Paul wrote to the Romans appealing to them, begging them to make a decisive dedication of their bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and well pleasing to God, which is their reasonable service and spiritual worship. He said, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Rom.12:1-2). This can only happen when man is born again. That’s when he can meet the requisites for a holy life. Paul says, Those who are according to the flesh and controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on and pursue those things which gratify the flesh… The mind of the flesh is death… that is because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s Law; indeed, it cannot (Romans 8:5-7). The mind of the flesh has to do with the tainted mind, affected by the sin of rebellion and disobedience to God, caused by Adam and Eve. Unrenewed in its tendencies for evil, the soul always falls short in pleasing God, indeed, it cannot. The sin of disobedience of our forefather, had very deep roots, reaching to all generations in the level of the soul. We call this the sin of iniquity. The suffering YAHSHUA went through to free us from guilt and iniquities was beyond the human’s ability to understand. To bruise is to injure, to crush and hurt the feelings. The emotion is very involved here. A bruised soul is an injured soul. YAHSHUA felt the pain of injury, but without bitterness. He forgave all those who injured Him before He breathed His last breath. The decision Eve and Adam made to eat the prohibited fruit was not thought of in their innocent minds. They had no idea of the results their action created that their sin was not isolated only to them. It was a pleasure of the moment, with eternal consequence. Men became slaves to sin, as a result. Paul plainly expresses the struggles men have with sin saying, “For I endorse and delight in the Law of God in my inmost self, but I discern in my bodily members a different law at war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner to the law of sin that dwells in my bodily organs. O unhappy and pitiable and wretched man that I am! Who will release and deliver me from this body of death? O thank God! [He will] through YAHSHUA the Messiah, our Lord! So then indeed I, of myself with the mind and heart serve the Law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin” (Rom. 7:22-25).
YAHSHUA, broke the chains that held us prisoners to sin, destroyed its roots and gave us eternal life, free from condemnation. In the letter to the Corinthians, Paul gives a contrast between the first man (Adam) and the second, (YAHSHUA) in their influence on the world: “Thus it is written, The first man- Adam became a living-being; the last Adam (YAHSHUA) became a life-giving Spirit; the first man [was] from out of the earth, made of dust (earthly-minded); the second Man [is] the Lord from out of heaven. Now those who are made of the dust are like him who was first made of the dust (earthly-minded); and as is [the Man] from heaven (heavenly- minded). And just as we have borne the image [of the man] of dust, so, shall we and so let us also bear the image [of the Man] of heaven. I tell you this brethren, flesh and blood cannot [become partakers of eternal salvation and] inherit or share in the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit or share in the imperishable.” (I Corinthians 15:45-50).
Every human being born of dust is earthly minded, without the second birth- the spiritual birth. YAHSHUA said, “what is born of the flesh is flesh; and what is born of the Spirit is spirit… You must all be born anew (from above)” (John 3:6-7). Clearly, we see here that the first birth caries no guarantee of eternal salvation, without the second-birth, which is through the death and resurrection of our Lord YAHSHUA. When man repents of his sins, forgiveness opens the way to God and he is born-again, provided that he lives according to the Holy Spirit, Who is dwelling in him. The new birth is just the first step; the process of sanctification takes place after that, in order for his glorification. That’s when the effect of the prohibited fruit will no longer be part of his life. “Therefore, if any person is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come; it was God [personally present] in Christ, reconciling and restoring the world to favor with Himself, not counting up and holding against [men] their trespasses [but cancelling them], and committing to us the message of reconciliation” (II Cor. 5:17,19).
God, in His love and compassion for men, provided the way for men’s restoration through His Son. When God created them (male and female), He created them to have a relationship with Him. Men carry the signature of God in his DNA, which is “A chemical compound that codes information for the transmission of inherit traits; it is the information for building protein in the cells.” The complexity of the body is evidence that God and no one else is the Creator of all living things. The signature of God in the DNA is the proof that God is our Creator. Men, for not being able to comprehend the wisdom of God in the creation of the body, or anything else He created, for that matter, have distorted it with the theory of the “big bang” or evolution, denying the glory due our Creator. But the heavens declare the glory of God; the firmament shows and proclaims His handiwork (Ps. 19:1) “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unfathomable are His judgments! and how untraceable are His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord and who has understood His thoughts, or who has been His counselor? Or who has given God anything that he might be paid back or that he could claim a recompense? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen” (Rom. 11:33-36)
My friend, the stain that sin left in your soul has been washed by the blood of our Lord YAHSHUA. You do not have to live with the consequences, for He has provided the way for your freedom. He wants to restore your image to His image, and have a relationship with you. Believe on Him and you shall be saved! “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that whoever believe in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) Do you believe that?
Light from the Word 