Key Verse: "If God were your Father, you would love me,
for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but He sent
Me."
John 8:42
When you stop to think about it, this is an amazing
statement from our Lord. We are used to calling ourselves "sinners,"
and acknowledging that we, "sin," but do we really understand what
that means if we are apart from Christ?
We've done such a good job of white washing sin. We've
almost become Laissez-faire
about it. Yah, we do stuff we shouldn't, but then, we can just ask God for
forgiveness and it's all good again. No harm done and even if harm was done,
well, it's good that we have the cross to cling to right?
What if, when you sinned, however, you were called a
"child of the devil?" How would you like that? Would that help you to
think a little more seriously about your "sin?"
Jesus makes it very clear just how different we are from Him
in our natural state. We do not speak His language. We do not understand Him. We cannot even hear Him. We are not tuned
into His message. It's not just that our sin causes us to see Him through fun
house mirrors, but everything about us distorts how we see and hear and
experience Him. We are warped and defective receivers. We cannot function as we
were intended until we allow Christ to do the needed repairs, fixing our
brokenness so that we can be useful, through obedience, to Him.
Jesus calls the devil the "father of lies." (John
8:45), but his lies are attractive to sinners. The devil began by being jealous
of God and convincing himself that he could defeat Him. That was the original
lie and we fall prey to it when we refuse to let go of our way and let God
guide us into His.
Jesus calls the devil a "murderer, from the
beginning" (John 8:44) Satan plotted to get God out of the way so that he
could receive all that praise for himself. When he failed in his attempt, he
set out to ruin as much of what God had created as possible. When we see others
as obstacles, or Jesus as the obstacle to having our way, we do no better.
Remember what Jesus said back in the Sermon on the Mount. (Matt.
5:21-22) "I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother
will be subject to judgment." Who isn't guilty of acting like the devil at
one time or another?
"If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe Me?
He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that
you do not belong to God." (John 8:46b-47) This should help us consider
our sin more soberly. The apple truly doesn't fall far from the tree. Only
Jesus can pick it up and plant it in a new and better soil that will bear fruit
for Him. We resist this truth, constantly hoping for a way around it so that we
can fulfill our sinful desires and still have Jesus as our "get out of
jail free card," when we need Him. It doesn't work that way though in
God's kingdom. We are either for Him or against Him. There is no middle ground.
We are either Children of God or children of the devil. There is no third
parent to appeal too. It's just as simple as that.
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