I have wanted this blog to give you some insight into who I am as a person and what swirls around in my head. As such from time to time I will be posting some personal opinion and introspect from my personal diary. The following is a collection of thoughts over the past week or so. Feel free to comment respectfully.
May 11, 2018
Some of my personal thoughts of recent days.
There is a heavenly war on the battleground of the earth. Every one of us on this planet has both friends and enemies in high places. They dwell in the realm that we can see as well as in the vast world that we cannot see.
As human beings, I am amazed that we can be so smart, so intelligent and still lack wisdom. I am also equally amazed at the amount of hardship that we bring upon ourselves due to our own decisions and choices. Ask me how I know! My life is full of bad decisions that have had unintended consequences and some consequences that I will have to live with for the foreseeable future if not for the rest of my life.
Think about this. Yes, life is difficult in and of itself, but how much more difficulty do we bring upon ourselves, with the things we do and the choices we make. When wisdom is not heeded, hardship is guaranteed. The DNA of sin that has been passed down from Adam through the ages to you and me, is a remarkable thing when you think about it. What other trait has a global impact on EVERY living soul? God was very clear when he said that the soul that sins shall die.
So far that has been very accurate and true from Adam right down to you and I. Now what I find fascinating about that is that he said the soul that “sins” shall die. So by the natural reasoning of the opposite end of the spectrum in that statement, would be that the soul that does not sin shall not die or perhaps even cannot die.
Jesus Christ was indeed the example of a soul that did not sin and as such could not die by default of sinful DNA. Jesus also referenced that fact when he told his followers that nobody can take his life, but rather he willingly and voluntarily gave it up. In other words, he literally had to surrender his life in death, because death could not take him. Now while the curse of death is upon us all, and there is nothing that we can do to change the course of history regarding that, I am fascinated by the possibility of the same sinless DNA that was inside of Jesus Christ that caused him to live a sinless life inside of a physical human body just like yours and mine, can be made available to us.
I do not believe that living a sin free life is a matter of self-will. I think it is way beyond that. Our best intentions and good will, even though well meaning has failed us miserably. Now, first of all, let me be very clean and transparent regarding sin, especially my own. Because much to your surprise and mine, I am certainly not perfect! (Ok you can laugh now.)
The bottom line is that my sins are quite large in number. One thing about sin is that it makes us All equal as humans because while we may grade on the curve or on a scale, God does not. Murder and a small lie both are sins to God, even though we see them in varying degrees.
Compared to a Holy God where the standard is sinless, all of our infractions miss the mark. I liken it to being a little bit pregnant or somewhat dead! Either you are or you’re not.
When it comes to my own sins I am ashamed of them, but not ashamed to inform you of them. Let’s just say that if I were to list them all alphabetically I would need all 26 letters of the English alphabets! Yes, all 26 letters!
Again God does not grade on a curve or on a scale and he is totally just and fair in how he judges our sin. We are dealing with a holy God and because we don’t fully grasp the standard of holiness it makes it a lot easier for us to see our sins and the sins of others on a scale or curve.
Think about it, there is the unintentional sin, there is the blatant sin, there is the sin of the flesh, and sin of the mind or thought, that nobody can see or have knowledge of other than God.
Consider this for a moment. Ask yourself this question: If there was a way that I (insert your name here) could live 100 percent sin free both in thought and deed over the next 30 days would I do it?
Of course, you could give yourself a list of the many benefits of living that way. Now to live sin free you would obviously want a listing of the sins that you are to avoid. Now here is a fascinating bit of info you can cite at your next party or with a lawyer that you know.
I find it interesting that there are over 40 thousand laws on the books just to enforce Ten Commandments!
As of January 1st 2010 there were 40,627 new laws on the books for the USA, it’s territories and protected lands.
Now here is a scenario for your consideration: What if Jesus Christ himself appeared to you for a one on one conversation and made the following proposal? “If I can give you the exact same DNA of the Holy Spirit that is in me that allowed me to live a sinless life in a human body on this earth, would you take me up on that offer? And would you like to experience it risk-free for the next 30 days?”
In other words, Jesus would be telling you, “If you like the 30 day trial of a sin free life, you can keep the DNA and Holy Spirit and live the rest of your days as such. And if not, if you are not happy with a sinless life at the end of 30 days just let me know and I will remove it from you and you can go back to the original sinful life you had with no questions asked. Do we have a deal? What say you?”
Now the reason I put that scenario like that is that is exactly the deal God has given us regarding the regeneration work of the Holy Spirit operating in our lives. The process is called being “born again”. That is an offer he has made for us already. But instead of just a 30 day trial, it comes with a lifetime guarantee that gets upgraded to an eternal guarantee upon death.
It goes like this: “Let’s make an exchange. I will take your sins and your sinful nature out of you and I will put my Holy nature as in the Holy Spirit inside of you. What a deal. Meaning that if you surrender your sins and all the bad stuff that is in you to me, I will remove it and in exchange I will give you all of my goodness and my Holy Spirit which will regenerate your mind and thought process and will eventually carry over to your body to be Holy just like I am.”
Would you take him up on that deal? OK, so let’s narrow this down a bit. Let’s say that you did not want a lifetime deal but rather only a ten-year deal. Would you take him up on an offer of living Holy for ten years? One year? One day?
The reason I mention this exchange is to emphasize the great deal we are getting versus what he received in return from us.
The bible mentions that when Jesus was on the cross and the wrath of God was being poured out on him it was for no other reason than the fact that he became the sin of the entire world which God judged in him.
The Bible states it perfectly: 2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV
“For He (God) made Him(Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
Now imagine if you will if it is the opposite for us. Meaning that “we who do not know Holiness became Holy so that our sins are transferred to Him.”
And it does not matter what your sin is, He (Jesus Christ) became it. He became every sin known to mankind. Think about the burden of being all those horrible things that mankind is capable of. He became a murderer, rapist, adulterer, fornicator, pedophile, homosexual, drug addict, alcoholic, liar, cheater, a racist, robber and on and on. Whatever sin you can think of and those that you can’t, He became it. And as an added bonus for us he also became our sickness and diseases so that in him we have healing and health.
So regardless of who you are or whatever you are capable of doing regarding sin, he can cover it, and in fact, has covered it. Because he has already become it. That is exactly why none of us can look down on another or judge another regarding their sin. I mean the guy who is a rapist cannot look down on the murderer and say “your sin is worse than mine.”
The liar or cheater cannot look down on an adulterer and say his sin is worse. The reason we cannot judge and have no right to judge one another regarding sin is because all of our sins both yours and mine has already been judged and condemned by God himself. That is the highest court from which there is no appeal. You have heard of the saying, “the kettle calling the pot black.” The rapist is not in any better standing than the racist.
I think it is interesting that we grade and judge each other on a scale and on the curve. And yet our scales are not just. Our scales are not right and out of balance.
Because what we are giving up in exchange for the goodness and righteousness of God is a whole different ballgame. We are giving up eternal death in exchange for eternal life. It’s not even a fair trade when you think about it. And yet that is the deal God has made with us.
Also, I find it rather unique that we seem to do our sins in secret, but Jesus Christ took on our sins and became sin in public. He was hanging on a cross butt naked for the whole world to see. He bore our shame all in public view. All of our hidden sins that he took on, suddenly was exposed for the whole world to see. And I think that may be why we are to confess to him our sins. Why? Because we think we are keeping it a secret and he has already exposed it to the world when he was on the cross. So our confession is an acknowledgment of the sin that he has exposed. In other words, we can point to the very sin hanging on the cross with him. I mean I can imagine Jesus saying, “Hey, you think you are keeping your sin a secret. I have already exposed it for what it is on the cross, publicly. All I need you to do is to agree and acknowledge it with me.”
That is why when we acknowledge our sin before him, that the guilt and shame is lifted away because it is already on him. It was transferred to him on the cross. You are acknowledging that you don’t have to carry it and point to the proper place where it is and belongs, on the cross with him.
Isn’t that a great deal? Our public shame and guilt we don’t have to wear anymore because he has already worn it for us in public. With that knowledge, you and I can breathe and live freely.