The Good News
With this as a foundation to exploring truth, lets start to examine fundamental beliefs and ask what are we building our life on, truth or lies? We have deep longings such as contentment, satisfaction and wholeness ingrained in us. We long for harmony and perfection. When we look at history, generation after generation experience brokenness in that harmonious society. When we look at our family and our personal life we also see brokenness in some way or another. Reality is brokenness in our personal life and our culture is a consequence of a force that has entered the world that's called sin. One writer explains it this way- "15For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate. 16Now if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is sin living in me. 18For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it. 19For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. 20Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one that does it, but it is the sin that lives in me. 21So I discover this law: When I want to do what is good, evil is present with me. 2 ...I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body."
Roman 7:15-21
When we face reality we see that it is simply hard to live with daily and for years to come. We all face an inner struggle to do what is good but there is sin living in us that makes it so hard to do what is right. The question is -does the truth offer hope and freedom in the midst of the brokenness that we see in us and around us?
You see at the beginning of human civilization things were created perfect. Do you ever wonder what life was like for the first humans? What is it like to live in a perfect world and to live in harmony? Did something happen that broke that perfect harmony? To answer that, there is one account of the beginning of humanity from an eyewitness, a credible witness for that matter. The credibility of that account is consistent with what is observed around in the physical world and lines up with reality to affirm its reliability. There are many accounts of how our world began, yet there can only be one true account. The other accounts are simply a mix of truth and myth. You can research the other accounts for yourself. For now, lets examine one account and see if it's reliable.
Here is the account of the beginning of civilization as recorded in the book of Genesis. It is written by a man named Moses who is inspired by the eyewitness himself to write it, our creator. Moses narrates what happened in the beginning and tells us that the creator created everything out of nothing. In Genesis 1 it says that the earth was formless, empty and dark. The creator begins by creating light to distinguish the day from night. Secondly, He creates the sky to separate the waters above the sky and under it. Thirdly, He creates land and names it earth and the water He calls seas. Following that, He makes vegetation, trees and plants of many varieties. After the vegetation He creates two great lights to serve 'as signs for seasons, days and years'. The bigger light for the day and the lesser one for the night, as well as stars. He then creates living creatures/animals of many different kinds. Finally, after the wildlife, He creates His masterpiece. Here In Genesis 1 is the account of the creator commanding the heavens, the earth and the living creatures into existence. It says:
"Let there be light and there was light...let there be an expanse between the waters, and He called the expanse sky...Let the earth produce vegetation..and it was so. Let the water swarm with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky..Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that crawl, and the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds and it was so..Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth..and it was so."
The world came out of nothing by our creator's command. He spoke the world into existence by His supernatural word. He is God and is all powerful.
After He created paradise He places His masterpiece in it, the first humans. In Genesis 2 it says -
"The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east and there he placed the man he had formed. 9The Lord God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden, as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil...
15The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. 16And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden,a 17but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”a
biblehub.com/csb/genesis/2.htm
Humankind are the masterpiece of His creation who lived in a magnificent garden in the beginning. In that garden there was so much variety and choice, 'every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food'. If we stop and consider how many species of trees there are out there we can see one true proof of the authenticity of this account. If we look around at nature we see all of those natural things listed in Genesis 1 before us. The sun, the moon, the stars, the sky, creatures in water, in the air and on land. The heavens declare clearly the authenticity of the account of creation in Genesis chapter 1 & 2.
There was perfect harmony in the first garden and a perfect balance of pleasure and adoration of the creator. In paradise the creator gives one command- not to eat from 'the tree of the knowledge of good and evil'. The result of breaking that command was death. One question we might ask is why did the creator place 'the tree of knowledge of good and evil' in that garden and prohibit the first people to eat from it? There is one commentary by Mathew Henry explains the significance of the one command given to the first humans-
"There was the tree of life in the midst of the garden..it was chiefly intended to be a sign and seal. To Adam assuring him of the continuance of life and happiness..through the grace and favour of his Maker, upon condition of his perseverance in this state of innocency and obedience...
There was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, so called, not because it had any virtue in it to beget or increase useful knowledge (surely then it would not have been forbidden), but first because there was an express positive revelation of the will of God concerning this tree. What is evil? It is evil to eat of this tree. The distinction between all other moral good and evil was written in the heart of man by nature; but this, which resulted from a positive law, was written upon this tree."
Think of the one forbidden tree like a warning sign on the road to keep a driver safe.
The one agreement/covenant made between the creator and the first human was a visual contract. In a way its an agreement to recognize the authority of the creator over his creation and submit to it.
Let us read on what happens after that covenant/agreement was made-
In Genesis 3 we read, "1Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field that the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’ ”
2The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, 3but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You must not eat of it or touch it, or you will die.’ ”
4“You will not surely die,” the serpent told her. 5“For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.
7And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed together fig leaves and made coverings for themselves.
Then the man and his wife heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the breeze of the day, and they hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
9But the LORD God called out to the man, “Where are you?”
10“I heard Your voice in the garden,” he replied, “and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”
11“Who told you that you were naked?” asked the LORD God. “Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
12And the man answered, “The woman whom You gave me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
“The serpent deceived me,” she replied, “and I ate.”
biblehub.com/csb/genesis/3.htm
At the very beginning the creator had an enemy, a created being, an angel. He rebelled against the creator, was punished and expelled from the presence of the creator. He becomes an evil spirit/devil. This enemy then entices the first humans to rebel against the creator. They were lured to eat the forbidden fruit.
Notice here that this is the strategy the devil uses from the beginning of time till our day. He makes us question the command of the creator. Then he promises us much advantage by breaking the creator's laws and lies about the consequence of rebellion. We need to understand these dynamics in play in our life. We have an enemy who tries to make us doubt the goodness of the created order and it's laws. We then think we can rebel against our creator, the true God, without any penalty. We desire our independence from Him and want freedom to do as we wish. We can then believe that the creator is ignorant or doesn't exist so we don't have to be judged for living independently without submitting to the creator.
We do not want a penalty for wrongdoing, yet in the created order the result of wrongdoing is guilt, fear (of the creator's judgment) and shame. We can then think He is a tyrant who comes after us because all we want is freedom from the laws of His created order. It seems like a harmless desire. The reality is when we rebel against the creator we forfeit our spiritual freedom and we become slaves to other masters/idols.
There are many idols we can fall for like lust for pleasure, beauty, material possessions, people's approval/popularity/fame and more. These idols are merciless and demanding. They will not be satisfied until we are mastered by them. We can fall for different addictions and substances to try to rule over these idols and numb our conscience. Yet there is only way to overcome them. It is only by turning back to the creator and asking Him for help. God spoke of an offspring in Genesis 3 who will redeem the brokenness that was caused when evil entered the world through the disobedience.
We can begin to build a system of beliefs in our life that is convoluted to try to save ourselves. We can think the creator does not want us to be happy and wants to punish us. We may reach the end of rope and feel hopeless. Yet He is so generous, and is the author or pleasure and love. Apart from Him there is no true pleasure, happiness or freedom. There is just a facade of these qualities in the idols we cherish. There is misery, enslavement, guilt and shame that is ingrained when wrongdoing is committed. That is reality! No one can escape it without turning to creator and trusting him to save us.
Lets turn to Genesis 3:14-15 where the creator pronounces judgment on the serpent and the plan to redeem the first human's act of disobedience and it's results.
"14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,
“Cursed are you above all livestock
and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring[a] and hers;
he will crush[b] your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
biblehub.com/csb/genesis/3.htm
This is bad news, our relationship with the creator is broken and then we experience brokenness in our relationship with others. We are indifferent to the cost of our wrongdoing, but God is not. He hates wrongdoing and justly judges it. Yet our deepest longing is for reconciliation and harmony. Death is a significant sign of the brokenness caused by wrongdoing. God made that very clear. Death then entered humanity as a result of that broken agreement to yield to His rule.
God cannot pretend nothing happened when we humans sin because He is just. Think about that point! What would the world look like without a just God? Would our world be a harmonious one or chaotic? Is Justice good for humankind? I think if we take a look at history we will quickly see how civilizations are in desperate need for justice. Society without justice is unbearable. God is the persona of justice and He is not indifferent to rebellion against Him. Rebellion against Him caused great damage. Now how can we repair the damage caused at the beginning of humanity? This is not an easy reality to grapple with but is so essential.
In Genesis 3 the story doesn't end in despair. God spoke of an offspring who will redeem the brokenness that was caused when evil entered the world through disobedience. What God does is He promises that He will send someone through the offspring of the woman to take the punishment of sin on himself. He ultimately says, 'I will pay the price that is due for justice to redeem us back.'
Galatians 3:10 says this-
"For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, Everyone who does not do everything written in the book of the law is cursed.[i] 11 Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous will live by faith.[j] 12 But the law is not based on faith; instead, the one who does these things will live by them.[k] 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."
How does God justify wrongdoing? The instrument He chooses to save us is simply believing the truth that He reveals to us. God promises to save us from sin/wrongdoing. That promise is not based on who we are or what we do but it is based on who God is and his ability to keep that promise! Simply humbly seek the truth and trust Him. He is able to help you to believe.
He also made it very clear to prove that the sting of death is defeated by raising Jesus from the dead. He graciously proclaimed that the only cure for death is believing in Jesus.
God fulfills His promise at the beginning of time that the offspring will crush evil. Jesus, that offspring conquered death. In Hebrews 12:22-25a
"Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God..to the assembly of the firstborn whose names have been written in heaven, to a judge who is God of all...and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which says better things than the blood of Abel. See to it that you do not reject the one who speaks."
biblehub.com/csb/hebrews/12.htm
Here is a commentary on these verse that sums up what I'm trying to convey:
" ..Christ is the Mediator of a new covenant, between God and man, to bring them together in this covenant; to keep them together; to plead with God for us, and to plead with us for God; and at length to bring God and his people together in heaven. This covenant is made firm by the blood of Christ sprinkled upon our consciences, as the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled upon the altar and the victim. This blood of Christ speaks in behalf of sinners; it pleads not for vengeance, but for mercy. See then that you refuse not his gracious call and offered salvation. See that you do not refuse Him who speaks from heaven, with infinite tenderness and love; for how can those escape, who turn from God in unbelief or apostasy, while he so graciously beseeches them to be reconciled, and to receive his everlasting favour! God's dealing with men under the gospel, in a way of grace, assures us, that he will deal with the despisers of the gospel, in a way of judgment. ...Only the grace of God enables us to worship God aright. God is the same just and righteous God under the gospel as under the law. The inheritance of believers is secured to them; and all things pertaining to salvation are freely given in answer to prayer."
www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/matthew-henry-concise/hebrews/12.html
There is such a depth and beauty to the truth. It is difficult to face the truth but it is so freeing when submitted to it. Is your life built on truth or lies? I hope you find this helpful in your journey to find the truth that will set you free!
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