From, Through, and To God
Photo by Alexander Andrews, from Unsplash.
Where did all things come from? How do things come to be? What is the purpose of life and what is the end?
Every worldview and religion seeks to answer five essential questions: 1. Where did I come from? 2. Why is there such a mess in the world? 3. Is there any hope? 4. What am I here for? And 5. What happens to me when I die?
The Bible lays out a narrative that comprehensively answers these five questions in four storylines: 1. The creation of God. 2. The fall of humanity. 3. God’s rescue plan of sending Jesus to die and resurrect to overcome and defeat the sin of the world. And 4. God’s restoration of all things through his resurrection and his coming kingdom.
The Apostle Paul wrote a theologically comprehensive statement about God and his redemptive story in his benediction in his letter to the believers in Rome. In chapter eleven, verse thirty-six, Paul wrote, “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36, ESV).
All things were created by God and all things come to be and come to order through God. All things find their purpose and meaning in God. We were created by God and for God’s purpose and for God’s glory.
When we stray off the pathway of God’s design and storyline and choose our own narrative and our own glory, our lives break down and death enters into our stories.
May we live into God’s story for our lives, recognizing, “from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36, ESV).
A Collect for Sabbath Rest: “Almighty God, who after the creation of the world rested from all your works and sanctified a day of rest for all your creatures: Grant that we, putting away all earthly anxieties, may be duly prepared for the service of your sanctuary, and that our rest here upon earth may be a preparation for the eternal rest promised to your people in heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.” (Book of Common Prayer, 2019).
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Photo by Alexander Andrews, from Unsplash.
