As I look back on the various blogs that I have written, I realize that I quote from a lot of books but not a lot from the Bible. So I thought I would share with those who read this blog about some of the Scriptures that have spoken to me when I have been doing my prayer and Bible reading time each night. All these passages are in the Message translation and have been in the readings in the book "The Message//Remix: Solo".
"He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he's there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross."- 1 Corinthians 1:18-20.
What I love about this passage is found in Verse 20 and relates to Jesus death on the cross and what it acccomplished(es) in this world. That his death sets everything to the right. or as Eugene Peterson puts it, "in vibrant harmonies." That Jesus death on the cross didn't just set me right with Him (it has) but that it sets the entire world at right, and that we also have a part in God's ultimate plan of redemption.
"But there's far more to life for us. We're citizens of high heaven! We're waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ, who will transform our earthy bodies into glorious bodies like his own. He'll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him."- Philippians 3:20-21.
Again this to me screams hope and redemption for us and our bodies. God is working to put everything as it should be. Redeeming humanity, the world, the creation, and everything. Restoring it back to Eden again. And that again tells me that part of our job as followers of Jesus is to work on the restoration of the work back to the way it was in Eden, knowing it won't fully be realized until the end of everything, as found in Revelation 21-22.
"God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. "- Ephesians 3:20
This one brings me so much comfort and hope. That God can do so much more than what my little mind can dream. That God wants Veritas to "succeed" even more than I do. That God can use my little efforts to further his great Kingdom. Veritas seeks to be a safe place for a spiritual search, a people who live out a missional kingdom life, and people who are participating and creating authentic, relevant worship expressions. This is our hopes, dreams, and visions for our future and God desires to move in us, around us, and through us. My prayer is that God would do more than what I hope and dream, and that I could be a small part in the renewal and building of his kingdom here on earth, as it is in heaven.