This week on Things Unseen we've been thinking about the fall and just some of the lessons

that Genesis 3 continues to teach us. Yesterday we'll begin to touch on something of great

spiritual importance to us I think. The way Paul speaks about exchanging the truth about

God for the lie. That is the lie about him. The lie that he isn't in fact a wonderfully

kind and generous father. And at the end yesterday I was suggesting that many of the great

pastoral masters of the spiritual life have noted that this can actually become a kind

of spiritual pandemic among Christians. And like what we sometimes have referred to as

long COVID, the effects of it sometimes go down pretty deeply and they linger long. You

don't need to take my word for this. Here are the words of arguably the greatest English

theologians since the time of their reformation. I mean John Owen. And there is something

I think that's important in what he says. Let me quote him. He says Christians are but

little exercised in holding immediate communion with the Father in love. Unacquaintedness

with our mercies, our privileges is our sin as well as our trouble. We harken not to the

voice of the Spirit which is given unto us that we may know the things that are freely

bestowed on us by God. This makes us go heavily when we might rejoice and to be weak

where we might be strong in the Lord. And then he says this. How few of the saints are

experimentally acquainted with this privilege of holding immediate communion with the Father

in love? With what anxious doubtful thoughts do they look upon him? What fears? What questioning

is other of his good will and kindness? And then he adds this. At the best, many think

there is no sweetness at all in him towards us but what is purchased at the high price

of the blood of Jesus. It is true that alone is the way of communication but the free foundation

and spring of all is in the bosom of the Father. And he goes on to offer us the solution

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