ShalomSample

Back to the Beginning 

“Yahweh planned a perfect world in which the sons of Adam and the daughters of Eve would live eternally, stretching their cognitive and creative skills to the uttermost, building their civilization within the protective boundaries of their relationship with him. But treason bred tragedy—a broken covenant, a broken race. The end result was that God’s people were driven from God’s place and forever separated from his presence. The only hope in this wretched state of affairs was God’s redemptive mercy. Indeed, redemptive history starts right here. For it is with Adam’s choice that the saga of redemption begins. Who will pay the price for Adam’s rebellion? How will Adam’s race be held accountable and delivered all the same? How do we get Eden back?

“… As the prophet foretold, in the New Jerusalem “they will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah 11:9.) At the end of all things, God is once again with his people. Access to the Presence is restored. …  Redemption has been accomplished.

“ … So we have come full circle. What began in Eden, ends in Eden. God’s original intent to offer kingdom citizenship to every man, woman and child has been reaccomplished in Christ. God’s original plan that the children of Adam might build their city in the midst of his kingdom is recreated in the new earth. His driving desire to be with us is fulfilled as the Presence that walked in the garden now illuminates the New Jerusalem. As the final chapters of the New Testament declare, the great rescue has been accomplished, Adam is safely home.”

—Sandra L. Richter, The Epic of Eden

The story of the Bible is the story of a loving God and His desire to live alongside His people—a people who, in response to God’s invitation to partner with them, decided they would rather rule over Him. That decision brought chaos into God’s creation: it became infected by sin, death, and suffering. And this God chose to deal with that infection by leaving Heaven and entering history in the person of Jesus. He took on the pain and the shame of the cross to rob sin of its power. He embraced the horrors of death in order to defeat it. And on the third day, the first Easter Sunday, Jesus showed that He was the rightful King of creation by rising from the dead. 

Before ascending into Heaven, Jesus gave His followers the gift of the Holy Spirit, and entrusted them to continue the work that He started and that He will finish: the work of bringing shalom to chaos. 

The story of the Bible isn’t over. You have been invited into it. You have been called by God to partner with Him in His redemptive plan to rescue the rest of humanity from sin and restore creation. 

You have been called to bring shalom.