Spiritual Survival Guide
2: Read This If You’re Confused About Faith
of God, becomes flesh and comes into the world. Jesus is born. And through him all the old story lines connect and all the old promises come into play. Jesus himself becomes the new way of life, reversing hu- manity’s downward spiral away from God. Jesus completes and corrects the old ways, showing the way of radical for- giveness and holy living, and letting everyone know that God has a new and better future in store. And, then, when the time of ultimate testing comes, Jesus proves himself obedient to God’s will, even to the point of enduring death on the cross. And God raises him up from the dead—canceling the power of sin and death, opening a whole new way of life, and sending his followers out with a world- wide mission to baptize and make disciples of this new life. Almost immediately, the promised Holy Spirit is poured out, and the church is born. All the barriers between God’s cov- enant people and everyone else are broken down once and for all. The risen Jesus turns enemies into followers. One of them, Paul, becomes the greatest missionary and deepest thinker of them all. Though persecuted, the Jesus movement continues to grow and spread, as the Holy Spirit fills, guides, and empowers it. It’s a life of radical freedom and joy: learning from Christ, living like Christ, trusting in him as our intercessor, grieving with hope, persevering in every circumstance, letting our faith and our works go hand in hand, and keeping Jesus as the Main Thing.
towards the journey’s end where God will bring all things to completion and where God will be all in all. That’s one way of putting it. In truth, there are all kinds of ways of tell- ing the story, but sometimes you need to hear the quick version, just so that you get a sense of what’s going on. Other times, you want to go over the details and see more of what was going on. We’ve included a “Bible-at-a-Glance” chart to give you quick look at where any particular passage of the Bible might be in the overall story. Turn the page and see if it helps.
The love story goes on, and includes us all—and reaches
50
51
Made with FlippingBook - Share PDF online