Genesis 3:8; 2 Corinthians 5:17
There was a time in God's special garden in Eden that man and woman took walks with God in the cool of the evening. Apparently, God drew near in the form of a human body in order to enjoy this garden time with them. The man and woman's sin ruined all of that, corrupting human nature itself. Now the human life would be marked by Death in many forms of experience. At just the right time, God took human form again, but in a very unique way. God united his own being to the corrupt human being in the man, Jesus. By sacrificing this human life for our sins, God renewed human nature in Jesus Christ. Now, we have God's promise that in Jesus we will someday enjoy the fullness of that new humanity. Someday, we will take walks with God again in his special garden.
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Matthew 12:38-45
How a person responds to the authority of Jesus says everything that needs to be said about the kind of disciple they are or might be. In this passage, Jesus promises that his resurrection will function like "the sign of Jonah." That is to say that it is the knife's edge of the word of God in the world, separating true from false believers. This leads us to self-reflection, asking the question, "What sort of believer am I?" Matthew 12:22-37
When the religious experts slander Jesus, Jesus turns the situation into an object lesson. The Pharisees define for us what Jesus means when he says God will judge us for every "careless word" we speak. This helps disciples test ourselves to make sure we continue to make progress in growing to be like Jesus. |
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