate reality in the universe (Genesis 1, Romans 1, Colossians 1:15-17).  He is infinitely perfect.  There is no one like Him.  He is in need of no one and nothing.  The weight of His glory is compellingly beautiful.

Every human being on the planet was made to see, know, experience and magnify the glory of God.  This is the purpose for which we were made.  This is the deepest need of every human being. This is eternal life (John 17:3). 

Tragically, the all-satisfying glory of God was rejected in the garden of Eden and all of creation was twisted and stained by death and chaos.  Men now exchange the glory of God for idolatrous lies of their own design (Genesis 3, Romans 1:22-23).  They seek ultimate satisfaction in lesser pleasures, follow after their own twisted desires and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).  Consequently, mankind is headed towards eternal punishment and separation from the God of the glory they were made to know (2 Thessalonians 1:9, Revelation 20:12-15).

However, God did not leave His creation in this position.  He is orchestrating His perfect plan to restore fallen creation and make all things right (Colossians 1:19-20, Revelation 21:1-8).  He is committed to advancing His glory among mankind and is on a mission to redeem a people for Himself (Titus 2:14, 1 Peter 2:9);  a people who would be bought back from the futility of their sinful pursuits to the enjoyment of His glory (Psalm 16:11, 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10, 1 Peter 1:18).

God is doing this through His eternal plan revealed in the gospel of Jesus Christ.  This plan was unveiled approximately 2000 years ago in the coming of the Son of God to earth as a man (Luke 1:26-35, Luke 2:1-7, Hebrews 1:1-4). 

After living a life of perfect righteousness and complete fulfillment of God’s design for man, Jesus Christ was hung on a cross by His enemies until He died (Matthew 3:13-17, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 4:15).  According to plan, the Father poured out upon Jesus the fullness of the righteous wrath men deserved for their rejection of God’s glory (Galatians 3:13, 1 Peter 2:24).  On the cross Jesus suffered under unimaginable physical, emotional and spiritual pain (Matthew 26:45-27:50,).  Thus Christ became a substitute, taking the sin and punishment of those who would believe upon Himself and providing them with His perfect righteousness (Isaiah 53:4-12, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 2:24-25). 

After three days in the grave Jesus Christ rose from the grave, having defeated death and become the first and crowning trophy of God’s redeemed creation (John 20, 1 Corinthians 15:20-28, 54-57, Colossians 1:18). 

It is through this supremely loving and gracious work that God now declares believing sinners to be righteous, adopts them as His children, grants them new hearts and redeems them to live out their original design of glorifying Him (Romans 3:21-26, Galatians 4:3-7, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20). 

This redemption is not acquired by a highly moral life, religious involvement or a mere acknowledgement of certain facts.  This redemption is a reality only for those who come as needy beggars looking to Jesus as their all-sufficient Savior.  God calls on men to turn from their diverse idols and to rely fully and only on the perfect work of Christ to forgive their sins and bring them into an all-satisfying relationship with Himself (John 3:16, Acts 17:30-31, Romans 10:8-14, Ephesians 2:8-9).

Note: We encourage you to read for yourself the Bible verses referenced above.  If you have questions about the gospel message of redemption or would like to talk to someone about spiritual things please let us know.  We’d love to hear about your spiritual journey and talk more about the glory of God and the gospel of Christ.