Lessons from the Natural World

This morning I posted at Out of the Ordinary, starting a new series I’m calling Scriptural Lessons from the Natural World. Here’s my explanation:

I’ve been thinking about what we can learn from the natural world, and more specifically, about what scripture teaches us using what we know—or should know—from the natural world. It seemed like a suitable subject for a blog post until I began a list; then it became a suitable subject for several blog posts. So this post begins a series of posts on scriptural lessons from the natural world.

The first lesson? Nothing Material Is Permanent. 

Thankful Thursday

A quick list, because I’ve spent so much time working on another post today. I’m thankful

• that the illness the children in my son’s family have seems to be running it’s course. The six-week-old seems to be back to normal thanks to an immunity boost from his mother, and the 18-month-old is drinking and eating a little again. She still has a high fever and feels lousy, but that seems to be how this bug works.
• for sunshine and a cup of tea.
• for the big black dog. 
• for my car. It’s caused me no trouble and for that I am thankful.
• for all of my grandchildren, the sick ones and the well one.
• for the world that God created and the place that I live. 
• for the new birth.
• for God’s people. 

Purposes of Christ's Death: Summing It All Up

Click on the links to read the commentary on each scripture passage and explanations of the purpose statement(s) found there.

God intended for Christ’s death to

1. conquer death and the fear of death by giving eternal life. 
   John 3:16-17
   1 Thessalonians 5:9-10
   Romans 14:9
   Hebrews 2:14-15
   
   
2. justify people in a righteous way.
   Romans 3:24-25
   2 Corinthians 5:21
   
   
3. take care of the curse of the law by bearing it for us and fulfilling the laws requirements within us.
   Galatians 3:13-14
   Romans 8:3-4
   
   
4. reconcile people to God and to each other.
   1 Peter 3:18
   Ephesians 2:14-16
   
   
5. conquer sin by putting it away and freeing people from bondage to it.
   Hebrews 9:26b
   Galatians 1:3-5
   
   
6. fulfill the promise to Abraham.
   Galatians 3:13-14
   
   
7. prove that God is just.
   Romans 3:24-25
   
   
8. create a new kind of people with a new way of life.
   Galatians 1:3-5
   2 Corinthians 5:14-15
   1 Peter 2:24
   Titus 2:14
   Ephesians 5:25-27
   
   
9. make possible God’s adoption of sons and ensure their inheritance.
   Hebrews 9:15
   Galatians 4:4-5
   
   
10. gather everything together in Christ and place Christ as Lord-of-All.
    Ephesians 1:7-10
    Colossians 1:19-20
    
    

A few concluding thoughts on these posts on the purposes of Christ’s death. 

• I looked at the explicit purpose statements for Christ’s death found in scripture. But every result of Christ’s death is also an intended purpose of for it, because God has the power and wisdom to do things so exactly what He wishes is accomplished. There are no unintended results from anything God does, and that includes the Father sending the Son to die. So, for instance, we know that one of the results of Christ’s death is that we have good news to proclaim to people worldwide. This, then, is also something God purposed to accomplish with Christ’s death, and it isn’t a secondary or less important purpose because it isn’t listed above.


• I call them purposes of Christ’s death, but they aren’t separate or unrelated purposes. They are all part of the one big, multifaceted purpose found at the end of the list. Stating them separately may be the only way we can see the details of the whole, but at the same time, we must remember that they are each a piece of one marvelous many-sided accomplishment showing the manifold wisdom of God to us.


• This list reveals how widespread the results of sin and how much we have lost. It also show us how great God’s wisdom is, that in one perfect act he could make everything absolutely right again.