"The gospel is not a way to get people to heaven; it is a way to get people to God. It's a way of overcoming every obstacle to everlasting joy in God. If we don't want God above all things, we have not been converted by the gospel." - John Piper, God is the Gospel, Crossway, 2005; p.47.
The point here is that our goal in embracing the gospel is not relief from the pain of this world, or to obtain a new body that won't be blind, or to live in harmony with creation, or to reach our full potential as humans, or to avoid hell. All that is secondary at best to being in the presence and enjoying the presence of God in the fullest sense possible.
There are implications for all of us as we interact with those outside of the church as well. When we proclaim the gospel, we must not reduce it to a tool that will give people something trivial they want. We must see deeper into the hearts of unbelievers - below the surface. Their (and our) longings for most things are often just symptoms of a deeper need, and that is what we must help them see. All of our longings and desires are fulfilled ultimately in having communion with Christ. We must help ourselves and outsiders to see that Jesus iswho/what will bring meaning to our life as will exist to glorify the greatness of His Being.
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