God wants all people to be saved! BibleHub.com 1 Timothy 2:1-7 (NIV) I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— 2  for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3  This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4  who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5  For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6  who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time. 7  And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle —I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles. Canons of Dordt Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election Article 3 - The Preaching of the Gospel In order that people may be brought to faith,  God mercifully sends messengers of this very joyful message  to the people  and at the time He wills.  By this ministry people are called to repentance and faith in Christ crucified. Summary We noted last year when we read this passage that God wants us to pray for our civil and government leaders so that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. Today we're going to key on why it is that God wants this lifestyle for us, and it's way more than Him just wanting you to live the good life. He wants communities in which the Gospel can be proclaimed. Notice how Paul refers to God in this passage - He is God our Savior. We often properly refer to Jesus as our Savior , since we know that He is the one mediator who stands between God and us . But as we've seen already this year, if you're going to understand your salvation properly, you must understand that God the Father planned and provided for your salvation. We'll continue to see as we go on this year that He continues to preserve you in the salvation that He planned and provided for. He truly is our Savior! Over the coming weeks and months we're going to wrestle with the Biblical teaching that God elected those who would be saved and at the same time chose to leave other in their sin. But we need to begin by understanding what Paul writes here: God wants all people to be saved. Dig Deeper Paul mentions two things God our Savior wants for all people: To be saved, and To come to a knowledge of the truth. Of course those two things are only really one, but the way Paul presents it here teaches an important lesson. Too many people mistakenly think that being 'saved' means praying a prayer or raising their hand in a darkened room when the preacher softly calls and 'no one else is looking.' Those sort of things may be significant chapters in many people's personal salvation story, but this passage illustrates that true and lasting salvation has a deeper element. Salvation is the result of coming to a knowledge of the truth. This knowledge isn't complicated; many young children have already mastered it. It simply involves a basic understanding of who God is, who you are, and how it is you're reconciled to the God you've rebelled from. But Christians ought never to be content with just a simple, basic understanding; your life ought to be marked by a steady growth in your knowledge of the truth. This means that ordinarily, salvation is conveyed didactically - that is, it is taught. It must be, as Paul refers to his own calling as one who heralded and proclaimed. This is one of the Church's biggest needs at this point in history: solid men who can preach and be faithful teachers of this wonderful gospel. AAA Prayer (About) A CKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS : God our Savior; A LIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will grow this year in your knowledge of the truth and that God will raise up preachers for His Church; A SK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Mark 9

Learning theology is the most practical thing you can do! Learning theology increases your ability to praise the LORD! Psalm 103 (NIV) Of David. 1  Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 2  Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— 3  who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, 4  who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, 5  who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s . 6  The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. 7  He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel: 8  The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. 9  He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; 10  he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. 11  For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; 12  as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. 13  As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; 14  for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. 15  The life of men is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; 16  the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. 17  But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s childr en— 18  with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts. 19  The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. 20  Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. 21  Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will. 22  Praise the LORD, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the LORD, my soul. Canons of Dordt Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election 1 - God's right to condemn all people 2 - God shows His sovereign love in the sending of Jesus Christ. But this is how God showed his love:   he sent his only begotten Son  into the world, so that whoever believes in him  should not perish  but have eternal life Summary Psalm 103 has an antiphonal construction, meaning that it has two aspects that bounce off of one another. It begins each of it's stanzas identifying who and what God is, and then the section that follows echoes the statement and explains why the LORD ought to be praised. It works well to read an antiphonal Psalm like this one responsively, where the leader reads the imperatives to praise the LORD, and the congregation respond by reciting the verses indicating who they're praising and why: LEADER: The LORD is... CONGREGATION: He is... Psalm 103 is deeply theological, telling how God conducts Himself - He forgives, heals, redeems, crowns, satisfies, works righteousness, is compassionate, gracious, patient, and His kingdom rules over all. Not only does His sovereign rule extend over this world, but the heavens are His dominion as well, and so the angels and mighty ones who do His bidding must praise the LORD as well. But the divine attribute that brings us to Psalm 103 today is God's love . He crowns us with love and compassion , He abounds in love for those who fear Him (mentioned twice). This is the same love the Canons speak of that moved the LORD to send His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Dig Deeper Theology is often scoffed in our uber-practical society. We like ideas that produce immediate results, not deep thoughts that are so heavenly minded that don't seem to have any earthly good. But David here in Psalm 103 shows how necessary solid theology is for you at the most practical level. You were created to praise the LORD with all of your inmost being (literally with all your guts!) . But you cannot praise that which you do not know. Try it - try to praise something around you right now without mentioning anything about it. It's impossible! All of this means that in order for you to fulfill the purpose you were created for - praising the LORD - you have to have a comprehensive knowledge of the One you're praising. This comprehensive knowledge is called theology . Certainly it's possible to have a vast theology that's disconnected from praise, but that doesn't happen often (so when it does, it sticks out like a sore thumb). And the stronger your theology is, the stronger your praise will be. As we spend this year diving into some of the deepest theology there is - the Canons of Dordt - be reminded that we're not just doing it do accumulate useless bits of trivia, but to continually build up our theological understanding so that we can more and more fulfill the purpose we've been created for: to praise the LORD! AAA Prayer (About) A CKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS : Our Father, who is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love; A LIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that as we study theology this year, your ability to praise the LORD will ever increase; A SK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Mark 8

Your definition of love defines the way you live. DailyVerses.net 1 John 4:8-10 (NIV) 8  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9  This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10  This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Canons of Dordt Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election 1 - God's right to condemn all people 2 - God shows His sovereign love in the sending of Jesus Christ. But this is how God showed his love:   he sent his only begotten Son  into the world, so that whoever believes in him  should not perish  but have eternal life Summary The reason that God's grace is so much stronger than you are is because it's a product of His character. Last year around this time we learned that God is self defining; in other words, He is and defines His attributes, which are multifaceted. In today's passage, John reminds us that that God is love . This doesn't just mean that God is lov ing , it means that God is the very definition of love, and that everything He does is perfectly consistent with it. Yet we wouldn't know a thing about God's love - or even love in general - had God not revealed it to us. You could certainly count off lots of ways that God has shown His love to you if you took a moment to think about it (which you should!), but the best example of God's love comes in sending His one and only Son into the world. In John's poetic writing style, he often repeats concepts with a slight twist, and today he doesn't disappoint us. He already explained as plainly as possible in v9 the divine nature of love, writing that God is love , but then he restates in v10 what love is by first explaining what it's not: love does not originate with us - it's not that we [first] loved God , but rather that He loved us and sent His Son. And it's not that He just sent His Son to be immanuel (God with us) or to be a friend when we need one. In His love He sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. What a definition of love! Even though we pulled our love from God and gave it to idols, God's love for you was so strong that He sent His one and only Son to pay for your sin! Dig Deeper It's been awhile since we pointed one out, and here at the beginning of the year is a good time to do so. If you're just joining us, it's always good to keep your eye out for what are known as 'hina' clauses , which are often present when you see words or phrases like ' so that' (they're called 'hina' clauses because they translate the Greek word hina ). They function as a conjunction which attaches a concept to a practical conclusion, and there's a big one in v9. God sent His one and only Son into the world so that we might live through Him . It's critically important that you understand the primary reason why God sent His Son: so that He would be the atoning sacrifice [payment] for your sin. But don't miss the HUGE practical conclusion attached to this concept: you must now live through Him - not just alongside or even for Christ, but through Him. To live through Christ means you must be breathing His Word in so that you reflect His glory and image in all that you do. This is how you return the love that God first demonstrated to you. AAA Prayer (About) A CKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS : Our Father, who demonstrated what love is by sending His one and only Son into the world; A LIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that in 2025 you will concentrate on breathing Christ's Word in so that you will live through Him; A SK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Mark 7

Your salvation is founded in one simple truth. Apologies to Vikings fans for this picture from the Lions John 3:16-18 (NIV) 16  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. Canons of Dordt Point 1 - God's Unconditional Grace 1 - God's right to condemn all people 2 - God shows His sovereign love in the sending of Jesus Christ. But this is how God showed his love:   he sent his only begotten Son  into the world, so that whoever believes in him  should not perish  but have eternal life Summary Today's passage is arguably the most recognized and quoted verse in the entire Bible. John is known for his simple eloquence, and this passage is a great example of why. But these words have the traction they do not simply because of their aesthetic beauty, but because they convey such profound truth with ordinary vocabulary. Notice that God is the primary subject of every sentence and clause. It is God's love which initiates salvation; He gave His one and only Son, and salvation requires belief in Him and comes through Him. And whoever believes in Him is not condemned [by God], but whoever does not believe in Him stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is a critical concept you need to grasp as we begin this year of coming to understand how God's grace is stronger than you are. The immense comfort that comes from knowing God will preserve you in Christ no matter what is predicated on understanding that God Himself is the One who designed, provided for, initiated and delivered your salvation. All of this came about for you because God so loved the world, not because you so loved God. Dig Deeper I often encourage people to practice their 'gospel in a minute' speech. Since you never know when or where an opportunity will come for you to evangelize, you need to be ready all the time! Evangelizing is a skill, and just like any other skill, the best way to get good at it is to practice it over and over. Often times people get flustered when the opportunity to share the Good News pops up and they start tripping all over their words (if they even notice it in the moment... often I don't realize the chance I had until a couple of hours later, but that's a different devotional). What ends up coming out isn't a winsome proclamation of the gospel, but a convoluted word salad that really has no point. That's why you need to be prepared to share the message of the gospel in a minute or less. And memorizing John 3:16-18 is a great way to do that! It tells us who God is - the one who loved the world ; who we are- those condemned because of our sin; and how to achieve salvation: whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. AAA Prayer (About) A CKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS : Our Father, who sent His Son into the world to save the whole world through Him; A LIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for taking the initiative in your salvation, and pray that you'll be ready to share this good news with others (be sure to practice it too!); A SK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Mark 6

The more you know God, the more hope you'll experience. Hymnary.org Lamentations 3:19-24 (NIV) 19  I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. 20  I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. 21  Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 22  Because of the LORD’s great love ( ḥěʹ·sěḏ ) we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24  I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” Canons of Dordt Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election 1 - God's right to condemn all people 2 - God shows His sovereign love in the sending of Jesus Christ. But this is how God showed his love:   he sent his only begotten Son  into the world, so that whoever believes in him  should not perish  but have eternal life Summary Jeremiah knew first hand of the difficulties he wrote of here in Lamentations 3. As a prophet of the LORD, he often bore the brunt of the people's rebellion against their God. He experienced the taste of bitter gall time and time again. Even when his physical pain subsided for a time, he well remembered his pain. He had every reason for his soul to be downcast (the NET Bible renders verse 20 as I continually think about this, and I am depressed ). But notice what it is that brings Jeremiah relief. It wasn't some sort of luxurious indulgence or even just a little 'me-time'. He simply writes this I call to mind. In other words, Jeremiah knew his theology well. He not only knew of God's existence, but he knew God's character and attributes, and just a simple recollection of this knowledge lifted Jeremiah out of the mental (and sometimes even physical) pits he found himself in so often. Jeremiah understood that the awful sins that plagued him - those inflicted by others towards God and towards him, and also his own sinful nature - deserved the wrath and condemnation of the one holy God. But Jeremiah also knew of God's ḥěʹ·sěḏ - the covenant love towards man that God had obligated Himself to. It is this ḥěʹ·sěḏ love that keeps sinners from being consumed . This love is as reliable as the sun coming up each morning. Jeremiah writes that the compassions of our covenant God never fail . Despite all of the hardship Jeremiah faced in his life, he had everything he needed; the LORD was his portion - therefore, I will wait for him. Dig Deeper Jeremiah's tremendous confidence was based on his theology, but even though Jeremiah was a Spirit inspired prophet, the theology he had was quite limited. Jeremiah would have given every earthly possession he had to know what you know: to know Christ. Jeremiah's only relief from his chronic depression was to think about God's ḥěʹ·sěḏ  love, but for all that Jeremiah knew about God's faithfulness, he only knew a fraction of God's love. The Canons today remind us that the primary way that God demonstrated His ḥěʹ·sěḏ  love by sending His only begotten Son into the world, so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life . As the heaviness of the world and another new year set in upon you, be sure to call to mind often your theology. Remember that in Christ, God's compassions never fail; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. AAA Prayer (About) A CKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS : Our Father, whose ḥěʹ·sěḏ  love keeps us from being consumed; A LIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray for the energy and desire to learn solid theology, so that you can call it to mind and therefore have hope; A SK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Mark 5

Discover grace that's stronger than you are. Will 2025 be the year the sons of Adam finally hit the target, or will we keep 'missing the mark' (the definition of "sin")? Or do we need a new archer? Romans 5:12-14 (NIV) 12  Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned— 13  To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. 14  Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come. Canons of Dordt Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election Article 1 - God's right to condemn all people Since all people have sinned in Adam and have come under the sentence of the curse and eternal death, God would have done no one an injustice if it had been his will to leave the entire ­human race in sin and under the curse, and to condemn them on account of their sin. As the apostle says: “The whole world is liable to the condemnation of God” (Rom. 3:19), “All have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23), and “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). Summary You don't need to wonder why things are the way they are; why it is that our world is filled with so much misery, pain, and worst of all death. All of these horrors stem from one primary source: sin . Sin is a familiar word that gets used often, something that's generally understood to be a bad action or evil deed , as one Greek dictionary defines the original word that Paul used here. But that same dictionary gives two additional definitions that are critical to fully understand this condition which has infected our world: sin = a failing to hit the mark ; as in when an archer doesn't just miss the bull's eye, but misses the target altogether. This is what Paul has in mind when he writes that sin was not charged against anyone's account before the law was given. The sin was still there, but the law (target) was not as well defined until Moses relayed God's Law. sin = an error of the understanding; If you read along with us last year, you'll remember how often we noticed the Bible explaining that sin has completely compromised our ability to think correctly. Therefore we gravely misunderstand who God is and what His expectations are. The source sin, and all of the problems it introduced is singular. Paul writes, sin entered the world through one man: Adam. Today's passage may seem depressing and hopeless - because of sin, death now reigns - but don't miss the massive good news in the final verse: Adam is a pattern of the One to come. Dig Deeper The internet is likely full of blogs & podcasts today optimistic about the coming year encouraging you to finally make 2025 the year that you overcome your issues and problems simply by manifesting a positive outcome. But this isn't your first new year's celebration. You've been here before, filled with resolutions and ambitious goals, yet each subsequent year turned out more or less the same as the years that preceded it. So we're not starting the year with a bunch of senseless optimism here at Unfading Truth. Rather we're going to ground ourselves in the cold, hard truth: 2025 will have just as many, if not more, problems as last year and the years before. We can be certain of this because Paul here helps us recognize why this is: the world is contaminated with sin and the resulting curse. But neither are we beginning the year as pessimists. We know where not to look for hope - we won't find it in ourselves, since we're all sons and daughters of Adam. And we know where to find true and lasting hope: in the One Adam was a pattern of - the new Adam, our Savior, Jesus Christ. This year we're focusing on God's sovereign grace, which is Stronger than I am . We're going to see how tightly we are held in God's saving hands, and how that enables you to live with confidence, even in this broken, fallen world. AAA Prayer (About) A CKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS : Our Father, who made our salvation possible by sending His Son to become a new and better Adam who hit God's mark; A LIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you grow in the knowledge God's sovereign, saving grace as we spend this next year working through the Canons of Dordt; A SK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Starts again on January 1     DISCUSS:   How does seeing sin as 'missing the mark' or a 'misunderstanding' change the way you think about your relationship with God? (Use comment box below)

God doesn't fit in the box we like to keep Him in. Deuteronomy 28:15-20 (NIV) CONTEXT: The first fourteen verses of chapter 28 set out the blessings that follow obeying the LORD our God. The verses below nearly perfectly parallel God's pronouncement of blessings, except that they explain the curses that result from disobedience. 15  However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you: 16  You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country. 17  Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed. 18  The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. 19  You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out. 20  The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him. -- 63 ( NET )  This is what will happen: Just as the LORD delighted to do good for you and make you numerous, he will take delight in destroying and decimating you. You will be uprooted from the land you are about to possess. Canons of Dordt Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election Article 1 - God's right to condemn all people Since all people have sinned in Adam and have come under the sentence of the curse and eternal death, God would have done no one an injustice if it had been his will to leave the entire ­human race in sin and under the curse, and to condemn them on account of their sin. As the apostle says: “The whole world is liable to the condemnation of God” (Rom. 3:19), “All have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23), and “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). Summary One thing that immediately becomes painfully apparent in today's passage is the comprehensive nature of the curse that follows disobedience: it affects city and country, food, and all of the products people produce. The curse has a stickiness to it; it can't be shaken by coming in or going out. Nothing will be exempted from it, for the LORD will send on the disobedient curses, confusion and rebuke in everything they put their hand to. Passages like this help explain so much about why our world is the way that it is; why there's so much brokenness and pain, why things never seem to work out the way we hoped, and why it is that for every one problem that gets solved, a dozen more pop up in its place. Always pay attention to transition words that you see in the Bible, like therefore, consequently, but, and, likewise, etc. These sort of words indicate that the sentences that follow can't be read in isolation, but must include the context and concepts that come before them to be correctly understood. The transition word this passage begins with is critical: however . A cursed world is not the way things are supposed to be; it's not what God intended. God desires to pour blessings out upon His image bearers, however , if people do not carefully  follow all of God's commands and decrees and persist in the evil they have done in forsaking Him , God will very justly turn from blessing to reigning down the curses such actions deserve. Dig Deeper One of the big lessons we're going to learn together this year is that we can not properly understand our salvation until we properly understand the God who saved us. Our passage today gives us a shocking insight as to who God is. We love to think of God as One who delights to do good for us and make us numerous (v63) . In fact, we often have an expectation that God is obligated to look past our indiscretions and give us not only what we need, but all that we want. But, as C.S. Lewis so famously put it, "our God is not a tame lion." In other words, He doesn't fit in the box we like to keep Him in. We often forget that God loves perfect justice and righteousness (Ps. 33:5, Rev. 15:3). Consequently, God will also take delight in destroying and decimating those who persistently rebel against His commands. And since we're all guilty, the first thing that you must understand about your saving God is that He owes salvation to nobody. He could justly take just as much delight in destroying you as He could in saving you. Today's passage may seem depressing and hopeless, but don't miss the two huge aspects of grace it reveals: God does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities (Psalm 103:10). Everybody deserves every one of the curses outlined in Deuteronomy 28, but God gracefully holds the full effect of the curse back. Think of all the undeserved blessing He pours out despite people's sin! Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us (Galatians 3:13). Even though you fully deserve God's curse and the destruction it leads to, you've been set free because Christ took it upon Himself in your place! AAA Prayer (About) A CKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS : Our Father, who delights in blessing those who are obedient and cursing those who sin; A LIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that as we learn surprising and difficult things about God, you will learn what it means to properly fear Him and keep His commandments (Eccl. 12:13); A SK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Starts again on January 1     DISCUSS:   What's the most shocking thing to you to read that " will take delight in destroying and decimating" sinners? (Use comment box below)

If you want to understand grace, start in the beginning. BibleHub.com Genesis 1:27-3:22 (ESV) 1:27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 1:31  And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. 2:9  And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 2:15  The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16  And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17  but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 3:22  Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23  therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24  He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. Canons of Dordt Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election Article 1 - God's right to condemn all people Since all people have sinned in Adam and have come under the sentence of the curse and eternal death, God would have done no one an injustice if it had been his will to leave the entire ­human race in sin and under the curse, and to condemn them on account of their sin. As the apostle says: “The whole world is liable to the condemnation of God” (Rom. 3:19), “All have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23), and “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). Summary Certainly we do not understand the Bible to tell us that man evolved from a lower life form into the thinking, rational creatures we know ourselves to be today. Quite the opposite, in fact. We read that God created man - both men and women - in His own image. But at the same time, we read of a definite process by which man's relationship with God evolved - or better yet, de-volved. God's final act on day six of creation was to add His own signature, so to speak, by creating man, and having finished creation, God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. Very good, but not yet finished. God's relationship with His image bearer was far different than it was with any other aspect of creation: God entered into a covenantal relationship with Adam. The first thing God did with Adam was explain the parameters of this relationship. God's expected Adam to work the garden and keep it holy . This holiness would be signified by obedience to a simple command to not eat from a specific tree. The reward for this obedience is inferred: access to the other tree God mentioned, the tree of life , whose fruit would have given man eternal life. Of course, you already know how things ended up working out, which triggered the second clause in God's covenantal parameter. So on the very day they ate the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve faced death. God's placed His most powerful angel with a flaming sword that turned every way to guard [keep] the way to the tree of life. Dig Deeper One of the most fundamental aspects of God's character is His immutability - He does not ever change. This ought to be of great comfort to you, knowing that He will keep every promise He's made in His Word. But God's propensity to keep His Word isn't always good news. It also means He must uphold His threat to Adam: man shall surely die. Obviously Adam and Eve did not physically drop dead the very day that they ate the forbidden fruit. But since they did not fulfill their covenantal obligation to obey, they immediately lost their covenantal right to eternal life, and in that way death was immediate since they no longer had access to the tree of life. But all of this bad news sets the stage for the Good News! This is what makes Jesus Christ so significant. He's not just the Son of God - which certainly is significant in and of itself - but He's also fully man. And since He's the only man not infected with Adam's sin, He was eligible to represent man and fulfill our covenantal obligations with our Father! Because He did, the Bible ends with man having access to that which he forfeited in the beginning: the ever producing tree of life that we read about last week . We'll spend the rest of this year unpacking how God made this possible for you as we read the Bible together each day. AAA Prayer (About) A CKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS : Our Father, in whose image we are created; A LIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will do what it is you were created to do: to work and keep your life holy; A SK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Mark 1

Parables are shocking stories with spiritual meanings. scripture-images.com Luke 15:11-17 (NIV) 11  Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12  The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. 13  “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14  After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15  So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16  He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. Canons of Dordt Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election Article 1 - God's right to condemn all people Since all people have sinned in Adam and have come under the sentence of the curse and eternal death, God would have done no one an injustice if it had been his will to leave the entire ­human race in sin and under the curse, and to condemn them on account of their sin. As the apostle says: “The whole world is liable to the condemnation of God” (Rom. 3:19), “All have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23, NABRE), and “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). Summary Often times 'parables' get defined as 'earthly stories with heavenly meanings.' That's not a terrible definition, but perhaps they're better understood as ' shocking stories with spiritual meanings.' Jesus included shocking elements in these stories intended to stun His listeners and grab their attention. This first half of one of Jesus' most famous parables gives two good examples of details that would have shocked those first century "tax collectors and sinners who all gathered around to hear Jesus" respond to the Pharisees who scolded Jesus for having fellowship with such sinners (v1-2). Jesus begins the parable with the younger son's shocking demand that his father fork over half of his estate. In a sense, the young man told his father to drop dead so he could spend his money. No matter how sinful your audience is, that's a surprising way to begin a story! The next big shock, perhaps even more so than the first, came when when the now destitute son not only needed to get a job feeding pigs, but when he actually craved the pigs' food. The Jews listening to Jesus couldn't conceive of a more disgusting, unclean animal than pigs. For a prodigious Jewish man (where we get the word 'prodigal') to lower himself so far was Jesus' shocking way of demonstrating what it meant for the man to be in need. Dig Deeper We call this confession the Canons of Dordt because it was put together by a gathering (called a synod) of churches in the Dutch city of Dordrecht way back in 1619. Since English tongues have difficulty properly pronouncing Dordrecht , it's been shortened to 'Dordt' (some people make it even simpler and just spell it the way it sounds: Dort ). But even though the synod that formulated these canons was held in Holland, the document was written in Latin, not Dutch. Obviously we're using a modern English translation as we use the Canons for our Bible reading guide this year. But there was one word that captured my attention in today's portion that was different than what I expected. Did you catch it too? The Canons cited Romans 3:23, which isn't surprising because it's such a foundational verse which we'll look at often this year. But the modern editors simply translated these passages as they were included in the original Latin, so they rendered the verse All have sinned and are deprived  of the glory of God , rather than the more familiar fallen short of the glory of God , which almost every English Bible translation uses. But the original Greek word Paul used lends itself to the understanding that we've deprived ourselves of God's glory in our sin. And that's exactly how Jesus used the very same word as well in the parable of the Prodigal Son: he was in need . Yes, for sure we've fallen short of God's glory in our sin. That's a good translation and we'll stick to it. But the result of this fall is that man is now deprived / in need of God's glory which you were created to reflect. We didn't read it today, but of course you know the shocking end of Jesus' parable. The father welcomes his deprived son back and restores the glory he was meant to have. And so it is with your Father when you repent as well. AAA Prayer (About) A CKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS : Our Father, whose glory our sin deprives us of; A LIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will reflect the glory your Father has restored to you through Christ; A SK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Mark 2

You can make aggressive demands of the God who unconditionally chose you. biblehub.com Psalm 143 (NIV) A psalm of David. 1  LORD, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief. 2  Do not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you. 3  The enemy pursues me, he crushes me to the ground; he makes me dwell in the darkness like those long dead. 4  So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed. 5  I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done. 6  I spread out my hands to you; I thirst for you like a parched land. 7  Answer me quickly, LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit. 8  Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. 9  Rescue me from my enemies, LORD, for I hide myself in you. 10  Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground. 11  For your name’s sake, LORD, preserve my life; in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble. 12  In your unfailing love, silence my enemies; destroy all my foes, for I am your servant. Canons of Dordt Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election Article 1 - God's right to condemn all people Since all people have sinned in Adam and have come under the sentence of the curse and eternal death, God would have done no one an injustice if it had been his will to leave the entire ­human race in sin and under the curse, and to condemn them on account of their sin. As the apostle says: “The whole world is liable to the condemnation of God” (Rom. 3:19), “All have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23, NABRE), and “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). Summary It's been often said that the Psalter is the prayer book of the Bible, and Psalm 143 is a good example of why it is, and it serves as a guide for how you can pray as well. The angst David cries out to God with is palpable. We don't know the specifics of the burden pressing down on David as he prayed these words, but that's a blessing, since otherwise we might feel like our needs should rise to some level of significance before we could pray the way David does here. This psalm also helps us see that not every prayer must fit into the AAA format that so many other Biblical prayers do. Although David appeals to God's faithfulness and righteousness, he really doesn't formally a cknowledge who God is in this prayer, either at the beginning or elsewhere. Instead, he just cries out to the LORD, and begs Him to listen. Look at how aggressively David, inspired by the Holy Spirit, addresses the LORD: He demands that God hear, listen, answer, not hide and destroy all of my foes. If it weren't for psalms like this one, we might think it sinful to give such bold instructions to God, but David here helps us to see that not only may we do so, but that we're actually invited to do so. The reason David could pray this way at times was because he knew the LORD so well. In so many other Psalms, David does nothing but acknowledge God's attributes in praise and worship. David would never consider theology to be dry, dull or boring; rather, David's solid theology deepened His relationship with God in such a way that David could cry out to Him as David dwelled in the darkness, thirsting for God like a parched land. Dig Deeper It's David's understanding of himself that grabs our attention today. David asks God to not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you. David here understands the reality of our sinful condition, and that all that anybody deserves from God is judgment . That's what makes this doctrine of unconditional grace so amazing! It means exactly what it says: The grace God extends to you is in no way conditioned upon your actions or behavior. If it was, none of us would qualify for it. God's grace to you is purely the product of His unfailing love. Remember, whenever you see that phrase in your English Bible (sometimes it's rendered steadfast love ) it's translating the Hebrew word ḥěʹ·sěḏ , which is the love that God has covenantally (legally) obligated Himself to. In other words, God's electing love in your life is unconditional as it relates to your actions, but is instead fully conditioned upon the covenant He has entered into to be your God. AAA Prayer (About) A CKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS : Our Father, who has obligated Himself to us in His ḥěʹ·sěḏ and has unconditionally chosen us to belong to Him; A LIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray the words of v10: Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground. A SK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Mark 3