Category: 2 Corinthians

  • River Rescue – thoughts on the gospel

    Search and Rescue team doing river rescue

    The news headline read “Missing Fisherman Found After Six  Days.” 

    The story went on to tell of a fisherman who had fallen into a deep ravine, broken his arm and his legs, and survived on insects and water until another hiker heard his cries for help.

    “I made some big mistakes,” he told the reporters. “First off, I did not tell anyone where I was going or when I would be back. That meant no one knew that I was missing or where to even begin looking for me if they did.”

    “The other big mistake was trying to get down to the river, where I did. I knew the ravine walls were steep, but the fishing looked so good down there that I just had to try. I hadn’t gone down more than about ten feet from the top when I knew I was in trouble, but there was no way to get back up.”

    “I lost my balance and fell. I bounced off a couple of big trees and some rocks. The next thing I knew I was coming to down by the river’s edge. After a few days, I was starting to give up hope, but then I heard someone singing up top and called for help. Thank God he heard me and went for the rescue people.”

    The fisherman was lucky. He got out of the mess alive, but he will carry the scars all the days of his life.

    We are not all that different. The temptation of sin draws us into places we know we should not be, and suddenly we find ourselves unable (or unwilling) to turn back and plummet down until we hit bottom. 

    We hurt ourselves and others along the way, leaving physical, emotional, and spiritual scars in our wake. Broken marriages, ruined businesses, addictions, and other devastating consequences of our poor choices haunt us.

    When we accept Christ, we are forgiven and become new creations.

    Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:17-19

    Sometimes, even though we are made new, we carry the scars of the old life. We may have been forgiven the eternal consequences of our sin, but that does not give us an automatic “Get out of jail free” card for this life.

    Even after we become believers, we can still fall prey to temptation and make poor choices. God will rescue us, but there may be fresh and permanent scars to remind us of our folly or to warn others against making the same mistake.

    Until next time, when you hear temptation calling, walk away. The bottom can be a long way down, and the landing can be very painful.

    Be blessed, 

    Kevin

    You Might Also enjoy

    Gospel of grace – free in Christ

    When you are drowning in sin – call the heavenly lifeguard

    The gospel – the best news you will ever hear

  • Human Nature – Our Fallen State

    During our community group meeting last night, someone  commented that “sinning is part of our human nature.” I’ve said it myself, but in truth, it’s inaccurate.

    Indeed, it’s true that we all sin. Every person other than Jesus has sinned. We have a sinful nature inherited from our parents, going all the way back to Adam and Eve. The church has held to the doctrine of original sin going back to its earliest days.

    Yet, it isn’t our humanity that makes us sin. It’s our human nature. Allow me to elaborate.

    When God created Adam and Eve, they were made in the image of God and without sin. 

    So God created man in his own image,in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them.  Genesis 1:27-28

    He was pleased with His creation.

    And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Genesis 1:31

    He would not have been pleased with a flawed humanity that sinned by its very nature. Sin is not the image of God.

    Sin entered later in the Garden. You know the story well. The result was humanity being expelled from the Garden and sin gaining a foothold in us. We see the effects of the sin nature as early as Cain’s murder of his brother Abel.

    Flash forward several thousand years. Jesus sets aside His prerogatives and humbles Himself to come in the womb of a Middle Eastern peasant girl. Yet, He did not give in to temptation and sin.

    He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 1 Peter 2:22

    For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15

    For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21

    If to be human is to sin, and Jesus did not sin, it means he was not human. The path to our salvation has not happened yet. Only someone fully human could atone for our sin. Our haman nature is fallen and in need of a redeemer.

    His virgin birth enabled him to bypass the sin nature passed down by Adam’s curse. The second Adam (Jesus) did what the first Adam was created to do and failed.

    To be Human is to be created in God’s image. We all bear that image to some flawed degree, but our human nature doesn’t make us sinners. The sinful nature that dwells within us causes us to sin.

    We could call it the human condition because it’s undeniable, but it isn’t the nature we were created with. Humanity was designed to be sin-free—that’s our unmarred nature.

    It may be a trivial, picayune point, but it is one with enormous consequences.

    When we are in glory and without sin, we will be fully human as God created us to be. The sin nature will have been purged.

    When we stumble and fall, turning to Jesus for forgiveness, let’s celebrate that He did not sin in His humanity.

    Be blessed

    Hallelu Yah / Praise God 

    Kevin

    Gleanings From The Word – Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life. 

    A new movie reminds us of the depravity of the human heart

    Subscribe today 

    Find us on Facebook

    Find us on Instagram

    Visit our Homepage

    Find us on Pinterest

    ___________________________________________ 

    All contents, “Gleanings From The Word” and “Experience an Extraordinary God in Ordinary Life,” are © 2001, 2025 K.F. “Kevin” Corbin, Gleanings From The Word. 

    Unless otherwise noted, “Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

    From Gleanings From The Word (Kevin Corbin, 2001– ), a Scripture-based devotional work.

    The Gospel – the best news you will ever hear