The Original Sin
Lately the Lord has been dealing with me about humility. I'm currently reading a book: Humility and Absolute Surrender by Andrew Murray. It is a wonderful book. I highly recommend it for everyone.
The Original Sin
The first occurrence of something in the Bible is usually significant. What about sin? What was the original sin? Many would consider it as the sin of Adam, but was that really the first? Wasn't there a sin that preceded Adam and Eve's? The Bible is not laid out in a strictly sequential order. Adam and Eve eat of the apple in Genesis chapter 3, and that surely is the first sin encountered reading the Bible from front to back, but there is another sin mentioned, which takes place prior to theirs:
Isaiah 14:12-15
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.
When Adam and Eve were created, sin already existed in the world. Lucifer exalted himself as like God. He put himself on a level with God, an equal with God. He was filled with pride, thought himself to be 'like the most High' and thereby committed the first, the original sin. A third of the angels followed him. He then enticed Eve with the same seduction by which he fell:
Genesis 3:1-5
Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (2) And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: (3) But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. (4) And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: (5) For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Notice the similarity in what Satan thought to himself: I will be like the most high and what he enticed Eve with: ye shall be as gods. Satan was offering Eve the same pride filled illusion that he craved.
In Eve's acceptance of his offer, the unholy spirit of Satan entered into her. His spirit knew her before she had known any man and in this way, the merging of Satan's unholy spirit and her sinless-virginal flesh, then give birth to the terrible troubles and sorrowful downfall of man. What an interesting parallel we have between the occasion of the downfall of Eve and that occasion of Mary's acceptance of the Holy Spirit of God entering into her, and by that most divine union now making possible the redemption of man. . .
It is obvious then that pride, is doubly the foundation for all sin which followed, first in Satan and then in Eve. It therefore is necessary that we pay great attention to pride and for us to have an understanding of it within ourselves.
Matthew 18:3
And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Can we deny that this is an important statement? If you are not changed and become childlike, you are not getting into the kingdom of heaven. I want to get into the kingdom of heaven, therefore I must have an understanding of what Jesus is saying here. What is it about a child that we are to imitate? Following in the same line as the error of Nicodemus questions to Jesus about rebirth, we cannot grow small in stature. That cannot be what is meant. We cannot artificially put on amnesia and unlearn that which we've experienced in life. What is it about a child that we are to emulate? In what way are we are to remake ourselves? We cannot have the physical features of a child. We must have in some manner the spirit of a child. A child is not prideful. A child is humble. The little ones are not concerned with ego or pretense. Children in their innocence are transparent, without guile. A child will ask you why your nose is so big or why you have such a big belly or why so many wrinkles are on your face. In their innocence they are what they are. They have nothing. They have no false facade. . .and only those like them will enter into his kingdom. . .
Likewise:
Matthew 25:34-40
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: (35) For I was hungry, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: (36) Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. (37) Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? (38) When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? (39) Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? (40) And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
The servant is lower than the served. Jesus illustrated that by serving the disciples by washing their feet. We are humble when we have little. We are humble when we serve those who have little or nothing. The less we have, the more humble we are. the more Godlike we are, until when we have nothing we are then the equated by Jesus as being same as Him. He is with us in our lack. . .Do you want to draw as near as you can to Jesus? Give all you have to the poor. His words, then you will have perfection. . .
Matthew 19:21
Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
What is more important than humility? We rightly place importance on holiness, but in perspective, of what value is holiness without humility? If we have pride and are holy, or possibly even worse, are proud because we are holy, of what is it then worth? Its value is nothing and even less than nothing, for that is a definition of a Pharisee. They wore their adherence to the rules, their pride in cleanliness and proper behavior, was as wounding as a weapon. Their pride, their holiness was a sword by the use of which they killed their longed for Messiah. We must be cautious. The Pharisee's had faith. The Pharisee's had holiness. They believed they had righteousness, but their pride. . .their lack of humility cast a long shadow, it corrupted everything.
In our righteousness and holiness, we can be infected and never know. Pride is so very subtle above other sin, much like the serpent that beguiled Eve. A serpent writhes upon the ground, in a false imitation of humility, but not all that crawls in the dirt is humble. The humbled have come to ground from loftier elevations. A serpent cannot aspire to the clouds. That which is of the devil cannot rise above the dirt and filth.
Matthew 23:12
And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
Therefore using this verse as our guide. What ever we use to lift ourselves up, then must be infected with pride and will end up bringing us lower. The snake offers that for us to use which seems to lift us above our fellow man, but will in the end bring us down to his level. He aspired to be on the same level with God. As a result of that attempt to exalt himself, he was cursed to endlessly grovel in the dirt. . .
All of these things are new awakenings to me. I must admit that I have not given the importance to humility that is its due. . .
I love you my God. . .
Thank you for loving me my God. . .
Dave
The Original Sin
The first occurrence of something in the Bible is usually significant. What about sin? What was the original sin? Many would consider it as the sin of Adam, but was that really the first? Wasn't there a sin that preceded Adam and Eve's? The Bible is not laid out in a strictly sequential order. Adam and Eve eat of the apple in Genesis chapter 3, and that surely is the first sin encountered reading the Bible from front to back, but there is another sin mentioned, which takes place prior to theirs:
Isaiah 14:12-15
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.
When Adam and Eve were created, sin already existed in the world. Lucifer exalted himself as like God. He put himself on a level with God, an equal with God. He was filled with pride, thought himself to be 'like the most High' and thereby committed the first, the original sin. A third of the angels followed him. He then enticed Eve with the same seduction by which he fell:
Genesis 3:1-5
Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (2) And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: (3) But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. (4) And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: (5) For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Notice the similarity in what Satan thought to himself: I will be like the most high and what he enticed Eve with: ye shall be as gods. Satan was offering Eve the same pride filled illusion that he craved.
In Eve's acceptance of his offer, the unholy spirit of Satan entered into her. His spirit knew her before she had known any man and in this way, the merging of Satan's unholy spirit and her sinless-virginal flesh, then give birth to the terrible troubles and sorrowful downfall of man. What an interesting parallel we have between the occasion of the downfall of Eve and that occasion of Mary's acceptance of the Holy Spirit of God entering into her, and by that most divine union now making possible the redemption of man. . .
It is obvious then that pride, is doubly the foundation for all sin which followed, first in Satan and then in Eve. It therefore is necessary that we pay great attention to pride and for us to have an understanding of it within ourselves.
Matthew 18:3
And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Can we deny that this is an important statement? If you are not changed and become childlike, you are not getting into the kingdom of heaven. I want to get into the kingdom of heaven, therefore I must have an understanding of what Jesus is saying here. What is it about a child that we are to imitate? Following in the same line as the error of Nicodemus questions to Jesus about rebirth, we cannot grow small in stature. That cannot be what is meant. We cannot artificially put on amnesia and unlearn that which we've experienced in life. What is it about a child that we are to emulate? In what way are we are to remake ourselves? We cannot have the physical features of a child. We must have in some manner the spirit of a child. A child is not prideful. A child is humble. The little ones are not concerned with ego or pretense. Children in their innocence are transparent, without guile. A child will ask you why your nose is so big or why you have such a big belly or why so many wrinkles are on your face. In their innocence they are what they are. They have nothing. They have no false facade. . .and only those like them will enter into his kingdom. . .
Likewise:
Matthew 25:34-40
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: (35) For I was hungry, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: (36) Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. (37) Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? (38) When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? (39) Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? (40) And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
The servant is lower than the served. Jesus illustrated that by serving the disciples by washing their feet. We are humble when we have little. We are humble when we serve those who have little or nothing. The less we have, the more humble we are. the more Godlike we are, until when we have nothing we are then the equated by Jesus as being same as Him. He is with us in our lack. . .Do you want to draw as near as you can to Jesus? Give all you have to the poor. His words, then you will have perfection. . .
Matthew 19:21
Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
What is more important than humility? We rightly place importance on holiness, but in perspective, of what value is holiness without humility? If we have pride and are holy, or possibly even worse, are proud because we are holy, of what is it then worth? Its value is nothing and even less than nothing, for that is a definition of a Pharisee. They wore their adherence to the rules, their pride in cleanliness and proper behavior, was as wounding as a weapon. Their pride, their holiness was a sword by the use of which they killed their longed for Messiah. We must be cautious. The Pharisee's had faith. The Pharisee's had holiness. They believed they had righteousness, but their pride. . .their lack of humility cast a long shadow, it corrupted everything.
In our righteousness and holiness, we can be infected and never know. Pride is so very subtle above other sin, much like the serpent that beguiled Eve. A serpent writhes upon the ground, in a false imitation of humility, but not all that crawls in the dirt is humble. The humbled have come to ground from loftier elevations. A serpent cannot aspire to the clouds. That which is of the devil cannot rise above the dirt and filth.
Matthew 23:12
And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
Therefore using this verse as our guide. What ever we use to lift ourselves up, then must be infected with pride and will end up bringing us lower. The snake offers that for us to use which seems to lift us above our fellow man, but will in the end bring us down to his level. He aspired to be on the same level with God. As a result of that attempt to exalt himself, he was cursed to endlessly grovel in the dirt. . .
All of these things are new awakenings to me. I must admit that I have not given the importance to humility that is its due. . .
I love you my God. . .
Thank you for loving me my God. . .
Dave
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