So I'm sitting here trying to figure out how to gather up some of the highlights of all that's gone on these last couple days. So much information, so much consideration of culture, so many ways that we've been thinking about the good news of Jesus coming to be human, living his life, his death and his resurrection and his ultimate return.
One question we tackled yesterday: how do we talk about what Christ has done in the cross, the resurrection and his promised return? There are many faithful biblical images, but one angle in particular was captivating to us as a class: the work of "Healing."
"By His stripes we are healed," declares Peter. And it is so. To a world that is slow to admit personal responsibility in sin but is quick to understand themselves and the world around us as broken, this is good news, indeed.
As I continue to grow and see my own "cracks," this image of healing is good news. To paraphrase a pastor I once heard, there are few places in my own life where I am more self-deceived than in my own estimation of my own goodness. God is good to pull back the curtain with great but gentle regularity to expose me for who I really am.
"Behold, I am making all things new!" This is the promised end of the work of Christ at the very, very end. Revelation pictures a tree whose leaves are for the healing of the nations. There is also the glorious promise of every tear being wiped from every eye.
And so I trust in the Christ who died on the cross to make all things new...and I lean into that promise as the rabbit-hole of my own brokenness and neediness continues to be revealed as deeper than I ever imagined.
1 comment:
It's been an interesting past couple weeks being around lots of activists this summer (book club, NHI, etc.) I don't know that we are any more broken than the non-activist, but I have really seen some of our personal brokenness lately. The whole seeing brokenness "out there" but not "in here" thing you're talking about has been really clear to me.
I'm still barely getting to know the hurt (as well as band-aids) some of these new friends carry around, but it seems so many of them have had esp had family issues or felt marginalized by peers. Yet they are so convinced that they can save the world! I'm glad for their hearts for justice, but I want so much for them to understand that they too can be recreated. It's actually pretty intense b/c I totally see myself in them at pts!
Anyway, thanks for your thoughts on this; I feel what you're saying. It's been a real blessing to be around some other people that are like me in this this summer, and it's cool to hear others thinking about the way different kinds of restoration go together to build the a complete (and really, pretty UNC-activist-contextualized) Gospel.
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