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We see in the Bible that God is always with us. When we become followers of Jesus, his presence comes to dwell inside us through the power of the Holy Spirit. Because God is always near, as Christians, it should be normal for us to carry on a conversation with God, not just in the morning and evening, but throughout the day. In 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18, we are commanded to ‘‘rejoice always, pray continually’’ and to ‘‘give thanks in all circumstances.’’ But what does it look like to live this out? We can develop this kind of lifestyle through simple practices that help our hearts hear from the Lord, both in the quiet, still moments and the loud hectic ones throughout our day. This can be called ‘‘practicing the presence.’’ And as we learn to pray continually, talking to God becomes a natural part of our relationship with him. How do we integrate prayer into our lives? First, understand that prayer doesn’t have to be long. One practical way we can begin practicing an awareness of God throughout our day is through breath prayers. This can be done by praying a short Bible verse or a simple prayer that can be said in the space of a breath. There’s nothing magical about repeating these prayers as you inhale and exhale, but it’s a simple and powerful way to stay connected with God throughout your day. As you read through the Bible, write down any short prayers that stand out to you. Or you can write out your own in the margins of your Bible in response to Scripture. Here are some examples to get you started: 1 John 4—Help me love like you today. Psalm 139 and Exodus 33—Be with me. Psalm 23—Keep me safe. Matthew 6—Forgive me, and help me to forgive others. Types of prayers in the Bible Prayers of adoration, examen and meditation are all additional ways for us to pray, each giving us different ways to communicate with and cultivate a life-giving relationship with our Creator. Prayers of adoration give God glory simply for who he is. One easy way to do this is by praying the Psalms. You might even try to write a psalm in your own words, expressing your thanks and praise to God. Prayers of examen help us to reflect. As you think back on your day, ask God to reveal the ways he has been present with you and reflect on whether your thoughts, feelings and actions have been pleasing to him. This is a way for us to allow God to help us see ourselves more clearly and be transformed by him. Try praying this way by reflecting on your day before going to sleep at night. Prayers of meditation allow God to address our will, calling us into repentance, obedience and transformation. One way to do this is by reflecting on the truth found in the Bible and asking God to show us how it relates to our lives. Drawn from The NIV Telos Bible.

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” – Revelation 7:9-10 The story of the Bible closes with a vision of God’s kingdom on earth. At the end of time, history’s completion is illustrated as a gathering filled with people of every ethnicity, language and nation, singing together in a beautiful chorus of praise to God. What a beautiful picture! God’s heart is that we, with our unique histories and cultures, languages and perspectives, would live in unity with one another, working to reflect the perfect love of God. He created us differently, and we each image his character in a unique way. When we come together and love one another well, we are reflecting God and his perfect relationship with himself as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There is beauty in our differences, and it’s meant to be that way. Our differences make loving others well a reflection of the character of God. God’s heart is for unity, not uniformity This idea is nice, but it doesn’t often translate into reality. We live in a world that counts differences as opportunities for division. We’re hardwired in our sinful nature to have an us versus them mentality, and we often devalue people who look, sound and act differently than we do. Instead of a beautiful song of praise filled with the voices of a diverse choir, we hear clamor as every individual and group sing their own tune. Sometimes, this noise seems inescapable, but Jesus has shown us another way—the way of God’s kingdom, the truth of God’s reconciling redemption and the life of God’s multiethnic family. Revelation’s vision of people from every nation and ethnicity coming together to worship God isn’t something we just wait for Jesus to accomplish. As his followers, we are called to align our lives with the radical vision of God’s kingdom coming to earth. An aspiring vision The great multitude wearing white robes and holding palm branches are the souls saved through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. The multitude is made up of every nation, tribe, people and language, but their differences don’t divide them. Instead, they are united in worship and service to God, each enjoying a close relationship with him. Churches today can reflect this diverse yet unified vision of heaven by showing their unity across national, ethnic, economic and generational boundaries. When we pray, worship, read Scripture or march against injustice together, we are reflecting this incredible unity that comes from God. As Christians, we believe that every person is made in God’s image and therefore has infinite value. But that isn’t enough. We should try to live out what we believe. What does this look like in your life? Drawn from The NIV Telos Bible.

Comfort for the Grieving The doctor said, “The child has severe hemophilia.” In the crib looking up at me with charming brown eyes lay a beautiful baby boy. A “severe” hemophiliac. My son. Emotions swirled. “Are you sure?” I asked, feeling helpless. “Yes,” he responded. Much of life happens before you are ready. Our hearts race and our minds search for meaning, but some circumstances resist explanation. So it was for me on that day, surrounded by the beeping ambience of the neonatal unit. Powerless, I simply stood and watched. However, despair is not the end of the story. It is simply the occasion when our spiritual senses are awakened to behold new, life-giving dimensions of God’s presence. In Jesus’s words, “Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.” The shocking, even scandalous, ring to this statement hits you in the face. Blessed? How can Jesus possibly say that those who mourn are blessed? In her book On Death and Dying, psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross identified five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Nowhere in her list are blessed and comfort. But perhaps they should be. Life in the kingdom, after all, is not about striving for happiness or avoiding the ills of human existence that bring us face to face with mourning. It’s about receiving and finding, even amid the pain and suffering of life (Eph. 1:3; James 1:17). “Blessed” is therefore not an achievement, an attitude, or an emotion. It is the tangible gift of God’s loving embrace, an identity in Christ that experiences life as it ought to be—even when we mourn. In the months leading up to Angela’s delivery, I was a seminarian teaching Matthew’s Gospel in Sunday school. My wife, great with child, sat in the front listening attentively. One morning, I introduced my students to a concept called the “upsilon vector.” A Counterintutive Pattern Upsilon is a Greek letter that looks like the English capital U (or like a Y when it’s capitalized). Its contours trace the trajectory of Jesus’s experience in terms of his descent into apparent defeat (suffering and dying on the cross) before ascending three days later in consummate victory (in the resurrection). It is the counterintuitive pattern of Christian life that my seminary professor, Royce Gruenler, outlined when he stated, “We can expect to follow the same path of defeat and death, victory and resurrection.” We observe the upsilon’s ironic pattern in nature, from the changing of the seasons to the kernel of wheat that falls to the ground and dies before it produces fruit. It’s also found in the great stories of antiquity, as when Persephone must first descend into the underworld and marry Hades before spring can be reborn. In Scripture, we see Jacob’s hip dislocated before he undergoes his transformation into Israel (Gen. 32:22–32). And we have the supreme example: our crucified Prince of Peace who rises from death to begin the new creation. My Sunday school lesson expounded this redemptive idea with pathos and conviction. However, seeing my pregnant wife’s robust belly in my peripheral vision, I was confronted by some persistent questions: “What if this child introduces suffering into my life? Will I be able to exhibit the peace that I’m now fervently proclaiming?” I swallowed hard and kept on teaching. Two months later, our son was born. After a routine medical procedure, he continued to hemorrhage. Shortly thereafter we learned of his bleeding disorder. The upsilon vector immediately sprang to mind. Now was my opportunity to apply it. But it immediately became apparent that one descends into brokenness not with confidence, strength, and peace, but with many tears, sleepless nights, and mourning. In Jesus’s words, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Matt. 26:38). How should we respond to such pain and despair? Some assert that God doesn’t want his children to experience illness or disease. We must claim healing, they say, which is God’s desire for the church. How I wished it were so, especially in those early years when we struggled to stick an intravenous needle into my son’s tiny veins. Health-and-wealth religion is misguided because it fails to understand the means of comfort in our mourning, namely the cross of Jesus. Martin Luther says it well: “He who is not a crucianus, so to speak, is not a Christianus: He who does not bear his cross is no Christian, for he is not like his Master, Christ.” Cry to the Father Life is fragile and all too brief. According to the Psalmist, our lifetimes are a “mere breath.” We may perhaps live into our seventies or eighties “by reason of strength,” but our experience is generally full of “toil and trouble” (Ps. 39:5; Ps. 90:10). Sometimes life leaves you weeping in the dark. In such moments of misery, we cry out to a Father who cares about our pain, who invites us into his presence to express our concerns (Matt. 7:7–11; 1 Pet. 5:7). In view of this reality, theologian Kelly M. Kapic has offered a helpful framework for understanding and expressing biblical lament. “These cries,” writes Kapic in his book Embodied Hope: A Theological Meditation on Pain and Suffering, “do not form a subversive antireligious voice but operate at the heart of the biblical canon among the prayers and songs of the people of God. They are part of their liturgy and worship.” To ignore the need for such lament is to live in denial, overlooking the simple facts that life is messy, we are weak, and God is merciful. It also fails to recognize lament’s redemptive value. This lesson came into focus for me when I taught my son how to ride his bicycle. One thing everyone knows about the process of learning to ride a bike: it is full of falling. However, falling isn’t a viable option when your blood doesn’t clot. So, I ran behind my son’s bike with arms outstretched for an hour, up and down the sidewalk, ready to throw my body onto the pavement as a cushion to break his fall. Walking home that afternoon, I looked at my boy. Yes, he had fallen, and my lunges were too late, but the damage was minimal. As I looked down on my son holding my hand, my thoughts naturally went upward to the Father in heaven. I wondered, What is God’s posture? What are his thoughts toward us? Then I imagined God saying: Keep pedaling, son, despite your fears. I know all the bumps in the road, and, although you falter and even wipe out, my grace encircles you to the end. So it has been for us. Despite the powerlessness and pain of life, God’s grace-filled provision has surrounded us through every turn of the journey. Truly, as Christ said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Health-and-wealth religion is misguided because it fails to understand the means of comfort in our mourning, namely the cross of Jesus. Chris Castaldo is the author of The Upside Kingdom: Wisdom for Life from the Beatitudes.

I used to believe in “biblical manhood and womanhood”—that God ordained male headship in the home and in the church, that wives must submit to their husbands, but that husbands do not have to submit to their wives. I no longer believe in “biblical manhood and womanhood” because it is not biblical. Like many Christians, I took for granted that the Bible supports gender hierarchy in the church and the home. I grew up in a happy home where my father was the head of the house. Women never preached in our church. Men made church decisions. I learned to read, love, and believe the Bible as the inerrant Word of God from my father, J. Barton Payne, who devoted his life to studying and teaching Scripture. Nevertheless, I had no assurance that I would have eternal life until at a Christian camp as a junior high student I realized that God, who cannot lie, promised eternal life to all who believe in Jesus Christ (John 3:16; Titus 1:2). I fell on my knees and asked forgiveness for not believing God’s promise in Scripture. I was overjoyed with assurance of faith, an assurance that has never left me because it is based on God’s written Word. During my junior year as a pre-med student, I had the joy of seeing a blind boy named Joel transformed by faith in Jesus Christ beyond anything medicine could do. So, with honors in literature and a growing love of the Bible, instead of going to medical school, I served for fourteen months as a “helping hand” missionary in Japan with The Evangelical Alliance Mission. My pastor in Nagoya told me that the greatest need of the evangelical church in Japan was someone with a PhD in New Testament, preferably from Cambridge University. So, after finishing my MA in New Testament and MDiv at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, I entered the New Testament PhD program at Cambridge. About a month after arriving in Cambridge, a lecturer stated, “No passage in the New Testament, understood in its original context, limits the ministry of women.” I almost stood up and shouted, “That’s not true.” I thought 1 Timothy 2:12’s prohibition of women teaching men was the perfect refutation. So that evening I read 1 Timothy in Greek and continued to do so repeatedly for over a month. I was struck by the letter’s pervasive concern with false teaching. Since women are the only people 1 Timothy identifies as deceived by the false teaching, this explains why Paul prohibited women in Ephesus from seizing authority to teach a man. Realizing that 1 Timothy 2:12 does not disprove the lecturer’s statement, I began to examine every other passage about women in the Bible. Forty-nine years of research later, I still have not found any original passage of the Bible that prohibits women from engaging in any church ministry. The Bible’s teaching matters on this issue because the Bible is the Word of God, authoritative for all Christians. And if God teaches it, that settles it. The Bible, not contemporary culture, should guide what we believe and how we live. While I still believe that the Bible is inerrant, I no longer believe in “biblical manhood and womanhood.” My view did not change because I rejected the authority of Scripture. My view changed because I examined the very Bible passages that I thought established gender hierarchy. It is precisely those passages, including 1 Corinthians 11:2–16, 1 Corinthians 14:34–35, Ephesians 5, 1 Timothy 2–3, Titus 1–2, and 1 Peter 3 that caused me to reject the exclusion of women from leadership in the church and the home. Of course, given its cultural setting, the Bible has many examples of men in leadership, and far fewer of women in leadership. It describes the creation of the first human as male and Israel’s official priests as male. Most of the identified authors of Scripture are male. Jesus is male and chose twelve male apostles. God is addressed as Father. Some consider this sufficient evidence that God desires a hierarchy of males in authority over women. However, when we look more closely, we find that the Bible emphasizes: • the Holy Spirit gifts all believers for ministry • the oneness of the body of Christ (the church) and the priesthood of all believers • the humility, service, and mutual submission required of all believers These principles are where the biblical emphasis lies, and Scripture never teaches that men and women have separate “roles.” We should not infer from the Bible’s descriptions of patriarchal societies that it endorses patriarchy any more than its descriptions of polygamy endorse polygamy. The Greek texts of Ephesians 5 and 1 Peter 3 that supposedly teach male headship and female subordination actually teach mutual voluntary yielding in love. Passages that stress the equality of men and women, including Romans 16, 1 Corinthians 7, 1 Corinthians 11:11–12, and Galatians 3:28, are not exceptions to the rule of male headship. They express the Bible’s consistent, harmonious message of gender equality. No word meaning headship ever occurs in the Greek or Hebrew texts of Scripture. Read more in my book, The Bible vs. Biblical Womanhood, where I explain how the text of Scripture itself affirms gender equality. Its emphasis is Christ-like service. Scripture, and Paul in particular, fights tenaciously for groups who are being excluded from full fellowship or denied equal rights. Written by: Philip Barton Payne (Ph.D., Cambridge)

Among all the creatures of the earth, only human beings are made in God’s own image and likeness. In the opening chapter of the Bible, the Creator declared a unique relationship with humans, the triune God declared, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness” (Genesis 1:26a). In short, the Bible teaches that to be human is to image God and to image God is to be human. In this unique relationship with humanity, God is giving to humans a special moral status and vesting them with dignity and respect. Interpretations of the Imago Dei Historically, there are several prominent interpretations of the image of God – The relational view highlights God’s closeness to human beings in personal relationship. The structural view of the image of God points to certain qualities or abilities that distinguish humans from animals – rational capacity, volition, moral awareness, and consciousness, for instance. The functional view focuses on the functions humans are called to serve in God’s created order, namely, to be dominion stewards, over the earth (Genesis 1:28). The important point is that human beings, and only human beings, are imagers of God. Every human being has special status in God’s eyes (see Psalm 8) and every person should be treated with dignity and respect. The Distinctiveness of Human Life This doctrine also plays an important role in the history of salvation. The author of Genesis teaches that Adam’s son, Seth, was an imager of God just as his father was (Genesis 5:1–3). Moreover, in the covenant God made with Noah and his children after the flood, the image of God is provided as the reason human life is distinct from animal life (Genesis 9:6). Furthermore, the apostle James says that because all people are imagers of God, we should not curse other humans (James 3:9). Human beings are, by nature, religious. We may even know that a powerful Deity exists (see Romans 1:19–20 and Acts 17:22–28). Yet, as Augustine famously said, “[O]ur heart is restless until it rests in you [God].” God loves human beings. He sent His own Son in human flesh to die for human beings. And He is concerned for the ways humans treat one another. Article written from study content in the NIV Storyline Bible.

Who Is Christ? Our growth is not independent personal improvement. It is growth in Christ. Who then is he? The temptation for many of us at this point is to assume we pretty much know what Jesus is like. We’ve been saved by him. We’ve spent time in the Bible over the years. We’ve read some books about him. We’ve told a few others about him. And yet, if we are honest, we still find our lives riddled with failure and worry and dysfunction and emptiness. One common reason we fail to leave sin behind is that we have a domesticated view of Jesus. Not a heterodox view; we are fully orthodox in our Christology. We understand that he came from heaven as the Son of God to live the life we cannot live and die the death we deserve to die. We affirm his glorious resurrection. We confess with the ancient creeds that he is truly God and truly man. We don’t have a heterodox view. We have a domesticated view that, for all its doctrinal precision, has downsized the glory of Christ in our hearts. So we need to begin by getting clear on who this person is in whom we grow. And we start just there—he is a person. Not just a historical figure, but an actual person, alive and well today. He is to be related to. Trusted, spoken to, listened to. Jesus is not a concept. Not an ideal. Not a force. Growing in Christ is a relational, not a formulaic, experience. Who then is this person? Unsearchable Ephesians speaks of “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph. 3:8). The Greek word underlying “unsearchable” occurs just one other time in the New Testament, in Romans 11:33: “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” Romans 11 calls God’s wisdom and knowledge unsearchable. That makes sense. God is infinite and omniscient; of course his wisdom and knowledge are unsearchable. But Ephesians 3 calls Christ’s riches unsearchable. How so? What does it mean that there are riches in Christ and that these riches are unsearchable? That we can dig and dig but never hit bottom on them? Let me propose an idea. Let me suggest that you consider the possibility that your current mental idea of Jesus is the tip of the iceberg. That there are wondrous depths to him, realities about him, still awaiting your discovery. I’m not disregarding the real discipleship already at play in your life and the true discoveries of the depths of Jesus Christ you have already made. But let me ask you to open yourself up to the possibility that one reason you see modest growth and ongoing sin in your life—if that is indeed the case—is that the Jesus you are following is a junior varsity Jesus, an unwittingly reduced Jesus, an unsurprising and predictable Jesus. I’m not assuming that’s the case. I’m just asking you to test yourself, with honesty. When Christopher Columbus reached the Caribbean in 1492, he named the natives “Indians,” thinking he had reached what Europeans of the time referred to as “the Indies” (China, Japan, and India). In fact he was nowhere close to South or East Asia. In his path were vast regions of land, unexplored and uncharted, of which Columbus knew nothing. He assumed the world was smaller than it was. Have we made a similar mistake with regard to Jesus Christ? Are there vast tracts of who he is, according to biblical revelation, that are unexplored? Have we unintentionally reduced him to manageable, predictable proportions? Have we been looking at a junior varsity, decaffeinated, one-dimensional Jesus of our own making, thinking we’re looking at the real Jesus? Have we snorkeled in the shallows, thinking we’ve now hit bottom on the Pacific? I’d like to mention seven facets of Christ, seven “regions” of Christ that may be under-explored in our generation. Dozens more could be considered. But we’ll restrict ourselves to these seven: ruling, saving, befriending, persevering, interceding, returning, and tenderness. The point of this exercise is to bring the living Christ himself into sharper, starker contrast, to see him loom larger and more radiant and more glorious than ever before—to trade in our snorkel and face mask for scuba gear that takes us down into depths we’ve never peered into before—and to seek Christian growth out of an accurate and ever-deepening vision of the Christ to whom we have been united. The Real Christ Make your growth journey a journey into Christ himself. Explore uncharted regions of who he is. Resist the tendency we all have to whittle him down to our preconceived expectation of what he must be like. Let him surprise you. Let his fullness arrest you and buoy you along. Let him be a big Christ. C. S. Lewis remarked in a 1959 letter: “Gentle Jesus,” my elbow! The most striking thing about Our Lord is the union of great ferocity with extreme tenderness. (Remember Pascal? “I do not admire the extreme of one virtue unless you show me at the same time the extreme of the opposite virtue. One shows one’s greatness not by being at an extremity but by being simultaneously at two extremities and filling all the space between.”) Add to this that He is also a supreme ironist, dialectician, and (occasionally) humourist. So go on! You are on the right track now: getting to the real Man behind all the plaster dolls that have been substituted for Him. This is the appearance in Human form of the God who made the Tiger and the Lamb, the avalanche and the rose. He’ll frighten and puzzle you: but the real Christ can be loved and admired as the doll can’t. Determine today, before God, through the Bible and good books explaining it, that you will spend the rest of your life wading into the unsearchable riches of the real Christ. Let him, in all his endless fullness, love you into growth. Have we been looking at a junior varsity, decaffeinated, one-dimensional Jesus of our own making, thinking we’re looking at the real Jesus? This article is adapted from Deeper: Real Change for Real Sinners by Dane C. Ortlund.

He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” — Luke 11:28 The Lord’s simple requests often serve as stepping stones to life’s most wonderful blessings. Simon Peter illustrates what can happen when we say yes to God. One day a large crowd pressed around Jesus while he preached (Luke 5:1–11). The Lord wanted to use Peter’s boat as a floating platform from which to address the multitude, so he asked the future apostle to push the vessel out a little way from shore (verse 3)—not in itself a particularly remarkable request. But Peter’s compliance to his request paved the way for a life-changing blessing. From his example, we also learn how essential it is to obey God in even the smallest matters. The noisy crowd received the first blessing of Peter’s obedience; the people could now clearly hear Jesus’ words. At the conclusion of the lesson, the Lord said to Peter, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch” (5:4)—a second opportunity to say yes or no. But this time, Peter may have felt tempted to decline. After all, he was a seasoned fisherman. He had worked the entire night for a catch but had returned empty- handed. Now this young teacher—a carpenter, by the way, not a fisherman—was asking him to go fishing again? Peter’s reply demonstrates the beginning of a lifetime of faith in God. He said, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets” (5:5, emphasis added). The soon-to-be disciple chose to obey the Lord and to leave the consequences of his decision to him. But notice what happened as a result of Peter’s obedience—Jesus demonstrated his power and sovereignty. Peter and his partners may have started the day off thinking their efforts had yielded nothing. But they ended it in complete amazement because they pulled in not one but two overflowing boatloads of fish (5:7). Saying yes to the Lord’s request resulted in a miracle that trans-formed not only one fisherman’s life, but the lives of the entire group. Consider three reasons why obedience is critical to the successful Christian life: 1. Obeying God in small matters is an essential step in receiving God’s greatest blessings. Suppose Peter had said, “Look, I’m busy cleaning my nets right now. I can’t help you because I’m going fishing again tonight.” Or he could have said, “Why don’t you ask to use that other boat, over there?” Or, “I’ve already been fishing today; it would be a waste of time to go again.” If Peter had said anything other than yes, he would have missed the greatest fishing experience of his life. But because of Peter’s obedience, the Lord arranged a miracle that he would never forget. Often, God’s greatest blessings come as a result of our willingness to do something that appears very insignificant. So ask yourself, “Has God been challenging me to do something seemingly unimportant that I have not yet made an effort to accomplish? Is there anything I have rationalized by saying, ‘It’s too difficult,’ ‘I don’t want to’ or ‘I have to pray about it first’”? 2. Our Obedience always benefits others. Think of how many people were blessed by Peter’s obedience. Not only could the crowd see the Lord and hear his lesson, but Jesus himself also benefited—preaching from the boat enabled him to sit down in comfort while he spoke (5:3). Then, of course, Peter’s friends had a very profitable day—they took in two vessels so full of fish that both began to sink. More importantly, they had the opportunity to witness the Lord’s supernatural provision. God often rewards others—in particular, those closest to us—as a result of our obedience. For example, when a parent obeys the Lord, the entire family reaps the reward of God’s blessings. Likewise, a child’s obedience will bless his or her parents. This does not mean that those who choose to disobey the Lord will escape his discipline because of someone else’s godly walk. His call to obedience always demands our response. However, when we live obedient lives, those who know and love us will sense the peace and joy he has given us. Instead of conflict, there will be contentment—and that is just one part of experiencing God’s goodness. 3. When we obey God, we will never be disappointed. Peter no doubt assumed that Jesus’ fishing instructions would amount to a waste of time. But when he complied with the Lord’s simple request, Christ brought about a miracle that gripped the disciple with amazement. Jesus turned an empty boat into a full one. We, like Peter, must recognize that obeying God is always the wisest course of action. He can also take our emptiness—whether related to finances, relationships or career—and change it into something splendid. Perhaps you have hesitated to obey God because you fear the consequences of your decision. But the Lord’s command is for you to fear him above all else. The same sovereign, omnipotent God who keeps your heart beating and the planets orbiting is more than able to handle the results of your obedience. When he tells you to do something and you know without a doubt it is his will, then you need to obey based solely on who is doing the talking. When you choose to obey the Lord, he will bless you. This is because obedience always leads to blessing. I have always told people who say they do not understand why God is asking them to do a certain thing that if they will obey him, he will reward them with a sense of peace and joy that compares to nothing this world has to offer. Therefore, set a goal to obey the Lord and watch him work in your life. Article drawn from The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible, NIV Edition.

Romans on Living Life in the Spirit Life in the Spirit is a journey, and while there are many great passages throughout Scripture that discuss the role and person of the Holy Spirit, Romans 8 is perhaps one of the most insightful. Here are 7 suggestions that will fuel a passion for the things of the Spirit and further educate how to live a life directed by him. 1. Walk in the Spirit (Rom. 8:4) There is no shortcut to learning how to walk with the Spirit. It's not just for ultra-spiritual people, nor is it reserved for charismatic Christians. Life according to the Spirit is not simply trying to do the right thing, nor is it trying to live according to God's Law. Walking in the Spirit is the central metaphor for describing what it means to live as a Christian. The person who walks according to the Spirit will in fact have the essence of the Law fulfilled in his life. 2. Set your minds on the things of the Spirit (Rom. 8:5) The question "how does one overcome the pull of the flesh?" sounds like an old riddle: How can someone extract all of the air out of a drinking glass? The most direct way to get all the air out of a glass is by filling it with something else. You cannot extract thoughts that displease God from your mind. Like [the solution to the riddle], you need to be filled up with thoughts—indeed with an entire mindset—that is oriented toward the things of the Spirit (e.g. Gal. 5:22–23). 3. Put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit (Rom. 8:13) The person who has been regenerated by the Spirit is not stuck in sin. By the Spirit, the pull of the flesh can be resisted. To "put to death the deeds of the body" is pretty much the same thing as "saying no to sin," but unlike the anti-drug campaign among youth many years ago, just say no by itself will never be successful. Just saying no will never allow you to consistently overcome sin. Then what must you do? You must say no by the Spirit. 4. Be led by the Spirit (Rom. 8:14) The Holy Spirit leads us broadly (always) and more specifically (sometimes). He always leads us through his written Word, which was revealed to the prophets by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:20–21). We are to prayerfully, carefully, and humbly apply broad biblical wisdom to the situations we face in our lives. Sometimes the Holy Spirit leads us directly. The Holy Spirit can choose to act in any way and according to any timetable that he wishes; we do not dictate to him how or when he will move. Since the Bible gives many examples of him acting more specifically, we should anticipate that he will sometimes choose to lead us directly if we are open and available to his guidance. 5. Know the Fatherhood of God by the Spirit (Rom. 8:15–17) Without the Holy Spirit, we would never know our freedom and identity as God's adoptive children. Thankfully, God has freely given us his Holy Spirit, and these verses from Romans 8 display three amazing things the Spirit does: He acts as the go-between who takes us out of a place of slavery and fear and brings us into a place of adoption and acceptance. He helps us to cry out to God as Father. He testifies with our spirit that we are children of God. 6. Hope in the Spirit (Rom 8:22-25) The biblical concept represented by the English word hope is so strong that it is almost a synonym for "eager expectation." The focus of the expectation isn't that life will get better here; it is absorbed with the glorious life to come. What is the role of the Holy Spirit in all this? Rom 8:23 says: "We ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our body." Paul claims that it is because we have the Spirit, not despite it that we groan. In this passage, it is precisely the presence of the Spirit within you that causes you to feel this particular kind of suffering—the longing for final redemption in the midst of a fallen world. In this way, the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives reminds us of the stark contrast between the wonderful things God has prepared for us who believe and this fallen world that is so full of sin, suffering, and futility. 7. Pray in the Spirit (Rom. 8:26–28) These two verses (Rom 8:26–27) are so rich and helpful in our lives in the Spirit. We learn that we are weak when we come to prayer. We often don't know what to pray for in any given situation. The concern is not about the manner of prayer (the "how"), but rather the content of our prayers—what do we actually pray about? We learn that the Spirit joins to help us when we are struggling to know how to pray by interceding for us with wordless groaning. It is not, as some propose, that we should just pray whatever we want since we don't have any idea how to pray, and that the Spirit fixes them up and prays on our behalf to the Father. Rather, the verb often translated as "helps" has a preposition attached to the front of it, which suggests that it really means "joins to help." The Spirit is searching our hearts and knows that we have a mind-set that is focused on him, even if we do not know exactly what we are supposed to pray. The result is that our prayers are prayed "according to the will of God" because the Holy Spirit is moving us thus to pray and is presenting the prayers that he is guiding us to pray to the Father. This article is adapted from Walking in the Spirit by Ken Berding.

Leadership is for everyone! How can I make such a bold claim? Because every person who accepts Christ is called to influence others. Everyone. Leadership is not just for a select few. God is the Ultimate Leader, and he calls every believer to lead others. God could have arranged his creation any number of ways. He chose to create human beings who possess spirits and the capacity to relate to him and follow him, yet who are not forced to do so. When mankind fell into sin, God could have easily executed a plan of redemption that did not include sinful people in the process. But he has called us to participate and to lead others as we follow him. He makes that clear from the beginning: “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule” (Genesis 1:26). The call to leadership is a consistent pattern in the Bible. When God decided to raise up a nation of his own, he didn’t call upon the masses. He called out one leader—Abraham. When he wanted to deliver his people out of Egypt, he didn’t guide them as a group. He raised up a leader to do it—Moses. When it came time for the people to cross into the Promised Land, they followed one man—Joshua. Every time God desires to do something great, he calls a leader to step forward. Today he still calls leaders to step forward for every great work. Leadership Defined Years ago in his book Spiritual Leadership, J. Oswald Sanders gave the best definition of leadership I’ve ever read. He simply stated, “Leadership is influence.” I have embraced that definition and taught it to thousands and thousands over the years. If you are a follower of Christ, then you recognize that you are called to influence others. Jesus said it this way: “You are the salt of the earth. . . . You are the light of the world. . . . Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:13–16). It doesn’t matter what your role in life; if you call yourself a Christian, then you are called to influence others. The True Nature of Leadership Somewhere along the way, countless Christians became convinced that if they were going to follow Christ, they must become sheepish, quiet, and withdrawn. The problem is that they have confused meekness with weakness. As Christians we recognize our own weaknesses, but that is when God’s strength is perfected in us (see 2 Corinthians 12:9). What God desires is that we display a broken boldness. A follower of God should be a leader of people. That’s more than just being “boss” or having a leadership position. And it certainly doesn’t mean being pushy or in control. Jesus taught that it means serving others (see Matthew 20:25–28). While there is a gift of leadership (according to Romans 12:8), you need not possess that gift to exert your influence in a Christlike way. The problem is that, if you are like most people, you may not wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and say, “Now, there’s a godly, effective leader if I ever saw one.” Most people don’t believe they can make a positive impact on the world they live in. Even most pastors feel this way. The Barna Research Group reported that 95 percent of American pastors said they don’t believe they have the spiritual gift of leadership.1 Nor do they feel they have been adequately prepared for the task of leadership. The truth is that few people are naturals when it comes to leading others. But everyone has potential. I believe you can become a better leader, regardless of your age, gender, marital status, or profession. Sociologists say that even introverted people will influence an average of 10,000 people in their lifetime. Just think about that! Someone who’s not even trying to lead others will impact many. Just think about what one person can do if he or she is intentional about leading—as Jesus directed us to be. What kind of impact potential has God put inside of you? The Best Means for a Lasting Legacy Becoming a good leader may not guarantee that you will be able to leave a spiritual legacy for future generations, but it certainly provides you the greatest opportunity to do so. The Law of Legacy states, “True success is measured by succession.” A legacy that does not include people has no eternal value. Make it your aim to practice transformational leadership, where people’s lives are changed from the inside out. That kind of leadership is based on character, conviction, and Christlikeness. In other words, transformational leadership follows the pattern laid down in Scripture. My prayer is that you will be transformed by spending time with the men and women God has used as leaders to change the world for millennia—the men and women in the Bible. No matter how strong or weak your leadership is—whether you are a “4” or a “9” on the leadership scale—you can improve and reach your leadership potential for the glory of God. By Dr. John C. Maxwell Article drawn from content in The Maxwell Leadership Bible.

Paul was an intense man. Whatever he did, he did with all his heart. He accomplished astounding feats for Christ and the Church. Paul was also an apostle and helped lay the foundation for much of our theology and Christian practice today. Such a person could easily intimidate us were it not for the glimpses we have of his spiritual struggles. Like all of us, Paul was human and vulnerable to failure whenever he took his eyes off Jesus Christ. In order to guard against failure, Paul employed many of the spiritual disciplines. These practices strengthened him in his walk with God and reminded Paul of his dependence on God. Solitude Immediately following Paul’s conversion, he withdrew into the Arabian wilderness for a time (see Galatians 1:16 – 17). This extended retreat was marked by solitude in which Paul meditated intensely on God’s Word and spent much time in prayer. Evidently, this was when he received his gospel message “by revelation from Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:12). This time away equipped him for the lifetime of involvement and service that has changed the world even to this very day. (See Exodus 3 to learn more about solitude.) Prayer Paul mentioned that he was given “a thorn” in his flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7). We are never told anything specific about the thorn. Scholars have debated for centuries what exactly it was. But we are given the specifics of Paul’s response to the thorn: Paul prayed. In fact, he prayed deliberately three times concerning this thorn much as Jesus prayed three times in Gethsemane about his suffering (see Matthew 26:36 – 45; 2 Corinthians 12:8). Each time that Paul prayed, God answered him clearly, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Prayer didn’t bring Paul the answer for which he initially may have hoped, but prayer brought him the strength and reassurance he needed. (See Genesis 18 to learn more about prayer.) Service We see Paul’s practice of service as he committed himself “to preach the gospel where Christ was not known” (Romans 15:20). He made countless sacrifices for the sake of the gospel as well (see 2 Corinthians 11:23 – 33). We see by this that the practice of service set the agenda for Paul’s life. (See Mark 10 to learn more about service.) Stewardship Paul was careful not to waste any of the Lord’s money and even refused to receive payment for preaching to the Corinthian church (see 1 Corinthians 9:1 – 18). In turn, Paul encouraged all the churches he had planted to participate in an offering for the Jerusalem believers, who had been devastated by famine and poverty. He taught all believers the importance of regularly setting aside a certain amount to be given to the Lord’s work (see 2 Corinthians 8 – 9). (See Deuteronomy 8 to learn more about stewardship.) Bible Study Paul was a student of God’s Word. But Paul’s study was not simply a matter of academic curiosity — it was an act of worship. Paul’s theology bore the fruit of praise: “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! . . . To him be the glory forever! Amen” (Romans 11:33,36). (See Deuteronomy 17 to learn more about Bible study.) Spiritual Friendship Paul’s deep concern for people is reflected in his constant references to special friends whom he cherished in Christ. Friendship often lays the foundation for discipleship, as with Paul’s relationships both with Timothy and Titus (see 2 Timothy 1:2 – 4; Titus 1:4). (See Genesis 2 to learn more about spiritual friendship.) LESSONS FOR LIFE Even extraordinary people such as Paul are incapable of living the Christian life apart from the power of the Holy Spirit. Underlying all of Paul’s activities is the constant pulse of God’s power, working in and through him. As we undertake God’s high calling in our lives, we must heed Paul’s admonition, “Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3). We, like Paul, can employ the spiritual disciplines as a way to help us focus on God. Thoughtful practice of these spiritual exercises can remind us of our dependence on God and form channels through which his Spirit can work in us. Article is drawn from the NIV Spiritual Renewal Study Bible

Like a Sudden Trap for the Dissipated Soul If you go to sleep spiritually, you will not be awake to discern the signs of his nearness. [This] is confirmed by the way Jesus speaks of the wise manager and the foolish manager in the following picture of the second coming: Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that servant says to himself, “My master is delayed in coming,” and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. (Luke 12:42–46) This is a picture of Jesus’s departure to heaven after his resurrection and his leaving his disciples on earth to carry out the ministry he has given them. He probably has ministers of the word in view since he says the master “will set [them] over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time.” But the principle here applies to all Christians. A blessing is pronounced on the faithful manager who does what he was appointed to do. He feeds the household. Nothing is said to him about an unexpected coming of the master while the manager is faithfully carrying out his duties. He has nothing to fear, whenever the master comes, because he is doing his appointed work. But then comes the warning. What if the manager’s heart goes bad and he begins to presume on the master’s delay? “My master is delayed in coming.” What if this presumption leads him to “eat and drink and get drunk”? Jesus says that this drunkenness will result in his being taken off guard by the master’s return. “If that servant . . . begins . . . to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him” (Luke 12:45–46). What are we to infer from this warning? The point is not that an unexpected, any-moment return of the master was overlooked by the drunken manager. The point is that the foolish manager is mentally and spiritually drunk. He has forsaken the master’s will and embraced the stupefying path of worldliness. He is now blind to what is spiritually real. He will be taken off guard by the master when the master comes, because there is no reason to think he will be “sobered up” in, say, five years, or fifty years, when the trumpet sounds. “The master of that [drunken] servant will come on a day when he does not expect” (Luke 12:46). The lesson is this: stay spiritually awake and busy at the master’s work, for if you give way to spiritual stupor (call it sleep or drunkenness), you will be blind to all the signs of danger, and will be taken in judgment suddenly and unexpectedly. Jesus makes the same statement in Luke 21:34: Watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. The suddenness and unexpectedness is not owing to an any-moment view of the second coming. It is owing to the spiritual sluggishness of the human heart that is weighed down and dulled by the “cares of this life.” The appearing of Christ becomes a sudden trap not because it could happen any moment, but because the spiritually unseeing will be blind to Christ’s coming even if it happens five years from now, with serious warnings in between. To be spiritually asleep, drunk, or blind portends unexpected destruction even if it could be tomorrow or a decade from now. Paul’s Warning to the Sleeping and Drunk The apostle Paul combines both of the images Jesus uses to make the same point—the image of staying awake (Matt. 25:13) and staying sober (Luke 12:45; 21:34): You yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep [μὴ καθεύδωμεν], as others do, but let us keep awake [γρηγορῶμεν] and be sober [νήφωμεν]. (1 Thess. 5:2–6) Paul says that for some, the day of Christ’s coming will be like the destructive surprise of a thief. But for others, it will not be like that. “You are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief” (1 Thess. 5:4). The difference is whether we are in darkness or are “children of the day,” whether we are spiritually asleep or awake, whether we are spiritually drunk or sober. He does not say that the suddenness and unexpectedness of the day is owing to an any-moment return of Christ. Rather, it is owing to an oblivious spiritual condition that says, “peace and security,” because that spiritual condition is one of “darkness” and “sleep” and “drunkenness. Presumption of Delay for the Sake of Sin Is Suicidal My conclusion, therefore, is that Jesus’s repeated command that we be awake, ready, on guard, watchful, and vigilant is not because the second coming will take obedient disciples off guard, but because spiritual stupor results in being oblivious to what is happening in the world, and thus being surprised and trapped and ruined. The uncertainty of the time of Christ’s return functions to warn all of us to be spiritually alive and awake and sober because the alternative is a spiritual condition that will be blind to signs and will not be able to recover from satanic stupor when “the lightning . . . lights up the sky from one side to the other” (Luke 17:24). Any presumption of Christ’s delay to justify worldliness puts a heart in a position of spiritual suicide. Even if we are persuaded that he is three years away, or five, or six (and we never have warrant to think he must be farther away than that), that measure of nearness and the uncertainty combine to make us all the more alert and vigilant over our souls and our lives. We realize that spiritual carelessness will make all our calculations pointless, since we will be spiritually unable to fight the final battle for alertness and endurance. On the other hand, we realize that if we are spiritually awake, in fellowship with Christ, and walking in the light, we will discern “the signs of the times” (Matt. 16:3) and experience his coming not as a surprising thief (1 Thess. 5:4) but as a merciful servant-master (Luke 12:37). Be Alert Means Love the Lord’s Appearing Another way to describe our zeal to be spiritually awake and sober and discerning is to say that we love the Lord’s appearing (2 Tim. 4:8), or that we are “eagerly waiting for him” (Heb. 9:28; cf. 1 Cor. 1:7; Phil. 3:20), or that we have “set [our] hope fully on the grace that will be brought to [us] at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:13). Immediately following Paul’s summons to love the Lord’s appearing in 2 Timothy 4:8, Demas is mentioned as one who loved this world more than the Lord’s appearing. “Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me” (2 Tim. 4:10). This is what Jesus is warning against. “Watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap” (Luke 21:34). Demas fell out of love with the appearing of the Lord Jesus and into love with this world. It made him drunk with the illusions of better things. So in all our discussion of Jesus’s commands to stay awake and sober, we have really been talking about love for the Lord’s appearing. To be spiritually awake and alert is to be in love with the Lord’s coming. The alternative is to fall into the stupor of love for the world and blindness to the beauties of the coming Christ. This is the great answer to how we should live. We should live in love with the appearing of Christ. Living in love with the appearing of Christ is a great anticipatory pleasure. It is a great power to walk in freedom from sin. It is a great protection from deception in the last days. To be spiritually awake and alert is to be in love with the Lord’s coming. This article is adapted from Come, Lord Jesus: Meditations on the Second Coming of Christ by John Piper.

1. The fall refers to the rebellion of God’s image-bearers in the garden of Eden. Genesis 3 is a threshold in the Bible’s storyline. While dwelling in a sacred space and surrounded by the blessings of God, Adam and Eve did what God had forbidden. God had made them in his image, but they defied his word and sought a kind of knowledge in an unsanctioned way. Made for communion with God, they experienced alienation. Made for trust and hope and life abundant, they descended into sin and shame. They fell. 2. The fall is a nonnegotiable piece of the Creation-Fall-Redemption-Consummation paradigm. One of the most popular schemas for the Bible’s “big story” is the fourfold chain of words: creation, fall, redemption, consummation. Creation tells us what God made, the fall tells us what happened to it, redemption tells us what God has done to address what happened, and consummation tells us where everything is headed. If the notion of the fall were removed, the implications would be disastrous. Let’s engage in a thought experiment. If there is creation but no fall, then what explains all that has gone wrong in the world? If there is redemption but no fall, why would redemption be necessary? If there is consummation but no fall, why would the Christian’s hope be oriented toward a new heavens and new earth and resurrection life? 3. The serpent in Genesis 3 was Satan, the archnemesis of God and God’s people. The tempter in Genesis 3 does not have the best interests of Adam and Eve in mind. The serpent counters and twists God’s words. But throughout the account, the tempter is never called by name. If interpreters suspect that this is Satan himself tempting Eve, they would be correct, because he is certainly the archenemy of God’s people and the purposes of God. The New Testament confirms this identification. God told the serpent that it would be crushed (Gen. 3:15), and Paul told the Romans that “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Rom. 16:20). John says in Revelation, “The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world” (Rev. 12:9). 4. The fall is treated as a historical event by later Scripture. Because the Holy Spirit has inspired the writings of Genesis through Revelation, and because God does not err, we can trust the biblical accounts in what they reveal about God and God’s dealings with the world he’s made. Later Scripture does not contradict earlier Scripture, but we continually see how earlier Scripture is clarified and confirmed by the progressive revelation across the writings of the biblical authors. In Romans 5:12–21, the obedience of Christ contrasts the disobedience of Adam. In 1 Corinthians 15:21, Paul says that “by a man came death.” And in 2 Corinthians 11:3 and 1 Timothy 2:14, he mentions the deception of Eve. The New Testament treats the Old Testament account of the fall as a historical rebellion of a real Adam and a real Eve. 5. Adam acted not just for himself but as the representative—or federal head—of humanity. God made Adam and placed him in a garden to work it and to keep it (Gen. 2:7, 15). Adam was the first image-bearer, he was the first to hear a command of God (Gen. 2:16–17), and he had dominion over the animals (Gen. 1:26–28; Gen. 2:19–20). He was the head, the representative, of mankind. Paul rightly recognizes the crucial role Adam occupied. He told the Romans that “sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin” (Rom. 5:12). Human beings come into this world spiritually dead “in Adam” (1 Cor. 15:22). 6. The fall has explanatory power for what we see around us. You and I know that things aren’t the way they should be. In Ecclesiastes, the author meditates on the reality of sorrow and death under the sun. In Romans 8, Paul says that creation is groaning for liberation because it has been subjected to futility (Rom. 8:20–22). Disease and destruction mark a Genesis 3 world. While God’s creation is good, the corruption of sin and death has wreaked havoc. We see the sorrowful things of the world around us and we know that injustice cries out for justice, that fractured lives long for wholeness, and that the moral guilt weighing upon the consciences of God’s image-bearers needs a remedy. Genesis 3 is a useful apologetic for Christians as we help others around us see why things are the way they are. 7. The account of the fall included actions of shame-covering and blame-shifting. A characteristic of this Genesis 3 world is people responding wrongly to shameful acts. When Adam and Eve had sinned against the Lord, they felt shame about their nakedness and sewed fig leaves for themselves. Their instinct was to cover their own shame. Then, when they discerned the approach of the Lord, they hid among the trees of the garden (Gen. 3:8). Their response was to withdraw, to conceal themselves. They were afraid. God questioned Adam, and Adam pointed to Eve. Then God questioned Eve, and she pointed to the serpent. The notion of blame-shifting is as old as the garden of Eden. The practice of trying to cover our shame with our own efforts is as old as Eden too. Neither fig leaves nor finger-pointing helped their situation, but that didn’t stop them from trying—and it doesn’t stop us from trying. 8. The divine pronouncements of judgment included a promise of victory. God pronounced consequences to the serpent, to the woman, and to the man (Gen. 3:14–19). These pronouncements included a promise: the serpent would be defeated by a future son from Eve. This good news meant that the vile creature who had twisted God’s words and tempted God’s people would be subdued himself. God told the serpent, “He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15). This promise is the seedbed of messianic prophecy. Jesus would be the seed of the woman crushing the serpent. But this victory would come at a cost. The serpent would strike the heel of the promised son, which implies the son’s suffering. When we look at Genesis 3:15 in the fullness of canonical revelation, we can rightly see that messianic hope begins with a promise of victory through suffering. 9. Adam named Eve as an act of faith. Adam and Eve did not experience an immediate physical death in Genesis 3. They were exiled from Eden (Gen. 3:22–24). But before leaving the garden, “The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.” This naming was an act of faith. Adam and Eve had received pronouncements of judgment in Genesis 3:16–19, yet they heard about a future son who would come from Eve (Gen. 3:15). Because the woman would be the mother of the living—her descendants—she was named “Eve,” which sounds like the Hebrew word for “living.” Her name showed faith in God’s promise. God promised future offspring, and Adam believed him. 10. The failure in the garden anticipated faithfulness in a garden. The garden of Eden isn’t the only garden in Scripture where testing took place. In the New Testament Gospels, the Lord Jesus is in the garden of Gethsemane when he is arrested and taken to a series of Jewish and Roman trials. He was moving ever closer toward the cross, and in Gethsemane, he had resolved to do the will of God—which would mean taking the cup of divine judgment in our stead (Matt. 26:36–42). Gethsemane was not a garden of failure for Christ. He was not like the first Adam who failed to trust the Lord and who defied God’s will. The Son of God, the seed of the woman, faced the agonies of Gethsemane with resolve and perseverance. He did not turn. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross (Heb. 12:2). In the first garden, the first Adam had failed. In a future garden, the last Adam was faithful. We see the sorrowful things of the world around us, and we know that injustice cries out for justice, that fractured lives long for wholeness . . . Mitchell L. Chase is the author of Short of Glory: A Biblical and Theological Exploration of the Fall.