Original sin and the Imago Dei
In Colonial days students learned to read from The New England Primer, which featured a number of Christian maxims such as, “In Adam’s Fall, we sinned all.”
This statement, like others in the Primer, incorporated biblical truths into basic education. From childhood, students came to understand that all human beings are sinful and fallen creatures.
While many schools today abandon these truths in favor of relativism, syncretism, and multiculturalism, many Christian parents instill in their children the reality that sin has marred the Imago Dei – or image of God – in their lives.
We use Scripture to explain our depraved state: “We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way” (Isa. 53:6); “The heart is more deceitful than anything else and desperately sick” (Jer. 17:9); and, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23).
These truths go against the grain of our feel-good culture but are intended to drive us to the foot of the cross, where the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. And for that, we owe an eternal debt of gratitude to our great God.
At the same time, both Scripture and experience remind us that while we await glorification, we must engage in a daily battle between the flesh and the indwelling Spirit (Gal. 5:17).
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We are continuing to work through the Book of Revelation with a focus on four major views of the so-called Apocalypse of John. You may read the commentary to date by clicking 
Does it make any difference that Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, married as many as 40 women, some of whom already were married?
Finally in this chapter John writes, “Then the sanctuary was filled with smoke from God’s glory and from His power, and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed” (Rev. 15:8). Smoke and clouds are manifestations of God’s presence. At Sinai, the Lord comes to Moses in a “dense cloud” so the people will hear God speak with Moses and believe him (Ex. 19:9). After the tabernacle is assembled in the wilderness, Moses cannot enter the tent of meeting as long as the cloud rests on it and the glory of the Lord fills the tabernacle (Ex. 40:34-35). God instructs Moses in the way that Aaron must enter the holy of holies on the Day of Atonement so that he, unlike his two sons, will live. God’s reason: “I appear in the cloud above the mercy seat” (Lev. 16:2).
As we wrap up this series on the Word-Faith movement, let’s ask: What should be our attitude toward wealth and health?
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