For a description of the Year 2 (Y2) reading plan, see the “About” page
Luke 3
Can you think of how Jesus is good news for the people in your life, both Christians and non-Christians? John said of Christ, “His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather the wheat into His barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Luke 3:17). This makes me think of Psalm 1, which we read a couple of days ago. Like that Psalm, John is comparing the wicked to chaff, which amounts to nothing and is destined for destruction. We know from that Psalm that the wicked seek and desire things other than God. And that makes me think of Adam and Eve’s sin, which we read about yesterday. There is definitely a common thread throughout the entire Bible. There is God and there is everything else. Only God will do.
Because of our sin – our penchant for putting other people and things in places only God belongs – we lost access to God. Since the message is clearly that only God will do, this is a very unfortunate situation. The good news of Jesus is that He is God’s unfailing answer to this dilemma. Through Him we regain access to God. We also gain the sure hope that one day we will be able to keep Him first, where He rightfully belongs. This is the best news ever for anyone who chooses to receive it.
Gen. 5-6
Why does the author remind us that we’re created in God’s image? What does it look like to walk faithfully with God today? The reminder here that we are created in God’s image gives us a direct correlation to Adam’s having a son in his own image. However, I can’t say that I’m certain of the message in that correlation. Seth was certainly not Adam’s first or only son and I am not inclined to think that the statement applies only to him. I do think that the parent/child relationship gives us some insight into God’s relationship with us. But there somehow seems to be a deeper significance to it all. I have no idea what it is.
There are a lot of other things I don’t know or understand in the early Genesis account as well. Like where all the other people came from or who the “sons of God” and “daughters of humans” were. What I do know is that God has woven a very intricately detailed story that shows us in so many different ways His plan to redeem the righteous. The account of Noah and his family is just one of many examples of that. God has given us the relevant information, leaving details we don’t need to know out. Perhaps that puts us in the position of Adam and Eve in the Garden. We can choose to trust the information God has given us or we can choose to let the questions of what we don’t know cause us to doubt Him. If we are to walk faithfully with God, we MUST choose to trust.
Ps. 2
Describe God’s response to the nations’ plots. What does this teach about the nature of God? Have I mentioned that there is God and then there is everything else? This Psalm is a vivid picture of how humans think they can do without God. What a JOKE!! God has already established His plan since before time began. His Messiah will reign; He will rule all the nations with an iron rod. Those who serve and take refuge in Him will have life. As for those who don’t, “[their] way will lead to [their] destruction” (Ps. 2:12).