Saturating the World with Shalom

A Wesleyan vision for a world healed by love, multiplied through disciples and churches.

Post 1: Salvation as Creation Healed

“Behold, I am making all things new.” — Revelation 21:5

For many, salvation is imagined as a heavenly escape plan—souls plucked from a sinking ship, waiting for rescue. But the biblical vision is far more expansive, and far more hopeful. In the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition, salvation isn’t escape from the world; it’s the healing of it. The gospel is not only about going to heaven when we die—it’s about heaven coming to earth, even now.

A Healing Holiness

John Wesley preached holiness not as a rigid moral code, but as perfect love: a life so aligned with God’s heart that it begins to reflect the healing character of Christ in every sphere. Holiness, in this view, is healed wholeness—where sin’s fractures in hearts, relationships, systems, and even creation itself are slowly made right through the redemptive work of Jesus and the ongoing ministry of the Spirit.

Paul writes that “in Christ all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things” (Colossians 1:19–20). All things means what it says: not just souls, but systems; not just people, but creation; not just the church, but the cosmos.

The Gospel is Cosmic in Scope, Local in Application

In Romans 8, Paul reminds us that creation groans, waiting for its liberation. And in Revelation, we glimpse the goal: not the destruction of the earth, but the renewal of all things—a new heaven and a new earth. This is why we say salvation is creation healed.

This healing isn’t abstract. It begins in local places—in the lives of people who follow Jesus, in communities where the marginalized are restored, in churches that embody justice, mercy, and peacemaking.

When a person finds freedom from addiction, when neighbors are reconciled, when polluted land is restored, when a congregation hosts refugees—these are not side effects of the gospel. They are the gospel in motion.

Key Scriptures

• Colossians 1:19–20 – Christ reconciling all things
• Romans 8:18–23 – Creation’s groaning and future glory
• Revelation 21:1–5 – The new heaven and new earth

Live Sent Practice: Create Your “Shalom Rule of Life”

Salvation is a whole-life reality. So start with a simple, whole-life rhythm—a personal Shalom Rule of Life. Choose one weekly habit in each of these four areas to help you live sent into God’s healing mission:

1. Deepening intimacy with God
   Example: Begin each day with Scripture and silence before any screens.
2. Healing relationships with others
   Example: Commit to one act of reconciliation or relational care each week.
3. Caring for the world (creation and justice)
   Example: Reduce waste, volunteer locally, or donate to a justice initiative.
4. Witnessing to Christ’s Kingdom in word and deed
   Example: Share a meal with someone far from God or speak up for the voiceless.

In the coming posts, we’ll explore how this holistic gospel leads us to work for justice, multiply disciples, plant churches, and live as agents of God’s global Shalom.

Let’s live sent—not just as individuals saved from the world, but as a people sent into it to join Christ in making all things new.