It will end as it began. In the beginning God said, “Let there be … “ and in the end there will indeed be all that God says. In the beginning it was very good and in the end it will be very good. In the beginning the world, with potential waiting to be teased and directed to full expression, was hijacked by willfulness and rebellion. In the end, there shall be rescue so thorough that no potential goes unfulfilled. In the beginning human beings bore the Image and in the end the Image will shine brilliantly through these very humans. In the beginning all of reality was free to be what God created it to be at first and then to deepen, stretch, grow and become. In the end no such becoming shall be denied. In the beginning humans beings were given authority and opportunity to care for all God made and to partner in the becoming that would bring fullness to all of it. In the end human beings will play the role that most resonates with who and why they are. In the beginning it was the Word that got it all started. In the end that same Word will have the final say. In the beginning the Spirit hovered over what could be. In the end the Spirit inhabits and enlivens and empowers all that is and will be.
From here to there, Christ followers, remade after the original likeness and reformed for the original purposes, together reflect the very good that one day shall surely be and practice ways and relationships that move creation in good-ward trajectories. No good will lack its best outcome. No truth will go unrealized. No beauty will fail to dazzle and delight.
From here to there, Christ followers seek full engagement in every worthy pursuit. Wherever they happen to be is exactly where they are best suited to be who they are and do what they were designed to do. Whatever gift or passion or skill or education or capacity they acquire finds a place in realizing God’s good plans. Whatever experiences they have had—the good, but also the bad and ugly—position them uniquely to reflect who they are and the reason they are, as well as the who and why for all others.
From here to there, when Christ followers earnestly, persistently, passionately and unitedly follow their Lord they already live out of the future freedom that will one day prevail over all now bound, and the fullness of life that will one day swallow up death in all its forms. While others wonder whether there is hope and a future they demonstrate both in ways that enliven the hope of others.
From here to there, Christ followers have opportunity to be the nucleus of the new world that God is even now creating. Christ followers must be and do not as the first human beings, but as the Second and Last Human Being, as Christ their Lord. They join him in seeing and bringing to pass what is in sync with the new heavens and earth God will give. They do not judge the world that now is or the people caught in its clutches or even those who seem bent on denying its demise and propping up its crumbling pillars, for that world already stands judged and is passing away. Rather, amidst the passing currents they stand firm and then move forward reflecting the love, joy and peace of the kingdom already coming and inviting as many as will to set their hopes on coming grace.