“The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.” (Psa 23:1-3 NASB)
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Journal,
Here is the problem. While the angels of God continue with their nature intact, our spiritual nature and personal identity with God was displaced in the fall of Adam. We forfeited our unique relationship with all of creation. We actually lost something of the divine. We lost our glory and our majesty. (More on this later.)
I realize that the idea of humans having something of the divine is difficult to grasp. Yet a restoration of Adam’s lost glory is a very real part of God’s plan of redemption. And this restoration includes something of the divine nature.
Pay attention to these Scriptures (Caps for emphasis only):
“Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death HE MIGHT RENDER POWERLESS him who had the power of death, that is, THE DEVIL.” (Heb 2:14 NASB)
Again,
“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom3:23)
“For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, IN BRINGING MANY SONS TO GLORY, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren.” (Heb 2:10-11 NASB)
Jesus took to Himself the fallen human race. Satan’s authority over all humanity was
broken at the cross. From that moment on any person who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Calling on Jesus relates to His becoming Lord and Savior to the one calling on Him.)
But it doesn’t stop there. Peter gives additional insight:
“… seeing that His divine power has GRANTED TO US EVERYTHING PERTAINING TO LIFE AND GODLINESS, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
“For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, SO THAT BY THEM YOU MAY BECOME PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE, Having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.” (2Pe 1:3-4 NASB)
That which was lost in the fall of Adam, has been restored in Jesus Christ.
Note the two things restored:
- We once again have a share in the divine nature.
- Everything that pertains to life and godliness has been granted to all believers.
The point is that Satan was able to take advantage of Adam’s fallen state and build his earthly kingdom around this aspect of disrepair. Satan is called the god of this world, the ruler of this world, the prince of the power of the air, and the authority of ‘the domain of darkness.’ All that changed with the coming of Jesus Christ.
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The two kinds of humans…
So now there actually are two kinds of humans on this planet. You have the ‘in Adam’ human. And you have the ‘in Christ’ human. Those who are in Christ, have turned to Jesus Christ as their own Lord and Savior. They belong to a new creation. Those who have not turned to Jesus still yet belong to the old creation. They are still under Satan’s jurisdiction.
Listen to these Scriptures that describe the two kinds of humans on planet earth today:
“[We all] formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
“Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were BY NATURE CHILDREN OF WRATH, even as the rest.” (Eph2:2,3)
Here is the description of those who have turned to Jesus Christ:
“For we are [God’s] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we would walk in them.” (Eph2:10)
And again,
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature, the old things passed away, new things have come.” (2Co5:17)
See the distinction of natures?
You have humans in disrepair and you have humans who have been restored to their proper nature and in right relationship with God.
The unregenerate human has in himself the nature of wrath, which, in turn, is aroused by the working of the powers of darkness.
As for the repaired one, again we hear,
“For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And those who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.”(Gal6:15,16)
Once the human nature has been repaired this brings the principle of godliness back in place, and that which most closely relates to the divine. We now have a heart that is very much like God’s heart.
This does not mean that the repaired Christian cannot sin. No person on this planet has as sensitive a conscience as that of a person who has been born again. It is the nature of a Christian to seek cleansing from sin.
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I’ll be your father…
With that being said let’s take a closer look at the believer’s new status with God. Jesus said,
“The thief [Satan’s environs and activities] comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (Jn10:10)
The true believer is born from above. When a person is born from above their human nature has undergone a spiritual repair, and is in the process of being restored to its proper purpose.
The born again person is now a very child of God. The child of God once again has something of the divine within him. He belongs to the family of God.
I have a Christian brother who was raised in a fatherless home. His heart ached for the need of his father. His mother did the best she could with her three children but the void was still there. This brother often shared with me a major healing point in his life. One day while in prayer over his life, the Lord spoke these words into his heart, ‘I’ll be your Father.’
The heavenly Father spoke life to him. This is what Jesus meant when he said,
“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the word that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” (John 6:63)
Through our journey in this world, the Lord gives us life words. He speaks to us as our Father. But He also brings healing where healing is needed.
Repairing the broken…
The disrepair of our humanity can only be corrected one way. It is found in the working principle of the cross. Jesus alone is the One who repairs us. It is to Him alone that we bring our broken humanity. It is to Him that we make our appeal to His Lordship and to His saving grace. This is why the true apostolic message never changes, which says,
“And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved [repaired].”
The word salvation [soteria] in Greek speaks of preservation and deliverance. The word ‘save’ [sozo] means, to bring safely, get well, to restore, etc.
Listen to angel’s message to Joseph concerning Mary having a Son:
“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” (Mark 1:21)
Being saved from our sins is not a one time event. It is the maxim of the cross. Being saved from our sins is a process of life. The Lord saved us, He is saving us, He will save us. Jesus came to save us from all our sins, past, present and future.
The writer of Hebrews said it this way:
“…but He, have offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God.” (Heb10:12)
Let’s carry this further. Even our moments of repentance are workings of the Holy Spirit. The very word repentance in the Greek includes an idea of a moral conquest of the mind. (Result of conviction.) We change our minds about the path we’ve lived, and we turn to Jesus as Lord and Savior. Every bit of this involves our thinking.
The Greek word for repentance is metanoeo: Meta denotes a change of place or condition, and, noeo, meaning to exercise the mind, to think, to comprehend. Repentance involves regret or sorrow, accompanied by a change of heart toward God. It implies pious sorrow for unbelief and sin and turning from those things, to God and the gospel of Christ. This sorrow is produced in us by the Spirit of the Lord. Thus we have this continual renewing of our spiritual life in place.
“He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.” (Tit 3:5 NASB)
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Made a little lower than God…
Here is the Scripture that troubles some folk:
“What is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, and You crown him with glory and majesty!” (Psa 8:4-5 NASB)
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