Monday, January 4, 2010

A Journey of Grace: In the beginning ©

In the beginning:


I was born October 25, 1957 in Tennessee. Before I tell you more of my story I have to go back to the real beginning; you know, before the earth began.


In the beginning; before all time; there was a fellowship of three. Father, Son and Holy Spirit were together in relationship. In the shadow of the Trinity, the earth was formed.


A command was declared and the earth began it’s existence. Dark and void of life, another word was exhaled and the most brilliant light danced across the universe, invading the darkness.


Each day brought a different gift, preparing the stage for the grand finale. At the beginning of the sixth day, the music of heaven swelled as something astounding happened. God set His image onto the earth.


In the midst of a fellowship of love, God breathed the breath of life into Adam. I can see the image so clearly in my head. After all how close does one have to get to breathe into one's nostrils? Could it be that mankind’s first breath started with a kiss? After all God IS love.


God breathed and man became a living being. He saw that it was not good for man to be alone so He created woman. They were placed in the garden He had prepared especially for them. It was filled with everything they would need for life. They walked in perfect communion with God and each other. They were naked and they were known, for there was no shame. It was meant to be that way forever.


But something went terribly wrong. Evil infiltrated the garden. Man and woman turned away from the One who is love. Sin penetrated a perfect world. Life would be altered from that point on for all who would enter the earth.


Man & woman, now covered in shame, covered themselves with fig leaves and hid from God. Surely God is disappointed now.


But God in His love, knowing fully well what they had done, went after them. After all His heart had not changed.


It was love that caused Him to find them in their sin. He asked them what they had done. Blame became the game of earth. Eve blamed the serpent. Adam blamed Eve.


God saw their attempts to cover their shame with fig leaves. Out of love He sacrificed the first animal, covering them with it's skin. It would be a shadow of what was to come. A plan of redemption would be set in motion. One would come, to shed His blood to cover mankind's shame forever.


Once He had covered their nakedness, He knew they had to leave His beautiful garden. For in the center, the tree of Life was planted. If they stayed in the garden and ate of it's fruit, they would live in their state of sin and shame forever. He couldn't bear it. He loved them too much to leave them there, so He sent them out, and closed the garden forever. It wasn't anger that banished Adam & Eve from Eden. It was love.


From this point on they would face the thorns and thistles of life. The moment sin pierced into the world, the heart of God became misrepresented. A level of doubt now filled the earth. Can you really trust the heart of God?


Something has gone desperately wrong. God's original plan was that I would enter into a world where Perfect love was expressed. People living in perfect love would invite me into living as one who is loved. But that didn't happen. Sin had changed the course of God's original design. Sin had changed the course for my life.


This is the story behind the story of my life. On October 25, 1957, I entered a world covered in sin and shame.


Next up: Part Two: My Fig Leaves

©copyrighted: 2010; Julie L. Todd

*Note: I will be writing my journey of grace in stages. If you want to know when I post you can subscribe to this blog. You will see the subscription link on the side. Once you subscribe you will receive a confirmation email. Reply to the confirmation email and you will be signed up to receive emails when my blog is updated.



12 comments:

Carmen said... Reply to comment

A familiar story to me...but some beautiful observations in it:

"Could it be that mankind's first breath started with a kiss?"

"If they stayed in the garden and ate of its fruit, they would stay in their state of sin and shame forever." (It was love that banished Adam and Eve from the garden).

Beautifully put, Jewel!!!

Karen said... Reply to comment

Oh,I know I am going to love this series...your writing always blesses me...beautiful start!

Jennsmere said... Reply to comment

Hey Julie...lovely post! Can't wait to read more! You have a graceful way with words.

Be blessed,
Susan

Amy Lynne said... Reply to comment

Julie, you're SO gifted with words! I believe God is going to use your gift greatly to draw many people to His GRACE and LOVE.

I am looking forward to reading more about your journey into grace.

Anonymous said... Reply to comment

This is so timely for me. God is revealing his grace to me in a new way.....

I look forward to reading the next post as always! xoxo

@ngie said... Reply to comment

Hello Julie,

Just wanted to stop in and repay the favor of the visit the other day to my blog. Thanks for your kindness.

The individuality of the stories of how God gets our attention never ceases to amaze me.

Bless you!
@ngie

Gretchen said... Reply to comment

Isn't it nice that we know how this story is going to go? Beautifully started, Jewelz. Your word pictures are lovely.

christy rose said... Reply to comment

I am so excited to hear the rest of the story of your journey into grace.

Bretta said... Reply to comment

Jewels, you just bless me so much with your wonderful writing and I look forward to reading this series. Your journal cleansing was powerful and I kept meaning to tell you THANKS for sharing, but just didn't get to it. Your friendship is precious to me. <3

Mikki said... Reply to comment

Hello there!
You have such a beautiful blog here filled with even more beautiful words.
God has truly blessed you with many gifts and one being able to share His love and mercy through the written word.
Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and I hope to be back by to visit again soon.

Lindsey @ A New Life said... Reply to comment

I can't wait to read! What an encouragement and inspiration you are to me :-)

Miss G said... Reply to comment

Julie, I am sitting down now to begin reading your story. Thank you for writing it. I like how you put that each day (in creation) brought a new gift. Also, the part about "A level of doubt now filled the earth. Can you really trust the heart of God?" resonated with me. Thank you for posting this. I'm going to read more. Kelly