day no. 15,329: mr. and mrs. christian

"When Jesus Christ took His bride and said that 'with all my heavenly goods, I thee endow,' that meant that we as Christians took on His name and His riches." -- Douglas Wilson, Bone of My Bones

One reason a woman take's a man's last name is that it is a symbol of the church taking Jesus' name. Those who follow Him become Christians. Whatever they were before, they are now defined by His Name. This is observed as a privilege, not an imposition. It is our joy to inherit His Name.

In addition to His Name, we gain access to His riches. By entering into covenant with Him, we not only take on His last Name, but move into His home, full of His treasures and are assumed into His credentials. Places previously prohibited to us, where only He had access, are now opened up to us on account of our being with Him. We have been given His PIN. He has given us a copy of His keys. We get His Name, His fame, His fortune and most importantly, Himself. We are one with Him.

day no. 15,328: sin rewards hospitality by murdering its hosts

"Adam was given the responsibility to cultivate both gardens, and he was given this responsibility to guard and protect both gardens. When the serpent came into the first physical garden, Adam’s apparent appeasement didn’t work. Appeasement with evil and sin never does work. We are told the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was in the very center of the garden (Gen. 2:9), and there the serpent was, right by it (Gen. 3:6). So when the serpent was not chased from the center of the physical garden, the very next thing he did was to turn his malevolence to the crown jewel of the garden, our Mother Eve. If he could pollute the first by his presence, then why would he not be able to pollute the second by his words?" -- Douglas Wilson, Bone of My Bones

Adam failed first by allowing Satan to enter the center of his world. Adam's whole life revolved around Eden and he allowed the serpent to get all the way to the center without interruption. Satan, emboldened by being tolerated,became intolerant.

Sin rewards hospitality by murdering its hosts.

2 John 1:9-11
Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.

day no. 15,327: the new earth will not be less than Eden

"As Christians, we are engaged by the Holy Spirit in the renewal of all humanity in Jesus Christ, and, through Him, we are laboring for the renewal of absolutely all things. Jesus says in the book of Revelation that He makes all things new (Rev. 21:5; cf. 2 Cor 5:17). Whatever it means to make all things new, it does not mean that we are to carry on just as before. It does not mean that we are to make our peace with the current corruptions. In order to participate in the process properly, one of the things we need to do is imitate the example of Jesus, to go back to how things were in the garden before our primeval rebellion put everything out of joint. We know from Scripture that the work of the second Adam, Jesus Christ, will far surpass the work of the first Adam (Rom. 5:15–17), but when Jesus takes us far above the blessing of the first creation, we can be sure that it cannot mean that He will actually take us below the level of that first, unfallen creation. The re-creation of all things is greater, not less, than the first creation." -- Douglas Wilson, Bone of My Bones

God's kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven will not be less than when He walked on the earth. The new earth will not be less than Eden was. The garden is not the high water mark of creation going forward although it is the benchmark of our hindsight. And if hindsight is 20/20, imagine how well we see when faith is made sight in front of us. The invisible will become visible and our new eyes will behold the goodness of God and His re-creation no longer as a blurred reflection, but straight on, face-to-face, and with perfect clarity.

day no. 15,326 continued... the priestly blessing

In addition to the Apostles' Creed, I also wanted to nail down the Priestly Blessing from Numbers 6:24-26... 

The Lord bless you, and keep you:

The Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you:

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.

Amen.

This is another one of those things that I knew well enough to imperfectly fumble my way through. I had heard it frequently enough to summarize it, but had never committed the precise verbiage to memory... until today.

day no. 15,326 continued... the apostles' creed

I have been familiar with and studied the Apostles' Creed before and even have a children's song that sings through a summary of the words, but I've never committed the actual creed to memory... until yesterday.

I don't know why yesterday, but it seemed as good a day as any to memorize it. So, I looked it up and spent some time rehearsing it in my head and saying it out loud and printing it out and laminating it and handing it to my children and asking them to read it as I recited it to make sure I didn't miss or mangle a single word and by the afternoon, I had it down and today reflecting upon it, it stuck.

It is coming more easily and more naturally so that I can think not just about which word comes next, but about the truth being expressed as I'm saying it as my brain struggles less and less to hold on to the words and is free to confess more and more the sentiments expressed in the words. If you haven't done so, review the creed and consider committing it to memory.

The Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty;

Maker of heaven and earth,

and in Jesus Christ,

His only begotten Son, our Lord.

He was conceived by the Holy Ghost,

and born of the virgin, Mary.

He suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended into Hades.

On the third day He rose again from the dead,

ascended into Heaven,

and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;

from thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost,

the holy catholic Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting.

Amen

day no. 15,326: man is Eden incarnate

"When God created Adam out of the ground, He placed him in the midst of a glorious garden. When God made Eve, He took her out of the Adam-ground, and transformed her into a garden (Song of Sol. 4:12, 15). God had made Adam out of the dust of the ground (Gen. 2:7) and made woman out of the dust of the man (Gen. 3:19). So God made Adam out of dust and placed him in a garden. God made Eve out of that glorified dust and naturally made her into a glorified garden. And so it was that God made the woman into the garden of gardens, the crown of all creation."-- Douglas Wilson, Bone of My Bones

God crowned His creation by making a man out of the mud and God crowned the man by making a woman out of him. The woman is the crown of crowns, the most cherished possession in all God's creation. She is a garden within the garden, a source of life within the land of life, fertile soil living upon the fertile soil.

The man is Eden incarnate, dirt made flesh.
The woman is flesh glorified, man made Edenic.

Woman is Eden on the move, a garden on-the-go.

day no. 15,325: grace weights

1 Corinthians 11:7
For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man.

"God’s grace is glorious, and glory, as Scripture shows us, is heavy. Fifty pounds of fruit is just as heavy to carry as fifty pounds of rocks, but there is nevertheless a difference... God gives us nothing to carry without also giving us the strength to carry it. In two difference senses, therefore, He gives us the grace of strength to carry and the grace of fruit to carry. And so it is that grace carries grace." - Douglas Wilson, Bone of My Bones

Men and women carry different glories. They are both heavy so God provides strength respective to the weight of the grace He bestowed. The weight is itself a grace and the ability to carry it another. It is grace upon grace upon grace and the weight of fruitfulness is ours to gladly bear by grace through faith in Christ alone.

John 1:16
From His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.