The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"The Will of One"
If ever we wonder why so much conflict characterizes human experience, whether individually or corporately, Genesis 3 provides the answer.
"But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:3-5).
"Gods" make their own rules. They live by their own spiritual life and moral code. Or at least they attempt to do so in their delusion of being as gods. Thus, human beings descended from Adam vibrantly graced with physical life, but sadly devoid of the spiritual life that leads to peace with God and others. As the Apostle Paul wrote of Jewish and Gentile believers, formerly in mortal conflict, but redeemed to walking heart in heart with their Lord and each other:
"For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in Himself of twain one new man, so making peace" (Ephesians 2:14-15)
"Ye must be born again" declared the Lord Jesus Christ to the Pharisee, Nicodemus (John 3:1-20 ). Nicodemus had come to the Lord seeking to be taught. "We know that Thou art a teacher come from God." The Lord changed the framework of the conversation. Nicodemus did not require education at this point in his existence. He needed life. He needed life from Above, known only when we reject the "be as gods" delusion of our first birth, and embrace the "trust in God" deliverance of the second. This is true of every human being. We must be born again by grace through faith, which results in peace with God and a life as lived by His presence, provision, power, and guidance. "Christ is our life… To live is Christ" (Colossians 3:4; Philippians 1:21).
Such peace with our Heavenly Father leads to peace with all others who have known His grace in the Lord Jesus. Indeed, our love for each other becomes possible when we seek not our own will, but the will of One. Conversely, deluded "gods" will always exist in conflict because they all believe themselves capable of establishing a spirituality and morality of their own devising. Nothing could be further from the truth. Sadly, however, nothing could be closer to the heart for a human race that long ago believed the deception of a liar rather than the truth of One who "cannot lie" (Titus 1:2). Little wonder that we must be born again by receiving God's grace through faith in the Lord Jesus. And little wonder that this Prince of peace leads us to peace. He Himself lived an earthly lifetime in which He showed us that tranquility in a human heart comes only by trusting and submitting to the will of One…
"I came down from Heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me."
(John 6:38)
"I do always those things that please Him."
(John 8:29)
Weekly Memory Verse
He is thy life.
(Deuteronomy 30:20)
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