It’s so easy to read through the Old Testament and completely dismiss the laws, or the bloodlines, or the endless lists of parameters set in place for Israel. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read through the latter half of Exodus or the books of Leviticus or Numbers with glazed over eyes, reading it for just the surface value of what was going on. In truth, when you look below the surface value of Old Testament law, and you read it while asking yourself, “What does this show me about Jesus? Where is the cross and the gospel in this?” That’s when scripture begins to burst open and you can really see how God’s love and plan to redeem us is pouring out of every verse.

Husbands and wives are addressed many times throughout the New Testament, and it seems that one doesn’t receive a command without the other. I find it interesting that when people bring up “Wives submit to your husbands,” there is not conversation in the same breath about a husband’s obligation to love his wife as if she were his own body. And that’s not some prosaic prattle from Paul to the Ephesians. He’s not giving the women a literal command to submit and then giving the men some flowery metaphor to live by. Sit and consider this with me for a moment: Paul commands husbands to love their wives as if they were a part of his own body. Not a thought, nor a suggestion. They are morally obligated to do so by scripture.

Hey Pops, I’ve been thinking and praying a lot about wanting to really understand what it means to be the Bride of Christ. Maybe it’s because I can look on the sentiment with my own experiential sentimentality, but I want to truly realize what it is to be your bride. Because now I know in the physical what it is to be one. I know the anticipation of a wedding celebration where everyone in attendance is there to look upon and witness a love great enough to don its very best and meet at an altar to profess that love.

The struggle between works-salvation and faith-salvation is one that I find many Christians grapple with. Like it or not, many in the church pew tend to think that their ticket to heaven gets upgraded based on how many good things they can do for the world and other people. And don’t get me wrong, sometimes I get in my head like that too because this whole world runs off of a performance-based lifestyle. How many likes can I get on this post? How can I excel at work to get a promotion? How can I excel at school to get good grades?

After seeing what comes out of people via social media and personal conversations over the last several weeks and months, it’s no question that there is a great deal of fear in the Church. Fear of the future– specifically brought on by the current polarized political climate of the United States. I’ve had countless conversations with fellow believers discussing what we see unfolding before our very eyes. Regardless of where on the political spectrum you fall, it is very plain to see that we as a country are moving in a direction where we may begin to see the Church slowly stripped of its rights and freedoms.

2020 has been a year of hard knocks. I don’t care who you are, but I don’t think anyone had an easy year. Some are jobless, some are mourning the loss of loved ones, and some are living in day-to-day fear, loneliness, and frustration. It was a year of missed plans, disappointment, and cancelled travels. It might seem, as we approach Thanksgiving, that there is not much to be thankful for. Instead, we may want to hide in our homes, order in, and shake our fists at God for all the things that aren’t going for us.

So let’s wrap this series up! So far, we’ve been able to uncover two major ideas; the first being that Jesus isn’t talking about physical mansions for us to room and board in when we get to Heaven. He’s talking about the fact that the Father’s final dwelling place for us is the ultimate home that anyone who believes in God is factored into. We are given a home that has been atoned for by the blood of Jesus– the home God originally intended for us tohave before the fall.

So Jesus is our home. A universal statement of individual promise; Jesus affords each and every one of us our own home within Him– a home that embraces every part of who you specifically are. Now, I know there may still be a few who are bummed out that we’re not talking about real, heavenly real estate on the seaside or up in the mountains with a veranda and a floor plan that would make Pinterest boards jealous.