The Journey To Rediscovery - Part 2 of 3

As humans, we all enter the Earth realm as the reproduction of a corrupted seed (read Part 1).  We are literally born into an inheritance of sin that's just as influential as being born into a family with "old money."  That's right!  We come here inheriting the sinful estate of Adam in that, given any combination of factors and circumstances presented, we ALL are capable of manifesting ANY form of ungodly behavior, whether rooted in perversions, addictions, dishonesty, etc.  Born as unrighteous seed, we--even young children, as innocent and impressionable as they may seem--are fully capable of engaging in sinful behavior without being taught how to behave in such ways.

When told, for example, NOT to eat the cookies in the jar, a so-called innocent child will go into the cookie jar anyway (because s/he likes cookies) and furthermore lie about doing so when, after the fact, asked about the missing goodies.  Question: WHO taught that innocent little child to do such an evil thing? The reality of this situation is that NO ONE taught the child to do this because the child came into the world a sinner capable of engaging in evil behavior.  When merely presented the opportunity to yield to temptation, the intangible capability to sin that was already in the child visibly manifested itself in the choice made to behave thusly.  And so life goes: as Satan provides us opportunity and chance, we grow up progressively manifesting one sinful behavior after another, until the love of Christ finds us ready to accept Him as the way back to GOD, the Father, and the righteousness that has been made available for us.

Sadly, we let the world entrap us into believing in humanity's inherent goodness and how we can't possibly be evil by nature. BUT WE ARE!  Even believers may find it hard to accept as real and true that humans can, by nature, be so bad.  This can be particularly difficult when one has been led to believe that humans are created and/or born in the nature and likeness of GOD.  But check this: just because individuals choose to NOT do "certain" evil things, that in no way means we are completely incapable of doing evil.  Because, if the truth be told, none us know what we would do if put into those "certain" situations.

Even if we were to flip the script and approach this notion from a post resurrection point of view, according to 2 Corinthians 5:17, we are NEW creatures in Christ.  If the new creature is characterized by its possession of the nature and character of GOD, what then would be so new about us if we were born into the earth realm ALREADY possessing these GOD-characteristics? Romans 12:2 further paints a clear picture that humanity's conformity to this world's culture diametrically opposes the transformation that overcomes the influence of sin as the mind is renewed by the Word of GOD.

You see, it is not until we are born again by the Word of GOD--that incorruptible seed referenced in 1 Peter 1:23--that the influence of our sinful inheritance is broken.  We, through the new birth, take on the image and likeness of GOD as a result of our spirit man being quickened (or made alive).  Moreover, eternal salvation through Christ--the second Adam--births us into an inheritance of righteousness that is FAR more influentual than the sin inherited from the first Adam.  As great a news as this is, herein lies the catch: our members didn't get the memo.

Up until the new birth, our souls and bodies lived entirely under the influence of sin and expertly learned a way of living that counters the culture of GOD.  Our patterns of thought, choice, speech and behavior PRIOR to receiving the atonement of Christ were totally influenced by a culture of darkness that opposes GOD's way of doing things.  And let's be honest: it was comfortable for us, we had plenty of fun and enjoyed not being accountable to anyone.  Therefore, sanctification is required that we might find comfort, joy and freedom in our new GOD-centered lifestyle.

Hopefully, you were blessed by this post and were able to gain greater understanding of the journey to rediscovering who were, are and are becoming.  But there's more...  Go read the third and final installment of this blog series.