Round the Sphere Again: Seasonal

Paintings
Brandon Watson comments on a few nativity scenes:

• The Nativity in Paintings 1
• The Nativity in Paintings 2
• The Nativity in Paintings 3
• The Nativity in Paintings 4

Doctrines
Becky Pliego writes:

During this Advent season, we want to invite you to join us in considering and celebrating the excellencies of the names of our Lord. We want to see Him fully, closer as if to say; we long to know Him better, to worship and love Him more.

To help us do that, Becky has posted a series of pieces on the names of Christ, including posts from guest bloggers. You’ll find the posts in this series (so far) here. (I plan to contribute a post to the series, too. The next thing on my to-do list is to work on it.) 

Thankful Thursday

I’m thankful for an uneventful week. Yes, I’m a stick-in-the-mud, so I love (and long for) an uneventful life. Lots has happened this fall and I can use a few weeks of nothing happening to catch my breath. This week was a good start, and I thank my heavenly Father for it.

At the same time, I’m thankful for a few upcoming fun events on my social calendar.

Yesterday my youngest son turned 22. He’s grown into a trustworthy and capable young man, and for that I am thankful. 

I’m thankful for opportunities to serve during this Christmas season. I’m thankful for the good books I’ve been reading. 

I’m thankful that God the Son came into our world to save us.

Throughout this year I’m planning to post a few thoughts of thanksgiving each Thursday along with Kim at the Upward Call and others. 

Made to Rule Creation

From the chapter on The World in 18 Words: The Most Important Words You Will Ever Know by J. I. Packer: 

Mankind was made to rule creation. This noblest of creatures was set at the head of the created order, and told to subdue it (Gen. 1:28); that is, to map and tap its resources, to bring out an utilize its latent possibilities, to put it to work for him, and thus to harness and develop all its powers for the enriching of his own life, in obedience to God. God gave us richly all things to enjoy (cf. 1 Tim. 6:17). He willed to be glorified through humanity’s learning to appreciated and admire His wisdom and goodness as Creator, In other words, God commissioned mankind to build a culture and civilization. Some, with justice, call Genesis 1:28 the cultural mandate. 

Right at the outset, God introduced Adam to the vocation appointed for him by putting him in charge of a garden (Gen 2:15). Gardening is a perfect picture of the human cultural task. Adam was to learn to see the whole created order as, so to speak, the estate which he, as God’s gardener, was responsible for cultivating. Man was not made to be a barbarian, or to be a barbarian, not to live in savagery, and ‘back to nature’ is never the road back to Eden. For mankind was made to rule nature, to master it and to enjoy its fruits, to the glory of God the creator, according to the principle laid down in 1 Timothy 4:4: ‘Everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.’

This is a succinct statement of what our relationship with creation ought to be. It is a sin to trash our world, for that is not treating it as a valuable gift. Wreaking havoc on what we have been given is not receiving it “with thanksgiving.” It is, in a sense, spitting in the face of the Giver.

But it is also a sin to not make use, as needed, of the resources that have been provided for us. Always leaving things “natural” is not receiving the gift at all. It’s another way to spit in the face of the Giver.