The story of Christianity is a simple one and can be summarized in one sentence.
Let There Be Light
In Genesis - God originally created everything in unity, as intended, and declared it good while he was able to live in loving harmony with it.
Shortly into the story, creation rebels and brings darkness and division into the picture. Being deceived, they trust in themselves to be able to determine what is actually good and evil and set aside God's original intent in the process.
The rest of the story is how God continuously proceeds to attempt to reconcile with his creation—eventually coming down himself into humanity to make it possible.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it……For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things”
The same Word, “Let there be Light”, that originally brought light into creation now brought light into humanity to reconcile the Creation with the Creator.
Reconciling things back to their original design is the heartbeat of every Christian because it's the heartbeat of our Father. We want to live in the light, be light, and speak light into all situations. As Christians - We have faith that Jesus is the light that leads us to reconciliation with our Father—which is our deepest desire.
Christianity is ultimately about the claim that Jesus is who he says he is and as a result - worth following.
The prophet Jeremiah put it like this:
"Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls."
The Christian message is the call to all of humanity to find the narrow ancient path, walk in it, and be reconciled to God in the process.
THE WALLS
"Theology," "Doctrine," and "Traditions" all work as walls that keep the darkness out and help us live in the light as we walk the straight and narrow path.
Because of this - our team of Nobodies highly value studying and knowing our Bibles, theology, and spiritual truths.
As the Psalmist says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” and Paul tells Timothy to “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.”
We want to be very intentional about defending these areas and building walls around them to protect them from anything that would seek to downplay, undermine, or distort the truths. It's in these very truths that we find refuge, wisdom, and discernment, so we are very particular about getting this right.
Our belief is simple.
What you believe about God impacts what you believe about yourself, your family, your country, and ultimately your world.
A big part understanding who God is has been tied up in searching and studying the Word. As we search the scriptures - we start to see him more clearly so that we can walk towards him and live a life of reconciliation.
As Jesus said, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.”
Nothing has more implications than how you answer “Who Is Jesus?”
How we navigate the implications of that question is extremely complex and important to get right because we ultimately believe it's in the person of Jesus that we find the reconciliation that all of Creation is waiting for.
The Apostle Paul put it best -
For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.