3:17). But there are some practical thoughts
we can reflect upon in order to aid that
indwelling.
Don’t Blame Your Nature
The Lord Jesus as our total representative
bore our nature. He was fully human, of
a certain blood group, either right handed
or left handed, made mistakes at work and
had to re-do things, forgot things, misheard,
caught colds, dropped things and all the other
stuff of daily life. And yet He was holy, perfect
and undefiled (Heb.
7:26). There was no
barrier between the
Father and Himself.
However we define
human nature (and
no quick definition of
it is found in the
Bible), He had it but
did not find it a bar-
rier between Himself
and the Father. He
“did no sin, neither
was guile found in
His mouth”, nor in
His thoughts, nor under His breath. Whatever
we posit about human nature, we say about
the Lord Jesus. We are not inevitable sinners,
burdened unto sin and death by this “nature”
we must carry. Every sin we commit is real
and was avoidable. And therefore we rightly
hang our heads for it. The Lord’s perfect life
showed us what human nature is capable of,
the heights to which ordinary men and women
can rise up to; and He challenges us to rise
above the ties that apparently bind us to the
mire of mediocrity when it comes to spiritual
things. So let’s not think that we have no other
way in life than to live frustrated lives. We
must beware lest an unduly low view of human
nature leads us to reason as do those who
believe in a personal Satan figure- ‘It wasn’t
my fault, I was overpowered by my nature, I
am a victim of a power greater than myself’.
John Steinbeck, who was hardly a Biblical
Christian, was fascinated by the early chapters
Editorial | Frustration
of Genesis, and his 1952 novel ‘East Of Eden’
is evidently his commentary upon them. And
he finds no place for a ‘Satan’ figure in the or-
thodox sense. Instead, he is struck by the com-
ment to Cain that although sin crouches at the
door, “do thou / thou mayest rule over him”
(Gen. 4:7). Steinbeck concluded from this that
victory over sin and the effects of Adam’s sin
is possible; and therefore we’re not bound by
some superhuman Satan figure, nor by an
over-controlling Divine predestination to sin
and failure. There’s a passage in chapter 24 of
the novel that bears quoting; I find it deeply
inspirational, and an-
other example of the
practical import of
the correct under-
standing of early Gen-
esis: “It is easy out
of laziness, out of
weakness, to throw
oneself onto the lap
of the deity, saying,
‘I couldn’t help it;
the way was set’. But
think of the glory
of the choice! That
makes a man a man.
A cat has no choice; a bee must make honey.
There’s no godliness there... these verses are
a history of mankind in any age or culture or
race... this is a ladder to climb to the stars...
it cuts the feet from under weakness and cow-
ardliness and laziness... because “thou
mayest” rule over sin”. The practical inspira-
tion ought to be evident; all further commen-
tary is bathos.
Humility
The desire to be justified by works is very
strong within our human nature. Much of our
hour by hour frustration is because we have
not yet surrendered to the simple truth that
salvation “is not of works, lest any man should
boast” (Eph. 2:9). One favourite Biblical term
for idols is “the work of men’s hands”. Whilst
we may not worship pieces of stone, the mod-
ern equivalent is to trust in the work of our
~ continued ...
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