Meanings Have Words

August 13, 2024

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17 NIV)

I readily admit that I tend to think, speak, write and interact with people, mostly from the left side of my brain.  Therefore, I tend to be very analytical, logical and linear in my thinking and perspective.  As an engineer, I was educated and taught how to solve problems by analyzing what was known and what was unknown, and then to begin to eliminate the unknowns to eventually find a solution.  I say all this to express that my normal left-brain thinking, does not leave much room for accepting or living with unknowns, or things, that cannot be verified using my five bodily senses. This way of thinking is somewhat expressed in the following quote from The Princess and Curdie by George Mac Dondald:

There is this difference between the growth of some human beings and that of others: in the one case it is a continuous dying, in the other a continuous resurrection. One of the latter sort comes at length to know at once whether a thing is true the moment it comes before him; one of the former class grows more and more afraid of being taken in, so afraid of it that he takes himself in altogether, and comes at length to believe in nothing but his dinner: to be sure of a thing with him is to have it between his teeth.

I was created by God our Father with a right brain as well as a left brain, and I see the need to learn how to embrace the God given purpose of me having both.  Part of that journey has been to hang out with people who are more balanced or even mostly right brained in their thinking. This also includes reading the works of authors such as George MacDonald (1824–1905), who wrote prolifically in the 19th century, in multiple genres including, poetry, theological works, fantasies and realistic fictional works.  In all of his writings, he weaves in the nature of God our Father, and His desire for us to know Him. A good friend gave me a book of a collection of some of MacDonald’s works titled, The Heart of George MacDonald, way back in 1994.  However, at that time I had little success in understanding him and laid it aside until 2020. 

Due to the COVID lockdowns, and major heart surgery in the summer of 2020, I was spending a lot of time reading, and eventually exhausted the books we had that interested me.  Then a relative gave me a copy of one of George McDonald’s realistic fiction books.  Reading that book somehow opened up my mind and heart, to be able to understand his writings.  He is now my favorite and most read author, and I have discovered great theological truths about the nature of God from his writings.  Expanding upon a quote from C.S. Lewis about his fantasy writings, a friend commented about my personal experience saying, “a good story has a way of sneaking past the watchful dragons of our minds to reach our hearts with profound truth”.

Being mostly left-brained, I am a student of words and their meanings.  I have discovered that the meaning of words often varies with context, culture, and the time in history that a word is used.  In conversation, especially concerning scriptures, I have often said that words have meanings, and it is important to understand what is meant by the words we speak, or others speak.  I recently made such a statement, in the presence of one of my mostly right-brained friends, who responded with “yes, but meanings have words”.  That comment has led to many discussions since then and often pondering how we use words to try to convey what we are thinking and feeling.

Of all of the creatures God has made, only humans, who are made in God’s image, have been given the ability to think, and then to form those thoughts into breath sounds, that can form words to express what we are thinking and feeling.  This is a form of creativity that is given to us by God who created the heavens and earth and all that is within it.  That creativity also includes art, music, literature, poetry, etc.  The creative process should involve both the left and right brains, but many of us tend towards one or the other.  A left-brained person will tend towards making something useful, whereas a right-brained person tends towards making it look good.  An engineer is most concerned about how a design will produce a functional item or system, an interior decorator is most concerned about how an item will look, and architects try to include both.  Which is more important, form or function?  The answer depends upon a person’s perspective.  The difference in perspective can cause significant friction in a marriage, when a husband and wife are discussing such things, as home improvements, a new car purchase, or furniture for their home. 

A person’s efforts to create something, regardless of the medium for their creativity/artistic work, is trying to find a way, to express what they are thinking, and feeling within their hearts.  In a very real way, they are letting others know them in an intimate way.  Therefore, if someone misunderstands the meaning of their creative/artistic work, it can be very hurtful to them, because it is a misunderstanding of themselves by the other person.

As I previously stated, I am a student of words and their meanings, especially those that are associated with scriptures and our understanding of the nature of God.  I am not naturally artistic, when it comes to drawing, sketching, painting, writing music, poetry, etc.  But, I have learned to use words, as a paint brush to paint mental pictures in my imagination, or the imagination of someone I am talking to, to convey what I am thinking and feeling. That is what Jesus did when teaching people through the parables (stories) he told.  It is even more powerful when the meaning of the story is demonstrated in a way that effects all our senses…. not just what we hear, but also see, smell, taste, and touch.

My desire in writing this article, is to attempt to paint mental pictures, about the meaning of some of the commonly used words from scripture, to sneak past the watchful theological dragons that we all have, that result in a perspective about the nature of God our Father, that hinders intimacy with Him. 

So, let’s get started with some scriptures from the Gospel of John.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.'”) Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father (KJV – in the bosom of the Father), has made him known. (John 1:1-18 NIV)

  • “to those who believed in his name”
    • Believed – The English words believe, faith and trust all are translated from a family of Greek words which are derived from the root word peíthō (Strong’s G3982).  The basic meaning being “to be persuaded”.  The breakthrough for my understanding of this family of words, was when I realized that the word “trust”, could be used wherever any of these words occur in the New Testament, or in the Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew scriptures (Old Testament).  Most of us have some form of religious “watchful dragons”, when it comes to our understanding of the words believe, and faith, but not so much the word trust.  It seems to me that we have used the words believe and faith so much that we have lost their meaning.  Examples include hearing someone say, “just believe it is true”, or “have faith even though you see no evidence”.  Sometimes this is referred to as taking a blind leap of faith.  However, trust is not a blind leap of faith, it is based on our personal experience, in relationships with people and things, in this creation.  The word trust conveys a more concrete word picture.  We only trust what we have consistently seen truth(reality) revealed in. Let’s look at an example from scripture of Peter walking on the water to Jesus.
      • Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (Matthew 14:22-33 NIV)
  • Remember, that the family of words that includes belief, faith and trust means to be persuaded.  What was the relational process involved, that resulted in Peter overcoming his fear, when he thought Jesus was a ghost walking on the stormy waters of the sea?  Peter and the other disciples had been living with Jesus for many days watching Him in the everyday activities of life.  He demonstrated a life of dependance upon God our Father, and in the process, they saw things happen that were impossible in the natural realm of creation.  Things such as water being turned into wine, multiple occurrences of people being healed, people being raised from the dead, and demonic spirits being cast out of people.  When Jesus saw the fear on the faces of his disciples in the boat during the storm,  he spoke, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”  Their response of “being persuaded” was not based just upon Him saying, “Don’t be afraid”.  It was based upon their relationship with Him, in situations where they were witnessing the nature of God our Father, being demonstrated through Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, who is one with His Father and only does what He sees His Father doing.  I think we often make a mistake, when we expect people to have faith in what the Bible says, to be persuaded that it is true, without any relational basis.  Based on his experience with Jesus, Peter was persuaded that he could also walk on the water like Jesus, because Jesus said, “come” to Peter’s request to “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come on the water to you”.  It was not a “blind leap of faith”, that led Peter to step out of the boat onto the stormy waters and to begin to walk towards Jesus.  It was because he knew from his personal experience, that he could trust the very weight of his being upon what Jesus told him.  For now, we will wait to discuss what happened when Peter looked at the waves and began to sink into the sea.
    • Name – In western culture, personal names of people are not seen as making a statement about the person, it is just their name to distinguish them from another person.  However, that is not true in ancient cultures and some non-western modern cultures.  The Greek word translated as name, is ónoma (Strong’s G3686).  A person’s name is intended to convey or reveal the truth of their character. In ancient cultures, when a name was given before or at the time of birth of a person, it was intended as a prophetic statement about the person, what they are destined to become.  Every time their name was spoken it was a declaration of a prophetic statement.  Speaking about the one who is the Only Begotten Son of God, Luke 1:28-31 states, “The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.”   The name Jesus, is the English transliteration of the Hebrew name Yehoshua, which means, “Yahweh saves”, or “Yahweh is salvation”.  To believe (trust) in His name, is to trust the weight of my very being upon the reality of His name.  However, remember that trust is a relational word, we learn to trust what we see truth revealed in consistently over time.  Jesus’s disciples learned to trust Him by living with Him and witnessing His relationship with God our Father.
  • We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth

What is the gift that God our Father, desires to give us, in His act of grace in His embrace?  Quite simply it is life, that we might share in His life, His divine nature!  At the very core of His being God is love, therefore the life that He is, the life He desires to give us, is expressed as love!  Love can only exist in a relationship.  The love that God is, and always will be, is forever and always being shared between God our Father, Jesus His only Begotten Son, and the Holy Spirit.  We were created to participate in that life, that love, that God is!  Let’s look at some scriptures that speak to this reality.

  • Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. (1 John 4:7-21 NIV)
  • Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NASB)
  • In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. (John 1:1-4 NIV)
  • For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. (John 3:16-18 NIV)
  • Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him. “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice (John 5:19-28 NIV)
  • You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. (John 5:39-40 NIV)
  • “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them. Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”  (John 10:1-18 NIV)
  • “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (John 14:1-13 NIV)
  • After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. (John 17:1-3 NIV)
  • As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:1-10 NIV)

Jesus masterfully told many parables (stories) to get the truth, of the nature of God our Father, as being love, and full of grace and truth, past the “watchful dragons” of the Pharisees, and teachers of the law, and us.  They were experts in the Hebrew scriptures (Old Testament), yet they were very critical of Jesus, because of their wrong perspective of the nature of God, and did not see how Jesus could show grace to (or embrace) “sinners”.  Three of those stories are recorded in Luke 15 as he told them about a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son.  I encourage you to stop and read all of Luke 15 before you read my thoughts below about these parables.

  • What does it mean to be lost?
    • The Greek word translated as lost is apóllymi (Strong’s G622).  Before I give you the definition as you will find it in various Bible concordances and/or dictionaries, I want to give you some thoughts to ponder.

First, something cannot be lost unless it has a home….. it belongs to someone. If it is lost, the owner only searches for it because it is of value to them. 

  • In the case of people, who do they belong to and where is their home?  Psalm 24:1-2 states, “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.”   John 1:10-11 states, “He (Jesus) was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”   When Jesus tells the story about a lost sheep He says, “And when he (the shepherd who owns the sheep) finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’” (Luke 15:5-6 NIV) When Jesus tells the story of a woman who lost a coin, He says of her, “And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’” (Luke 15:9 NIV) Speaking about the lost son, Jesus says that the father of the son said, “For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.” (Luke 15:24 NIV)

Second, apóllymi(Strong’s G622) is also translated as perish.  Let’s look at a few examples.

  • When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” (Matthew 8:23-27 NASB)
    • “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish. (Matthew 18:10-14 NIV)
    • Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Luke 13:1-5 NIV)
    • For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. (John 3:16-18 NIV) Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:25-30 NIV)
    • For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:17-18 NIV)
    • I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. (2 Peter 3:2-13 NIV)

Third, I find it helpful to look at some of the writings of the early church fathers.  However, even though many people may claim to teach or believe, what the “early church fathers”, wrote and believed, in my limited experience, there is no such thing as a dogmatic statement of belief, about what all “the early church fathers” believed, about a particular doctrine.  It just depends upon who you count as an “early church father” and whether we truly understand what they were writing or saying.  With that disclaimer, I will quote St. Athanasius, the Archbishop of Alexandria (c.296-c.373) who was a significant contributor to what is called the Nicene Creed.  The quote is from his treatise titled, On the Incarnation, in chapter 2 titled, The Divine Dilemma and its Solution in the Incarnation.

  •  We saw in the last chapter that, because death and corruption were gaining ever firmer hold on them, the human race was in process of destruction. Man, who was created in God’s image and in his possession of reason reflected the very Word Himself, was disappearing, and the work of God was being undone. The law of death, which followed from the Transgression, prevailed upon us, and from it there was no escape. The thing that was happening was in truth both monstrous and unfitting. It would, of course, have been unthinkable that God should go back upon His word and that man, having transgressed, should not die; but it was equally monstrous that beings which once had shared the nature of the Word should perish and turn back again into non-existence through corruption. It was unworthy of the goodness of God that creatures made by Him should be brought to nothing through the deceit wrought upon man by the devil; and it was supremely unfitting that the work of God in mankind should disappear, either through their own negligence or through the deceit of evil spirits. As, then, the creatures whom He had created reasonable, like the Word, were in fact perishing, and such noble works were on the road to ruin, what then was God, being Good, to do? Was He to let corruption and death have their way with them? In that case, what was the use of having made them in the beginning? Surely it would have been better never to have been created at all than, having been created, to be neglected and perish; and, besides that, such indifference to the ruin of His own work before His very eyes would argue not goodness in God but limitation, and that far more than if He had never created men at all. It was impossible, therefore, that God should leave man to be carried off by corruption, because it would be unfitting and unworthy of Himself.If you are not familiar with this work, I highly recommend you read it and see what Athanasius gives as the answer to his question, “As, then, the creatures whom He had created reasonable, like the Word, were in fact perishing, and such noble works were on the road to ruin, what then was God, being Good, to do?”
  • Without having looked at the above scriptures about “being lost” or “perish”, we can easily misunderstand their meaning and have a perspective other than the perspective of God our Father, as revealed to us in Christ Jesus, who came to seek and save the lost that they might not perish.  Let’s now look at the definition of lost/perish from the Greek word  apóllymi (Strong’s G622) as you will find it in various Bible concordances and/or dictionaries.  The definition below is from Biblehub.com.
  • From apó, “away from,” which intensifies ollymi, “to destroy”– properly, fully destroy, cutting off entirely, “violently/completely perish”, implies permanent (absolute) destruction, i.e. to cancel out (remove); “to die, with the implication of ruin and destruction” (L & N, 1, 23.106); cause to be lost (utterly perish) by experiencing a miserable end.  Before I say more about the meaning of the words lost or perish, I need to have a good picture to look at, to understand what sin is, and what repentance looks like.  To do that, let’s look at the parable of the lost son in Luke 15.  In the text below I have highlighted a few phrases so we can ask some questions.

Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.‘” (Luke 15:11-32 NIV)

  • “How did it occur that the younger son came to be considered as lost by his father?”  The short answer is, because he decided to think, and live as if he had no father.  In Deuteronomy 32:18 Moses told the children of Israel, “You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.”  Moses was speaking to the children of the generation of descendants of Jacob (Israel), that God delivered mightily from the misery and oppression of slavery in Egypt.  Their ancestors, who were delivered from slavery, all died (perished) over a 40-year period of time because they did not trust God our Father to be faithful in providing for His children.  They did not do as their ancestor Abraham did when, “Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” (Romans 4:19-21 NIV)

When the younger son in the parable said, ”Father, give me my share of the estate”,   he essentially told his father, “I am not willing to continue to have a father-son relationship with you, give me my share of your estate”, which included physical possessions and money, “that I am due upon your death, and I will consider you as dead, and you shall consider me as dead, and we shall never see or speak to each other again”.  This statement is the best definition of sin that I can paint for you.  The Greek word that is translated as sin is hamartía (Strong’s G266).  You will often hear it said that sin means to miss the mark, like an arrow launched by an archer, that misses the intended target.  This is not incorrect, but it leaves me wondering, “What was the intended target?” 

The Apostle Paul gives us a little bit of help in answering the question, “What was the intended target?” when he addresses some problems that existed between some of the disciples of Jesus in Rome.  The problem was their disagreement as to whether it was sin to eat certain foods, such as meat sacrificed to pagan idols.  Paul’s answer was, “So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.” (Romans 14:22-23 NIV) The intended target is, that we were created to live in the embrace of God our Father, to trust Him that He is good and that His love for the entire cosmos endures forever, from generation to generation.  To sin is to think, and act like this is not true, just like the younger son viewed his father in the parable.  Someone once said that to live this way is to live like we are orphans without a father in this world.  Orphans learn that they cannot trust anyone except themselves, therefore they must lean upon their own understanding, take their life into their own hands and make their own way. 

Now that we have a clearer picture of the meaning of sin, let us return to the story (parable) that Jesus is telling, in trying to “sneak past the watchful dragons” that we, His listeners have, that hinder our seeing a true picture of the nature of God our Father. After the lost son came to his senses, in the  midst of coming to ruin (being lost), he remembered he still had a father, he really was not the orphan he had declared himself to be.  But he did not think his father would receive him as a son any longer, because of his sin (he had declared his father to be dead), but he might receive him as a servant in his household.  His reception by his father is not what he expected. Listen to what Jesus says that the father did, and remember this is a picture of God our Father!

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”…. “the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate”.

What might that celebration look like?  We get a clue from the rest of the story when Jesus tells his hearers about the older son.

“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

The celebration involved having a feast of the finest food they could provide, plus singing and dancing.  I grew up in a religious culture where it was said, “that dancing was of the devil”.  I will not speculate as to what the dancing that Jesus spoke of looked like, but He told the story to help us understand the nature of God our Father.  The devil cannot create anything, he can only present twisted counterfeit versions of what is real.  Everything that is good and perfect, that which comes from the Father of Heavenly Lights, also has a counterfeit that Satan uses to try to deceive us.  Do not misunderstand me, there is a form of dancing that is of the devil, but we must not reject what is the true dance, the celebration hosted and led by God our Father, that He invites us into sharing with Him, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  Jesus put it this way in Luke 15:10 when he said, “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”   Our participation in that dance begins in the embrace of God our Father just as it did for the returning lost son. “When he (the son) was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”   The father’s embrace happened before his son could even confess his sin against “heaven and against you”.   This dance is initiated by the father, the son’s role is to either receive his father’s embrace, and kisses and be restored as a son, or to pull away because he thinks he is unworthy of such lavish love, and ask to be treated as one of his father’s servants. The son chose the latter, and while still in his father’s embrace and kisses, says, “I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”  But, his father would not accept his son’s wrong perspective, and declared “to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” 

Remember, Jesus is telling this story to get past the wrong perspective His hearers have about the nature of God our Father.  With that reminder, don’t fail to notice that the father in the story fully embraced his son just as he was, likely wearing rags for clothing, still with the stains and the smell of the pigs and their feces upon his clothing and body.  This is another example of Jesus telling the story to try to “sneak past the watchful dragons” of the religious leaders, to get to their hearts that they might begin to see the true nature of God our Father!  We are made righteous, holy and spotless when we submit to God our Father’s embrace, and He takes upon Himself all of our sin, our filth and consumes it in the all-consuming fire of the love that He is, and gives us His very life.  Some of this transformation takes place instantaneously, and some over the rest of our lives as we learn to trust Him and abide in His embrace and dance with Him.  I will go so far as to say, that the process of transformation, may continue through all of eternity as we experience more and more of what Paul called, “the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27 NIV) 

I need to clarify that when I speak of the embrace of God our Father, I am coming from the perspective of Jesus when He said, the Father and I are one.  The embrace, the dance, is with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit for they are inseparably one by their eternal mutual embrace of each other.  This is expressed by Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:17-19 (NASB), “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”

Now let’s look closely at the reaction of the older son to the news of the celebration of the younger son’s coming home.

“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'”

With different words, and maybe a different motivation, the older son makes a similar declaration, as the younger son did, when he asked for his share of his father’s estate.  Notice, he sees his relationship with his father not as a father-son relationship, but as a slave.  He views obedience of his father’s commands as burdensome, toilsome labor, which is the definition of the Greek word ponéros (Strong’s G4190), which is translated as evil elsewhere in the scriptures (such as Matthew 12:33-37).  He does not see obedience as being part of the dance, as being done in the embrace of his father, as a fellowship of sharing of mutual love. 

Jesus speaks to the wrong perspective of obedience in Matthew 11:27-30 when He said, “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” 

A yoke is an instrument made to perform work.  In the natural world, if a person or animal remains in that kind of yoke, they will eventually grow weary and have to lay down the yoke.  That is what happens when we see obedience to God’s commands, as a means to win his favor.  “Maybe if I do enough, by obeying His commands, He will then embrace me and love me”, rather than seeing His embrace as being the only place from which obedience can take place.  John the evangelist gives even more clarity to what Jesus means when in 1 John 5:2-3 he said, “This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.”   Hmm…. His commands are not burdensome?  Then why do so many of us grow weary in obeying His commands?  Maybe it is not the yoke of Jesus we have taken upon us.  Remember, there is always a counterfeit of what is real…..what is real is that which comes from our Father. 

Again, Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me”.  What does that look like? Why does Jesus have a yoke, what does it look like?  Let’s look at some scriptures to help answer these questions.

  • So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. (John 5:16-20 NIV)
  •  Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.” Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”‘? If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside— what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” (John 10:22-38 NIV)
  • “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:4-5 NIV)
  • “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me. “Come now; let us leave. (John 14:1-31 NIV)

What am I to conclude from all of these scriptures?  The yoke that Jesus is offering us, is the same yoke He shares with His Father.   The yoke of trusting and abiding in the embrace of God our Father, who is love, who is good, whose love endures forever, who will never leave us or forsake us!  Any other yoke will eventually result in us being mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically exhausted, and possibly suffering from some sort of mental disorder.

I previously quoted Deuteronomy 32:18 which says, “You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.”  The Hebrew word translated as the phrase “gave you birth”, is chuwl (Strong’s H2342).  It has a dual meaning.  One is the picture of a person writhing while in intense pain, such as a seriously wounded person or a woman in childbirth.  The second meaning is to whirl about or to dance.  Two seemingly opposite and contrasting meanings.  One is a picture of excruciating pain, the other a picture of exuberant joy.  After God created the cosmos and mankind through His Only Begotten Son (John 1:1-3), He declared it all to be very good (Genesis 1:31).  May I be so bold, as to say that God gave birth to the cosmos, through pain followed by great joy as He looked over all that He had made, and called it very good?  This is at least hinted at in Proverbs 8 when it speaks of wisdom, as a personification of Jesus, who is the Only Begotten Son of God.  Proverbs 8:22-31 states,

 “The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old; I was formed long ages ago, at the very beginning, when the world came to be. When there were no watery depths, I was given birth, when there were no springs overflowing with water; before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth, before he made the world or its fields or any of the dust of the earth. I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth. Then I was constantly at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind.”

Ultimately, I think the contrast between excruciating pain, and exuberant joy, conveyed by the Hebrew word chuwl, is a picture of the cross, upon which Jesus was crucified.  Hebrews 12:1-2 says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  However, the excruciating pain that Jesus endured, was not because of the wrath of God, being poured out upon Him, as punishment for our sin, as is commonly taught and believed.  God our Father did not abandon, or turn His face away from Jesus, His Only Begotten Son, on the cross! Jesus, who is the Word of God, knew all of the words of Psalm 22, not just the words that He spoke from the cross when He said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:45-46 NIV)  Psalm 22:24  says,  “For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.”  Jesus knew this perfectly well, from His life experience, of being one with His Father, even though he felt all of the pain, and the emotions of being abandoned during His crucifixion.  Jesus stated the He did nothing, but what He saw His Father doing.  Paul makes this truth very clear in the following verses.

Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God; and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences. We are not again commending ourselves to you but are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you will have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:11-20 NASB)

Where was God the Father, when Jesus was in excruciating pain in His crucifixion, and He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  He “was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself”, embracing Jesus and experiencing everything He experienced!  Jesus and Our Father, together experienced all of the wrath and anger of mankind, from them not knowing that God is love, bearing it all in the body of Jesus as He said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

(Luke 23:34 NIV) and “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (John 19:30 NIV)

The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, is the fulfillment of the parables that He told, about the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son.  The fulfillment of the story of the lost son is beautifully told by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the church at Ephesus.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  (Ephesians 2:1-10 NIV)

This has been a rather long article, and it is very likely that anyone who reads it, may not remember some of the word pictures that I have tried to paint, to give us a better understanding of some words, that we commonly use within the Christian community.  Therefore, I am summarizing them below.

  • Believe, faith, trust – All of these words mean to be persuaded, but the English word, trust, gives a clearer picture of what it means to be persuaded.  We should only trust what we have consistently seen truth expressed in.  This makes it a relational word.  It has no context except in our relationship with God, people, even the entire creation.
  • Grace – This word carries the idea of a person who is favorably inclined toward someone; therefore, they lean towards them with open arms, with the desire to embrace that person, that they may impart to them a gift that will be good for them.  Jesus came from our Father full of grace and truth.  He and our Father embrace us, in the middle of our mess, of our own making, that they may share their life with us, that we might not perish.
  • Lost, perish – Something cannot be lost unless it has a home, and it belongs to someone. If it is lost, the owner only searches for it because it is of value to them.  Jesus came to seek and save the lost, and to bring us home to our Father.
  • Sin – The base meaning is, “to not have a share in”, and “to miss an intended target”.  With respect to God our Father, the intended target, is that we trust Him, that He is good, that His love endures forever, that never will He leave us or forsake us, and that His desire is that we have a share in His life, by participating in His divine nature, to dance with him.  Therefore, sin is any thought, and action on our part that causes us to not trust Him.

I will bring this article to a close, by taking the liberty, of using the word pictures above, to paraphrase Ephesians 2:1-10.  I previously referenced these scriptures, with the comment that I see it, as a beautiful fulfillment of the story, that Jesus told about the lost son.

As for you, you were dead because you did not trust God Our Father, and lived as if He did not exist, or if He did exist, He was distant and a hard taskmaster.   You used to live this way when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who do not trust God our Father. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by His embrace of us, while we were still covered with the pig feces of our mess, as we lived like an orphan, that you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of His embrace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by His embrace, that you have been saved, through trusting Him—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to dance with Him, to do the good works, which God prepared in advance, for us to do with Him, in His embrace. 

Blessings,

Kevin