The Sin of Man
Posted by Edison Macusi on Thursday, May 26, 2011
Under: Word for the week
“The
man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the
Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand
them, because they are spiritually discerned.” I Corinthians 2:14
In the last chapter we discussed that the seed of the anti-Christ will not come emblazoned with his head flashing a word “antichrist” or his office affixed with a plaque “Beast.” The Scripture refers to this personification of the sin of man as the “man of sin,” or the “antichrist,” who is prophesied to come and dominate the world for a time. It is not only futile to keep on guessing who this man might be or from which place he will come from unless we so understand also the fundamental characteristic that this man embodies.
Today a lot of the fanatics who write books and keeps on guessing the number or the name of this man might actually be affected themselves by this anti-Christ spirit. As written in the Scriptures, his name is unknown and his number simply given as that of man. However we are not left in the dark concerning the characteristics of this personification of the sin of man so that we can also avoid becoming a part of his kingdom or being ruled by him. After the fall of Adam and Eve, the Lord spoke to the serpent that he will eat dust all the days of his life and that the two seeds will continue to propagate upon man, those who will be of the nature of Christ and those who will be of the nature of the serpent.
The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” Genesis 3:14-15 (NASB)
Cain and Abel fundamentally reflect these seeds and their predicted enmity. Cain is of the nature of the serpent who was the first born son of the type of the first man, Adam. He was of the earth, “a tiller of the ground” (Genesis 4:2). This typically characterizes those who are of the seed of Cain, the “earthly minded.” These are those who dwell on living for themselves, ungrateful, lovers of money and pleasures, boastful, arrogant, proud and disobedient. Everyone who is not born of the Spirit and washed by the blood is typically of this sort.
Indeed, the Lord qualified clearly that those who are not born again cannot see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3). Just as the curse upon the serpent to crawl on his belly forces him to conform to the contour of the earth, so his seed is confined to the natural realm “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (I Corinthians 2:14). This is our condition until this curse is removed in Christ. As we receive the Lord Jesus Christ and He becomes our Lord and Savior, our eyes are opened to behold His Kingdom. Each time we obey Him and follow His commands, each time we keep on walking with Him, we are walking in heavenly places and become less and less subject to this fallen nature.
Those who are descendants of Cain are not so, they continue to worship the idols, the work of men’s hands and to sacrifice in their restricted vision. As the Lord spoke to the Samaritan woman, those who worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth, and not on high places, not on mountains or rivers, not on buildings or relics. God calls the true worshippers to come and worship Him in spirit and in truth, that is, those who so love the Lord will not only be born again but also walk in the integrity of their hearts.
On the other hand, the earthly minded will focus on building their kingdom and empire on earth because their limited vision is tied on the countours of this earth. This will ultimately culminate in self-worship which is why the anti-Christ, who is a man, will one day come and “He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God” (II Thessalonians 2:4).
Indeed through this man of sin, we see how pitiful we really are outside Christ Jesus. Our very nature when we were born was indeed fallen, we have been shaped in iniquity as David said. But we are thankful for the most profound grace that Christ has given to us through the cross, for being reborn in Him. By this revelation we also see how utterly despicable our works and sacrifices are, and truly, these are but rags without Christ, they are useless in keeping us away from becoming a man of perdition. Unless the Lord had mercy, we were forsaken indeed.
Therefore it is frivolous to know and search how the mark of the beast will come so that they can try to avoid this mark without having been reborn in Christ. Every person outside Jesus Christ will fail terribly to resist the mark of the beast when in fact they have been living like the beast. Although many men have tried to understand concerning the mark of the beast, it is folly to do so when they are partaking of the spirit of the beast everyday!
There is no cover and salvation from the beast outside Ark of Christ. Only those who are sealed as His bondservants will be free from the curse of the mark because these have proven their service to the Lord by dying everyday to their self-will and living for the Lord. One cannot really be free from the curse of the mark when we are of the very nature of the beast. This seal or mark of the beast will be far more subtle and could never be refused by people who have been worshipping the beast through their self-will and rebellion from God.
In the last chapter we discussed that the seed of the anti-Christ will not come emblazoned with his head flashing a word “antichrist” or his office affixed with a plaque “Beast.” The Scripture refers to this personification of the sin of man as the “man of sin,” or the “antichrist,” who is prophesied to come and dominate the world for a time. It is not only futile to keep on guessing who this man might be or from which place he will come from unless we so understand also the fundamental characteristic that this man embodies.
Today a lot of the fanatics who write books and keeps on guessing the number or the name of this man might actually be affected themselves by this anti-Christ spirit. As written in the Scriptures, his name is unknown and his number simply given as that of man. However we are not left in the dark concerning the characteristics of this personification of the sin of man so that we can also avoid becoming a part of his kingdom or being ruled by him. After the fall of Adam and Eve, the Lord spoke to the serpent that he will eat dust all the days of his life and that the two seeds will continue to propagate upon man, those who will be of the nature of Christ and those who will be of the nature of the serpent.
The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” Genesis 3:14-15 (NASB)
Cain and Abel fundamentally reflect these seeds and their predicted enmity. Cain is of the nature of the serpent who was the first born son of the type of the first man, Adam. He was of the earth, “a tiller of the ground” (Genesis 4:2). This typically characterizes those who are of the seed of Cain, the “earthly minded.” These are those who dwell on living for themselves, ungrateful, lovers of money and pleasures, boastful, arrogant, proud and disobedient. Everyone who is not born of the Spirit and washed by the blood is typically of this sort.
Indeed, the Lord qualified clearly that those who are not born again cannot see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3). Just as the curse upon the serpent to crawl on his belly forces him to conform to the contour of the earth, so his seed is confined to the natural realm “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (I Corinthians 2:14). This is our condition until this curse is removed in Christ. As we receive the Lord Jesus Christ and He becomes our Lord and Savior, our eyes are opened to behold His Kingdom. Each time we obey Him and follow His commands, each time we keep on walking with Him, we are walking in heavenly places and become less and less subject to this fallen nature.
Those who are descendants of Cain are not so, they continue to worship the idols, the work of men’s hands and to sacrifice in their restricted vision. As the Lord spoke to the Samaritan woman, those who worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth, and not on high places, not on mountains or rivers, not on buildings or relics. God calls the true worshippers to come and worship Him in spirit and in truth, that is, those who so love the Lord will not only be born again but also walk in the integrity of their hearts.
On the other hand, the earthly minded will focus on building their kingdom and empire on earth because their limited vision is tied on the countours of this earth. This will ultimately culminate in self-worship which is why the anti-Christ, who is a man, will one day come and “He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God” (II Thessalonians 2:4).
Indeed through this man of sin, we see how pitiful we really are outside Christ Jesus. Our very nature when we were born was indeed fallen, we have been shaped in iniquity as David said. But we are thankful for the most profound grace that Christ has given to us through the cross, for being reborn in Him. By this revelation we also see how utterly despicable our works and sacrifices are, and truly, these are but rags without Christ, they are useless in keeping us away from becoming a man of perdition. Unless the Lord had mercy, we were forsaken indeed.
Therefore it is frivolous to know and search how the mark of the beast will come so that they can try to avoid this mark without having been reborn in Christ. Every person outside Jesus Christ will fail terribly to resist the mark of the beast when in fact they have been living like the beast. Although many men have tried to understand concerning the mark of the beast, it is folly to do so when they are partaking of the spirit of the beast everyday!
There is no cover and salvation from the beast outside Ark of Christ. Only those who are sealed as His bondservants will be free from the curse of the mark because these have proven their service to the Lord by dying everyday to their self-will and living for the Lord. One cannot really be free from the curse of the mark when we are of the very nature of the beast. This seal or mark of the beast will be far more subtle and could never be refused by people who have been worshipping the beast through their self-will and rebellion from God.
In : Word for the week
Tags: the sin of man
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