“Let Us make man in our image, after our likeness…”

Father: Let us create new beings, not like the angels, not servants, but rather children. They will exist to know Us and enjoy Us like none of Our other created beings. They will exist, not out of, or to fill, any need We have, but rather as an outpouring of Our love.

Son: This is good. Just as I am an outpouring of your glory, Father, they will be an outpouring of Our glory together.

Holy Spirit: We will fill them with Our Own heart. They will exist to know Us and enjoy Us forever, like no other creature could.

Son: But, if We do this for them, they will fall into sin.

Holy Spirit: Would it be better not to create?

Father: No, it would not be better not to create. Our glory will be known. When they fall We will redeem them. I will pour out My wrath, but not without taking a people for Us out of that fallen world.

Son: Then I will go to them, when the time is right, and I will pay the price in their place. But Father, after I have paid the price for your chosen, you must forgive them, and no longer remember their sins.

Father: I will forgive, and I will remember their sin no more.

Holy Spirit: And I will fill them, sustain them, and prepare them for that last day when they will become Our full children.

“Then God said, ‘Let there be light’…”

A couple of things that bother me:

When I am having a conversation with a Christian aid-worker, and I say that preaching the gospel is the most important thing we do, and they respond by saying, “Yeah well, I could go around telling people that Jesus loves them for the next 20 years and that won’t change anything.”– As if preaching the gospel is just telling people Jesus loves them and walking away…

Or, when asked what I preach about every Sunday, I explain that I always preach about sin, the cross, and being born again, and the response is, “So just the basics then?”– As if Jesus’ death on the cross for our sin is just some basic principle, easily understood and small.

The more I study God’s plan for salvation, the bigger it gets. I don’t want to turn away from His great story. Let us continue to discover more and more about this great plan God has for this universe.

Have a listen to this excerpt from a message by one of my favorite preachers Darrin Patrick. Here he gives a very good description about God’s plan for this world. To listen to/download the full message click here.

“God Dies” Excerpt~Darrin Patrick from harleyandmakara on Vimeo.

Here’s a good book for any pastor/church-planter to read: Church Planter by Darrin Patrick