Sunday, May 1, 2011

Dummies



Gen 3:22a "Then the Lord God said: 'Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil.'"



Dummies. Adam and Eve had it all. Innocence. Guiltlessness. No shame. Unlimited access to all the food they could ever want. A great place to live. An easy life. Total communion with each other. Total communion with God. This was it. This was the life. They did not need anything more but apparently they did not believe that. They wanted more. They wanted to have all of the knowledge that God had. They wanted to be like God.



Interesting. This is the same place Lucifer was. He wanted to be like God and in his stupid prideful desire he lost it all too. So, why not bring this new creation that God made down with you? Give them the same desire that you had. Make them want to be like God so they can fall as well. And this is exactly what happened. Dummies.



So instead of innocence they had guilt. Instead of no shame they had shame. Instead of unlimited access to all the food they could ever want and a great place to live they got tossed from the garden. Instead of an easy life they had pain in childbirth and hard work. Instead of total communion with each other and God they had separation. And now death entered the picture. Dummies.



They did, however, gain one thing. A conscience. They became like God in that they now knew good and evil. They knew right from wrong. They inherently had this new inner sense of what was good and what was bad…and they could not get away from it. And guess what? Neither can we. Not only have we been made in God's image in that we have a body, mind and spirit…but now we have this internal compass. And with this internal compass we have no excuse. We have no excuse to act the way we do. We have no excuse for the words that come out of our mouths. We have no excuse for the garbage we think about.



Our problem, though, is we can't overcome the draw to do what is wrong. As my Pastor says, if I am left up to my own devices, I will go South every time. We are, by nature, Dummies. That is why I need a Savior. I need someone who will recalibrate my compass. I need someone who will give me the power to overcome evil and do good. I need someone who will cover my sin. Adam and Eve needed it. They needed a covering and God provided it in that He killed an animal to cover them with skins. He shed blood to give them a sense of innocence again. And He did that with the ultimate sacrifice of His Son as well. Now my sin is covered. My shame is gone. My life is renewed. My communion with God is restored. And my conscience? Man, it is heightened.



No longer to be a Dummy.



Footnote: (A little tip in raising children: Appeal to their conscience. They have one. They internally know right from wrong. I used to tell my girls: "Do what's right." Why? Because they knew the right thing to do.



These stupid people who are in favor of abortion and the killing of innocent children. Dummies. These stupid people who push athiesm. Dummies. These stupid leaders in our country who encourage ungodly practices. Dummies. These stupid leaders in Iran and Syria and other countries who encourage terrorism. Dummies. All these people have consciences. They all know right from wrong but they choose the wrong anyway. They are all Dummies. They all, we all need Jesus to recalibrate our hearts and minds and bring life. God please do it.)

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