Bringing The Inside Out
It may sound simplistic, but the truth is that right here, in front of you, is the answer to all your problems. The question is whether you will apply your heart to understand. God is not a demanding monster distant from your humanity. Remember the story. God became flesh! On the cross, Jesus experienced the darkest places any man could feel. All your sorrow, anger and regret is every bit understood and answered in God’s revelation. The appeal here is not religious sentiment or hype, but to you as an intelligent individual created in the very image of God. We ask you to adjust any attitude slanted by biased influence. For our goal is not to get you to join a group or be a “good” person rather than a “ bad” person. Give us sincerity and we’ll give you UNDERSTANDING!
I mean is it too much to ask that you go back with me some 10,000 years? I mean…not literally. Seriously, imagine being the first created man. You actually walk with God in a perfect garden. You think you know everything with a free will to do whatever you want. You choose to ignore God’s commands and have your OWN way: “Why should I not eat of The Tree? I AM my own man?”. EGO (Greek verb- “I am”) was born. Instantly a hostile entity of evil, pain and death, invades and corrupts your once-perfect body. Suddenly, self-consciousness, grief, regret, uncontrollable anger, and loneliness, in one moment, completely isolates you from your Creator.
This is not a tale written by fairies. The Book of Genesis is a historical document validated by scholars as reliable. It records the tragic true account of our human origin. We did not “evolve” from pond-slime through various monkey divisions. We are BORN into the same human nature of the rebellious “soul” of Adam and Eve. However, it is for this very reason that God does not hold THEIR choice to SIN against YOU (2 Cor.5:19). DID YOU GET THAT? This is astounding! Everyone bears horrible consequences for something that arises out of a human nature, that in a sense, is not yours by choice. God understands this and responded accordingly. You now have a choice just like Adam. You can choose to obey God’s revelation for redemption or stick with the ‘gut feeling’ of your human nature and bear the curse of an independent self-centered EGO. I plead with you to expend the necessary “gaze” to grasp the intimate help of the cross (Jn.3:14/Num.21:9).
Sin (all bad things) is not a result of your personality or individual choices but of an act long ago. Our very molecular composition is infected with a hostile “sickness” (Jer.17:9). It is far more powerful than us and is constantly working against us. Decay and death gnaw away in every member of our body. Confusion and deceptive influences cloud our minds in the most basic decisions because we are separated from that life of perfection we once had with our Creator.
Every moment of every day we struggle, both consciously and subconsciously, with uncontrollable moods of sadness and depression. This is not a “Mental Health” issue. This is the entity of Adam’s sin hiding in a place we can’t even find. You seize upon any one of the vast array of worldly propositions and vices to help distract you from your inner war. In the depths of your heart a silent agony screams “Someone help me! Love me!” We do things we can’t explain and want to hide. We make terrible life-altering mistakes. All this because God IS distant because of sin (Is.59:2). Satan uses everything he can to keep you from dealing with it. No one talks about SIN. It is like a forbidden topic. Satan is no fool. He rules this world (all men) through this enigmatic monster within and nobody has a clue how to deal with it…him (Jn.12:31,14:30/Eph.2:2,6:12/1 Jn.5:19).
It is mind-boggeling that something so long ago is the culptrit for our problems today. The So called “Christians” of today don’t have a clue that SIN is a NATURE and not something we DO or don’t do; that there are not good Christian people and bad pagan people; all men are evil in the very existence into which we are BORN as the seed of Adam (Gen.3/Ecc.9:3/Rm.3:10,5:10ff). No one knows how to even talk about sin.
The goal, my friend, is to get out from under the black cloud of existing as a lost orphan and into the blue skies of living in God’s redemptive activity to become an adopted son. God wants to send His Spirit into your heart with the joyful cry of reconciliation “Father…Daddy” (Rm.8:15). But how can this possibly happen if sin runs through our very blood?
Freedom starts by bringing the inside out into the open arms of a compassionate Father. Humility, transparency and faith open the door to the Door (Jn.10:7).
HE NAILED IT
God completely understands everything that has “come out of nowhere” to destroy your life, relationships, and household. He does not expect YOU to make yourself good. He reveals “no one does good” (Rm.3:10,5:12). God extends a plan of redemption by FAITH (Rm.1:17). Jesus has provided a salvation He wants to “reckon” to you by FAITH (read Rm.4)! Anywhere, any one, any thing, any time, forgiveness is an absolute. Sin cannot disappear any more than your body can disappear. So God invented a way to destroy what was in us (SIN) without destroying us. Jesus lived “…in the likeness of sinful flesh…” without yielding to it (Rm.8:3). Then He killed sin by taking it in His own body to the cross (1 Pt.2:24/Gal.2:20/Col.2:14). He provided ‘atonement’ and the perfection God requires for fellowship; as He did with Adam.
When Jesus rose an ancient boom sounded the 1st born of a new race; the 2nd Adam (Mt.28:2,27:51/1 Cor.15:45/Rev.1:5). He can “reckon” His righteous life and all His work on the cross to you, while in your body of sin (Rm.4:6-22). You can not eradicate sin. You can receive His Holy Spirit and taught how to deal with it as an irrelevant entity, be freed of it’s consequences and replace failure with anointing (Jn.14:26/Gal.5:22/Rm.7:17,6:6/,8:1ff/Mt.10:39). Satan tells you that your sin is too dark, deliberate and repetitive and you have to get “better”. Jesus bore all sin for all time and you can never be “better” (Jn.8:32/Heb.7:27,9:12,10:10). The Father’s plan leaves no one with excuse (Jn.15:22-25). No man can be made right by doing what is right (the law) or FAITH is “made void” (Gal.2:16ff). The religious insist you have to go to a certain building and do many things. Any requirement, other than faith, is legalism and sin ( Gal.3:20ff/Rm.14:23,10:4ff). Jesus did everything! So FAITH in Him is all God requires. Believe beyond yourself. Yield to His process (Jn.12:24-25). Jesus doesn’t say “Go to a building for an hour on Sunday”. He says “I am the living One…come to ME” (Mt.11:28/Rev.1:18). Ask to be “born again” (Jn3:3).
Every Autumn a leaf loses it’s chlorophyll and reveals the pigments of red, yellow and orange as the true colors latent within. Many things are happening at a microcosmic level to make this common green leaf burst into it’s unique spectrum of beauty. Unlike the leaf, you and I have a choice for such a change to take place in our lives. You don’t have to be the person you have always been, up to this point, for the rest of your life.
Would you be willing to change if you knew that within you was a simple choice to yield to a phenomenon of supernatural life? Many things can happen to you that seem quite bad. But if you can see how they can bring you into a season of change then brokenness can actually be a source of great hope. Allow God to bring your colors from the inside out by holding firmly to His promise (Jn. 12:24-25).
