DISCIPLESHIP
Irreducible Complexity
UNDERSTANDING OUR OPPOSITION
Fraudulent and larcenous people prey upon
such people. The innocent trust because
they have no experience with the selfishness of others that would destroy the
innocent with deception in order to take from the innocent the thing that is of
most value – INNOCENCE. Innocent people certainly
do not expect that the people given to protect them and serve them would
purposely seek to harm them or capitalize on their weaknesses.
Satan understood that should
Eve be deceived, and Adam disobey, they would both spiritually die. Adam and Eve may have understood the facts of
“thou shalt surely die” but most probably had little comprehension of what it
meant. Therefore, they were too ignorant
to fear consequences they could not comprehend.
Adam’s and Eve’s spiritual
death (judgment by God and separation from obedient fellowship with Him) was
Satan’s selfish solution to his problem of being unwilling to be their servant. Satan’s solution: get Adam to sin, which will
bring God’s death sentence upon Adam. Adam’s
death was SATAN’S PROBLEM SOLVED.
However, Adam’s problem and all of his progenies’ problems just
began.
“8
Be sober {watchful discretion}, be vigilant {on alert};
because your adversary {opposer of righteousness or justice} the
devil, as a roaring lion {stalking}, walketh about {preoccupied
with}, seeking whom he may devour {using every opportunity to
destroy lives}: 9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith,
knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in
the world” (I Peter 5:8-9).
Adam was completely ignorant of
his adversary for the adversary was hiding behind being a protector. We are the most susceptible to deception and
personal injury by those we trust the most.
Innocence has no guardian mechanism because it suspects no harm and
knows no fear of harm.
Selfishness
wants the hopeless whims of the will consumed with a pursuit that will take
that person out of the place of the protective custody of obedience to God’s
will. Selfishness foolishly and blindly
chases after the forbidden being lured into the abyss of blindness because all
selfishness sees is what it wants.
Selfishness is willingly ignorant of the hidden danger of a lurking
adversary seeking that person’s valuables; willing even to kill him. This is Satan’s hidden agenda –
DEATH.
THE ESSENTIALS OF DISCERNMENT AND WISDOM
Because
humans have a powerful adversary in Satan and fallen angels (demons), the need
for spiritual discernment, enlightenment, and wisdom became essentials to basic
survival skills. The “mystery of
iniquity” works covertly with an agenda of spiritual destruction seeking to
bring everything that God perfectly created to ruin. Although God’s creation is incomprehensibly
complex, there is nothing more complex than the tri-unity of the creation of
one human being existing in the complexity of body, soul, and spirit. Humanity was created in the triune image of
God and designed to live in perfect soulic, spiritual, and physical unity with
God. Most humans barely comprehend the
simplest of these levels of unity let alone the trinity of all three.
Ignorance always corrupts discernment
requiring enlightenment to expose the adversary and his tactics of corruption
of our fellowship with God and corrupted worship leading sinners away from the
one true God to some form of idolatry. However, education and
enlightenment to the covert operations of our adversary does not correct the
failure of the breach of fellowship with God and restoration of a harmonious
relationship with God in righteousness.
That which is broken must be restored to its original perfect
specifications, not merely repaired or reformed. Something broken that is reformed is nothing
more than a broken token of its original.
A glued together broken porcelain teacup will still bear its apparent
cracks.
The foundation for a believer’s
restoration to fellowship with God must begin with God’s expectation of
perfection before we can understand the difficulty of redemption and complete
recreation through transfiguration of the human body, soul, and spirit. The difficulty for fallen humans is to
understand that there are ongoing aspects of redemption necessary to the
present and the temporal (in time) and there are aspects of redemption that are
future and eternal. Therefore, spiritual
discernment requires our understanding of what is necessary to fellowship with
God and retain His blessings in the present and in the physical world as well
is in the eternal and spiritual.
Discernment requires our understanding of
what is necessary to fellowship with God and to retain His blessings in both
existences. Discernment begins with acknowledging our
ignorance of these things and the necessity of God’s enlightenment to His
expectations for both redemption and restoration. We do not get to make up our own
specifications for redemption and restoration to fellowship. Therefore, when we understand our ignorance,
we must understand just how incredibly ignorant we are. Second, we must understand that our adversary
is doing everything possible to confuse, corrupt knowledge, and increase our
ignorance of redemption and restoration to fellowship with God.
The fall of humanity into depravity means
everyone is more than a little bit broken and somewhat lost.
Humanity is incredibly broken, completely lost in sin, and totally blind
to the way of redemption by grace through faith and restored fellowship with
God. There is an adversary changing the
road signs of “by grace through faith” to the sinner’s way home.
“3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that
are lost: 4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the
minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of
Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (II Corinthians
4:3-4).
God’s
pathway to redemption and restoration to fellowship with Him has always been
simply “by grace” and “through faith.”
This pathway throughout Scripture came to simply be known as “the way”
(Genesis 3:24). However, the adversary
of humanity does not want anyone to find God’s way home through redemption and
restoration to fellowship. The adversary
is not content with humanities lost estate and lost souls. The adversary wants humanity absolutely
miserable in this life and existence.
The adversary has corrupted God’s grace
way in every way possible. The many corruptions came
to be known as the way of works as opposed to the way of grace. “There
is a way which seemeth right {looks straight} unto a man, but the
end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25). Jesus corrected all the adversary’s ways
of works with one simple statement.
“1
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2
In my Father’s house {abode} are many mansions {abiding places;
dwelling places for the redeemed to live is perfect fellowship with God}:
if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place
for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again,
and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. 4
And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. 5 Thomas saith
unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no
man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:1-6).
The
way of works began when Adam and Eve became conscious of their nakedness
before God. Here begins the dispensation
of Conscience. Adam’s and Eve’s solution
is, “We broke it. We need to fix
it.” This is the foundation of the way
of works and all the innumerable derivations of it.
The
Dispensation of Conscience and the Adamic Covenant (Genesis 3:22-24)
“And
they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed”
(Genesis 2:25).
Being
a sinner and being conscious of sin are two different existences. Adam’s creation was not complete until God “breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life {God’s Spirit}; and man became a
living soul” (Genesis 2:7).
It is commonly believed that Adam’s and Eve’s naked
bodies were covered by a radiant glow of light emanating from within them
caused by the indwelling presence of God’s Spirit (“breath of life”). Without knowing what is sin, there is no
guilt for that sin and no shame caused by that guilt. Without guilt and shame there is no
conviction of the failure of sin.
Without conviction of sin there is no fear of God’s pending justice and
judgment for the failure. Conviction
understands there is a penalty for sin.
Guilt, shame, conviction, and fear are all part of the
chain that should lead the sinner to remorseful “repentance toward God, and
faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). Adam’s and Eve’s shame of their nakedness was
shame before God. Their sin had exposed
their guilt and their nakedness before God to them and they were ashamed
of the exposure of their sinfulness before a holy God. Their nakedness was not exposed to one
another or to God prior to their sin because their nakedness was covered by the
glory of God from within. When they
sinned, they lost their glow and their nakedness as sinful beings was now fully
exposed. Nakedness is merely an exposure
of their internal guilt of sin. Guilt is
good and a gift from God. Guilt should
lead to taking steps toward God for recovery.
However, the very nature of exposed sinfulness is shame, hiding,
covering, denial, and even blame shifting.
“7
And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were
naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 8
And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the
cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of
the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 9 And the LORD God
called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10
And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I
was naked; and I hid myself. 11 And he said, Who
told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof
I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12 And the man said, The
woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I
did eat. 13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is
this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me,
and I did eat.” (Genesis 3:7-13).
Although
the fall of Satan and millions of other angels preceded the fall of Adam and
humanity, the curse of God on creation happened because God had given dominion
of Creation to Adam (humanity). Hell
was created as a place of separation from God and of eternal condemnation for
fallen angels, not for the human beings.
Perhaps the most serious aspect of the fall of humanity and God’s curse
is humanities blind ignorance to the real circumstances of the outcome. Mankind has no real comprehension of spiritual
death or eternal condemnation. Because
of this ignorance and spiritual blindness, humanity barely comprehends the
pending danger under which they live each moment. If the seriousness of eternal condemnation is
not understood, then salvation offered as a gift of grace will seldom be taken
seriously.
PRIDE
“Pride goeth before
destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18).
Pride is the foundation of all sin laid
originally by Satan. Satan’s fall and his leadership of one-third
of the angels of Heaven to rebel against God’s order of sovereignty is sourced
in pride. Pride is the infection of
corruption that refuses to be subordinate to anyone, let alone being willing to
become another’s servant. To willingly
become another being’s servant is the grand scope and ultimate goal of
discipleship and the epitome of having escaped the corruption that entered into
the world through the prideful fall of the angels and the infection of humanity
with that corruption. Pride is where
“you’re not the boss of me” was born.
“12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the
morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the
nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend
into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also
upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I
will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit”
(Isaiah 14:12-15).
Rebellion against the orders of
sovereignty established by God were the seed of the fall of Satan and the third
of the angels that followed him in his rebellion against God. The rebellion was a pride filled rejection of
God’s established order of sovereignty. Satan’s
pride refused to submit to be the servant of an obvious inferior humanity.
Man was given sovereignty over angels.
Angels, although extremely more powerful and sophisticated than humans,
were created to minister to humans. It
is apparent from Hebrews 1:7-14 that there are orders of angels that minister
solely to God in various capacities and other angels that minister as
benevolent servants to God’s redeemed. Willing
servanthood is the ultimate goal of discipleship and the unfathomable
communicable attribute of God manifested in His incarnation, death, burial, and
resurrection to save the souls of rebels corrupted with satanic pride. Jesus “became obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8).
“16
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh
{satanic device for corruption of humanity}, and the lust of the eyes
{satanic device for corruption of humanity}, and the pride of life {satanic
device for corruption of humanity}, is not of the Father, but is
of the world {this word describes all that is part of satanic
influences or ‘mystery of iniquity’}. 17 And the world passeth
away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever
(I John 2:16-17).
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Numerous studies and series are available free of charge for local churches at: http://www.disciplemakerministries.org/
Dr. Lance Ketchum serves the Lord as a Church Planter, Evangelist/Revivalist.
He has served the Lord for over 50 years.
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