All Scripture is unified in the gospel. As I see it, there are 4 categories that every last verse fit under in Scripture. Here they are:
1. Who God is
2. Who I am
3. The relationship between God and me
4. What Jesus accomplished at the cross
Reading God's Word with these guidelines provides clarity and depth to every Scripture you will read.
26 October 2010
08 October 2010
50 First Dates
50 First Dates might come across as a really lame movie if you look only at the surface level. In fact, the surface level is probably how the director intended people to view it. But I was struck at the end of the film that it really contains the gospel message, albeit at a very shallow, worldly level. Let me briefly explain the premise of the film for those of you who have not seen it:
Adam Sandler plays a man who lives on a tropical island (somewhere in Hawaii I believe). He is notorious for taking women tourists out “for a good time” during their brief stay on the island. One day, he meets a “local girl” named Lucy (played by Drew Barrymore) who has short term memory loss. Every day she relives the day of her accident which caused the brain damage. She literally repeats every day as though it were the day she lost the ability to store long term memory. Her father and brother help her maintain this delusion because it is simply easier than explaining every day what happened and seeing the pain and disbelief ruin the whole day for her. Sandler falls in love with her and the two of them manage to develop some semblance of a relationship despite her memory loss. He creates a videotape for her to watch every day to remind her what happened, who he is, and about their relationship together. At the end of the movie they have gotten married and traveled to a place where Sandler is studying the behavior of walruses in the wild. They have a child and Lucy is living a beautiful, wonderful life.
Fellow believers, we have a very short term memory. We forget daily that we participated in a catastrophic event called the Fall. We have forgotten who God is and that we have any relation to Him. We forget that sin has gotten in the way of relating to God and that we must daily repent of our wickedness and embrace His love for us. We feel lost and lonely because we forget “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” We live life as we have every day of our life. Unless…
God’s word is, to us, the video tape. “Good morning! Watch me…” Lucy’s video says. God wants us to read His word every day to remind us of what’s happened, who He is, who we are, and what our relationship is. In the last scene, Lucy pops the video in and watches everything that’s happened. Then she peers out a window and sees icebergs floating by. She goes outside and is greeted by her husband and little girl. She has no words. She is just filled with wonder and awe. Friend, when was the last time you looked into the Holy Word of God and just were speechless at what He tells you? We are not nearly as struck by the wonder and awe of it as we ought to be.
Adam Sandler plays a man who lives on a tropical island (somewhere in Hawaii I believe). He is notorious for taking women tourists out “for a good time” during their brief stay on the island. One day, he meets a “local girl” named Lucy (played by Drew Barrymore) who has short term memory loss. Every day she relives the day of her accident which caused the brain damage. She literally repeats every day as though it were the day she lost the ability to store long term memory. Her father and brother help her maintain this delusion because it is simply easier than explaining every day what happened and seeing the pain and disbelief ruin the whole day for her. Sandler falls in love with her and the two of them manage to develop some semblance of a relationship despite her memory loss. He creates a videotape for her to watch every day to remind her what happened, who he is, and about their relationship together. At the end of the movie they have gotten married and traveled to a place where Sandler is studying the behavior of walruses in the wild. They have a child and Lucy is living a beautiful, wonderful life.
Fellow believers, we have a very short term memory. We forget daily that we participated in a catastrophic event called the Fall. We have forgotten who God is and that we have any relation to Him. We forget that sin has gotten in the way of relating to God and that we must daily repent of our wickedness and embrace His love for us. We feel lost and lonely because we forget “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” We live life as we have every day of our life. Unless…
God’s word is, to us, the video tape. “Good morning! Watch me…” Lucy’s video says. God wants us to read His word every day to remind us of what’s happened, who He is, who we are, and what our relationship is. In the last scene, Lucy pops the video in and watches everything that’s happened. Then she peers out a window and sees icebergs floating by. She goes outside and is greeted by her husband and little girl. She has no words. She is just filled with wonder and awe. Friend, when was the last time you looked into the Holy Word of God and just were speechless at what He tells you? We are not nearly as struck by the wonder and awe of it as we ought to be.
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