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The Good News is that God loves us! He wants us to have great lives, the best lives we imagine. Jesus put it like this “I have come so that you can have life – life in all its fullness”. The world is a great place, full of many wonderful things. There is so much to enjoy! Here are just a few of them: food, countryside, the coast, mountains, moors, time with friends and family, sport, games, entertainment, even employment – the list goes on.
Right at the beginning we find out that God was pleased with the whole universe and our place in it.
But people kept on forgetting about God and pulling away. It marred their lives and our stunning planet. Friendships failed, people took advantage of others, lives went pear shaped or just got lived without purpose or meaning. That rings a bell! Jesus says about that “the thief comes in order to steal, kill and destroy”. God wasn’t going to take that; he loved people too much and for our benefit hatched a rescue plan. It wasn’t a plan just for way back in time, but for now, for us.
To end the separation, God sent Jesus. Its what the Christmas Story is about. He lived a human life with all that brings – joy, pain, tears, love and laughter. He lived it with God. And then made the ultimate sacrifice. Even though he was The Son of God he was executed as a criminal on a cross. It didn’t end there – as three days later he was alive and kicking.
The Christian understanding of all this is that the creation story is actually our story now – a story marred without God - and that Jesus’ life, death and living again gave the opportunity for each and every human being to really know God and not be separate from him. To know God as a true friend. The good news – in fact the great news is that throughout the bible story God tells us “Your life matters”, “you are loved”, “you’re worth it”.
That’s where the top paragraph comes in. There is so much to enjoy – and to enjoy it fully, without harming ourselves is to enjoy it with God and others. Living well and living deeply. Its about loving God and our neighbours at the same time, 24 – 7. A life that is fulfilling, significant, purposeful and immersed in love.
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