The Fight We Have To Win

"Sin..."

The word rolls off the preacher's tongue like a by-word. The people gasp - the word makes them uncomfortable, squirmy, defensive. Convictions disturb their pretense, their thoughts now comprised of every imaginable breach of the law...

The preacher continues:

"In the mastery of His Creation, God did not create rebellion. God's Creation was perfect, holy, eternal. Therefore, if rebellion was not created by the will and the Word of God, it must have been born of a willful thought, a renegade vision, spawned in the free will of a super-special spirit which God had created to be holy.

"It was born in the belly of Lucifer as pride flared up in his own exceptional beauty and knowledge, tempting him toward an open and shameless rebellion heretofore unknown in the realms of Deity. This rebellion was so fiercely opposed to God's Sovereignty, and the preincarnate Christ, that not even Lucifer was prepared for the sudden lust for power that grabbed his inner being.

"Pride had become a rebellion that was not letting go. And still - in the beginning of the rebellion, in the midst of it, and even in his fall from Heaven, Lucifer had a free will. He could have, at any time, turned back, repented, pleaded for forgiveness and God would have restored him.

"But he didn't...

"In that one prideful thought wickedness was born, a tenacious mind-altering, fang-toothed evil that sprang out of a single treasonous thought. In that moment Lucifer challenged the throne of God, the sovereignty of God and the power of God. The rebellion became the revolt that shook the Heavens and in time, lusting for his own kingdom, hating the man and the woman God loved, he grabbed the deed to Earth from Adam. In one split second, the earth in all its beauty and majesty, and all future generations would live in the shadow of sin and death. Only the righteous would break free...

"This is not to say that Adam was stupid. Far from it! Adam had been created with Godly intelligence and wisdom for ruling and maintaining the earth in its perfected beauty and provision. Adam used 100% of his brain capacity, as opposed to the 10% most of us use today. He had been created to live forever, as a friend and companion to his Creator. Indeed, the first command of instruction to the new man and woman of earth was to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over every living thing upon the earth, in the air and in the seas (Genesis 1:28).

"In spite of his excellent intelligence, and in spite of God's warning and instructions, Adam failed to overcome when he faced the tempter. The seed of pride had entered into him when he entertained the thought that he could be as wise as God, just by tasting the forbidden fruit. Remember, he was WITH Eve in the Garden while the serpent spoke with her.

"All too often we forget that God's commands are for our own protection and prosperity. God loves us enough to lay down the house rules (Kingdom rules) that will prepare us for Heaven and eternity with Him. We can abide by these rules and appreciate His loving care or we can do our own thing - which is called rebellion - which is called sin.

"We may be flesh and blood in this world, but if we are the redeemed children of God, our citizenship is already in Heaven. Consequently the Kingdom rules apply in both houses. If a thing (anything) is not allowed in Heaven, it must not be allowed in our bodies, our homes or our lives...

"Four thousand years after Adam was tested, a man named Peter would fail to overcome the tempter when he denied knowing Jesus, betraying the man he previously had been willing to die with. Denial is a spirit of fear, seeded by lack of knowledge or understanding. In Peter's case, he was all but frozen with fear from lack of understanding. He was not yet able to grasp the Redemptive cause that Jesus was born to...

"And though Peter lost his strength, he did not lose his faith. He wept bitterly when he realized what he had done. Looking into the face of Jesus as the cock crowed, Peter fell apart as he ran, ashamed, afraid, and alone. But Jesus had prayed for him as he had said he would, and Peter quickly repented and went on to become the rock of faith Jesus had prophesied he would be.

"Many great men have failed the test by fire. Losing one's strength, falling into fear of what men can do to you is the nature of one's flesh. And not one of us is perfect - yet! We all fail daily, we all have the need to repent daily, we are all fighting the temptations that would strip us of our faith.

"We remember daily we can do nothing without Christ. We remember daily we can do all things through Christ. And we remember that with God all things are possible. As long as we remember that we are helpless on our own, we will walk with Him, on a little straighter path and with a little stronger faith...

"It is also important to remember, the spirit of a man who believes God and not man, is full of faith in the promise that God will never leave him nor forsake him, in all his trials and testings. There will always be that one big battle between the flesh and the spirit. It is a trial by fire we are all brought forth to engage in. It is not a sin to fail, nevertheless, it is a fight we will strive to win...

"So then, what is sin?

"Sin can be identified easily - it is the transgression of God's law. It is rebellion against the sovereignty, the holiness and the commandments of the Most High God. All unbelievers are in rebellion against God. All those, even professing Christians, who willfully refuse to obey His commandments, are in rebellion, and are consequently into sin. They have taken up their sword against God and His throne. It is of a truth, for our souls' sake, it is better that we should transgress the laws of godless men than to transgress the laws (commandments) of the Holy God...

"The law cannot save - it can only convict. For salvation we need the Holy Ghost who will bring us to the Cross of Jesus, who observed the law perfectly and without sin until His death. He alone can save us. He is the only way, the only truth and the only life that is worth seeking and holding onto. He is all in all to those that know Him, and those that honor the Son honor the Father also.

The law is a portrait of God's character and if we seek Him, then we will seek to become like Him, and that means obedience...

"Sin is the portrait and character of God's arch-enemy, whose destiny is the lake of fire (Rev. 19:20). And while hell enlarges itself to accommodate the victims of Lucifer, it awaits the fallen Lucifer himself, and all his co-horts, to justify its existence...

"Today, the Ten Commandments, which incorporate all the laws of God, are being stripped from our public sectors and, they hope, from our minds. The day is coming when one cannot hope to follow them unless one has committed them to memory. God tells us in His Word that when we break one commandment we have broken them all. Therefore it is a wise and prudent practice to know them well and observe especially the first and second commandments. On these two commandments hang all the rest...

"If temptation comes to call - and it will - do not flirt with your temptation. Remember it is Satan tempting you as he tempted Eve in the Garden. He wants you to dine on that sweet-smelling succulent apple. If you take the bait, and take the bite, if your strength fails - if you fall - don't stay down. Get on your face like Peter did - confess and repent - receive your forgiveness according to the promise of God - then get up and move on.

"Forget the failures and don't look back. Look beyond this world to the Glory that awaits us. Don't become a victim. Become an overcomer..."

Joan Krempel
July 16, 2009
joan@joankrempelministries.com