There are a whole host of sins we could enumerate and list, but let’s talk about the commonality of all sins. To do that, let’s just take one as an example—perhaps one not too controversial. Let’s look at disobedience.

Disobedience: can that really be so egregious? Everyone does it, so can it really be that bad? Don’t worry. I’m not trying to take you down a guilt trip, but to make a point that I think is really important.

So, let’s go all the way back to the first disobedience: And the LORD God commanded the man [Adam], saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gn 2:16-17).

First, let’s not try and make their disobedience worse than our disobedience. There is no grading system for disobedience. One disobedience is not worse than another. The Bible states, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man [Adam], and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Ro 5:12). Was there something special about this particular fruit which God told Adam and Eve not to eat? The Bible doesn’t say, but probably not. This was a test of obedience, not about protecting a special type of fruit endued with special powers. Yet, this one act became so much more. Why? This was the first sin to be committed, and one was all it took.

What was at the root of disobedience? Pride. This is the opposite of humility. Humility leads to obedience. Pride leads to disobedience: “In his pride, the wicked man does not seek him; in all his thoughts, there is no room for God” (Ps 10:4). In addition, disobedience equates to rebellion. That sounds rather drastic, I know. Could it be true? Well, what was God’s picture of Adam’s disobedience?

God offered Adam a theocratic rule. Adam rejected it. He put himself before God and lost his kingdom. How do we know this? “Again, the devil took him [Jesus] to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me’” (Mt 4:7-8). Jesus didn’t say Satan was wrong to offer such to him. He just stated one should worship God only. Thereby, God equated Adam’s disobedience to an act of rebellion against Him. So, you see, it was certainly egregious in God’s eyes.

What is rebellion? It is an act of putting into practice what is already in one’s heart. Rebellion comes from disobedience which comes from pride.

Adam’s sin was a heart problem. And, really, all sin is a heart problem. The Bible is pretty clear on this fact:

·       Impure sacrifices equated to disobedience/rebellion – (Am 5:21)

·       Murder equated to anger in one’s heart (Mt 5:21-22)

·       Adultery equated to lust in one’s heart (Mt 5:28).

If you make a list of any number of sins, I think you would have to agree that what is common to all, and what is at the root of each, is pride.

Pride is a heart condition. The Bible is clear on this as well. It states, “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end, it leads to death” (Pr 14:12). Without the Holy Spirit leading us, we cannot judge our actions properly: “The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God” (Ro 8:7-8).

We cannot come to God on our own. Pleasing him or trying to change on our own is impossible. True, long-lasting change can only occur after we come to Him: “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hb 11:6). We can’t put the cart before the horse. We can’t change or please God before we accept what He has done for us: “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jr 17:9); “Jesus answered, ‘No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day’” (Jn 6:44); “When he [Holy Spirit] comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment” (Jn 16:9).

Our hope of change is impossible unless we yield to the pull and encouragement of the Holy Spirit who leads us to Christ and accept, through faith, that his death and resurrection is the hope for our future – we rely upon what He did for us and not on our own merit: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2Co 5:17). Being different is a result from, and expectation of, the Holy Spirit guiding us: “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin” (Ro 6:1, 6-7).

Our lasting change can only come about after the Holy Spirit indwells us. He begins to change our desire. Internal changes manifest themselves in outward changes: “So, then I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin” (Ro 7:25b).

Even after becoming a Christian, there is a struggle to keep God’s standard.: “The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ” (1Co 2:15-16).

So, all this talk makes our situation seem almost hopeless, doesn’t it? Well, it is if we try to solve it on our own. Next time, we’ll look at hope and how important that is for us. Can hope be tangible? Stay tuned, and we’ll find out together.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Unfortunately, life in the Millennium will also have a sad side. Hard to believe, but there will be many born who grow up and refuse to put their faith in their King. They will think Him cruel because they can’t do as they please.

A thousand years is a long time, but it is still a finite time. It will one day come to an end. It will be both exciting and solemn. Exciting because even better things await. Also, somber, because Satan will be released into the world again (Rv 20:7-8).

When Satan is released, he will likely be headquartered back in Babylon (Mi 5:5-6), back where his initial plan for world domination began with Nimrod (Gn 10:8-12, 11:1-9). Over time, it will look like he is becoming very successful. He will accumulate hundreds of thousands of individuals from all the nations (Rv 20:8). As he does today, Satan once again appeals to mankind’s vanity and human nature, and they believe a lie (Ro 1:25). Satan takes their pride and seals it with his own.

It is possible that this phase of Satan’s recruitment will go on for several years, due to the number of recruits he finally manages to obtain. More than likely, he will go to many of the towns throughout the world and tell lies, or likely twisted half-truths, against the Messiah. This continues until, as scriptures state, the number following Satan could no longer be numbered (Rv 20:8).

However, the King will not be entirely complacent, and true to His character, will make a final plea to all those who follow Satan. The King sends out leaders throughout the nations to rally His people to evangelize and to take back as much territory as possible (Mi 5:5-15). They find the Messiah’s name is a force unequal to any weapon. No one will be able stand against it; however, each person still holds the key to their own heart. Not resisting and surrendering are two different things. Control of Satan’s homeland, Assyria, will be taken (Mi 5:6). It is likely that some of this effort will be fruitful, but in the end, this culminates with Satan gathering many thousands of his people to march against Jerusalem and attempt to take the city (Mi 5:6; Rv 20:9). They march against Jerusalem thinking they can overtake the city, but in one swoop they are gone: fire comes down from the sky and destroys them all (Rv 20:9). God kills them, but their pride had already consumed them long before. Pride started it all (Is 14:13) and pride will end it all (Rv 20:9). Satan is cast into the lake of fire (Rv 20:10).

It is no wonder that scripture states Christ will wipe away every tear (Rv 21:4). All these people who have remained faithful to Christ have gone through a lot of heartache. Many tears will be shed, and many hearts will be broken due to loved ones turning their backs to their beloved King. However, heartache will soon turn to ultimate joy.

One further solemn duty must be performed. This is known as the Great White Throne judgment (Rv 20:11). Everyone, from the dawn of time, who never placed their faith in the Messiah, the Promised One, Jesus Christ, the Eternal King, are brought before Him. Where this takes place is a mystery because even the earth and sky cannot stand before a holy God (Rv 20:11). Books are opened as well as the Book of Life (Rv 20:12). It seems, because they did not trust in Christ as the Hope for their future and the payment he made for their sins, each person is judged by their deeds as recorded in these books. Yet, the final element is whether their name is recorded in the Book of Life. If not in the Book of Life, they will pass into the Lake of Fire and be forever where Satan was cast. Since their alliance was with him in this life, they will be with him forever in the next. There is nothing from this passage in Revelation which indicates any were not sentenced to an eternity in the Lake of Fire. If their names were in the Book of Life, they would have been part of the first resurrection (Rv 20:5-6). Here, it seems the Book of Life was opened to prove they were unworthy to enter eternity with Christ.

So, the final reward for pride is revealed. Pride caused Satan to fall from a very special place where he was before God always – a place of great honor (Ek 28:14). However, pride caused him to feel he could become just like God (Is 14:14). This was a very great defiance as God has declared Himself holy (Lv 11:44; 1Pt 1:15), that is, he is unique and there is none like him. Lucifer, disagreed, fell, and became the Adversary, Satan, the devil. Now he is forever separated from the very one he was created to be before.

We today, still have the opportunity to change our destiny. Which will you choose? The choice is yours. Choose wisely. You’ll be glad you did, and you’ll walk into the arms of love which will never let you go – neither in this life or the next.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

The Bible states that Jesus Christ was tempted in every way as were we (Hb 4:15). Can someone who is both 100% God and 100% man be tempted as are we? Although the three temptations that are recorded which Satan presented to Christ after his 40-day fast may not be the only temptations that he faced, these are the ones we have the most detail about. Therefore, we should explore those and see what we can glean from what is presented in Scripture.

First, we should note that these three temptations are similar in type to how Satan tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden. Satan appealed to physical need, pride and/or desire, and emotional need. That is, she saw that the fruit on the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was good for food (physical need), pleasing to the eye (desire), and good for making one wise (emotional need). Satan did the same with Christ. However, we know that Eve failed miserably but Christ was successful. We will examine the difference in how each responded to their temptation.

I think if we really think about the temptations that come our way, they will tend to fall into these three categories. If we look at how each responded to these temptations maybe that will help us to be more successful. Odds are, we will tend to fall on the side of Eve more often; yet, we can potentially have more successes if we know the tactics Satan is using.

The other thing to note is that although the category of temptation may be similar between the two (and among us), we will see that the actual temptations were tailored for each individual. Satan knows each person has different weaknesses. Therefore, what is a temptation to one person has absolutely no effect on another. I think that is another game Satan plays with us and sets a snare for us. Many times we see someone fall big time due to a certain temptation and we think, “Wow, he sure is weak,” and this sets us up to fall into our pride. Satan then gets a double run with a single hit. We need to be on guard for such things. We need to remember that everyone is struggling with something. Just because it is not the same as you, does not make it any less “big” for the person struggling with it.

This is a reminder that we should bear one another’s burdens and lift each other up – both with encouragement and with prayer. We can all be more effective if we feel and know we are not struggling alone. Let’s be the biggest advocate for our fellow Christians as we can be.

Next time we will look at the first temptation Satan extended to Christ and appealed to his physical need.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens