God Made a Deal

In the beginning, when God created, He created mankind and made a deal with them to live in fellowship with Him and populate the earth to take it forward to its fulfilled purpose.

As we know things went wrong. Wipe it all and start again kind of wrong. But God showed kindness in saving Noah and family, and again made a deal. There wouldn't be that kind of wipe out again, leaving Noah to re-populate and take creation forward.

But it didn't really work out.

Some meandering later God chooses one couple and graciously makes it possible for them to have a family. He made a deal with them, that they could become a race who would be a people who bring blessing, and thus take the whole world towards God's purposes.

From that race God kindly saved them out of cruel oppression, and came as near face to face with them as might be possible. With Moses as a mediator, out in the sticks, He made a deal for this people to be the example nation, the race through which God's purposes can be seen, and therefore ultimately the whole world might be blessed and brought into His presence.

Yet sadly that didn't work out either.

Then, God enters creation Himself, lives, lays down his life, and then takes hold of it again. Through this life/death/resurrection business He once again makes a deal. A new deal, one through which His Spirit can be liberally poured out to allow many, many people of all races, geographies and backgrounds to be included in the deal. Once again this people can demonstrate to the world, and bring creation towards God's intended purposes.

This deal still stands, here in the 21st century. It connects all the way back to that first deal, and the ones that followed on. It is the Spirit-enabled deal that you and I are invited to be part of.