God is present with us in every step that we take. God never abandons us; as Corrie ten Boom says, “There is no pit so deep that God is not deeper still.” God is part of creation. The Hebrews experienced the presence of God and recorded that presence throughout our scriptures. God is incarnate in Jesus Christ, walking among the people.

We have a covenant with God that defines our eternal relationship. The Old Testament spends millennia trying to figure out how to be right with God, codifying behavior in relation to God and among humankind. At the same time, as a self-correcting theology, the Bible returns to the simple mandate of Micah 6:8: He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Jesus Christ clarified the covenant as one of inclusion and forgiveness. We are right with God through grace and grace alone.

Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. He inherited the throne of David, was foretold by Isaiah and the other prophet and lived a life that fulfilled the scriptures.

The quest for identity is both corporate and individual. While the families of Genesis forged their own family identities, they also forged the identity of Israel. As a nation, they vacillated between maintaining an identity that was isolated and distinct as well as inviting to others. Once Jesus appeared on the scene, he was inviting to the outcast, the disabled, the loyal Jew and the disgruntled Jew. His is a kingdom of inclusion. Any messiah who includes the Samaritan, the wayward son, Zacchaeus, Mary Magdalene and others is opening the kingdom doors to all who choose to believe. Cornerstones is very conscious of using inclusive language.

Some say that the Bible is the answer to all issues: we say that grace is the answer. All of other rules and laws in the Bible are guides for our behavior. God hopes that our understanding of grace will be reflected in our behavior – but our behavior doesn’t earn God’s Grace. To earn God’s grace is an oxymoron. It is freely given, granted to us through Jesus Christ. Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand. (Romans 5:1)