Every word of the Bible matters. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” The entire word of God is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow.” Its every part discerns “the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Every chapter and every verse serves a God-given purpose.

That’s not to say, though, that every chapter and every verse is equally important when it comes to knowing God, understanding his will, and living for his glory. Some sections carry special significance. Some sections are so important that the rest of the Bible cannot be understood apart from them. One of these is the third chapter of Genesis, for it stands between the perfect world of Genesis 2 and the utterly shattered world of Genesis 4. It explains what went so tragically wrong.
Genesis 3 is the subject of Mitchell Chase’s book Short of Glory: A Biblical and Theological Exploration of the Fall. ”All of us are born outside Eden,” he explains, “so Genesis 1–3 is a special set of chapters. God makes the world, and specifically a garden, for his people. And there, in the sacred space of Eden, God’s image bearers defy his word and succumb to the tempter. When God exiles them, we are exiled in them too.” This is the great tragedy. Yet all is not lost, for “in that same chapter where God announces judgment, he gives a promise of hope that a deliverer will come one day and defeat the serpent. The rest of the biblical story grows out of the ground of Genesis 3. When we meditate on the content of this chapter, many biblical themes and connections become clear. The events in Genesis 3 become a lens through which to read and understand the progressive revelation of God’s redemptive epic.”
He wants the reader to think of Genesis 3 as containing a number of seeds that grow into fuller form later in the Bible. “There are temptation and shame and coverings. There are a tree of wisdom and one of life. There are messianic hope, the reality of death in the dust, and exile from sacred space. There are blame shifting, hiding, and a response of faith.” It’s as we spend time carefully studying Genesis 3 that we come to understand so much of the Bible’s storyline, so much of its imagery, and so much of its promise. And further, we come to live better, for “if we situate the fall in Scripture’s storyline effectively, an exploration of Genesis 3 will result in greater joy in the good news about Jesus. By tuning our ears to creation’s groanings, our hope will be stirred along the way.”
This is the task Chase takes on in Short of Glory and he does it well. He explores a number of the themes that are introduced in Genesis 3 and that then carry on through the rest of the Bible. He begins with sacred space, “the kind of theme that locks the metanarrative together. Sacred space is given, lost, promised, and at last received again. As readers cross the threshold into Genesis 3, they come to a sacred place that God gave his people. God had made the heavens and the earth, and part of his work on earth included a garden in a place called Eden (2:8).” In this chapter we see that sacred space violated and lost, but also the promise that it will be recovered. We eventually see the shadow of that recovery in the tabernacle and temple and long to see its full recovery in heaven.
From here he turns to the two trees, to the God who walks and talks with his people, to the ancient serpent who leads them astray, and to the idea of taking and eating. And so it goes through several other themes, each of them introduced in Genesis 3 and each of them carrying into the rest of the Bible. In each case, he doesn’t merely explain these themes, but also applies them to the Christian life. And so this is not just a book of abstract theology, but a book that calls us to better Christian living.
Short of Glory is a relatively small book, but it is one that deals with one of the most important passages in the entire Bible. It explains it, applies it, and calls Christians to live according to it. For those reasons and many more, I highly recommend reading both the chapter itself and this excellent explanation of it.
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God Saved Me from a Polygamist Cult
“When people ask my wife and me how we met, the story of how Christ met us inevitably takes over. It’s unavoidable from the moment I say, ‘Well, we actually met in a polygamous Mormon cult.’ Eyes grow wide, and folks eventually find a few words like, ‘Wait . . . what?’ Their questions lead us into a testimony to boundless grace. It’s a story of doubt, God’s stubborn love, some dead friends, and a book by Tim Keller.”
How the Holy Spirit Helps Us Read Scripture
We know that the Scriptures are inspired, but as Jonathan Pennington explains here, “the Holy Spirit’s role does not stop with the writing of the texts. Good interpretation is also dependent on the ongoing work of the Spirit to in-spire us to understand, receive, and apply what God has spoken.”
Match of the Day Without Commentary – Lessons for the Church
This article considers the way pastors may say too much or too little as they lead a worship service.
Is my depression really part of God’s plan?
Stephen Kneale: “Somebody asked me yesterday whether I thought my getting depression was part of God’s plan. I thought that was a really interesting question and thought I would share my view on that here.”
How we lost our families and movies in one move
Mwansa Mbewe has a bit of a fiery one here to explain how and why Africa is losing its stories.
Why Read If You Forget Most Everything Anyway?
“If you can’t remember most of what you read, why even bother? Aren’t there better ways to use your time?” Trevin answers exactly the way I would (and often have).
Flashback: Drowning in an Ocean of Encouragement
Just as we have been taught to take 10 looks at the cross for every one look at ourselves, perhaps we ought to speak 10 words that will build up—or better yet, a hundred—for every word that might pull down.

We need the all-sufficiency of Jesus applied in rich measure to our deepest points of personal need. —Ray Ortlund

Surely few things in this world are more mysterious than sex. Surely few things give such clear evidence that there must be more to them than the sum of their parts. On one level, sex is a simple biological function that exists to populate the earth with human beings. On the other level, it is so much more than a biological function, for how else can we explain the longing for it and the pleasure of it, the shame of its misuse and the agony of its abuse? How else can we explain the righteous jealousy with which we guard it or humanity’s obsession with expressing it in anything other than the way God explicitly commands?

Redeeming Sex in Marriage

If you have ever had this sense that there must be more to sex than what you see or feel or experience, that there must be more to it than can be understood through pure biology, then I have a book for you to read: Scott Mehl’s Redeeming Sex in Marriage: How the Gospel Rescues Sex, Transforms Marriage, and Reveals the Glory of God.
I’ll admit that Christian books about sex can sometimes get weird. They can focus too heavily on diagrams or illustrations. They can focus too much on great sex or mind-blowing sex without establishing what sex is in the first place. Or they can go far beyond what God makes clear and get into territory that is not only uncomfortable but borderline blasphemous. But thankfully Redeeming Sex in Marriage is not like this. Rather, it attempts to answer big questions while remaining dignified and within Scriptural bounds. It is a book that is decidedly not weird.
Mehl begins with this question. “If your spouse, your friend, or even your child asked you, ‘Why did God create us as sexual beings?’ how would you answer? Where would you even start? Reproduction? Marital protection? Is it some kind of cosmic wedding present? Why did God create us like this?” His book provides an answer to the question, “because the way we answer this most fundamental question about sex will determine whether we’re able to find truly satisfying answers to the myriad of other questions that arise.”
He begins by providing a kind of theology of sex and focuses on five purposes we find in the Bible: sex is a means of covenantal union; sex is a means of mutual pleasure; sex is an expression of marital love; sex can bring new life; sex is a shadow of our relationship with Christ, as his church.” Each of these is part of God’s design but crucially, “there are differences in how each one functions. The first three purposes are what I call essential purposes. Purpose number four is the blessed purpose. And purpose number five is the transcendent purpose of sex.”
The first four are treated together in one chapter for, while essential, they are also familiar. It is the fifth purpose that fewer people understand. “With God, there are always deeper and eternal purposes at work. Everything he has created is imbued with profound meaning, symbolism, and purpose. Everything he does demonstrates his wisdom and declares his glory. He doesn’t just give gifts ‘for fun.’ There’s always more going on.”
We somehow know that there must be more to this aspect of our humanity. And it is here that Mehl ties the ultimate meaning of sex into the ultimate meaning of marriage—to serve as a picture of a greater reality. Tracking with John Piper, he says “God created Adam and Eve as sexual beings so that they might understand his love more completely. Their sexual desire for each other—the thrill they experienced as they beheld and explored each other’s bodies, the way their bodies were designed to restore the ‘one flesh’ union from which they were created—was all part of God’s plan to reveal the nature and the power of his love for us. In short, sex is about God.” Which makes sense, because ultimately everything God created is about God. Here’s the connection:

If marriage was designed to be a picture of Christ and the church, sex was designed to be one key aspect of that analogy. As we’ve discussed, God created sex to be a means of covenantal marital union, a means of mutual marital pleasure, and an expression of the multifaceted dynamics of marital love. If sex essentially manifests and expresses the marital relationship, then we must conclude that sex was also created to reflect Christ and the church. Sex reveals something powerful about the nature of our relationship with God, and in light of the New Testament, we are able to see it even more clearly than those who came before Jesus.

So in its own way, sex is a shadow of a greater truth and is meant to point beyond the act itself to the Creator of the act and beyond even the significance of the act to the transcendent truth behind it—the truth that we are loved by God and united to him through Christ. Marriage is a picture and sex is a picture within the picture.
With all of these building blocks in place, Mehl discusses sex in a fallen world and the many ways in which it is used to harm instead of to bless as well as the many ways in which it no longer functions as it was designed.
If marriage was designed to be a picture of Christ and the church, sex was designed to be one key aspect of that analogy.Scott MehlShare
The second half of the book is more practical in nature and is shaped by 12 principles meant to guide you into a deeper understanding of sex, especially as you practice it with your spouse. Mehl says rightly that too many books on sex are essentially voyeuristic, inviting you to imitate another husband and wife. So rather than being exhibitionistic and crass, his principles remain dignified and appropriate. “You can’t grow in your sexual relationship with your spouse by studying the specifics of someone else’s sex life or the suggestions developed by experts. You can’t find the way forward by studying other people’s relationships. To find the way forward in your sexual relationship, you need to become a student of your spouse.” Indeed.
Redeeming Sex in Marriage is a book that really does answer many big and important questions and it does so well. I am thankful I read it and thankful that I can now recommend it as a resource for others to read, enjoy, and learn from.