Different Site

All new posts are now being put up on a different website: http://dansintellectualpub.weebly.com
See you there.

About this website

The purpose of this space is as a repository/public viewing place for things I thought/think worth committing to words. If some things you see here don't sound original, they likely aren't. I find, often, that I'll come up with something, then some time later, read somewhere something very similar, and likely much better. Because I am aware of this, I also try to use Biblical scripture references very often, eliminating any concern on my part of being original in my inspiration. Before I get much further, I want to give credit to several people for, well, many things. The writings of George MacDonald have been a major influence on my life thus far; the advice, emploring, and urging of a couple of friends caused me to want to create this site in the first place; and the work of Andrew Peterson and all the people at the Rabbit Room continues to give me a lot of inspiration. Above all, I pray that all of this will be used only for the Glory of God, that's it.
from Dan R.

Adoption & Restoration (Luke 22)

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will – to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment – to bring all things in heaven and earth together under one head, even Christ.
Ephesians 1:3-10

because those who are lead by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received a Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
Romans 8:14-16

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,
1 Corinthians 12:21-22

When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.
But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.
Luke 22:49-51

As Jesus was being arrested, some of his followers were apparently still all too eager for their Messiah to bring in the promised kingdom by force, and to gladly do their part in this process. In this, however, I would use this incident to show a different point.

If the people of Christ are a body, in the spirit, then the Spirit is needed to breathe life into the entire body, and His love is the force by which all the parts of the body hold together, and by which those outside the body can know the head of the body and become part of it. It is also this same love that brings in those children who are adopted as accepted children of the Heavenly Father, no more to be counted fatherless, or orphaned. To meld these two pictures, those who have been rejected by those they loved, and who should love them; those broken ones who’s families have forsaken them, are like body parts that have been severed or dropped and disregarded, as by the one member that fails to see the use of certain others, and wishes they were not part of its body in 1 Corinthians 12. These isolated body parts have no source of life of their own, and are just lying dead on the ground. This is where Jesus comes with his healing and life-giving grace, saying “no more of this!” an emphatic expression of what he wills for cases of braking like this. If the words in the story in Luke are to be taken as they are, Jesus does not touch the side of the man’s head, causing his ear to regenerate from there, and leaving or vanishing the one that’s original connection was broken. Instead, he touches the separated member, causing it to be restored. In this same way, when the spiritual body of Christ (who is the head) reaches out to those broken, despised, forsaken members who are unable to have their intimate connection with others completely restored by their or anyone’s efforts, and who have no source of life of their own, something wonderful happens. Through that same love that holds all the members of Christ’s body together, the lonely, life-lost spirit is made to be alive again, and given an integral place, created specifically for them, within the living body of believers. God’s spirit reaches out to those whose family has been broken, and gives them his spirit of adoption, bringing them into his family and becoming to them the fulfillment of their every need.

... So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free – and we were all given of the one Spirit to drink ... And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be ... so there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
1 Corinthians:12b-13,16-20, 25-27

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 1:13-14