Sin – Page 34 – The Nexus

Love Amid the Mess

November 13, 2017November 9, 2017Leave a comment

In part two of our series, The Big Story, we dug into the tragedy of the Fall. While creation was originally adorned with not just beauty and splendor, but holiness and righteousness, it didn’t stay that way. We broke it. And yet, God refused to let sin have the last word. Even in the midst of the mess of the Fall there was one thing God kept doing. Keep reading to find out what this was…

Love Amid the Mess

Have you ever totally blown it? I’m not talking a little explosion. I’m talking, you rolled out the big guns, pointed them right at the stockpile of ammunition, and blew the whole fort to pieces. If you’ve lived very long we’ve all done that at least once. You may still be trying to recover from it. Usually explosions that large leave a crater that even when once the ground has recovered from the blast still leaves a mark that everyone can see years later. Where we came from near Petersburg, VA, there is the Petersburg National Battlefield Park. The highlight of the drive through the Civil War battlefield is known as “the Crater.” It’s this giant hole in the ground where the attacking Union soldiers exploded a mine up next to the defenses of the Confederates stationed there in order to breech the lines and win the battle. The hole is still there. They even named a road after it: Crater Road. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Psalm 115:8

November 13, 2017November 13, 2017Leave a comment

ing”Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

One of the things that begins to become clear throughout the Scriptures is that we become like the thing we worship. Whoever or whatever it is that we give our highest devotion gradually shapes us to more and more reflect its identity and character. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Galatians 6:1

November 8, 2017November 9, 2017Leave a comment

“Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

Paul has in various other places had some pretty tough words for folks in the church who fall into sin and refuse to get unstuck. They range from giving them tough love to kicking them out of the community entirely until they are truly interested in getting themselves back together. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Isaiah 53:5-6

October 23, 2017October 26, 2017Leave a comment

“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned–every one–to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

Here, some 700 years before it would happen, Isaiah declares what is perhaps the deepest wonder of the cross. On the cross, Jesus bore our sins. All the things we have done wrong were placed on His shoulders. He took the punishment that should have been ours. And by ours, I mean everybody’s. The sins of the whole world living at the time, of those who had died before He did, and of those who have lived in the years of human history since were credited to His account. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Isaiah 29:13-14

October 11, 2017October 17, 2017Leave a comment

“And the Lord said: ‘Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men, therefore, behold, I will again to wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.'” (ESV – Read the chapter)

Throughout the book of Isaiah (and really throughout all the prophets), there are three sins that are consistently held up as triggers for the judgment from the Lord the people were facing. The first is injustice. God is just. Justice and righteousness are fundamental parts of His character. He is passionately concerned about what is right. When we violate that by doing what’s wrong (taking advantage of the poor and weak, for example), judgment will ensue. Read the rest…