love – NEWPROTEST Publishing

See how He Loves Us

Posted on January 12, 2025January 16, 2025 by jovial_cynic

This is how I read the scriptures:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1 (NIV)

See how he loves us!

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
Genesis 1:2 (NIV)

See how he loves us!

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
Genesis 1:3 (NIV)

See how he loves us!

If I can’t see how He loves us in the passage, I stop and look for it. And I will never stop looking and listening until it all rings and echoes with this singular truth: See how he loves us!

Love one Another

Posted on January 9, 2025 by jovial_cynic

Love one another.

So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herders and mine, for we are close relatives.
Genesis 13:8 (NIV)

Trust the Story

Posted on January 8, 2025 by jovial_cynic

In Christianity, we’re taught “first you must know that you’re a sinner,” but this is not the pattern of Genesis.

Genesis doesn’t tell you about sin and death until after it establishes that you are beloved.

God is asking you to trust Him in the story.

FIRST, He loves us

Posted on January 8, 2025 by jovial_cynic

Genesis 3 is heavy. It’s about sin. It’s about death. So much of theology surrounds the events of this chapter.

But this is why Genesis 1 & 2 is SO critical. It establishes FIRST that we are loved. If you first trust that you are loved dearly by a good God, the rest of the story begins to make more sense.

God Adores Us

Posted on January 7, 2025January 18, 2025 by jovial_cynic

Six amazing days of creation peaks with God’s declaration that His final creative act isn’t just good. It’s VERY good. And this is a statement about us, not just in some theoretical or theological “pre-sin” or “pre-fallen” state, but about what God thinks of us.

He adores us.

Kinds

Posted on October 7, 2024January 24, 2025 by jovial_cynic

Of the plants and animals, God identifies them in this manner:

v11 “according to their kinds.”
v12: “according to their kinds,” twice.
v21: “according to their kinds,” twice.
v24: “according to their kinds,” twice.
v25: “according to their kinds,” three times.

But of us, His beloved and cherished creation, God identifies us this way:

v26: “IN OUR IMAGE, OUR LIKENESS.”
v27 “IN HIS IMAGE, THE IMAGE OF GOD.”