Reversing the Curse

This past week our church has been involved in many different "loving our city" events across the Oklahoma City metroplex.  These activities highlight ongoing ministries our church supports all year long.  One of the benefits of us doing this together several times a year is that it creates a kind of synergy that is crucial for our success.   Our hope is that more and more of our church family will get actively involved in one or more or these important ministries.

This is all a part of our dynamic mission to "love all people to Christ".  Why is this so important to us?  The simple answer is that redemption is the work of Jesus and when a group of people are passionate about doing His work, redemptive activity is the natural result.

To understand the deeper meaning of Christ's redemptive work it is important to think about what happened at the fall.  When Adam rebelled against God the result was not just a separation between Adam and God, but also a decaying affect on his relationships, his emotions and of the physical creation around him.  The curse brought death and the deterioration in all aspects of Gods' creation.  So what did Christ's work on the cross accomplish?  Not just redemption of our relationship with God that results from our salvation through His blood sacrifice, but also a reversal of the curse in all of His creation that will finally culminate some day with His coming at the end of the age when His kingdom is finally and completely restored.

The word "savior" in the Greek language is a word that can also mean "healer".  That is what Christ does- He heals the wounds brought about by the devastating impact of the fall.  This is why what we are doing this week and all year long in our community is so important.  It is the gospel lived out for the redemption of our community.  We are not just passionate about bringing people to Christ, we are also passionate about healing the wounds we see around us in our homes, our schools, our streets and our relationships.

The practical implications of this biblical teaching is that we as His church are to continually be about His redemptive work until the day He receives His bride.  Until then the bride of Christ is His primary agent for bringing about this redemptive work as His kingdom advances.  So in a very real sense, Oneness Week for us is not just solitary acts of kindness and giving, but they are all about curse reversal.