Would you like to know what God truly thinks about you?
Begin with God’s original, and unchanged, intended end for humanity. This is the only perspective large enough for us to see with a measure of accuracy through the eyes of the only One who was there.
And where can we go to begin to grasp God’s original intent?
I only know of two primary sources to discover God’s original, and unchangeable plan for His people.
- Genesis 1 and 2 prior to the Fall of humanity.
- And the story of Jesus, the “Second Man,” the first whole person since Adam sinned (1 Corinthians 15:47). Soak in the Gospels to see Jesus, as even more than our sin offering. Jesus is also the Model Man, living life on earth fully as a man in dependence on His Father.
The horrific changes stemming from Genesis 3 brought death to all humanity. Jesus however came to redeem and to restore. God’s original Eden-intent never wavered, nor will it. Nothing caught God by surprise. Jesus is the Lamb slain before creation. God has not changed His mind about His yearning for relationship and how lovable you are in His eyes!
So, what hope do we have to become lifelong life-learners and doers if we have become less flexible “old wineskins”? Only one, Jesus!
“In the Beginning God Created…”
God certainly did not create because He lacked anything in Himself. From all eternity, the relational Trinity is community at His core, neither lonely nor solitary. He lives in a mutual equality as one God with life shared in common and also in an incredible diversity as Father, Son and Spirit that forges deep unity.
The equality of our God with each other in diversity in unity expresses a rich and abounding relationship of utter oneness…and blows our socks off! Before anything else existed, this Family-of-Three always existed in perfect cooperation…lacking nothing. Their unbridled delight and satisfaction with One Another in their mutual, joy-filled life knew no bounds! As a deeply intimate, mutually serving, gloriously creative, and powerful relational Community, such life and love and light must be multiplied to reach the zenith of its fullness.
Do you know what God truly thinks about you? He sees you as He sees His Son, Jesus.
Love is creative. True love is generative. Love must multiply.
Their mutual love would not “permit” this supremely good Family-of-Three to keep their relationship to themselves. (I flounder for language to express their free decision to create from a relationship lacking nothing).
God is a generous Giver at heart. He yearns to bless by pouring out His life and love. Such a passionate Self-Giver with His bubbling over life fulfilled His desire to multiply by “going public.” God’s goodness catalyzed His generosity to create out of His greatness. The result was image-bearers fashioned in an amazing way, uniquely man and uniquely woman. He fashioned humanity as much like the infinite Uncreated as a created being could ever be (Genesis 1:26; Psalm 8:5; 2 Peter 1:4).
His Eden-intent was, and is, for His image-bearers to first experience intimate relationship with Him. And as intimate partners to join His adventure of life so God could rule His earth through His human representatives. In God’s infinite wisdom, He chose to deepen relationship with His crown-jewel by sharing His rule in this world with those who take their rightful place. Share-adventures, even when difficult, often bind a team together as lifelong friends.
“Overflowing with the generosity that comes from the abundance of real love, He creates us to share in the joy of this heroic intimacy” (Brent Curtis and John Eldredge).
God formed the first man from the ground and breathed into him the breath of life (Genesis 2:7). Imagine the intimacy of that first glimpse Adam snatched of his new world as his eyes opened, staring into the face of the Living God! God also designed us to embark on a faith-adventure with Him as intimate allies to battle to bring others into His circle of life.
The stunning truth is…
…that this relational, Triune God determined to open the circle of His intimate Family relationship and to share His unending life with those fashioned in His image. The Bible calls His life “eternal life.” This emphasizes the unique quality of life filled to overflowing (John 10:10b) and without end.
God designed us with these essential core-needs for intimacy and adventure that requires more than we often believe we have. As intimate allies, our great King prepares His people together as His prince to take our rightful place as co-regents over this world.
I see this as the one, eternal reason for the creation of human life and the world He delegated to His people to steward. God’s heart yearns to enjoy intimate relationship with His image-bearers and to partner with each of us in His purposeful adventures, both our identity and authority. Stunning, yet this was His Eden-intent, even though He knew Adam would fail.
The Genesis 3 Breach & Jesus’ Restoration
Authentic love must be freely given. God designed us to willingly give Him our love in the sweet surrender of two lovers who truly trust one another. And if the opportunity to willingly give love exists, the possibility of rejecting that love also exists. God was willing to risk rejection because the upside of love was so great.
Eve, then Adam, chose independence and went rogue in Genesis 3. They chose to shift allegiance to follow God’s archenemy, Satan, instead of the most wonderful Family in the universe. Yet God had a plan, Jesus, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Do you know what God truly thinks about you…AFTER the Fall and restoration through our sweet surrender through faith in Christ? Restored in Christ to partner as an intimate ally in His adventure to win His world back.
And when Jesus came to restore relationship, He did not come alone! The Father, Son and Spirit all worked with His people as a divine Partnership-of-Three (Acts 10:37-38; Mark 1:9-11). Jesus’ life and death, resurrection and ascension, also brings God’s plan to its final consummation. Jesus determined with certainty through His resurrection that God’s plan is already successfully completed. But we do not yet experience all the finality as we walk this out on earth.
Jesus came once to fully meet all God’s requirements (the already). He will come again to consummate all things (the not yet). Some call this the “already but not yet” of God’s plan. Others prefer the phrase “time between the times.” This points towards the responsibility of God’s people in whatever we do each day to make visible in and through our lives what is already true as we await Jesus’ 2nd Coming.
God never veers from His original Eden-intent, despite the horrific Fall in Genesis 3.
Do you know what God truly thinks about you?
He values His Bride so much…
…that He freely, willingly, and joyfully paid such a steep price to restore intimate relationship with us…the death of Jesus. One measure of the value of any object is its purchase price. The God who knows everything was acutely aware of the coming defection of mankind, even when He created. What “return on investment” (ROI) could be great enough for God to pay such an immense price to ransom humanity?
Jesus joyfully paid this price because He anticipated the results, bringing many daughters and sons into the Family of God (Hebrews 12:2; 2:10). This immeasurably high cost of Jesus’ death restores us to participate in God’s eternal Eden-plan. Look at the cross. Jesus’ death defines how very much the Father loves you! This is our true North.
Renewal begins when we value ourselves in the same way our Family-of-Three value us.
God the Father, Son and Spirit delighted to design us and to restore us like Jesus, God’s image-bearers, unique in all His creation. As new creations, our lavish Giver calls us to fulfill our destiny. Through us, He has now multiplied channels for His life and love and light. As we freely receive, also willingly give Jesus’ life away to free captives one-by-one on His daring adventure. This is Jesus’ lifelong purpose on our lives. Repeatedly re-calibrate your spiritual compass to God’s eternal plan.
Out of His free, boundless and energetic love, God found His pleasure in creating us lovable, like Jesus. It’s who He is. He acts. God blesses. He initiates to reproduce because it’s His nature. So now through His people God’s plan multiplies this bursting-forth life and love and light to flood all of creation with His presence…through us. Our new home is resting in the Father, Son, and Spirit, the place from which we participate on His epic faith adventure.
If this is what God truly thinks about you, then…
“How do I embrace this new life?”
By faith, apart from what you can do on your own, even before you know what faith is. True faith is not a series of intellectually satisfying beliefs. True faith actively responds in the sweet surrender of all-in allegiance to the object of our faith. To believe or have faith is one of the simplest things. God designed us to connect with Him through faith. Faith is like…
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knocking on a door (Revelation 3:20),
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receiving a gift from a close friend (John 1:12),
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drinking a refreshing glass of water (John 4:14),
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calling for help when drowning (Romans 10:13), or
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coming to a dear friend when weary (Matthew 11:28).
True faith rests our lives entirely on God and His promises, like resting our weight fully in a chair. The object of our faith is more crucial than the amount of faith (a mustard seed size is enough). Faith will get us anything, take us anywhere in God’s economy. Yet without faith we have no new life, no approach to God, no forgiveness, no intimacy with God, no partnering in this grand adventure…no spiritual life at all.
Yes, what I have written is weighty! And we need a weighty base to stand firm in the storms of life and to learn to “bounce well.” Because this launching pad for life is so crucial, I have written over a dozen booklets to integrate these transforming Realities into our lives one layer after another. One is Times of Refreshing: A 21-day Devotional: “We Become What We Behold” available on Amazon.com. Are you lonely or without purpose? Our Family-of-Three has never been lonely or purposeless and has drawn you into this relationship. Look at our Team-of-Three, long and hard to “bounce well” in every arena. This is your new home.