All Was Made Out of Fullness, Strength, and Complete Sufficiency!!

Good morning,

I have a new teaching Bible that is called The Jesus Bible. Highly recommend it!! It is filled with commentary in the margins and other places for the purpose of pointing out from the very beginning that Jesus didn’t show up, make His first appearance, in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John pages of the Bible, but from the very beginning. It spends time and words on every evidence of Christ from start to finish. We all understand and are part of stories and storytelling. It does such a good job of showing how the Bible is best understood when it’s viewed as one story, in six acts:

Beginnings
Revolt
People
Savior
Church
Forever

As we take a quick look at each act, we see traces of Jesus at every turn.

The Triune God (“Let us make mankind in our image,” Gen 1:26) works through the Son to bring about the creation of everything: For in him (Jesus) all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. (Col 1:16)

Creation was made to show God’s Glory! The Bible is crystal clear about this: The heavens declare the glory of God. (Ps 19:1) If someone asks, “If the earth is the only inhabited planet in the universe, and man the only rational inhabitant among the stars, why is it there is such a large and empty universe?” The answer is: It’s not about us. It’s about God, which means it’s not an overstatement; it is an understatement. God created us to know him and love him and show him. And then he gave us a hint of what he is like–the Universe!

When God created the world, he did not create out of any need or any weakness or any deficiency. He created out of fullness and strength and complete sufficiency.

The Bible explains, but here is the short story: The world exists for the glory of God’s grace revealed in the saving work of Jesus. There is an unbreakable connection between the glory of God, the glory of grace, and the glory of Christ, the glory of the cross.

In these crazy times of earthquakes, hurricanes, nuclear threats, politics, cancer, heartbreak, whatever is overwhelming you, remember: God made all this out of His abundance and fullness. He is Huge. He is our reflected image. He made all mankind to be walking and talking images of Him, knowing Adam would bring sin into the world, He sent HELP! He sent Jesus to bring all who want to, back to Him. He has the Church which is made up of all Christ-filled people all around the world from all time to be his image in love, help, hope, kindness, rescuers, and spreaders of the “ark,” Jesus, that is available to whosoever wants a safe place.

Hallelujah, that God wanted us first and He will never change! The heavens, stars, and sheer beauty of our amazing places around the world that are breathtakingly beautiful that we love to travel to or live among, declare His majesty and might… Our origination was in the mind of a majestic God. Everything beautiful, spiritual, wonderful, and eternal about you is the result of his divine image woven into your spirit from the start!!

Take courage, I AM. Stop being afraid! Matthew 14:27

Love you, Teri