Return to the Garden

There is a great deal of misinformation regarding the meaning of the term “born again.” Such ignorance and confusion could have disastrous ramifications if those who think they are born again really aren’t. In a conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus used this term to explain how one enters the kingdom of heaven. Nicodemus thought the Lord was referring to a subsequent physical birth and couldn’t fathom how this was possible, but Jesus was speaking in…

Why did God curse Eve with loneliness and heartache, an emptiness that nothing would be able to fill? Wasn’t her life going to be hard enough out there in the world, banished from the Garden that was her true home, her only home, never able to return? It seems unkind. Cruel, even. He did it to save her. For as we all know personally, something in Eve’s heart shifted at the Fall. Something sent its roots down deep into her soul—and ours—that mistrust…

Jesus will return. Swiftly, unexpectedly. Any moment. His return will usher in the renewal of all things. That includes the execution of justice, rewards, the feast, your “estates,” your appointed role in his great kingdom—along with the restoration of everything you love. This has some pretty staggering implications. For one thing, it ought to radically transform our attitude toward death. Losing someone you love is an earthquake; it is traumatic. Because…

When Jesus died, that most holiest of curtains was ripped in half. Torn, top to bottom. And who was it that did that? Surely not the priests. It was God himself. He took that veil and ripped it in two. So why do we insist on stitching it back up? A whole lot of what passes for worship, sacrament, and instruction in Christian circles is sewing lessons—hanging that veil again. Done in the same spirit that says, “God is too holy for us to approach.” I&rsquo…

Scripture uses beautiful imagery to describe the return of Christ. Today’s passage, for example, says at the Lord’s shout and the sounding of a trumpet, the “dead in Christ” will emerge from their resting places and soar into the sky (1 Thessalonians 4:16). Close behind them will be believers who haven’t yet departed this life. They’ll be changed as they are “caught up ... to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:17).…

Certainly storytelling is one of the great pleasures in the kingdom. God clearly takes it very seriously—he made reality in the shape of a story. Would you like to write? Illustrate? Act? Produce? Perhaps we get to take workshops from the great artists! These things are not obliterated when we step into the life to come; God renews all things. Willard assures us, We will not sit around looking at one another or at God for eternity but will join the eternal Logos, &ldquo…

After creating this stunning portrait of a total union, the man and woman becoming one, God turns the universe on its head when he tells us that this is what he is seeking with us. In fact, Paul says it is why God created gender and sexuality and marriage—to serve as a living metaphor. He quotes Genesis, then takes it to the nth degree: "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This…

Many followers of Jesus Christ look for the assurance of salvation in the wrong places. We tend to seek assurance of salvation in the things God is doing in our lives, in our spiritual growth, in the good works and obedience to God’s Word that is evident in our Christian walk. While these things can be evidence of salvation, they are not what we should base the assurance of our salvation on. Rather, we should find the assurance of our salvation in the objective truth…

Our Enemy is a thief, and of all the precious things he has stolen from our hearts, his worst act of treachery has been to steal our future from us. He has stolen all the magic and promise and wonder of the happily ever after. Very few of us live with hope. To those without faith, he has whispered, "Your story ends with an accident, and then...there is nothing. This is as good as it gets." Small wonder people drink too much, eat too much, watch too much TV,…