Day 29: What’s Next?
Today we complete the first section of MilktoMeat and take a look at where we are heading next. If you have followed along this far, you should feel a sense of accomplishment. We have covered a lot of ground. But the best parts are still to come.
We are going to end this section of the readings on a “cliff-hanger.” In this unit we have simply laid a foundation with some key ideas and tools that we all need in order to grow in spiritual maturity. As you have worked on your Life-Map you should be aware that your life has been touched by pain. We only have to live a short time on Earth to experience the pain of suffering, loss, and shame.
That leads us to a critical question, “What has gone wrong?” We all have a sense that things are not really working as they should be. We need to have some way to explain the chaos, death, and suffering that fills our world. As we did our overview of the Master Story, we heard that the first man Adam rebelled against the Lord God and so brought sin (rebellion and its corrupting effects) and death into the human experience. Consider this:
Romans 5:12
… sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people because all sinned…
Romans 3:23
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
We need to dig much deeper into these truths. That is what we do in our next section: Enlightened By The Gospel. Next week, we will begin to consider how the First Adam – our “first father” – brought ruin upon us all through the choices he made for us. The bad news is that left on our own, we continue to make the same choices Adam made: to rebel against the Lord and choose our own way of shame and chaos.
On the other hand we will hear how Jesus has come as the “Last Adam” to restore what Adam lost so that in the end things will be better, much better than they were in the beginning. Jesus sets us right with Father-God and gives us life and peace.
Romans 5:18–19
So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone, so also through one righteous act there is life-giving justification for everyone. For just as through one man’s disobedience [Adam] the many were made sinners, so also through the one man’s obedience [Jesus] the many will be made righteous.
These are the key ideas we will explore in Enlightened By The Gospel. The Gospel is the Good News. The Good News that Jesus has come to lead us back to Father God. We hope that you will continue on this spiritual journey with us.
As we close out this week, focus on your Life-Map excerise. Set aside time to work through the questions and open yourself to ask, “Heavenly Father, how have you been at work in my life?”
Congratulations!
You have finished the first section of MilktoMeat – Discovering the Way Part 1: Recovering the Master Story.
*You can find a complete list of all the MilktoMeat readings here.
