A Season to Return to our First Love

Kari Browning:

A Season To - Return to Our First Love

We are in the season on the Hebraic calendar that is called "Teshuvah," which means to repent or return. It's a 40-day period that begins on the first day of the month of Elul and ends on Yom Kippur (which is September 14 this year). Elul is an acronym for "I am my Beloved's and my Beloved is mine" (Song of Songs 6:3).

During this season, we are exhorted to repent and return to the Lord: Come, let us return (teshuvah) to the Lord; Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. Hosea 6:1a, 3a

In the beginning, Adam and Eve had unbroken communion with the Lord and each other. In the Garden, they were clothed in light and there was no shame.

However, they listened to the lie of the enemy and did not heed the Lord's instruction to refrain from eating of the tree of good and evil. As a result of their sin, they became ashamed and hid. They were expelled from the Garden and the ground was cursed and began to produce thorns and thistles. Unfortunately, to this day, we can still be listening to the lies of the enemy, living in shame, and hiding from God and one another.

The Curse Has Been Broken!

Have you ever wondered why Jesus appeared in the Garden after the resurrection and Mary thought He was the gardener?

There is a rule of Biblical interpretation called "the law of first mention." It requires one to go to that portion of the Scriptures where a doctrine is mentioned for the first time and to study the first occurrence in order to get the fundamental inherent meaning of that doctrine.

Jesus was crucified on a tree, was crowned with thorns and thistles, and then appeared in a garden. Because of the law of first mention, I think He was communicating a deeper truth – the curse had been broken through His death on that tree and His resurrection from the dead!

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree").Galatians 3:13

For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 1 Corinthians15:22

The Bible began in the Garden and it ends in the Garden.

On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Revelation 22:2

The Good News of the Gospel is that we can be restored to what it was like in the Garden before sin entered in. We can be delivered from shame, be clothed in light, and eat from the tree of life. We can experience the Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven.

Repent and Return

Instead of experiencing this reality, however, many are still trapped in a religious system that brings death instead of life. Some are still eating from the wrong tree. Dead religion is based on self-effort and trying to keep rules and regulations that can produce pride and self-righteousness. Let's not be like the Pharisees who Jesus rebuked in Matthew 23. They didn't enter the Kingdom of Heaven themselves, nor did they let others enter either.

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you'll recover your life. Matthew11:28, Message

If we repent and return, we can experience the Kingdom of Heaven on earth that produces life, love, humility, peace, and joy.

John the Baptist's message was: "Repent (teshuvah) for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." Matthew 3:2

Jesus preached the same message: Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent (teshuvah), for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."Matthew 4:17

In Revelation 2, the Church at Ephesus was told to repent and return to their first love. During this season of Teshuvah, let's repent from any dead religion and return to our first love.

Kari Browning

Director of New Renaissance Healing & Creativity