A New Creation

I read recently, from someone who believes that faith is foolishness that; the proof in the falsehood of the proclamation about Jesus Christ is that nothing changed. I suppose an effortless review of human history could lead one to the same conclusion. However, we don’t know what the world would be like without the power and influence of God’s Holy Spirit on the hearts and minds of men and women.

It is true that racism, sexism, and economic injustice continue to be powerful forces in the world. Sadly, even the name of Jesus is used to justify division, persecution and violence. In the world today, there are many barriers to the justice, healing, and reconciliation God calls us to. But, God so loved the world that in every generation, God speaks truth through our words and changes lives through our actions. God so loved the world that in the fullness of time, God sent Jesus to teach and heal, love and forgive, and to gather a community in which God's love rules: a community blessed with the Holy Spirit.

We are powered by the Holy Spirit to do the works that Jesus does, and even greater (John 14:12). We have been made God's people, one Body of Christ living into the truth that all of the old divisions have been overcome and will be overcome throughout the world. The Good News that we've received and are called to spread throughout the world is being made manifest among us. The fire of the Holy Spirit shines in the Body of Christ with a power that no darkness can overcome, and all because God loves the world and all that God created.

In the Hebrew scripture we are told that God’s people are to be a blessing to the world. Such a mantle falls on the followers of Jesus too. We are to exist, so that the Holy Spirit thrives in the world, helping the people of God to do God’s will, here, as in heaven.