God's Purposes

When God created the world, he created it perfectly. And he created it with two purposes in mind.

One: To create a family. People would be created. They would bond together in one family. They would have intimate, ongoing relationship with the Father. The Father would have intimate, ongoing relationship with the family as a whole, and with each member individually and personally.

Two: To demonstrate his nature\character through his creation. He would pour out his love on all people. The people would all experience it fully. Creation would be whole and harmonious. The family would be whole and harmonious. No pain, death or loss. Nature was gracious and giving.

Then sin entered the world. It corrupted. It disrupted. And everything broke.

But did God’s purposes change? No, they did not. The purposes are the same. The mechanisms for achieving those purposes needed to change; the end results did not.

God still wants to make a family. God still wants to have intimate, ongoing relationship with the family as a whole and with each individual. But, before sin, when someone was born, he would have automatically been included in the family. Now, with sin, each person is separated from God and from the family. So, God has set up an adoption process. Each person is placed in the family by the process. And God considers each “reclaimed” person as if they were born into the family, instead of being adopted into the family.

But each person has freedom to choose to be a part of the family or not. So, there needs to be an “invitation mechanism.”  And each person is fundamentally broke. They do not know how to live in the family. The do not know how to live as a son\daughter of the Father. So, there needs to be a “restoration mechanism.”

And the family itself is involved with these mechanisms. The family demonstrates the truth of its relationship with the Father. The family demonstrates the extent of its restoration. The family participates in extending invitations. And the family participates in restoring one another to health and wholeness. The family teaches one another how to live in the family. The family teaches one another how to connect with the Father.

And it is this connection with the Father that changes who a person is at his\her core.

And God still wants to demonstrate his character through his creation. Scripture says all of creation declares God’s character. But sin blocks the view. It should be seen most clearly through his family. Which is why the “restoration mechanism” becomes vital.

Jesus came and formally re-established God’s family. He set up the invitation mechanism and the restoration mechanism. But, he prioritized the restoration mechanism. Both are important, but it is the restoration mechanism that gives power to the invitation mechanism.

And restoration covers wherever God’s kingdom should reign: individuals, families, neighborhoods, cities, societies, cultures, institutions, fields, forests, mountains, factories, industries, stores, offices, universities, parking lots, highways and bi-ways. In whatever place, in whatever condition, in whatever situation God’s presence is, God’s restoration should come and prevail.