Abby and Eason,
I am kind-of all over the map on topics for these letters. I think in the next couple of weeks, I want to sit down and plan the letters better… so you can look forward to that.
But for now, I want to go back to the basics.
I have some foundational beliefs that shape everything about how I think.
And, I want to outline those for you. They are what ground me in hard times like we have gone through this summer.
The first one is that God is good.
It is an easy, almost popular phrase to say, but the revelation of it has changed my life.
One of my favorite parts of scripture to read is the beginning of Genesis (the garden) and the end of Revelations (the new heaven and earth). I love it because in those scriptures, you can see the heart of God without the impact of sin.
In the garden, we see God roaming the earth enjoying time with His kids. We see the magnificent creation He made for His children. We see the extravagance of His provision – for our physical needs, for enjoyment, and for communion. We see a God that is in love with His children and will stop at nothing to be with them.
In the new heavens and earth, we see that God knew sin would come into the earth and had a plan to offer us communion with Him again even before it did. Here is an example. During creation, God separated the land and waters. We know that a significant portion of our world consists of water. Yet, when we look at the new earth, there is a lot less water. Why? Obviously, I don’t know. But it seems that God planned for the flood. It seems He knew He would need to go to extreme measures to recapture our sinful hearts.
The plan for our earth, and the garden, reflects God’s love. The Bible says that it is His lovingkindness that brings us to repentance.
In His’ love (which is who He is), God carefully crafted all of the world for what He already knew. He knew that the creation of man would lead to sin, and sin would lead to the sacrifice of His Son, and His Son’s victory over death would lead to a restored relationship through Jesus. And, even with everything it would cost, He desired us. He loved us with an everlasting love and drew us with His lovingkindness.
It is that kindness that leads us to repentance. The standard is that God is good. None of us are. We are sinners. But, we can confess with our mouths and believe in our heart that Jesus is Messiah and was raised from the dead, defeating sin. Then through Him, we can stand right before God.
God’s love is extravagant. The standard of a sinless life is not one we can achieve, but Jesus did. And, in that, we see a good Father who will pursue us despite the pain it will cost Him, despite the rebellion we exhibit, despite all of the things we do to push Him away.
That is my foundation #1. You both know that I am in love with the story of the garden. I love to imagine what it would have been like to live there. I love to think about God. I love to see His heart.
And, I am convinced that He is good. Nothing we do can separate us from the love of God. Because He chose that. He chose to send Jesus so that the sin could be forgiven.
I love you both and encourage you to read scripture. Talk to God about them. Imagine the stories you read. Listen to the heart of God as His word comes to life.
I love you so much!
Mom