Status Report: February

Sitting…on the couch in the living room, enjoying the late afternoon sun. 

Eating…a pear, cored and sliced.

Feeling…a little tired, but happy that January is over. 

Declaring…retroactively, that this was a “catch-up” day. Once in a while I do that when I just can’t seem to get going with the projects on my list. I’ll just decide, halfway in, to write the whole day off and start fresh tomorrow. I’ve had 3 non-stop days and I think I needed a break. Taking a breather used to make me feel guilty, but I’ve since learned the value—and the God-pleasing nature—of rest. 

Watching…the Raptors game. You didn’t know I was a basketball fan, did you? I watch two sports—basketball and baseball. But I’d rather die than watch a hockey game. Same thing goes for football; I wouldn’t be caught dead watching the Super Bowl. Nope.

Remembering…earlier in the week, when my 16-month-old granddaughter used the stringer under my dining room table as a balance beam. She got to the end of the so-called beam, did a leaping dismount and ended up with a nice bruise in the middle of her forehead. She cried—and loudly—not because she was hurt, but because I wouldn’t let her go back to perfect her moves. 

Thinking…that my son and his wife will have their hands full in a couple of weeks when they add a new baby to the mix. 

Reading…I wish I had more time for it! I hope to spend this whole evening reading as a reward for making it through a demanding week. I’m very slowly reading A Puritan Theology. Still reading Family Vocation, too. 

Planning…a kitchen reno. This summer, finally, is the summer I’m going to it. I haven’t been able to face going without a proper kitchen while the work is done, but a new kitchen really can’t be put off much longer. (If you saw my kitchen, you’d see I’m not exaggerating.) I’ve been looking at kitchens online and in magazines, deciding what I want. 

Loving…the sourdough starter my daughter gave me a few weeks ago. I had one when my children were small and I let it die. I don’t think I realized, back then, that using a sourdough starter makes so many things simpler to make—pizza dough, biscuits, pancakes, and bread, for instance.

Wondering…what to make for supper. Eggs, toast and hashbrowns? Home made cream of broccoli soup and grilled cheese sandwiches? 

Heading…to the kitchen to see what I have to work with, food supply-wise.

Hoping…what I see on the shelves of the fridge gives me inspiration.

Signing…off for now.

Thankful Thursday

I’m thankful for a fun day spent with my youngest granddaughter. It’s the first time I’ve taken care of her for longer than a few minutes while her parents walk their dog. Everything went perfectly, and for that I’m thankful. I’m thankful God gives me enough energy to take care of my grandbabies.

I’m thankful for book to read on dark winter nights and candles to light the darkness. I’m thankful that January is over.

I’m thankful that God gives us rest — rest from work and rest from striving. I’m thankful that God provides what I need, and more. I’m thankful that my future is in his hands. I’m thankful that all God’s promises find their yes in Christ. 

Purposes of Christ's Death: 2 Corinthians 5

This is another updated and reposted piece from an old series of posts examining the purpose statement that scripture gives us regarding the death of Christ. 

This post looks at two texts from 2 Corinthians 5. The first is text is this: 

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; [15] and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. (2 Corinthians 5:14-15 ESV)

The second is just a few verses away:

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV)

The purpose statements in these two texts are different, but I’ve to put them together because they come from the same passage of scripture.

The purpose statement in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15  is “that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” One of the purposes of Christ’s death is to produce people who no longer live in the old way of life, but in the new way; who no longer live self-centered lives, but live lives centered around Christ. Or to put it another way, Christ died to create people who are controlled, not by self-love, but by love of Christ. 

The second purpose statement is found in 5:21. Christ died “so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” In The Atonement: It’s Meaning and Significance, Leon Morris explains the mysterious phrase “righteousness of God”:

….the expression signifies the righteousness or ‘right standing’ that God gives….Paul is clearly referring to a legal status, a standing before God. A status can be given, and the apostle says that this status is given.

You will probably recognise the term “right-standing” before God (or the “righteousness of God”) as another way of expressing justification. In a parallel — but an opposite kind of parallel — to Christ being counted as sinful, we are counted as righteous. This is another of the many purposes of Christ’s death: Christ died so that we would be justified, or given a right legal status before God.

The two purposes for Christ’s death found in these texts are so that we would live for Him rather than for ourselves, and so that we would be justified.