You need help because you are human

I’ve gotten off to a slow start on Instruments in the Redeemers Hands by Paul Tripp, and am only up to Chapter 3, but it has been good so far and is starting to get really interesting. Tonight, in the chapter called Do We Really Need Help? he quotes from Genesis 1:26-28 and goes on to say:

... All of a sudden the rhythm is interrupted. God does something with Adam and Eve that he has not done with anything else. His actions demonstrate why personal ministry is necessary for all of us. Immediately after creating Adam and Eve, God talks to them. He didn’t do this with anything else he created. He simply rested and moved on. When the cadence is broken and God does something different, you should ask yourself why. Why did God talk to them?

God knew that even though Adam and Eve were perfect people living in perfect relationship with him, they could not figure out life on their own. They were created to be dependent. God had to explain who they were and what they were to do with their lives. They did not need this help because they were sinners. They needed help because they were human.

This is the first instance of personal ministry in human history. The Wonderful Counselor comes to human beings and defines their identity and purpose. Why couldn’t Adam and Eve live without this? What made them different from the rest of creation? There are three reasons ...

[He goes on to say that humans are revelation receivers, interpreters and worshippers, which is familiar territory, and then says this ...]

You cannot understand the world of personal ministry without Genesis 1. It explains that our need for help is part of our design. It is not the result of the Fall. Human beings need truth from outside themselves to make sense out of life. We need God’s perspective to interpret the facts of our existence. We were created to be worshippers.

These facts lead to a radical observation. If it is true that all human beings are constantly trying to make sense out of life, then all of life is counseling or personal ministry. Counseling is the stuff of human life! We are always interpreting and sharing our interpretations with one another. This “sharing” ultimately amounts to advice or counsel about how to respond to life.

The bottom line is that you cannot have a relationship without being a person of influence ...