Thomas and I crossed the restaurant to speak to a group of ladies, friends I hadn’t seen in several years. He clung to me bashfully, face against my shoulder, until one of the others used her experienced grandmother voice to draw him out. After that, he was all smiles and we all laughed at the way he scrunched his nose until one of them pointed out that he was copying me! Apparently I have a scrunchy nosed smile when I interact with Thomas or maybe it’s my usual smile and I just wasn’t aware!
Our children are little mirrors through which we see our truest selves unfiltered. Not only do we catch ourselves in familiar sins that we’ve been able to ignore before kids but we see the curse of original sin embodied. No one teaches a toddler defiance. They don’t need coaching in order to throw a tantrum or hit or bite or push. It comes just as naturally to them as it came to Adam and Eve in the garden.
“When Adam sinned, sin entered the world.
Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.
Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners.
But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.”
Romans 5:12, 19 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.5.12-19.NLT
Not just any one person obeying God made many righteous however. Jesus, God’s one and only Son, lived a sinless life so only He is able to be our substitute. He bore the wrath of God Himself so that by believing in Him, trusting in His sacrificial death on my behalf, I am saved from sin and death. I also receive His righteousness, the fruit of His Spirit, an eternal inheritance, and eternity in the presence of God.
“Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.
Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.
And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.
So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.”
Romans 5:1-2, 9, 11 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.5.1-11.NLT
So what is our response to this wonderful gift of friendship and reconciliation? I appreciate Matt Chandler’s answer.
“People who understand the gospel of Jesus Christ seek to put sin to death because they understand that sin is a lion and will eventually destroy and devour them. By grace and in grace, we scour every corner of our hearts, every square inch of our lives, and probe our minds to find anything that is not in submission to Jesus Christ, and we eradicate it altogether for the glory of God, for the safety of our soul, and for the love of those around us.” (The Explicit Gospel -Matt Chandler with Jared Wilson)
“I destroy every claim and every reason that keeps people from knowing God. I keep every thought under control in order to make it obey Christ.”
2 Corinthians 10:5 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/2co.10.5.NIRV
“Enter grace.
Note the kindness of God. He loves His children and is therefore patient with them, wanting them all to come to repentance. We deserve His wrath, and even though we persist throughout our lives in foolishly demanding what we think we are due, He refuses to give us what we deserve.”
(The Explicit Gospel -Matt Chandler with Jared Wilson)
“When anyone lives in Christ, the new creation has come.
The old is gone!
The new is here!
All this is from God.
He brought us back to himself through Christ’s death on the cross.
And he has given us the task of bringing others back to him through Christ.”
2 Corinthians 5:17-18 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/2co.5.17-18.NIRV
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”
Psalms 139:23-24 NLT
A Fitting Reply 