I don’t know that we consider this image much when we think of God, but it comes up fairly frequently in the Bible, and it is easily one of my favorites: God is our carrier. We have already encountered this image in talking about God as our Father. Deuteronomy 1:32 says, “the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son.” In His role as our heavenly dad, God … [Read more...] about Our Carrier
We Rise Spiritually
Because Christ is risen, we rise spiritually. Apart from Christ, our hearts are darkened by sin. We are slaves to sin. We are cursed souls. We are incapable of pleasing God. Even our best moments are tainted by mixed motives and selfish conceit. But in Christ’s death we have found full and final forgiveness. The debt we owed has been paid, and the subsequent curses of our … [Read more...] about We Rise Spiritually
Our Shepherd
In my life, I have once seen a shepherd personally. We were on a mission trip with a group of students, and it was a rainy day. We were traveling up and down windy roads in rural Portugal. Out in the downpour sat a shepherd. I think he had a rain jacket on. (I can’t remember if he had an umbrella.) But there he sat in the rain, watching his flock. That image has stuck … [Read more...] about Our Shepherd
Our Salvation Is Sure
Because Christ is risen, our salvation is sure. When Jesus walked this earth, he made an audacious claim. Jesus said he was the Son of God. He said he was the Messiah. And he said he had come to die for the sins of the world. In fact, just before he was executed, he had a passover meal with his disciples, and he said the bread of the meal, which was broken, … [Read more...] about Our Salvation Is Sure
Resurrection and Sorrow: A Tender Easter
On an Easter kept through a pandemic, I am reminded... Easter does not mean that Christians do not weep, that we do not hang our heads in sorrow when a grandfather says goodbye too soon, when the cancer returns in the young dad, when the smoke smothers a man in his bed, when the strength of the boy is spent, when breath grows short, when legs curl up under covers. We do … [Read more...] about Resurrection and Sorrow: A Tender Easter