“The LORD God placed the
man in the Garden of Eden to tend and care for it. 16 But
the LORD God gave him this warning: "You may freely eat any fruit in the
garden 17 except fruit from the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat of its fruit, you will
surely “die” (forfeit a living/intimate relationship with God)." (Genesis
2:15-17, NLT)
25
“Now, although Adam and his wife were both naked, neither of them felt any
shame.” (Genesis 2: 25, NLT) Shame was born in dis-obedience. And so was
mankind’s propensity to lean upon flawed understanding and call it “wisdom or
knowledge”. These are the result of eating of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil! Their/our eyes were opened to what they weren’t equipped to
understand or process.
Mankind was awakened to deception and blinded to the trickery
of illusion! “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.
6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will
direct your paths. 7 Don't be impressed with
your own wisdom.” (Proverbs 3: 5-7,
NLT)
“Now the serpent was the
shrewdest of all the creatures the LORD God had made.”Really?" he asked
the woman. "Did God really say you must not eat any of the fruit in the
garden?" 2 "Of course we may
eat it," the woman told him. 3
"It's only the fruit from the tree at the center of the garden that we are
not allowed to eat. God says we must not eat it or even touch it, or we will
die." 4 "You won't
die!" the serpent hissed.
5
"God knows that your eyes will be opened when you eat it. You will
become just like God, knowing everything, both good and evil." 6 The
woman was convinced. The fruit looked so fresh and delicious, and it would make
her so wise! So she ate some of the fruit. She also gave some to her husband,
who was with her. Then he ate it, too. 7 At
that moment, their eyes were opened, and
they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness.” (Genesis 3:1-7, NLT) God
clothed their nakedness with the skin of a wild animal.
“Sanctify them by the truth, your word is truth.” (John 17:17 NIV) We
can trust that whatever God says is factual, especially what He says about us!
At times, He will use those in our ‘Oikos’ (your sphere of influence or of being
influenced) to help us become better acquainted with reality and authenticity.
God’s truth often seems inconsistent with our present perceptions. But as we
learn to “trust” in the outcome, we find that it is our perceptions that are
off or skewed.
It is at this point in our journey that we ask for beyond help! And what pray tell is beyond help. It is when we arrive at the conclusion, “I am beyond helping myself. I need a power greater than myself.” Who do you suppose will be there when we arrive at reality? A loving and forgiving Father! A graceful, merciful Savior and Lord! And comforting, encouraging Holy Spirit who gently leads us into all the truth. Now that’s real help! Here it comes!
The heart of God is always immensely warm, inviting, embracing and open to all who will be loved! Will you be loved? Can you share His love?
God did not
clothe Adam with the skin of a slain animal because of a divine need to be
appeased. But because of their unconditional love for Adam! They also
understood the language of judgment (Adam’s self judgments) and are touched by
Adam’s infirmities. Adam, not God, was embarrassed about his nakedness. The
clothing was not to make God look at Adam differently, but to make Adam feel
better about himself!
Ultimately it
was to prepare Adam for the unveiling of the mystery of mankind’s redemption in
the incarnation-Jesus coming as the Son of Man. Here Deity would clothe
themselves in human skin in a son, and the Lion of Judah, would become the Lamb
of God, in order to free our minds to re-discover his image and likeness in our
skin! Humankind is tailor-made for God!
Jesus-the new man (who lived our life, death, burial and ultimate resurrection) completely
identifies with our condition! In Jesus-the
new Adam; we are empowered to walk in the Spirit, victory, freedom,
grace, mercy, faith, and peace. And we are now clothed by His righteousness,
instead of our shame and failure. Following are some of the wondrous gifts of
being clothed/covered by Christ!
1.”So now there is no condemnation for
those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 For the power of the
life-giving Spirit has freed you through Christ Jesus from the
power of sin that leads to death. 3 The Law of Moses could not save us,
because of our sinful nature. But God put into effect a different plan to save
us. He sent his own Son in a human body like ours, except that ours are sinful.
God destroyed sin's control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our
sins.
4 He did this so that the requirement of the
law would be fully accomplished for us who no longer follow our
sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit. 5 Those who are
dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are
controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. 6 If your sinful
nature controls your mind, there is death. But if the Holy Spirit controls your
mind, there is life and peace. (So much of our identity with Jesus happens first
in new thinking!)
7 For the sinful nature is always hostile
to God. It never did obey God's laws, and it never will. 8 That's why those
who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.
9 But you are not
controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have
the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the
Spirit of Christ living in them are not Christians at all.)
10 Since Christ lives within you, even though
your body will die because of sin, your spirit is alive because
you have been made right with God. 11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus
from the dead, lives in you. And just as he raised Christ from the dead, he
will give life to your mortal body by this same Spirit living within you. 12 So, dear brothers
and sisters, you have no obligation whatsoever to do what your
sinful nature urges you to do. 13 For if you keep on following it, you will
perish. (Romans 8: 1-10, NIV)
But
if through the power of the Holy Spirit you turn from it and its
evil deeds, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God
are children of God. 15 So you should not be like cowering,
fearful slaves. You should behave instead like God's very own children, adopted
into his family -- calling him "Father, dear Father." 16 For his Holy Spirit
speaks to us deep in our hearts and tells us that we are God's children. 17 And since we are his
children, we will share his treasures -- for everything God gives to his Son, Christ
is ours, too.
But
if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. 18 Yet what we suffer
now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later. 19 For all creation are
waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children
really are. 20 Against its will, everything
on earth was subjected to God's curse. 21 All creation anticipates the day when it
will join God's children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22 For we know that all
creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the
present time.
23 And even we Christians, although we have
the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be
released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God
will give us our full rights as his children, including the new
bodies he has promised us.
24 Now that we are saved, we eagerly look
forward to this freedom. For if you already have something, you don't need to
hope for it. 25 But if we look
forward to something we don't have yet, we must wait patiently and confidently.
26 And the Holy Spirit
helps us in our distress. For we don't even know what we should pray for, nor
how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot
be expressed in words.
27 And the Father who knows all hearts
knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in
harmony with God's own will. 28 And we know that God causes everything to work
together for the good of those who love God and are called
according to his purpose for them.” (Past, Present and Future-Your entire life)
(Romans 8: 1-28, NLT)
He has
brought me back from the future to live as Jesus, fully human and fully divine
by embracing all that today can be in Him!
He has
brought me back from the past, trading the shame and failures to live today in
the fullness of Grace!
He has
brought me to another today to live with hope while embracing a love that
liberates me to be extra-ordinarily ordinary!
I will enjoy the peace to be at peace with His great love and divine design! I will enjoy Him in me and I in Him each moment of potential called now!
In the Grip of Grace! Ron Ross
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