Those Old Thoughts

Gospel in Genesis

With the kind of sins that we have done in the past and for many other reasons, I struggle with shame and fear of man.

Genesis records how the world was 'unashamed' before the fall, "the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed." Genesis 2:25.

But then they fell into sin and they were very conscious of how spiritually ugly they were! The Adam and Eve were ashamed of themselves. They tried to cover themselves with fig leaves (Gen.3:7), so that the one could not see the others shame -in this way they actually hid from each other. We often do the same thing, hiding who we really are, so that we will not have to endure humiliation. 

When God showed up on the scene, they hid because "I was naked" (3:10). What does God do? 

He dose not say, "I made you perfect! You have nothing to be ashamed of. Take off those silly cloths and be free!" Nor dose He zap them instantly. 

God acknowledges that they have a good reason for being ashamed. In fact he proclaims the infamous curse that we have lived under. But God does not leave them without hope. He points them to the coming Messiah in verse 15, and then gives them a picture of the gospel: 

He covers over their shame with clothes of skin as if to say, "You are shameful, but I will cover over your shame." 

(Isaiah 61:10) I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God,for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.  

What a wonderful gospel! Now, I do not need to live hiding shame -not because I am such good person, but because God has such abundant grace!

Psalm 32

Let's look at Psalm 32:

Psalm 32:1-2  A Maskil of David. Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.  (2)  Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

Can you begin to get your mind around this truth? The LORD almighty does not count your sins against you! There is no condemnation if you are in Christ! (Romans 8:1)

Now, the blessed man in verse two is also the one doesn't have deceit in his spirit. How about you? Are you still harboring any little secret? Are you believing the lie: "no one needs to know." 

This verse calls us to think -just imagine if you didn't have any deceit! How freeing would that be? No more need to pretend or put up a faults front. 

Psalm 32:3-4  For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.  (4)  For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah

Deceit is very self-destructive! It will eat us alive! Why? Because, if you are a Christian, the Spirit of God will deeply convict you of your sins. This is a marvelous grace! and a miserable place to live! Most of the time those guilty feelings come from the fact that you are guilty! 

Psalm 32:5  I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

This is the best verse! What do I DO about it? Confess! Stop pretending, acknowledge my sin -call it what it is. Notice the result! "you forgave the iniquity of my sin" That is amazing! The joy of that reality is the fuel for fighting the sin. God Forgives Me! Praise His Name!

Repentance

1 Thessalonians 1:9  For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,


An idol is anything that you put before God –anything you serve more than God. You know what is your god by contemplating what rules your free recourses: What do you do with your free money, free time, -what does your mind think about when it is in neutral? That is the god you serve. 
So, we know true repentance has happened when those free recourses are given to the true and living God. You want to give more money; you want to fill your time with God; and when your mind goes to neutral, it doesn’t fill with all those pictures, it thinks about God (meditates)! 
Of course, this is a process and a battle. We are tempted to fight this battle on the surface level of recourses: “If I just give more, fill my time with God-stuff, and never let my mind go blank, then I will change.” The truth is that we need to fight it at the very deep level of the heart. “you turned to God” This is repentance! 

Why Amputate

Here is a good time to review the “why.” Why are we doing this? I mean amputation, sure, but why do we need to be radical about it? 
We are not seeking to be free from sin because sin is inconvenient or keeping us from personal goals. Nothing short of the Glory of God is our goal, and aim. So what is the worth of the glory of God? –any and all earthly comforts –indeed our very lives are not worthy to be compared to this ultimate goal.


Rom 8:18  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.


Certainly, this verse can include all suffering here on earth. But in the context of this passage (8:13 & 7:11-25) it is talking about our struggles with killing sin. So let us kill sin in a radial way for the purpose of the glory of God!

Repentance

As I taught my 2 and 3 year old sons what repentance is they learned that it is “1. STOP disobeying 2. Say SORRY, I was wrong 3. GO obey” This is the simplified explanation of doing a U turn in your life.


Psalms 34:14  Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
Proverbs 3:7  Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.
Ezekiel 14:6  "Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: Repent and turn away from your 

Means of Grace

The truth is that the only way we can live in victory and joy is by God freely giving those things to us by His grace. God had different ways of giving that grace to us -they are often called the "means of grace." They are not the grace itself, but are the river bed in which the water of grace flows to us.
The main means of grace that God uses to impart grace to us in His Word. Without it, there is simply no hope of any spiritual life!

We focus a lot on 'putting off' -what we need to get rid of, and this is very important. And just as important is the "putting on" aspect of the Christian walk. Again, the first thing and most thing that we use to put on is the Scripture!

Ephesians 4:24  "and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness."