Millennia have come and gone since that day in the garden when Adam and Eve chose to disobey God and ate the forbidden fruit. Their act of rebellion shattered their perfect relationship with the Creator and set the rest of mankind on a trajectory of alienation from God. At that moment shame, guilt and suffering entered paradise. Their subsequent act of hiding from God began a longstanding effort by mankind to try and live life apart from the Creator—one of the greatest of all tragedies. But God didn’t let Adam and Eve stay in hiding. He went looking for them and called them out into the light. With His punishment came a provision for their nakedness—a covering far better than they could give themselves. Today, He offers us the same provision. God loves us as unique individuals that He created with eternal value. He does not leave us in our depravity—forever separated from the most Holy One. He has extended His mercy to us even though we are rebellious creatures. 1 Peter 1:18-19 tells us that our value to God is measured by what He was willing to pay for our salvation. And what was that price? The precious, unblemished, spotless blood of Christ. God chose the execution and resurrection of His son to bring salvation to our world. As we’ve worked on this issue’s cover section, our staff has had many conversations about humanity’s need for a Savior and our own personal need for His unfailing redemptive love. I’ve invited the On Mission staff to share their personal encounters with the Savior and times they’ve been able to tell someone about our Savior’s love.Adam Miller, associate editor: My computer’s wallpaper is Rembrandt’s painting “The Return of the Prodigal Son.” It confronts me with who I am...depending on the day. Some days I am that ragged young man returned from the pigsty and nestled weeping in his father’s arms. Other days I stare coldly, arms crossed, hoping to see my brother suffer for his transgressions. Every day though my Savior reminds me that I need Him for both of me.Jami Becher, editorial assistant: The thing I love most about Jesus and the thing that reminds me daily of my need for the Savior is His great love for me. My heavenly Father loves me in a way that nobody else can—a true unconditional love that relieves the guilt of my sin and reaches out to pull me back from the edge of despair. Jesus is the comforter and completer of my soul. That’s why we all need a Savior, because without His love we are incomplete.Steve Beaver, design editor: I was boarding a 6:30 a.m. flight back home after a hectic week and was looking forward to two hours of peace and quiet. But I found myself seated next to a chipper, extroverted, off-duty flight attendant named Jane who was ready to chat. “What do you do? Where are you from? Were you in town on business?” were the usual questions. Our conversation evolved to the topic of “happiness.” Jane’s bubbly façade melted away. She was pursuing happiness, experimenting with a hybrid of non-Christian religions, recovering from a broken relationship and beginning a new career path. She needed a little happiness. I began explaining the difference between “happiness”—a positive feeling we get from our circumstances, and “joy”—the peace that comes from our Savior despite our circumstances. Here was someone whose circumstances and view of life screamed “I need a Savior.” The two hours flew by. I had the opportunity to share truth with someone who really needed to hear it. I suppose if I talked to each of you, I’d find numerous, unique encounters with the Savior. I pray you won’t keep those stories to yourselves. We live in a world that’s still desperately in need of a Savior. Find someone who is crying out for a Savior and introduce them to the One who gave His life so we could be reconciled to our Creator.
Carol Pipes, editorcpipes@namb.net
Note: The Evangelical Press Association (EPA) announced the winners of its annual journalism contest at a May conference in Colorado Springs. More than 300 evangelical publications are members of the EPA. The organization honored On Mission with three awards for the 2006 publication year, including an Award of Merit in the Missions category for magazines. We also received the following awards: First Place, Original Art, “Evangelism is Not a Dirty Word” by Young Min Yoon (Special Issue 2006) and Fifth Place, Cover, “One Size Doesn’t Fit All” by photographer David Smith and designer Steve Beaver (Fall 2006).