Psalm 139
• John 15:9–17
• Romans 8:31–39
You might find it helpful to pray for a few minutes before reading these Scriptures and ask the Lord specifically for the grace to receive exactly the message he is trying to communicate to you at this time in your life. Then, read the specific passage slowly and prayerfully several times. Take note of any words or phrases that jump out at you.
When you are finished reading the passage, ask the Lord to shed more light on the word(s) or passage that jumped out at you. Ask God to reveal to you what, specifically, that word or phrase might have to do with your life right now.
Small Group Questions
1. If God truly is love, then the various ways that we experience authentic love are encounters with God. What are some of the ways that you have experienced love in your life? Which ones have had the most profound effect on you?
2. How would you characterize your relationship with God (in other words, if a friend asked you to describe what it’s like to be in a relationship with God, how would you respond)?
3. How would you describe the love that a parent has for a child? Do you find it difficult to believe that this is the kind of love that God has for you? Why or why not?
4. Consider the truth that God, as Trinity, is eternal relationship, and that since you were made in God’s image, you were created with a hunger to love and to be loved. What are some of the ways that you have sought to fill that hunger in your life?
5. Is it difficult for you to receive the love that God has for you? Why or why not? What are some of the obstacles that you have in your life to receiving that love? What are some things in your life that make it easier for you to receive that love?
6. Name one thing that you hope to get out of reading this book and reflecting on it in a small group.
7. If you have had the opportunity to reflect on the Scripture passages in the Further Reflection section, which passages did you prayerfully read, and what struck you or moved you when you read those passages?
chapter 2
Jesus: The Embodiment of the Kingdom
Stories require conflict, otherwise they wouldn’t be stories at all.
Something—a problem, person, or situation—must provoke the hero, present an obstacle, or oppose the hero in some way. Conflict fuels the narrative of every classic story, and nowhere is that more true than in the Great Story.
Conflict enters the scene early on. In fact, the beginning of our story has hardly finished before things get out of hand. God fashions the universe and populates the earth, and he places the crowning jewel of creation, his masterpiece, Adam and Eve, in a paradise where Creator and creature enjoy an intimate connection. We read in the Book of Genesis that God put man in the garden to “cultivate and care for it” (2:15) not simply as a hired hand or professional worker but as a partner.
We see the level of trust God places in man in this key passage: “So the Lord God formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the air, and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them; whatever the man called each living creature was then its name” (Genesis 2:19). In the biblical worldview, to name something was to have power over it, to give it shape and identity. By tasking Adam with naming the animals, God treats man as a partner, making him a steward and inviting him into a communion of life. In the beginning, there is deep connection and integrity, harmony and communion between God and man, and between man and the created world.
That communion extends to the relationship between man and woman as well. At the beginning of our story, Adam and Eve possess a deep communion with each other, a wholeness and mutuality characterized by intimate self-gift. We see this intimacy represented in the second account of the creation of man and woman in the Book of Genesis. After fashioning Adam from the clay of the earth, God knows that it is “not good for the man to be alone” (2:18), and creates a companion, a helpmate, a partner. Placing Adam in a deep sleep, the Lord God forms Eve out of one of Adam’s ribs. That is why Adam exclaims with such awe, “This one, at last, is bone of my bone / and flesh of my flesh” (2:23). In Eve, Adam sees one who is his equal in dignity, another person who is both different from himself and yet alike in the deepest of ways. For Adam, Eve is not simply other; she is beloved. The author of Genesis affirms this experience of integral intimacy and connection between Adam and Eve: for the “man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame” (2:25).
Adam and Eve enjoy interlocking “webs” of communion in the Garden of Eden—communion with God, with creation, and with each other. In the garden, the love relationship between God and his creatures is to be lived out for all eternity. Adam and Eve have complete access to every wonder of the garden. God gives everything to them, with just one exception: they must not eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
As we journey into the second chapter of our story, this may seem like an arbitrary rule God simply drops on Adam and Eve. However, consider for a moment what this forbidden fruit symbolizes. God, by definition, is an eternal being—without a beginning or an end. Humanity, however, has a clear beginning. Therefore, we are not gods, and even though twenty-first-century culture focuses a great deal on self-determinism and choosing one’s identity, we are not the beginning and the end of our destiny, nor are we in complete control over what we experience. We are creatures, fashioned and made by a God who loves us, yet still creatures. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, therefore, represents the limits of our creaturehood—our finitude.
It is precisely here that the drama of our story begins.
Satan—once the brightest angel named Lucifer who, upon learning of the divine plan for humanity and all creation, refused to submit to God’s will—invades the Garden of Eden, coming as a serpent to whisper lies into Eve’s ears. The Enemy immediately strikes at the heart of her relationship with God. He asks her if she and Adam are forbidden to eat the fruit of every tree in the garden. Already, we see the trust Eve has in her Creator begin to dissolve. She replies that they may eat of all the trees except one, and if they eat the fruit of that tree, or even touch it, they will die. However, God’s prohibition only mentions eating of the tree. Eve’s response is untrue. Even the serpent’s initial question about God’s commands starts to affect Eve. Her response does not reflect the loving trust of a daughter, but rather the attitude of one whose relationship with God is tinged with fear.
The devil launches his next attack: “But the snake said to the woman: ‘You certainly will not die! God knows well that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, who know good and evil’” (Genesis 3:4-5). This is often the devil’s preferred tactic, insinuating that God isn’t a good Father, but rather a jealous and imperfect one. When Satan utters those words, the trust Eve held for God continues to die in her heart. Looking at the tree, she sees that its fruit is delicious and good to eat. Surely, if my Father were a good Father, he would want me to enjoy the best food.
Eve also sees that the fruit is beautiful to behold. Surely, if my Father were a good Father, he would not want to deny me beauty.
Finally, Eve sees that the fruit is good for gaining wisdom, the knowledge of good and evil. Surely, wisdom is a precious thing to have, and if my Father were a truly good Father, he would not withhold wisdom from me.
