Your will be done, Heavenly Father!

Coming into the church is entering into a mystical union with Christ who calls his church his body. It is a spiritual experience where God calls individuals to know Him and draw near to Him. In Christ God became man and lived among us, he died on the cross, taking the punishment we deserve so that in his death we are made holy in Him, Christ Jesus our Saviour.

In becoming a baby, Christ endured our sin, living weak and vulnerable, a perfect man in a world under judgement. First angels, then man had rejected God turning their back on the holiness of God, choosing disobedience and faithlessness and doing evil. Jesus came into this world of darkness that he loved and he came as a baby, born of a virgin, Mary, He was conceived by God the Holy Spirit and he called God, Father being God himself.

God loves the world; God loves mankind because in man He sees himself and in creation he sees the work of His hands. Jesus endured temptation, cruelty, rejection and finally death so that death might be conquered. In Christ Jesus, we have the gift of eternal life, not because of anything in us, but because of the sacrifice of Christ who died on the cross and conquered punishment of death for those who believe.

And those who believe are gathered into the church, at one level, to suffer, serve and be rejected as He was, so that the world might know it is loved.

Cry out to God in suffering; rail against Him for evil and injustice; shout to the Lord because of sickness. What you feel is right! What you desire is true! In Christ Jesus there is peace; a dignity beyond understanding that is ours in Him. In Christ we know peace.

The Church is the first fruits of a coming kingdom and the kingdom breaks out in salvation, mended lives that make sense, purified by Jesus. It breaks out in healing of minds and bodies and, even in despair, we look forward to the day of Christ when all who are to be saved will meet with Christ at his second coming and receive the gift of eternal life in Him.

What if God brings healing now? What if God brings changed circumstances? We live in a kingdom present in his people, the church, a bride at a marriage feast in a relationship to be consummated in the second coming of Christ. The church is the body of Christ in the present world; the bride of Christ prepared and being perfected for a marriage yet to be consummated. Everything we experience now is for that point. This is our hope and we glorify God in the healing and in the changed circumstances. God is present now and we long and yearn for the time when we will be with Him eternally. We glorify God in the strength to endure and in the faith and secure knowledge that he makes all things right for those who believe and that we will not be tempted beyond our strength. He turns our weeping into blessing and He is our strong foundation.

Our time on Earth is short and every moment counts. We love life and live its gift to the full, sharing the grace of God freely, crying constantly, God's will be done; Your will be done Heavenly Father!