God created everything out of nothing, and He created us for a purpose: that we would love and honor Him. He created us to enjoy Him and govern His creation. But this didn’t last long. Our relationship with God was ruptured due to humanity’s unfaithfulness. The result was being cursed by God and alienated from Him.
There’s nothing we can do to restore this broken relationship – the rift between God and us is too vast. Our sin has alienated us, and we can’t do enough good. The hole is too deep and we’re prone to keep digging anyways. Fortunately, reconciliation with God isn’t dependent upon us. Our sin is deserving of punishment and banishment from God’s presence, but Jesus came and paid our debt by dying on the cross in our place. Through His sacrifice we can be restored and have a relationship with God. The image at the end of the Bible is that we will feast with Him!
What’s beautiful about this story is that it isn’t just about going to heaven someday, though it is that. It’s also the fact that Jesus rose from the dead and lives today. Because He lives we can have a relationship with Him, a friendship. When we do that, He changes us so we look more and more like Him, which means we’ll be committed to serving Him by blessing His creation and loving and serving others with our lives.