When God made man, He outlined man’s purpose: Get married, have babies, cultivate the world into an ordered and beautiful garden, essentially expanding Eden.
That purpose doesn’t go away. But it becomes horribly hindered. Our desires are corrupted, and death like a weed is choking all life east of Eden.
That catastrophic fall is embedded in the parable….
Read MoreMan was made in the image of God. When man rebelled, his own hubris damaged the image. Man, steward of the world, was wounded, throwing the world into disarray. Creation’s harmony was disrupted. If we think of harmony in musical terms, what we get now is dissonance. It grates, and unresolved, it drives us to madness. So the world is filled with insanity, corruption, and death. It is disordered, and man—who was intended to maintain the world’s order and harmony—fulfills not the task God gave us. All this, some of the fathers called trauma. ...
Read MoreTemptations are rarely grandiose. On occasion temptation to a front-page-headline kind of sin comes along. Most of our temptations appear as innocuous choices. Small, daily things tempt us to take baby steps away from God’s Word.
Frequently we should pray the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus teaches us there to ask for help: “Lead us not into temptation.” This takes on urgency once we realize we are constantly under spiritual assault….
Read MoreJesus is the Good Samaritan, and He comes to you, in your ditch. He comes to you with your heart problems, and to you with your heartbrokenness. He comes to you with your struggling child, and to you with your family strife. He comes to you in the darkness of the night, and to you at the end of your life.
At the heart of God is mercy. He will not leave man in the ditch.
Read More