open gates

Tuesday May 26^th,  Romans 8: 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.  We live in the “mean” time.  Christ has given us a glimpse of the kingdom, where all are welcome, all are cared for and loved and all are the children of God. Now we are sent by the spirit to bring about that reality in this world.  It is not just the people of this world that long for the redemption of the world, it is all of creation itself.  We are all created in a threefold relationship, a relationship with God the creator, a relationship with one another symbolized by the creation of community as Eve was created from Adam, and a relationship with the creation symbolized by the creation of humanity from the dust of the earth.  In this mean time, before the final glory of the fully inclusive New Jerusalem (Revelation 21) with her twelve open gates and food, healing and glory open to all, we are called to bring about peace and justice for all of humanity and all of creation, on this side of the resurrection.  We do this because the Spirit leads us back to our relationship with the Creator, the Creature, and the Creation from which we were formed.  That is how it all ends, that is God’s plan. We can get on board now and live in this loving relationship (heaven in the here and now) or fight it, insisting on our walls and legalities of separation and a broken relationship with Creator, Creature and Creation (hell in the here and now).  What is amazing is the number of people who claim a relationship with the creator, while dissing the other two (fantasy hell in the here and now).