Good News: Part Four of Four

So, even though we have corrupted God's beautiful creation, He has pursued us and made restoration possible. Jesus - who is God in the flesh - has shown us the way to life and satisfied God's justice against evil.

How are we to respond to this unfathomable love?

First, any response must be truly humble. It should be clear by now that all goodness comes from God; even those remnants of goodness that we find in ourselves in our tainted state can come from no other source. How could we possibly respond to this true, infinite love that covers our brokenness with pride? Get out of your head (and heart) the idea that you are worthy of even a sliver of the love God lavishes on us.

A humble response consists in acknowledging and acting upon one's needs. Our foremost need is for God Himself. We need His forgiveness for our self-centeredness; we need His enduring, loving presence to fill our lives with true meaning; we need His guidance for every moment from now on.

We also need other people, and we need God in the midst of our relationships. We cannot follow Jesus on our own. How could we love one another without... one another? And how could we expect to follow the demanding path of real love in a world of hatred, division, and counterfeit love, apart from surrounding ourselves with others who shared this vision for real love?

Oddly, a third thing we need is work. We need a mission from God, and the mission He gives us is broader than you might think. It includes the work of empowering the weak, giving a voice to the voiceless, proclaiming that which is good, denouncing evil, teaching about the ways of God, and inviting others to join us in this mission. It also includes creating things - works of art, inventions, organizations, new life, and more. Really, any form of service is a part of God's mission for us, from cleaning house to filing taxes and just about anything you can imagine. When we engage our work God's way, following His leading, this work is transformed. The mundane is infused with value. Where we would once cut corners ethically or engage in outright evil practices, we can now be used by God as agents for that which is good and true, and God can even use us to pull others from evil actions to beautiful actions.

This is heaven. It is the generous gift of God. It starts on this earth for those who embrace Jesus and follow Him. It continues into the afterlife, where it will be freed from the messiness that yet corrupts it in this life.