As I stand in the tiny hospital chapel, my hand upon the blue notebook filled with the cries of a multitude of people calling out for mercy, calling out for a miracle I was struck by the sharp contrast between what was and what is now. What was it like to walk in His physical presence? To hear Him call out your name as you wandered about the delightful beauty of a new and perfect creation. I can only imagine.
As we wade through the suffering of this world our eyes looking forward to the day of deliverance perhaps strength for the journey can be found in considering how terribly difficult it must have been for our sister Eve. To walk out of the garden, head down, tears flowing, the feel of death upon her skin from the raw hides that covered her nakedness. Hides fresh from the bodies of creatures she once frolicked with, perhaps even taking lazy naps with her head upon the flank of the magnificent creature whose skin she now wears. To realize what she has lost, to have witnessed that first death, the death of something innocent slain because of her shortcomings. To wonder how and when death would come to her.
My sister Eve knows what it is like to stand in the very physical presence of God, to walk with Him, laugh with Him, delight in Him and then to be removed from that presence and cast out. And yet she endured. She endured and she believed in the promise that from her line would come a Savior, one who would crush the serpent that had deceived her. A Savior that would redeem her shame, restore her loss and set her free from the bondage she had willingly chosen.
History has ever condemned my sister Eve, and yet I do not.. After all, I am certain that had I stood in her place I too would have reached for that fruit, I too would have tasted, and I would have handed some to you. She lost something that I have only dreamed of experiencing and yet she endured that loss and became the mother of all living. She endured.
So as we walk through this world and all its suffering and need, let us set our sight upon His promises. Promises yet to come, promises of a time when tears are wiped away and sorrows are no more, promises of a time when we who belong to Him will see Him face to face. Press on towards the goal. Be His hands, His feet, His voice, His heart. Shed the light of His love and sing of His promises. Share the good news of redemption. Endure.
So I stand here, my hand upon the book filled with the cries of broken people calling out for deliverance and hope and I think of Eve and of Paradise lost. I stand and read the words in Your book of life, I read of your promises of Paradise regained. I stand here and the tears flow as You speak words of life into my soul. I lift up the prayers in the book, Lord hear their cries. I add my prayer to theirs and I leave the tiny chapel with a sure hope in my heart.
http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/what-gospel/
http://byfaithonline.com/a-reformed-presentation-of-the-gospel/