Our unique Savior condescended from Heavens glory to appear on this
earth in a Human body. Why? To accomplish the plan of God by dying
on the cross for the sins of the world, to be buried for three days, to be
resurrected and ascend into heaven and sit down on the right hand of
God with a finished redemption. Jesus appeared many times in the Old
Testament in various manifestations such as the burning bush, the
cloud by day, the fire by night, the shekinah glory, the angel of the Lord
and in several other manifestations. He is and always has been the
manifest person of the Godhead. God the father is the unseen member
of this Godhead and no man has seen God at any time because he is a
spirit and as spirit, he is not in physical form. John 1:18, No man hath
seen God at any time, the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of
the father, he hath declared him. John 4:24, God is a Spirit: and they
that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. God the
Father is the divine planner of all things that have passed into history,
things that are current and things that will be in the infinite future.
These actions have been defined in theology as Divine Decrees. All that
was, is and will be are in these decrees. God thought it, planned it, saw
it and so it shall be; there are no midcourse adjustments or corrections
because He is perfect and all of his plans are perfect. He never found it
necessary to erase the blackboard and start over again. While his plans
are perfect those plans must be executed. This marvelous plan is
executed by the manifest person of the Godhead and this revealed
member of the Godhead is Jesus Christ. God the Father plans, the Son
executes and the third member of the Godhead reveals this amazing
plan. The third member of this marvelous Godhead is God the Holy
Spirit. He graciously makes spiritual phenomena understandable and
real to those who may desire to know him. God does not leave mankind
in limbo or in a state of lostness without a means to come to know him.
This would not be equitable or fair to limited human beings. He could
easily have created a barrier of blackness so thick that none in such
darkness could come to know him. The good news of the gospel is, he
did not hide himself, but imputed (passed along) to human kind a
formatted soul containing self-consciousness, mentality, volition,
emotion and conscience. This soul of man becomes a living soul at
inception because God imputes soul life to biological life to provide
human life. What does he do to bring all of humanity to an
understanding that his son is the way, the truth and the life, i.e., the
only way to heaven? He imputed self-consciousness to human kind for
a reason. This consciousness in humans allows man to be aware of his
own existence, to see within in a limited fashion and without to
unlimited horizons. What man sees inside himself is beyond measure
and what he sees outside himself is just as limiting. This unique ability
in man makes him different from animals who simply don’t see things
in the same manner as humans. We love them and they are mysterious
and unknown in their own right, but they do not have human
attributes, that is why they are called animals and we are called
humans. Both are unique but we are much different. Since God is Spirit
and we are flesh, how may we know him? Jesus clearly stated, come
unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest
and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out, Matt.11:28. How
may a lowly and lost human being come to him? If we are lost, we must
be found! We are much like sheep in that we have no sense of direction
and do not know how we may return to our pasture. If we are outside
the sheep fold of protection, we indeed are lost. Jesus knows our lost
condition and extends an invitation to those who are outside. So, what
is a lost sheep to do since they don’t know they are lost and in their
lostness don’t know they can be found. It is difficult to grasp, but
multitudes of humanity are in this deplorable, confused and lost
condition. You may believe such a person, in America, has no excuse as
thousands of bibles are available describing this lost condition and how
a person may be found. However, in a lost condition many are simply
not aware of the depths and consequences of this condition. They don’t
know they are lost and certainly don’t know how they can escape this
lost condition and be found. They don’t know, that they don’t know. So,
it is with thousands. These many souls are drawn away from the light of
truth and are walking in darkness but are not aware of it. Therefore,
they can’t see the need for light or truth or anything else that sends a
warning beacon of where they are or were they need to be. Having
thousands of bibles in our homes, hotels, motels and businesses does
not mean everyone is aware of bible truths concerning the issue of
salvation. Holy and reliable truths lie silently within the pages of this
neglected book but unless opened and read, its truths will not be
discovered or understood. It is appalling to realize the remedy for sinful
man is so near, even at our fingertips, and yet lie unread, unrealized
and unheeded by lost and blind humanity. To open and carefully read
the words of life, that lie within this holy book will enable the reader to
realize an impassible barrier exists between God and man. That barrier
shows we have something in common and no one is exempt. That
something in common is that the word of God has concluded all are
under sin that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to
them that believe, Gal. 3:22. Under sin here means that God will accept
the merit of no person as a contributing factor in his so great and
perfect salvation. This statement, which eliminates all human merit, is
essential if Salvation is to be by grace alone. The essential issue is how a
Holy God may perfectly save those who are perfectly lost. God
disregards those things that man deems to be good and replaces this
relative goodness with the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. God
will accept the merit of no person as a contributing factor in his perfect
salvation that is centered exclusively in the person of Jesus Christ. What
is man to do since he cannot save himself and his best behavior is
unacceptable? If human kind is entrapped by himself and his inability to
contribute to his personal salvation is rejected, where can he go? He is
cut off by his own inability to produce eternal life plus he is under the
power of Satan who blinds the mind lest the light of the glorious Gospel
should shine unto him, 2 Corinthians 4:3-4. But if our gospel be hid, it is
hid to them that are LOST; 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. This
statement should compel anyone to stand up in furious indignation
against these onslaughts of Satan. He is the prince of darkness and
wants you to stay clear of the light of the gospel that shines so clearly in
and through Jesus Christ. I am the light of the world. He who follows
me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life, John 8:12.
Not only must we stand against the wiles of the Devil and resist his
attacks, we must understand that all unbelievers are classed as children
of disobedience. Those who are in this condition may search, strain,
and beat the air, but the admonition in Ephesians 2:1-3, is that he is a
child of disobedience. He is a child of disobedience because his Adamic
nature was passed down or imputed from Adam and everyone in Adam
is energized by Satan. Colossians 1:13, this scripture points to the fact
that a soul when saved is translated out of the power of darkness, in
which darkness it naturally dwells, 1 John 5:19. The world, including all
unbelievers, lieth in the wicked one. As the saved are in Christ and
secure, the unsaved lieth in the wicked one and are damned. When the
unsaved are saved it is from the curse of the law, Gal 3:13, from wrath,
1 Thess 5:9, John 3:36, from death, 2 Corinthians 7:10, and from
destruction, 2 Thess 1:9. We are standing behind an insurmountable
barrier with a sin laden old sin nature that cannot scale this undefined
and demanding separation between God and man. Nothing from the
old sin nature can please or be accepted by God. This deplorable
condition was imputed, or passed into our bodies, and we had nothing
to do with it. Our sin did not generate it, we were born with a full-
blown sin nature from Adam and that nature is within our bodies. We
produce sins because this Adamic nature was imputed at birth and
remains until death of the body. You may be thinking, then, I am not
responsible and you would be right. You are not responsible for the
imputation of the sin nature but that nature does not force you to sin,
you produce sins because you have this nature and by volition sin. The
devil didn’t make you do it and God didn’t make you do it. Let no man
say when his is tempted, I am tempted (tested) of God; for God cannot
be tempted with evil neither tempteth he any man; But every man is
tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. James
1:13-14. You ultimately choose to sin because it is your nature. So
where does this go or what is the impact of inheriting a sin nature and
then being personally responsible for committing sin from this nature.
Remember the word imputation? Yes, this is essential to know. It
means although the old sin nature was imputed and is the source of
personal sins, the personal sins are produced from this nature because
of your choices. You are not forced to commit sins. Of course, you do,
but each committed sin emanates from this old nature as a result of the
choices you make. When you say yes to a sin the sin nature obeys,
when you say no to sin, the sin nature, may not like it, but obeys. Your
yesses are obeyed by it and so are your no’s. A missionary was
practicing in a dark and newly planted field of evangelism in Africa and
was discussing the power of the old sin nature with a new believer. The
infant believer explained to the missionary he had found a way to slow
down the sins that were happening in his life. The missionary asked,
“just what have you discovered that has helped you do such a thing?”
“Well, he said, I think in me are two dogs, one white and one black,
they fight all time, never, never, stop!” “Amazing, said the missionary,
which one wins?” The native responded, “which one I say sick-em’ to!”
So, it is with our never quiet and noisy sin natures. One of my first
memory verses, addressed this problem. 1 Corinthians 10:13, There
hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man but God is
faithful who will not suffer, or allow you to be tempted above that
which you are able and will with the temptation make a way to escape
that you may be able to bear it. This scripture tells us God is aware we
are weak and that we will sin, but he has made a door through which
we may walk through when we are temped or under pressures inside
or outside our weak bodies. The door is there, and if we maintain a
constant vigil and become occupied with Jesus Christ, we can walk
through that door to victory over the corrupt old sin nature. Hebrews
12:1-3, seeing we also are surrounded by those who have gone on
before us, whether, prophets, priests, kings, deceased friends, loved
ones, or angels. Let me share the verses with you… “wherefore, seeing
we also are compassed about (surrounded) with so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily
beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy
that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is
set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him who
endured such contradiction of sinners, lest you be weary and faint in
your minds. Further, Gal 6:9, And let us not grow weary in well doing,
for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. We may become weary,
weak and may fall down, but we must avoid being a casualty on the
spiritual battlefield of life… if we fall down ten times, we must arise, get
up ten times, go forward as conquerors and not stay down as casualties
and victims. The old Scottish soldier, wounded on the battlefield and
dying, said… ‘lay me down and bleed awhile, I am wounded but not
slain, I shall rise to fight again’…and he did. Many years ago, as a
rebellious Sailor, I had been thrown into the brig (Navy Jail). I was
lonely, feeling abused, and isolated. Then, I received a short letter from
my precious Father, he needed only to express a few of his caring
words to me and I’d regather strength and go forward with renewed
confidence. On this occasion, his words pierced the inner sanctum of
my soul and light began to illuminate my pathway with hope and
possibility. The words are very simple but they were powerful “a quitter
never wins and a winner never quits.” I arose from my self-induced
penalties and advanced to the high ground of growth, production and
preparation for a better life. Thank God, the encouragement from my
dad helped me to see the old path was not a good example to follow, it
was rugged, slippery and well-worn with mistakes and heartache.
