the Son is not only the motivating origin of creation: he is its goal. The Son is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end of creation. Now here we come to something astounding: because the Father’s love for the Son has burst out to be shared with us, the Son’s inheritance is also (extraordinarily!) shared with us. “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ” (Rom 8:17). It is a physical expression of the marvelous truth that the Father shares his love of the Son with us: the meek shall inherit the earth!