For my post today, I wanted to share a excerpt from my upcoming book called “Finding Faith Hope, and Love in a Broken World.”
The Fall of Man
We live in a broken, sin-filled world that desperately needs to know Christ. Our faith, hope, and love of Christ can be a beacon shining in the darkness that guides others safely to shore. So, in the pages that follow, I hope to show us how the world around us still needs and craves these in their lives, even if they don’t know that they need them. Hence, they desperately search in all the wrong places to fill this unfulfilled need. As Christians, we have what they seek. Let’s share our confidence with them and change our communities for the better. 1 Corinthians 13:13 “Three things will last forever–faith, hope, and love–and the greatest of these is love.” – This verse will be our roadmap. I pray this book will help you reach out to people around you with faith, hope, and love:
- In each section, we will look at examples from the Old Testament’s perspective, the New Testament, to understand the basics.
- Next, we will look at failures or difficulties and successes.
- Then we will look at modern-day examples.
- We will read a summary of faith, hope, and love.
I hope you gain an understanding of why these elements are so crucial to our faith.
In the Beginning
First, let’s look at how we got here. It took humanity a few chapters of one book of the Bible to destroy God’s handiwork. In contrast, it took another sixty-five books to show us how to repent of our sins. Let’s start at the beginning of the story to help us understand the significance of I Corinthians 13:13. “In the Beginning, God created the heavens and the earth,” Genesis 1:1. God created a perfect world in the beginning. The Bible goes on to tell us how God formed everything out of nothing. Before creation, nothing existent other than the heavenly realms. The light became the first item to appear in His masterpiece. After He established the earth and populated it with plants and animals, He decided that humans were needed to complete the process.
The final act was the creation of the first humans, Adam and Eve. God made us in His image. He created us to enjoy His love and for us to delight in Him. The perfection continued as the Garden of Eden took shape, a paradise for the people of God. He walked among His creation daily: no sin, no diseases or death, and no hatred between Creator and creation. Shame did not exist within the garden. Also, I believe we get an early glimpse of our heavenly home in the description of the Garden of Eden from Genesis.
Sin in the Garden
But soon, the tempter entered the tranquil scene and changed everything. Sin shattered God’s perfection. In Genesis chapter three, we find Satan, a fallen angel, making his home among the beauty of the garden. And, his influence caused Adam and Eve to sacrifice the grandeur of the garden for a lie. Satan promised them complete knowledge of good and evil in his offer of the forbidden fruit from the tree of life. But, instead of being satisfied with living in a world created by God, they strived to become gods themselves.
Even today, the devil’s lies still pretend to offer us the opportunity to see and understand everything hidden. Just like Adam and Eve, we believe him. At that moment, as they took the first bite, life changed forever. Their eyes became open to see the evil of sin in creation. Once they knew sin, they could no longer remain in the perfect world God had created for them. Finally, God banished Adam and Eve from the garden and sealed the entryway from their return.
The Fall
The fall of man from the garden removed us from the daily walks with God. But, it did more damage than just separating us from our Creator. Namely, death and disease came into the world. Also, shame entered the scene as Adam and Eve discovered their nakedness and hid from God. Sin caused us to toil hard to scrape out a living.
Furthermore, things like the weather conditions beyond our control now affected the fields that needed tilling. Backs bent under oppression became commonplace. Sin broke every relationship God created. Soon, the rapport between husband and wives suffered because of this original sin. Humans destroyed the natural environment to build houses, make fires, and eat. Waste and abuse of God’s creation began. The shame of our sins made us try to hide our true selves from God and each other. We started to think that no one would ever love the real us.
Example
The first humans were born without sin. No other generation can make that claim. Now, we are born with sin in their DNA. For example, no one has to teach a toddler to sin; they are born with the ability. My eldest granddaughter understands that telling a lie will fool me long enough to get what she wants. I remember once such a situation. “Bebe, Mommy said I could play on the computer today if I wanted to, so can I?” my granddaughter asked.
“Really? Okay. Here is the laptop for you to use. You can play until your mom gets home.”
My granddaughter smiles big and bats her beautiful eyes at me before heading off to her room. That should’ve been my first clue, but instead, it was not until my daughter arrives home that I realize she deceived me as she lied to my face.
As her mom asks her about the lie, I see shame spread across her little face. She immediately tries to cover up the situation with more lies. Her parents teach her right from wrong, but sin is the first option to make sure she gets things her way. And my grandchildren are not unique in their propensity to sin.
More of the Same
Then, as we read further into Genesis, life did not improve for our ancestors. In chapter four of Genesis, we discover the story of Cain and Abel, children of Adam and Eve. The sin of envy caused Cain to murder his brother Abel. But, Cain worsened the situation further when God asked him about his brother. Cain responded in Genesis 4:9, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” even though he knew what happened. God banished Cain from his home and told him, “When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” Genesis 4:12. Sin continued to destroy creation. Also, I wonder if Adam and Eve ever longed for days back in the garden. Did the weight of their decision to eat the fruit weigh on them daily? Did they blame each other for their losses?
Next, as we dig deeper into Genesis, we see that wickedness continued to spread. Chapter six introduces us to Noah and his family. Sin ran rampant, and the Lord decided He needed to start His plans over again. In Genesis 6: 11, the writer tells us, “Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence.” Then, God destroyed the world with a great flood. He saved Noah and his family so life could begin again. Also, God promised to never destroy the earth again with floods. But, as Noah settled into the dried-out land, sin remained.
Faith, Hope, and Love
So where can we find Faith, Hope and Love in our world today and do they really make a difference for us? The rest of this book seeks to answer these questions. 1 Corinthians 13:13 – “Three things will last forever–faith, hope, and love–and the greatest of these is love.” You can pre-order a copy of the book at https://www.wellmadepublishing.com
Blessings,
Yvonne M. Morgan, author, blogger, and speaker.
Matthew 28:19 “Therefore, GO and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
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I looked and looked in many places, but the only place I found real comfort and hope was in the Lord. He is our refuge and our safe place now and forever.
Amen. We just need to tell the hurting world now. Thanks Jessica and God bless.
I am thankful for the hope found in Him. Without faith, hope and love, the world will crumble. We need to share His love with everyone.
Yes we do. The world is in desperate need of these and they can get them from Christ. Thanks Melissa and God bless
Congratulations on your book!
We do need toget back to the basics!
Thanks Ava and God bless
This looks like a great book coming together! The Lord bless you on this endeavor as you detail our human situation and how everything fell to pieces. We still yearn to be loved for the real us.
Yes we do yearn to be loved. So many search in all the wrong place and find only emptiness. Christ is the answer to so many issues around us. Thanks Melinda and God bless
It is awesome to see your published works!
Thanks Lisa. Trying to share a message of Faith, Hope, and Love to a suffering world
God is our refuge and our strength. Congratulations!
Thanks. He is our strength. God bless
Yvonne, this is a much needed message! We need to understand out sin and our need for a Savior today as much as ever. God’s Word helps us know who we are in Him. That is truly our greatest soul-need. Praying for God’s blessings over all your works!
Thanks Melissa. “Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.””
Matthew 9:37-38 NIV. God bless
Yvonne, this book sounds so interesting. Born broken and living in a broken world is our inheritance because of sin. But so thankful for our spiritual inheritance in Christ that includes the treasures of faith, hope and love! Hallelujah! And congratulations!
Thanks so very much Karen. I hope it helps people find faith, Hope, and love in Christ. God bless.
Yvonne, our pastor is preaching a series very similar to what you’re saying here. Good job. I love the titles – going from mountains to molehills. Need more of that now a days.
Thanks so much June. That is really cool that he is teaching on it. God bless
Congratulations on your book! I agree that we need to get back to the basics of faith, hope, & love if we are going to make a difference in our broken world.
We do need to share our faith so others can find the same hope, love and faith we have in Christ. Thanks. Happy Thanksgiving
Congratulations on your book! I pray it reaches many people with the message of Christ. I am currently studying Genesis & it is so helpful to understand God’s faithfulness in creation.
So much richness in Genesis. The story of creation is so beautiful when you see all God accomplished and through it all, He still wanted us. Thanks Mary. Happy Thanksgiving and God bless
Such a good read to dive into the creation story and see how God works beautifully even when we mess things up. Thank goodness for His love, mercy, and grace!
Amen Collene. God is always rescuing us from something and I so thankful His does. Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving
Funny how modern Christianity doesn’t think about the sin we were born into. It’s so good to remember the power of our redemption! Such a good read!
Thanks so much. I think modern Christianity wants to overlook some important things about our faith. We need to look at everything through the lens of the word of God. Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for visiting
God is such a comfort. Sounds like a good book to check out.
Thanks and God bless
thank God for the gift of Hope, faith and love. i wander what the world would have looked like without this.
I hope we never find out. Thanks for visiting and Happy Thanksgiving
Yes, our world is so broken. Praise God for the gift of His perfect Son to save us. I have no doubt this book will be a true blessing! We are crying out for eternal faith, hope and love!
The world around us is crying for it so we must share about our faith. Thanks for commenting and Happy Thanksgiving.
This quote made me stop and ponder: “Also, I wonder if Adam and Eve ever longed for days back in the garden. Did the weight of their decision to eat the fruit weigh on them daily? Did they blame each other for their losses?”
Then I started to ask my own questions. Did they know that God didn’t leave them? That he still pursued them? Did they live in this tension of shame and relationship? Or did they only feel this weight of their loss?
Very good questions and so many others. But, the most amazing part is God still loved them. Grace!!! Thanks for commenting and God bless.
Faith, hope, and love are what we all need for ourselves and to show to others. Congratulations on getting your book published! Our world desperately needs these truths! Blessings!
Thanks so much Teresa. The world is lost and needs these to find their way to Jesus. God bless
You are so right in saying, that we have what the world seeks. The world hurts, it is without hope. We have the medicine – so let’s share God’s love revealed through the gospel with the people around us!
Amen. And I love how you said it. We do have the medicine to fix it. Thanks and God bless.
Congratulations on your book! It sounds so amazing and exactly what we all need to read these days.
Thanks Kari. I hope it helps lost people find their way to Christ. Thanks and God bless.
Love this post. It reminds me of Hebrews 6:19, “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure”! Thanks for spreading this message of hope as we enter into Advent season.
Thanks so much Rachel. God gave us the gift of hope so we can share it with others. God bless
What a beautiful picture of God’s grace we see in the garden! Thank you for this post. 🙂
Thanks for visiting and commenting Evangeline. May the Lord bless you
I’ve been looking at the Fruit of the Spirit, which also emphasizes love–and it’s an action verb! Faith, hope and love are all action verbs. They’re not just traits you have, they are actions you do.
Congrats on your book. 🙂
Very good point on all of them are actions and we need to show them off to the world around us. Thanks for visiting and commenting. God bless
The story of your granddaughter made me chuckle, but it also made me reflect on how often we choose sin to get what we want. Praying your book on faith, hope and love blesses many hearts.
Thanks so much Summer. It is amazing how quickly we learn to sin to get what we want. It starts from an early age. God bless
Hi, Yvonne! Thank you so much for this wonderful post! God bless you always! And blessings on your upcoming book!
Thanks Sheryl and God bless you too
Yvonne, congratulations on the book. Going through the explanation of the Fall and how sin destroyed the Garden existence with God is so important. We can think, “People know this,” but they don’t. It need telling and re-telling and then giving the good news which is what you have done! Bravo!
Thanks Pam that is what I think also. We have to tell the story from the beginning again and again. Thanks and God bless
I am so thankful for the hope I found in Jesus, He alone is my anchor! Our world is dying and desperately needs your message here. Congratulations on your book!
Thanks Donna. Yes, we have what the world needs so we need to share. God bless