Message #20940

[tennis shoe]

I was thinking about this.

Satan has attempted to redefine sin.

Gen 3:2  And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3  But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

Just as Eve had the choice of who to believe, we all still have the freedom to choose.

Man has attempted to redefine sin. “Competition is a sin.” says John D. Rockefeller. This redefining influence has expanded through human social conditioning programs.

Then there are sins of omission where I didn’t do something I should have or didn’t do something enough.

There’s sin that applies to me, but not necessarily to others such as owning occult books.

Rom 14: 20  For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence.
21  It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.
22  Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.
23  And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

There’s “good intentions” sin where I thought I knew what I was doing, but ended up causing harm. Or even doing the right thing but going about it in the wrong way.

Then there’s the ripple effect. Because I did or said something miniscule that I don’t even remember, that influenced someone else, who influenced someone else, who became a genocidal tyrant.

My conclusion is that I have no idea what I am doing. Neither does man.

At the same time, in my current human state, I need the freedom to make mistakes in order to learn from them. Otherwise, I have learned nothing. The only solution that I see is His grace.

The bible promises a future, His future for us where He wants to share his authority with His children.

A common human trait is to seek authority while evading responsibility. The GWB “bad apples comment is a recent example. I believe and agree with God that these things should go hand-in-hand.

Mt 20: 25  But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.
26  But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;
27  And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
28  Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

It’s His grace that limits my authority on this earth for the same reason that a toddler should not have access to the nuclear football. It’s also His grace that limits my physical lifespan. This is for the sake of everybody else.

I also believe that His unrecognized grace is the reason mankind still exists. No need to punish. On the contrary, I believe if He removed His hand from the earth, we would self-destruct in less than a day or two.

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
(Camping in the woods with no shower/change of clothing literally highlights this verse for me)

Jn 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

My physical body is a write off. It is incompatible with the future that He has for me. Yet, the Creator still loves His present creation and I do too. So, in the meantime, there is a work that He can and does do in me to prepare me for the future. That is a renovation of character or an undoing of the warps imposed by the temporary god of this earth that go all the way back to Adam.

Still, people are completely free to choose their destiny.

Prov 21:2  Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts. (Thank God because that’s where it all starts.)

There is a human faction that desires to achieve immortality in its own way. They have announced their intentions and reject God’s plan in favor of their own. What this faction doesn’t realize is that this will result in a nightmarish, Frankenstein-like existence. These people will eventually long to die but will be unable to do so.

Rev 9:6  And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.