God created us in his image and likeness, to live in union with himself, to be what he created us to be, and to do what he created us to do: take care of the world and make it the place of his glory. But we failed both assignments. We rebelled against God and sought the meaning of life by following the course of evil in our personal choices, resulting in the world as a place of violence, greed, and lust. We can’t change ourselves or the world. So God does it for us. God’s story is the story of how God reversed the human condition, broke the hold of sin and death—which separates us from God—and restored us to the original vision of becoming the person God created us to be and making the world the place of God’s glory.
-Robert Webber, The Divine Embrace: Recovering the Passionate Spiritual Life (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2006), 16.