THE CITY OF MAN (2 OF 14)
Scripture: Genesis 3:1, Genesis 4:24
This content is part of a series.
The City of Man (2 of 14)
Series: Telos Genesis & The Ultimate Aim of Creation
Patrick Edwards
Genesis 3:1-4:24
Introduction: In parenting younger children, I have found there to be one thing which comes easier to kids than anything else in all the world. It is the ability to say the word 'No'. It comes out of their mouths with such ease and yet defiance, with such comfort yet aggression. Sometimes my kids say no just in passing, in simple way as if to just let me know they are not interested in what I'm asking of them. And yet sometimes they say it with such disdain it feels like, almost as if to say, 'The heck with you dad. I despise not only all that you say, but all that you do and all that you are.'
The kids seem to be wired almost to be in opposition to me and Teresa as their parents. There are times when I ask Aiden to do something and he chooses instead to do the exact opposite. There was a moment recently when Charley was standing on the other side of the bar in our kitchen and I asked her to come around the right to me for a moment and she decided to walk around the left of it, I mean, just to spite me. Like, 'I'll comply with what you are asking but I'm going to kind of do it still my way.'
Of course, it's not unique to my children, nor is it unique to children alone. As human beings we are driven, it seems, to refuse any authority or boundaries thrust upon us and to set up our own rights in its place. The Bible says that this is more, though, than just an inclination we each have; it is who we are now in our moral nature. From the moment we were conceived in our mother's womb, David writes in Psalm 51, we were bent toward our own wants and desires in life. In Ephesians 2 we see that from day one of life we walk against the ways of God indulging only ourselves above anything else. Rather than dwell in and enjoy the City of God, we have said 'No', every one of us, and chosen to build a city for ourselves.
How did we get here? I mean last ...
Series: Telos Genesis & The Ultimate Aim of Creation
Patrick Edwards
Genesis 3:1-4:24
Introduction: In parenting younger children, I have found there to be one thing which comes easier to kids than anything else in all the world. It is the ability to say the word 'No'. It comes out of their mouths with such ease and yet defiance, with such comfort yet aggression. Sometimes my kids say no just in passing, in simple way as if to just let me know they are not interested in what I'm asking of them. And yet sometimes they say it with such disdain it feels like, almost as if to say, 'The heck with you dad. I despise not only all that you say, but all that you do and all that you are.'
The kids seem to be wired almost to be in opposition to me and Teresa as their parents. There are times when I ask Aiden to do something and he chooses instead to do the exact opposite. There was a moment recently when Charley was standing on the other side of the bar in our kitchen and I asked her to come around the right to me for a moment and she decided to walk around the left of it, I mean, just to spite me. Like, 'I'll comply with what you are asking but I'm going to kind of do it still my way.'
Of course, it's not unique to my children, nor is it unique to children alone. As human beings we are driven, it seems, to refuse any authority or boundaries thrust upon us and to set up our own rights in its place. The Bible says that this is more, though, than just an inclination we each have; it is who we are now in our moral nature. From the moment we were conceived in our mother's womb, David writes in Psalm 51, we were bent toward our own wants and desires in life. In Ephesians 2 we see that from day one of life we walk against the ways of God indulging only ourselves above anything else. Rather than dwell in and enjoy the City of God, we have said 'No', every one of us, and chosen to build a city for ourselves.
How did we get here? I mean last ...
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