The Word in Focus with Dr Larry Taylor

Mine was a radical conversion. It was glorious, but somewhere along the way I absorbed a message that redemption was all about humans. Every human needed to hear that they were sinners, Jesus died for their sins, and all they needed to do to be forgiven was to accept Jesus as their personal savior by saying a prayer.

That view, common among evangelicals, is fine as far as it goes, but it doesn’t go far enough. The love of God extends to everything God created. God’s plan is not just to redeem humankind, but the entire cosmos. I was taught that the gospel was about us going to heaven. It’s not. The gospel is about heaven coming to earth.

Our universe is 13.8 billion years old. The part we can currently observe is 93 billion lights years in diameter. Light travels 186,000 miles per second. It is the fastest thing in the universe. If one could hop on a particle of light and ride it for the 93 billion years, one might get to the other side of the universe. Probably not, though, because 93 billion light years is only the diameter of what we can observe. In the observable universe, there are 2 trillion galaxies (give or take a couple). Our galaxy has about 100 million stars in it. Our sun is one of the smaller ones. If we take the Milky Way as an average size galaxy, which it appears to be, there are somewhere around 10²⁴ stars in the sky.

The universe is likely much bigger than what can be observed. It may be infinite. It’s theoretically possible that we live in a multiverse. There could be many universes (which makes little sense linguistically because “universe” means everything, but you know what I mean). It’s possible, maybe probable, that there are other intelligent beings out there. Perhaps they are more intelligent than we are. We keep trying to solve problems by killing each other.

Whatever exists in this inconceivably vast cosmos, God created it. It had a beginning and God, who is timeless and eternal, was there before that. (I know, it makes no logical sense to speak of anything “before” time, but again, you know what I mean.) Because God created everything, everything is (or was when it was created) good. God is good. God cannot create anything that isn’t good.

Well then, why is there so much that is clearly not good? Mostly because intelligent beings like humans or angels misuse their freewill. We know we are ecologically tied together. If you kill off clean air, clean water, animals and plants, everything suffers. There’s no such thing as independence. We are part of vast web of life. In other words, creation is filled with things contrary to God’s will and nature. Death, suffering, war, cancer, killer floods, lies, manipulation, coercion, scams, cruelty, hatred, racism … the list goes on and on. 

Somehow, at least here on Earth, the choices humans make affect everything else for good or ill. We’re almost at the point destroying everything. Creation groans – trees, dolphins, frogs, and flowers groan for redemption, for humans to stop destroying and for life to flourish. 

In order for that to happen, humans need to be redeemed. To be redeemed includes being forgiven and adopted into God’s family, but it doesn’t stop there. To be redeemed is to be made new, to have the heart of God. 

Redeemed people love other people. All of them. Redeemed people care deeply about the sick, incarcerated, homeless, mentally ill, drug-addicted, oppressed, migrants, disenfranchised, and marginalized. Redeemed people seek to relieve suffering, regardless of its cause.

Redeemed people love creation. They care for the environment, protect endangered species, seek to reduce carbon dioxide, support renewable energy, promote sustainable practices. 

Redeemed people love themselves. Not in an egotistical or narcissistic way. They don’t see themselves as superior to anyone. They have servants’ hearts. They love themselves by caring for their mental, physical, and spiritual health.

Redeemed people love God. Praise, gratitude, and thanksgiving are a regular part of their lives. They love God by obeying God. They obey God by caring for the least of Jesus’ siblings – the poor, the broken, those Jesus called the least of his siblings (Matthew 25). 

And redeemed people know redemption is not just about them. God is making all things new. God is working towards redeeming the entire cosmos – everything that exists in this vast universe or maybe even infinite universes. Whatever there is, God is redeeming it.

How? God has kickstarted the redemption process by becoming human. As a human, God in Jesus lived a perfect life, which enabled him to take on all the powers of evil in the cosmos and defeat them. On the cross, Jesus met, fought, and defeated the King of Death and Evil. Everything changed. New creation has begun. A new chapter in cosmic history has started. 

When God’s redemption project is complete, there will be no evil, no suffering, no death, and no injustice anywhere. Goodness, kindness, grace, beauty, and love will fill the cosmos and everything in it.

It’s not just about accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior. It’s about joining God’s great rescue project. It’s about joining God in making all things new. Here. Now. Wherever we are, we are invited to join God in renewing all things. We do so by loving in four directions – loving God, loving others, loving ourselves, and loving nature.