If I were sharing the gospel today . . .

If I were sharing the gospel with someone today, the message I’d seek to communicate is this:

God has a dream for the world he created that involves God and humanity living together sharing communication, communion, and community.

Humanity, filled with God’s life, serve as living sacraments (images) of his presence in the world – reflecting his will and way and care-tending creation to its full flourishing.

We rejected the call and vocation of God for us in favor of being our own Gods and living out our own will and way.

God became one of us in Jesus Messiah – both to reclaim us from our rebellious waywardness AND restore us to our true call and vocation (i.e., our genuine humanity).

In Jesus God has triumphed over all that rejects and hinders the realization of his dream (sin, death, devil) and calls humanity to take up the genuine humanity for which he created and has redeemed us.

We can now begin to be and live again the dream of God (e.g., Sermon on the Mount) toward the time when Christ returns to establish it fully and finally by purifying all that we have done for the dream making it fit material for service in God’s new creation.

We can live now, as we will then, in full communication, communion, and community with God and each other in Christ looking forward to the full experience of life – God’s dream – best described by Irenaeus of Lyon (2nd century):  “The glory of God is humanity fully alive, and life is beholding God.”

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