Monday, July 20, 2015

Devotion: Morally Corrupt And Spiritually Dead


Recently we spoke about being born again.  In that commentary, we mentioned that once we were spiritually dead, meaning we were completely alienated and separated from God.  We were what was referred to as being “sin conscious.”  You see, when man was first created, he was created in a state of innocence and very much dependent on God.  At that time, he was “spiritually and morally innocent and without sin.”  Even though man was created “fully-grown,” he was just a baby in reality.  Man had little to no reason to doubt what God said, although he really did not understand what it all might have meant.  Developmentally, he could not progress beyond what God had instilled in him.  By definition, man had no moral sense of right or wrong—he had no conscience.

When developing their consciousness, children have little to no awareness of their moral compass.  They have a hard time understanding the consequences their actions may bring.  We can actually relate man’s mental state at the time of creation to that of the child that wants to touch the hot stove eye but is told not to.  Because the child lacks understanding, it is not until the child commits the forbidden act that he or she becomes aware of any consequences.  The same can be said about man when he ate of the forbidden fruit; he became aware of the consequences for his action.  We know that man’s eyes were opened and that he became fully aware of things that he was not aware of before (Genesis 3:7).  We also know that he has obtained the knowledge of good and evil, something that he did not have before (Genesis 3:22).  We trust that you can see the similarities between the two.

In addition to his newfound knowledge of and awareness to good and evil, man has now become “a new creature.”  Here is what we mean by “new creature.”  We know initially man was created “spiritually and morally innocent,” without a sense of right and wrong—without a conscience.  Man was then given one commandment, “not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:16-17).  At the same time, he is given one consequence, “in the day that you eat of the tree, you will surely die.”  For whatever reason, man eats of the tree, and in eating of the tree, man disobeys God’s commandment, gains the knowledge of good and evil, and changes his nature.

Let’s just say, man started with a “sinless nature,” but when he ate of the forbidden fruit, his “sinless nature” changed from a state of innocence and dependency on God to an entirely different state and one of being cut off from God.  Man now has “a fixed moral nature in sin” instead of “a nature that is fixed in righteousness.”  He now knows good but is unable to do it and he knows evil but is unable to resist it.  Man was told that he would “surely die” and die he did.  Typically, we associate death with a separation from the physical body.  Death is also associated with a separation from God or what is known as “spiritual death.”  Is it conceivable that man could have known of this type of death, much less understood it when he disobeyed the commandment?  Now that is something to ponder.

Man has now become “a new creation, a new creature, if you will.  He has changed his original nature from a sinless state to a new nature that is fixed in a sinful state.  Man has now become “sin conscious” and can no longer be considered “morally and spiritually innocent.”  Man has become “morally corrupt and spiritually dead.”  He is “morally corrupt” because he knows good but is unable to do it and he knows evil but is unable to resist it.  He is “spiritually dead” because he has alienated and separated himself from God, severing his spiritual connection with God.  He also started to die physically, as in his spirit and soul started separating from his body.

At the moment of disobedience, everything changed for man and the world that God had created.  And while many have placed the blame on both, it was clearly because of what the man did that the change happened.  So, at the moment of disobedience, sin entered into the world because of “the one man” (Romans 5:12).  And when sin came into the world, death hitched a ride.  For through sin came death and it, death, was spread throughout the entire world and was passed to every man.  And because of “the one man,” we have “a fixed moral nature in sin.”  But not to worry, the story does not end there.

May today’s inspirational message bless you, inform you, and open to you, revelation knowledge.  If blessed by this message, please share so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW


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