July 9 Daily Devotional

Monthly Theme:

By God’s Word and Spirit the world was made, and he uses the same tools to rebuild the creaking cosmos. God does not save some souls from the wreckage of the planet; instead, the whole groaning creation must be delivered from bondage by the love and power of God.

Bible Reading:

Genesis 3:1–7

Bible Text:

She took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it (Gen. 3:6).

Devotional:

The fall into sin is the most significant and far-reaching event after creation. From here on all human history and all of God's acts are influenced by the fact of sin.

Human sinfulness, or whatever name we give to this fundamental corruption of our nature, is undeniable. The best efforts of the best human beings have not been able to make us new and better people.

Genesis 3 gives the simple description of how we became sinners. It's important to note that God is not the author of sin. Sin came from the outside, from the serpent, which represents the devil. Sin does not belong in God's good creation. Many superficial people say they cannot believe in a good God because so many bad things happen in this world. But one of the first things we learn in the Bible is that sin does not come from God.

Sin is disobedience to God. It's not ignorance that can be cured by knowledge. It's not poverty that can be alleviated by money. Sin is a failure to love God with heart and soul and mind. Sin is lack of love.

Third, sin is our fault—it's the result of our parents' willful disobedience. We may not say the devil made us do it. The man may not blame the woman. Everyone must confess personal guilt.

As a matter of fact, personal confession is the first small step on a long road to a better world.

Andrew Kuyvenhoven's Daylight, a modern devotional classic, was originally published in 1994. This edition is copyright by Faith Alive Christian Resources, from whom may be ordered Daylight, the predecessor of Twilight.

A man of many accomplishments, Andrew Kuyvenhoven is probably best known for his contributions to Today (formerly The Family Altar), a widely-used monthly devotional booklet associated with the Back to God Hour. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations for this edition of Twilight are from the New International Version

Be sure to read the "Preface" and the "Acknowledgments" by the author.