human
nature
To
begin this topic, let us start with a few definitions, that we obtained
from the following web dictionary
and thesaurus resource.
Like to check out the current temperature, or weather conditions, across
the nation? weather
:-)
human:
1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of humans: the course of human events; the human race.
2. Having or showing those positive aspects of nature and character regarded as distinguishing humans
from other animals: an act of human kindness.
3. Subject to or indicative of the weaknesses, imperfections, and fragility associated with humans: a mistake that shows he's only human; human frailty.
nature:
a. The forces and processes that produce and control all the phenomena of the material world: the laws of nature.
b. A primitive state of existence, untouched and uninfluenced by civilization or
artificiality.
c. Theology. Humankind's natural state as distinguished from the state of grace.
d. The essential characteristics and qualities of a person or thing.
e. The fundamental character or disposition of a person; temperament.
f. The natural or real aspect of a person, place, or thing.
Now
let us reveal what the scriptures state about our condition.
“What right do you have to do these things?” the Jewish leaders demanded. “If you have this authority from God, show us a miraculous sign to prove it.”
“All right,” Jesus replied.
“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
(scribe's note:
three days of god's calendar represent three thousand years - 2 Peter 3:8,
and jesus has been gone two days - two thousand years, by man's
calendar)
“What!” they exclaimed. “It took forty-six years to build this Temple, and you can do it in three days?”
But by “this temple,” Jesus meant his body. After he was raised from the dead, the disciples remembered that he had said this. And they believed both Jesus and the Scriptures.
Because of the miraculous signs he did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many people were convinced that he was indeed the Messiah. But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew what people were really like. No one needed to tell him about human nature.
(John 2:18-25 TB)
John
2:25
No one needed to tell him how changeable human nature is! (TLB)
because he knew all men and needed no one to bear witness of man; for he himself knew what was in man. (RSV)
And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man. (KJV)
He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man. (NIV)
The
greatest achievement of Satan, and his agent the devil, is that no one
believes that he is alive in the human psyche, and is at the core of human nature. Years into anonymous recovery, it finally became clear
to me that my ego was a part of the Anti-Christ. My human nature -
fears - did not desire to have God's will manifested in my life. As
a matter of fact, it is also perfectly clear to me, today, that the devil
would try anything to get me killed, before the rebirth process could be
complete, so that God's Glory could be made evident, that He longs to
bestow, upon His Servants, His Chosen.
Saved,
in the days of old, meant that we were made complete, because adultery, in
the days of old, had the following connotation:
Idolatry,
covetousness, and apostasy are spoken of as adultery spiritually (Jer. 3:6, 8,9; Ezek. 16:32; Hos. 1:2:3; Rev. 2:22). An apostate church is an adulteress
(Isa. 1:21; Ezek. 23:4, 7, 37), and the Jews are styled "an adulterous generation" (Matt.
12:39*).
Simply
put, in the days of old, all knew that to put anything before God was to
commit adultery, in the spiritual realm. It did not necessarily
have anything to do with sexual activity or relations.
Matthew
12:38-45 (TB)
One day some teachers of religious law and Pharisees came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign to prove that you are from God.”
39*But Jesus replied,
“Only an evil, faithless generation would ask for a miraculous sign;
but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so I, the Son of Man, will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. The people of Nineveh will rise up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And now someone greater than Jonah is here—and you refuse to repent. The queen of Sheba will also rise up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, because she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And now someone greater than Solomon is here—and you refuse to listen to him.
“When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none. Then it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and clean. Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation.”
Matthew
12:38-45 (NIV)
Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, "Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you."
He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here.
The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.
"When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.
Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order.
Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation."
Before
we go any further, let it be said that "evil," by most spiritual
teachers, means wrong thinking. Let me also point out that
the old life had a lot of wicked stuff in it - actions and deeds, considering that
I was a married man, for over two decades. Never will forget Dr. B.
saying, in a meeting, on the ninth step area of recovery, "If you have had an affair with your wife's sister, you tell
God, your sponsor, and then keep your mouth shut."
When
it was my turn to share, all I said was, "Didn't think that I would
ever be grateful that I am married to an only child."
Now
let this scribe confess that receiving the gift of abstinence was
relatively easy, because I knew and accepted that I just about died,
because of my fatal malady. Had even thought, and accepted, that I
would not live to the ripe ole age of forty, the way I was living, forced
on me by my habits, that I was indeed powerless over.
What
I did not take to heart during my early years of abstinence was the truth of the following instructions, in
the original anonymous text book, in the chapter "How It Works,"
found on page 60:
The point is, that
we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress.
We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.
And
the seven other spirits indeed did show up, in my life, after the first
nine steps had been worked, to the point of God being sure I was willing
to go to any length, to have my defects of character "cast out."
The
original anonymous text book even mentions that we have "bedeviled
emotions," a "depraved mind," and were
even judged by the medical community as follows: ...."we were maladjusted to life, that we were in full flight from reality, or were outright mental defectives."
Considering
how successful I had been, it took me a very long time indeed before I
could raise my hand, in a meeting, in agreement with those concepts, when
they were read, during bigbook study meetings, that I
attended at least once every week, and sometimes three times a week, plus
12 and 12 study meetings, at least once a week too.
Now
let us see what some of those seven worse spirits might be
comprised of, that are worse than the one was:
Mark
7:6-23 NIV
He replied,
"Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
" 'These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by men.' You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."
And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to
observe your own traditions! For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your
mother,' and, 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to
death.' But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is
Corban' (that is, a gift devoted to God),
then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that."
Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this.
Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.'
"
After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable.
"Are you so dull?" he asked. "Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him 'unclean'?
For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body."
(In saying this, Jesus declared all foods "clean.")
He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.'
For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.
All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.' "
Matthew
12:9-21
Then he went over to the synagogue,
where he noticed a man with a deformed hand. The Pharisees asked Jesus, “Is it legal to work by healing on the Sabbath day?” (They were, of course, hoping he would say yes, so they could bring charges against him.)
And he answered,
“If you had one sheep, and it fell into a well on
the Sabbath, wouldn’t you get to work and pull it out? Of course you would.
And how much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Yes, it is right to do good on the Sabbath.”
Then he said to the man, “Reach out your hand.”
The man reached out his hand, and it became normal, just like the other one.
Then the Pharisees called a meeting and discussed plans for killing Jesus.
But Jesus knew what they were planning. He left that area, and many people followed him. He healed all the sick among them,
but he warned them not to say who he was. This fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah concerning him:
“Look at my Servant,
whom I have chosen.
He is my Beloved,
and I am very pleased with him.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the nations.
He will not fight or shout;
he will not raise his voice in public.
He will not crush those who are weak,
or quench the smallest hope,
until he brings full justice with his final victory.
And his name will be the hope
of all the world.”
