Christian Living

You Mean to Tell Me I Am to Blame

by Travis Darnell
02/10/18
Free to Share
Author requests article critique

  Message Writer
  Hire Writer

Tweet

                 “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” (Genesis 3:5, NKJ). Satan promises Eve that if she eats of the forbidden tree, she will become “like God.” In the original King James it exclaims “you shall be as gods” (KJ). Satan is the “Father of lies.” As soon as Adam and Eve disobeyed God in this most historic and catastrophic event, it unseated God as ruler over their lives, and they put themselves, as well as the rest of humanity, at the very mercy and ruler-ship of Satan. Satan told them “they shall be as gods,” but he never told them the truth, that he himself would become their god. So now mankind has become a “son of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2, NKJ).

            The state of Adam and Eve coming under the rule of Satan is now the natural order for most of mankind today and always has been in the history of man. We do not think of ourselves as sons or daughters under any rule, but only that we are free and at liberty to make our own decisions and lives. What mankind does not know today, nor did Adam and Eve know back then, was that our dispositions that God originally created to rule over and thus give life to, are now under the rule of Satan himself. So our choices we make on how we live our lives and to whom we choose to live them unto, are still our choices. God’s free-will gift to man has never been taken from us as it was never taken from Adam and Eve. But, the deception is that whether we like it or not, whatever choices or decisions we make as to how to order our lives, is authored by one from within us, either God or Satan. We humans are not as free as we think we are. Satan’s whole purpose in the first temptation of man in the Garden was to make man believe that it is a righteous thing to become the master of your own domain, “you will be like God.” That man was to be free in the absolute, to live life as he wanted and as he deemed right to himself, thus deciding what was good and evil for themselves, instead of God defining what was to be good and evil for mankind. But unbeknownst to man, then and now, is that we are filled and ruled over by either Satan or God and his whole life is inspired by one or the other. Our rights, choices and freedoms that we value so much are not as nearly as important as to whom those rights, choices and freedoms are inspired and ruled by. We have been duped by the devil. Thus man is deceived and lost. But God ever searches “to save that which was lost” (Matthew 18:11, NKJ).

            Before the Fall, since Adam and Eve had only given themselves over to the dominion of God, the very being of their essence (i.e., their dispositions, temperaments and personalities) were only bent towards goodness, righteousness and peace, thus towards God. So God was enabled, as He now wishes to do with us, to work His will within the man and man walked in the original order that God ordained for that man to walk in. They were one in their spirits, harmony between God and man. But once man sought life and the order of it, outside of God and now sought to take control over their own lives, therefore spurning God, the very being of their essence was now bent towards the opposite of Godliness: wickedness, unrighteousness and war, i.e., disobedience. This is why, throughout the history of mankind, we have seen so much strife, jealousy, envy, lust, greed and the list goes on and on. So consequently, sin is not so much a state of “wrong-doing” in a person, but rather people being in a state of “wrong-being.” Let’s face the facts, when a person seeks to live for himself or herself in any or every sphere of their lives without God, it makes life hell on everyone else, including the world at large. This was Satan’s great goal all along.

            All this has led to all the wars, rumors of wars, slavery's, hates, dislikes, divorces, diseases, hungers, abusing, fighting’s, etc. This is the world as it is. And also, if man truly looks within himself, he will recognize this very world exists in him. Whether we want to admit it or not, we have all had a hand in this. Remember, Jesus went up on that cross for all mankind, for all people are sinners. This is the true reality of life and mankind as we really are in this world, and the greatest danger to the prince of this world Satan, would be if mankind as a whole, became aware of how incredibly deceived and duped we have become. If the light switched on in mankind and we were to see what we have fallen for, this would be the greatest shellacking the devil ever took. To those children of God who proclaim this knowledge from their God to the world (non-Christians), that Satan has lulled us into a deep, deceptive sleep about our lives which he has ruined, they are the greatest nightmare to the devil and his demons.

            Me, you and all the rest of us common folk have tried since the beginning of our existence to make the world a better place for ourselves and the world at large. Even “greater men and women” than we, have tried to do the same thing. And to what results? Look around. It’s gotten worse throughout the centuries. It’s estimated that in the last 3,500 years , there has been just a total of 230 years on earth where there has been no war. During these 230 years, I’m sure man was getting readied to go to war.  We have tried, sacrificed and striven to have peace on this earth, but all to no avail. This is reality. This is not just the reality of the “those’s” and “them’s,” but equally so, the “us’s,” the “me’s” and “you’s.” Again, who did Jesus give His life for on the cross, “all” of us. The world is chaotic, out of God’s order and sad to say, it’s going to get a whole lot worse. Much worse. We can deceive ourselves all that we want to and think everything is going to get better, but it’s not, and history testifies to this fact. Not only history, but God’s word itself, the Bible, gives us a very graphic and revealing look at where the world is heading in the book of Revelations, and it’s not pretty. The thing is, it seems to be starting right now.

            The Buddha's, Gandhi's, Martin Luther King’s, John F. Kennedy’s, Bono’s, President’s, Emperors, great philosophers, New-Age Movement’s, Enlightenment Movement’s, Progressive Movement’s, Women’s Movement’s, Civil Right’s Movement’s, Gay Movement, ACLU, lawyer’s, doctor’s, mentor’s, etc., have all made but little dents in the world. Some for the better, some for the worse. For what? There is more hate and strife now between continents, nations, borders, within nations, communities, between men and women, marriages, parent-child relationships and all amongst the common folk at large, than at any time before. 

             So consequently, after looking for help and saving from within the great world at large, the little worlds within our own communities and families, and ultimately within our own selves, we find at best nothing but a band-aid to cover the Great Wound. But might we look elsewhere? Have we ever considered that it takes help and saving from outside our universe? Come to think of it, it does not seem that we have any other choice.

            Eternity, it says in the Bible, is set within each one’s heart (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Why has God set His eternity in every person’s heart? Because God knows that we each need it and more importantly, we need Him. If in our own lives, our communities, the world at large and if history teaches us anything, it’s that we need God, and we need Him now. Our pride does not want to allow us to need anything, much less God. We may settle the fact that we need the things of this earth i.e., family, lovers, children, rest, work, etc. But even though these things do bring us spurts of happiness, meaning and purpose, is it really lasting? No, it is not (simply read the book of Ecclesiastes). So we keep trying and trying to satisfy that intangible void and ache inside us, but we can never find it. So we give ourselves over to alcohol, narcotics, sex, ecstasy, work, play, gambling, television watching, education, knowledge, philosophy and entertainment all in the hopes of washing away that dull ache that is inside of us. That dull ache that is whispering “look up, look beyond.” We need to be very thankful that God is just exactly who He says He is and of His inexhaustible love for us. Because He knows we as individuals, much less the world at large, has looked to everything and everyone else for true peace and to give us the true meaning and purpose for our lives, but we still go on searching. If you feel you have found true peace and meaning apart from coming to know Jesus Christ as Lord and loving and knowing Him as your all in all, is it once for all time? I bet not and God will make sure it’s not, simply because He loves us that much. Because if you have found peace, meaning and purpose for your life apart from God, then after a few days, a few weeks, a few months or a few years, that which you have found will flip itself back on you, and then the search will continue. God will make sure of it, again, because He loves us and for no other reason. He loves all mankind and He proved it on the cross, again, for every last one of us.

            Scientists keep searching for true meaning and why we are here, but to no avail. They cannot even agree if humanity was originally created by a “Higher Power” or just simply evolved from some tiny organism that evolved from somewhere and just happened to fall in a pond only God knows where. Freud, Darwin, Evolution and Natural Selection were all sure bets at one time, but now those who were sure, are no longer sure. Creationism versus Evolution is a hot debate today and will go on into Armageddon, I suppose. Scientists are so confused that we now have to orbit out into the vast universe, just in hopes of finding a remnant of life that is not of ourselves, so we can hopefully get some kind of explanation for our own lives and existence.

            Nation’s cannot decide if Democracy, Communism, Marxism, Socialism or Totalitarianism is what man needs, so we wind up in a constant flux of Reconstruction-ism. Do we build more borders or do we not? Do we go to war or not? More laws or less laws. Bigger government or less government. Is addiction a disease or a choice? Maybe it’s a diseased choice. Are they allies or enemies, and if they are allies, for how long? We are all suspicious of each other. So while the great race goes on and the scientist’s, philosopher’s, teacher’s, political leaders, professors, etc., are all going to find for us the truth of our lives, thus finally answer for us as to the true meaning of our existence, people are literally dying off left and right. We are dying off left and right. But the so-called “enlightenment people” and “progressive movements” keep telling us that the answers we seek so much for our lives, “are just right around the corner.” Well they are not, but thank God, He is, and He is right on the doorstep of our hearts.

            Muslims claim their god is the one true god. Meanwhile, in the countries where Islam is the most dominant, in the Middle East, it’s fraught with oppression of its people, sexism, hate, lack of self-expression, lack of education, lack of civil rights, freedom of speech, freedom of religious rights, etc. Great wealth is there, but the vast majority of the people have nothing. They are taught to hate and wind up doing just that. Those Muslims who are trying to find the one true God are so bared down and heavy-laden with rules and regulations, they are at wits end. They are tired and disgusted with their rulers and their so-called spiritual clerics, who do nothing but squeeze the very life out of their own people. They are tired of being told to hate and wish to know the freedom of what it’s like to love their fellow man.

            Meanwhile on the other end of the pendulum, you have the so-called free societies of the world, rampant with godless secularism. They give us no meaning for tomorrow, but just live for today. In these societies where “self” rules, it has not freed us up, but rather led us right into slavery. We are enslaved to pleasure-seeking, bitterness, anger, suspicion, hatred, fear and ignorance which all lead to the two things which man desperately dreads: hopelessness and lostness (are you depressed enough yet). We try to ratchet up in our minds that we are truly living out our rightful destinies, living right, working right, doing right and once death comes, we will surely go to heaven. But deep down within our souls, we don’t know and thus we wind up living a life of uncertainty and fear, walking on eggshells about life here and now, and eternally. It’s sad to say, but this life at its root core, is tragic and is not what it was designed to be. Whether we want to admit it or not, we are of the world and the world is of us, thus we are all to blame and we are all accountable.

            So what are we to do? Are you tired of not knowing, of uncertainty, of fear? Are you tired of striving so hard to just get from one day to the next? Are you tired of the battle going on inside your mind and heart, of good versus evil? “Do you know, that you know, that you know,” that there is a God who designed this earth you exist in and designed you yourself, and you find yourself dreadfully fearful that you will have to meet Him face-to-face one day. Well if you are, then you are right to be so and do not let anyone tell you differently. But take heart, God is near. If you have not been found yet by God, then He Himself is seeking to find you.

            Enter in Jesus Christ, the chosen One. Chosen for who? Chosen for us, for humanity. He did not come to this earth to set governments straight, but to get those whom He lost in Genesis straight. Do you feel lost, hopeless, but yet at the same time yearning to know the One who made you? Well if you are, then He is right before you, right before your heart. Jesus declared “be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me” (Revelations 3:20, NKJ). Open the door of your heart and life to Jesus Christ to be your Savior and Lord by confessing your sins and turning your back on all your old life of sin. He will lift you up, save you and begin cleaning out all of the sin and wrong-being in you ( sanctification ). He will cause you to live above all your circumstances in this world, but enable you to be His child in the midst of it all, “in Him.” Trust that He (Jesus Christ), took upon all of your sins and guilt up on the cross and it died with Him there, thus becoming your Savior. Trust that after three days He was raised from death and to new life, and comes to live in your heart and impart His Life within you, thus becoming your Lord. Jesus Christ, your true Lord and Savior. The true Lord and Savior to anyone who looks to Him for salvation and Eternal Life. Now there is no more work to do and no more guilt and shame to live with. No more fear. Now come to know and love Him greater than anyone else in your life and your life will be filled with hope, passion, purpose and full of meaning. And thank you Lord that this writing is over, because it's been a depressing one.