“Let us make man in Our image, according to our likeness” (Gen. 1:26). We see from this verse that, from the beginning, God’s purpose was for us to be in His image. God’s image was to be fruitful, multiply, fill the creation, and subdue it (Gen. 1:28). This purpose was frustrated and delayed at…
Category: The cross
Crying in the Wilderness
The following is a poem and meditation on John the Baptist. John is a window to a season each of us will experience if we are knowing Christ in His death. It is the place where we know, of a surety, that we will die—perhaps physically, but also psychologically. In the shadow of death, all…
An End in Itself
Jacob’s death revives fears among his sons that Joseph will retaliate because of their cruelty towards him (Gen. 50:15). Although Joseph already reassured them he held no grudge, they don’t yet trust this. Once again, they appeal to Joseph for mercy (Gen. 50:16-18). Joseph replies, “Am I in the place of God? You planned evil…
The Inner Spirit of the Cross
The following is from a pamphlet by G.D. Watson. The act of crucifixion is one thing, but the spirit in which the crucifixion is to be borne is another. In some respects the act may be brief and finished, but the inward heart disposition that should pervade crucifixion is a continuous principle extending through life,…
Everything Will Fall
On December 1st I woke from a dream that left me unsettled. It was a long rambling dream, but I knew the end was from the Lord. In the dream, I was talking with a friend who pastors a church. He was telling me the church suddenly fell apart and closed. He said, “Everything seemed…
Embalmed
After Jacob dies, he is embalmed (Gen. 50:2-3). Embalming was an Egyptian practice and betrays something of the world’s mindset. Embalming was and is meant to preserve the dead person. There have been various methods throughout history but the basic idea is the same: the dead flesh is treated with substances that slow decay. Modern…
Laid into Suffering
In 1 Thessalonians 2:17 and 18, Paul remembers being forced to leave Thessalonica—their time cut short by a mob that attacked, abused, and jailed some of them (Acts 17:5-9). Paul talks affectionately of their desire to return but says satan hindered them. Acts 17:13-15 tells the full story: Paul and co. went to Berea after…
Lovers of Wisdom
Now that we had it mounted and filleted—each limb splayed, pierced through, and neatly stuckto a pan—we were ready to gut it and discuss. So there it was.But we had to prove it. (Everything had to be proved).And so,ontological arguments were brought forward,arguments by design and by excellence,arguments by first cause and by teleology.One guy…
Seeding and Seeing
I assure you : Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces a large crop (John 12:24). The other night, I was reading John 12:24 to my son. I was struck by the context. A few verses earlier, some Greeks come to Jesus’s…
The Inward Journey—Gene Edwards
Last month, someone sent me a couple books. One was, The Inward Journey by Gene Edwards. The book is a work of theological imagination. A young man, Chris (short for “Christian”), finds himself thrust into a painful season. As Chris cries and prays one day, he has a series of visions guided by a figure…
The Voice of One 