THE GIFT OF LOVE

The world at the time of Christ was not totally bleak, or monstrous. I know what the gospel of Christ is intended to do, and at the same time I know that human beings are what we've always been.  In a day and age where fewer people have a faith in anything beyond themselves, we can see the darkness that surrounds that lack of faith. The headlong plunge into carnality is revealed in Paul's letter to the Galatians. As we learned from our Brother Colby, the Galatians were all about themselves. Parties, orgies, sexual promiscuity, killing, self-abasement, violent outbursts, and lawlessness were the normal way of life.  Then came the gospel!  

Looking at the gospel from our distant vantage point, it is impossible to imagine what it must have felt like to those first few converts as they felt Holy Spirit begin His work in their hearts.  Try to imagine how strange they must have seemed to old friends and family as their lives reflected the work being done in them.  To a world filled with carnality on all sides, these first believers must have seemed crazy.

If you think about it, the gospel had to be the craziest idea ever floated in a sea of ideas.  God could have simply spoken a word and every one would have done what He commanded.  He could have sent in an angelic army and subjugated everyone to His will.  He could have winked us all out of existence and started over again.  Instead, He gave us a gift of love.  

In Paul's letter to the Galatians, he makes it clear that the law imprisons us, but faith in Christ sets us free.  The ultimate expression of love is freedom.  As I look at the world around me today, I see humanity turning their back on the freedoms they once enjoyed under the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The more secular we become, the darker the repression becomes.  

For tomorrows men's group, allow yourself some time today to read Galatians 3 and see how Paul was addressing the specific culture of Galatia. 

WHAT CHILD IS THIS?

The beautiful Christmas carol "What Child is This" asks the question that we should be asking of ourselves. Do we see God's love laying in Mary's arms? From the moment Christ was born we were forced to see what God valued above His own self.  The gospel of Jesus Christ has changed many things in this world, and at the same time, many things remain the same.  There is much work still left to be done by the church in helping mankind to value little children.  Here in the United States, and in many western European nations, children have become prized and valued.  The modern celebration of Christmas is centered around children and the joy we can bring them through giving them gifts.  I know we've lost the true reason for Christmas, and it has become commercialized beyond belief, but there is a beauty in knowing that millions of people value their children so much, that they are willing to go into debt like they do. This is a direct result of the Church glorifying the birth of Christ. 

As we've been learning over the last few weeks, things weren't always as they are now. Children weren't always valued like they are today in western culture. Sadly, despite what the Church has done, there are many places in the world today where children aren't valued, and their lot in life hasn't changed much over the many thousands of years of recorded history.  

The stink and the filth of mankind's contempt for life is often revealed in how children are treated. The worth of children was often measured by their sex, and physical features, and to this day, unwanted children are killed in every way imaginable. It is utterly mind boggling how we can value a whale, a tree, or even inanimate objects more than we value children. Even among so-called 'progressives' there is an utter disdain for unborn children, and among the most rabid of pro-abortion advocates is the belief that a child must breathe air to prove it is 'viable'.  We don't need to stop abortion as much as we need to once and for all make a legal definition of personhood.  If in the matter of law you can be charged with two counts of murder if you kill a pregnant mother, then that definition needs to be applied to all children.  Our nation, as well as many other western nations, is still trying to wrestle with the idea of what to do when a mother doesn't want the child in her womb. 

In ancient cultures, unwanted, or deformed children were thrown out into the rubbage heaps of ancient cities.  In ancient Greek and Roman cultures, babies were thrown over the walls of cities, and into ancient ravines if they were the wrong sex, or had physical abnormalities.  Things don't change much when you remove the influence of the church.  We're at a point now in our development where it will be possible to genetically modify an embryo to suit our desires.

Throughout history, children have always been abused as free or cheap labor.  This practice continues today in many societies.  There is little difference between a child being given up to serve as a shrine prostitute in ancient cultures, and what is seen in many impoverished communities all over the world.  The gods of ancient civilizations are nothing more than the god of money today. Child sex trafficking can be found in every modern society as well as many third world countries.  This disdain for the innocence of children breaks the heart of God. 

When God chose to show how much he loves the world, He didn't send his Son as a full grown man, but instead put him in the womb of a woman that He would be truly human as we are. Children have never been less in God's eyes.  We're told in both the New and Old Testaments that he prizes children and sees us as we will be even before we are in the womb.  

It is amazing how easy it has been over the course of human history to marginalize children and make them pay for our sins.  Human sacrifice is almost exclusively focused on little children.  

The Church has changed that!   Wherever Christ is taught, the value of little children is also taught.  I personally long for the day when little boys and girls are allowed to laugh, play, and live free from fear.  I look forward to a time when the idea of "Jesus loves the little children," will be sung in our hearts with appreciation for the man or woman they will become.  

The greatest sin of child abuse, is the crushing of promise.  

IN THE NAME OF JESUS

Not long ago I had an interesting conversation with a customer who was genuinely unhappy with how he’d been treated by so-called Christian businessmen.  I’ve heard this complaint before from other customers, and it is often used as a means of defending against taking advantage of them.  The problem with the area of the country where I live, is that most trades people are Christians, and I can point to far more trades people being taken advantage of than customers.  If you express your faith in Jesus Christ to your customer, it becomes a test of your faith, and a battle of wits.  Neither of these scenarios are the way Jesus wants us to live.  I don’t know how many times I’ve heard people say, “If that’s the way Christians are, I don’t want to be one.”  What makes that statement ironic is that it is often said by people who moments before were trying to tell me how good of a Christian ‘they’ are.  Thankfully, I've been blessed with awesome customers, and the ability to fulfill my obligations to them.  I said all of that, because the Kingdom of heaven isn't about perfection but about the perfect one.  The carnal nature rises up in every one of us from time to time.  If it weren't so, then Paul would have never told us to 'renew our minds daily'. At the same time, the carnal nature isn't our default nature any more.  In the name of Jesus we overcome the carnal nature by living in the Spirit of Christ.  

I think most of you have caught on to the notion that I believe the Kingdom of Heaven is something we’re supposed to bring to this earth.  I hold on to a belief that we can walk this vale in the power, and leadership of Holy Spirit.  The Spirit of life will guide the listening, the loving, and the obedient to a life of purpose.  

What is that purpose?  SIMPLE!!!!  Proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ!!  

How you do that is what makes you a unique, and valued citizen of the Kingdom.  The message is the same message Peter said in Caesarea Philippi.  “You (Jesus) are the Christ, the son of the living God.”  

As we move forward into our study, I find it exciting that we are in the book of Acts as part of our daily reading.  I would hope that as we go forward into our daily reading that you would have a notebook handy so you can write down places, dates, people, and events.  This will find its way into our future studies into the epistles of Paul, Peter, James, and John.  

The same advice goes for the letters themselves.  Look at each letter and look for specific, and unique things that the Apostles addressed to each church.  This is important because the gospel didn’t explode on the world of that day.  It began slowly, and eventually picked up steam.  As the Apostles left Israel, and began to preach throughout the middle east, they could only hope that the churches they planted would grow.  Some churches never made it out of the initial phases, and others sputtered along until they finally became bastions of the faith.  It would take nearly 1900 years for the gospel to be preached in every nation, and it will take a while longer for those nations to be discipled.  Still, the Kingdom of Heaven moves on.  The advance of the Kingdom can be slowed or sped up simply by whose name we chose to advance it.  If we do everything we do in the name of Jesus, then I have faith that we will move at lightning speed.  If we stumble and build a kingdom on any other name, with any other gospel, the next generation will have to start all over. Let's choose to lift up the name of Jesus!   

As we study the people of Galatia, I hope you will find out where and when the gospel was preached to them, and by whom.  See if you can determine the keystone issues that Paul had to devote time to.  Open up the book of Galatians and see what Paul said.  

I look forward to what Pastor Colby has to bring our way.  

THE COURAGE TO LIVE FREE

“O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.”

It takes courage to live free!  In the USA today, we could replace the last line of the National Anthem to say “O’er the land of the afraid, and the home of safety.”  The true definition of a great society is providing a place where people are free.  We stopped being a courageous people and have followed other fallen societies into the quagmire of enslavement to our baser nature.  Fear is our base nature.  

If someone were to ask me what is the greatest advantage of living in the Kingdom of God, I would tell them; living free!

It takes a lot of courage to trust God.  It takes even more courage to live free of fear, but that is what Christ purchased for us on the cross of Calvary.  As we mature in our faith, fear is replaced with love, and worry is replaced with trust. The Spirit led life is a life of courage, bravery, and nobility.  The carnal nature cowers in the dark, huddles shaking with fear in the middle of the pack, and follows the crowd, even if it means surrendering their freedom.  The carnal nature yearns for safety, while the Spirit led life yearns for freedom to love as Christ loved.  It takes great courage to love.  One of the most common examples of this is when couples are dating and everyone knows they should get married, but one or both of them is “afraid of commitment.”Simply put, they are afraid to really love.  It’s easy to have sexual relations with someone, but it takes courage to commit yourself to someone for a lifetime. The Kingdom of God is the courage to love, and it is by the Spirit that we are able to live free to love.  In 2nd Corinthians 3:17 “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

It takes immense courage to follow Christ!  When we are born again, God’s Spirit makes us a new creation. The new creation no longer lives in fear of death, or punishment, but lives for love, and goodness. I’ve been in so many churches where the leadership felt the need to hammer people into their own image by using the fear of the rapture as their hammer, and the fear of hell as their anvil. I have to believe they meant well, but it quickly devolves into a religion of touch not, taste not, and look not. They become enslaved again to a form of legalism, bound up by chains of fear. This form of religion is exactly what Christ warned the disciples about when he said ‘whoever wants to be great among you must be a servant, and whoever wants to be first must be the slave of everyone else.’ (Mark 10:43-44 paraphrasing mine).  It takes courage to live for others first, but it is the only way to be truly free.  

I’m sure being a world leader must look attractive, especially to those who have been at the bottom of the social ladder most of their lives.  It’s easy to think that they can do whatever they want, say whatever they want, and go wherever they want, but nothing is further from the truth.  It has been my experience that those who want great power, live in great fear.  Look at all the handlers surrounding our own President.  Look at the Secret Service agents it takes to protect our President.  Our own President surrounds himself with advisors, and political advisors who direct his every move.  The powerful eventually become enslaved by fear. At no time in history was this more evident than at the time of Christ’s crucifixion.  

Christ challenged the religious leaders of the day, pointing out their fears. He revealed their lives of fear and the bonds of public approval.  In return, they appealed to their captors, the Romans, to help them get rid of Christ. Even Pilate found himself giving into the will of the crowd when he gave the choice of freeing Christ, or Barabbas. The carnal nature is defined by fear, while the Kingdom is defined by courage.  Walking by following Holy Spirit is a life of freedom!  (Romans 8) Paul made it even clearer in Galatians chapter 5 (please read the whole chapter)

The carnal nature of fear is expressed in:

Sexual immorality (fear of missing out on something or someone to fulfill your pleasure)

Impurity (fear of doing the right thing)

Debauchery (fear of being alone)

Idolatry and sorcery (fear of being powerless)

Hatred (fear of others being better than you)

Discord (fear of more than one person being better than you)

Jealousy (fear of others being valued more than you)

Rage (fear of the knowledge that you aren’t the one in control)

Rivalries (giving your fear of being like everyone else to someone else)

Divisions, (fear of being united with someone)

Factions, (giving your fear of being united to someone else with the same fear)

Envy (fear that someone else has something you don’t)

Fearful people will seek out other fearful people, get drunk in their fear, submit to sexual perversions in fear, and give in to every kind of debasing behavior to mask the fear) Murder, theivery, deceit, and destruction are all symptoms of fear. 

BUT,,,,,

The Kingdom of God is; 

LOVE (the courage to put someone else above ourselves)

Joy (the courage to express our happiness with what we’ve been given)

Peace (the courage to be at one with our creator, ourselves, and others)

Patience (the courage to defer judgment, criticality, and fear)

Kindness (the courage to give others what we would want)

Goodness (the courage to share our glories, victories, and honors with others)

Faithfulness, (the courage to live courageously no matter what we face)

Gentleness (the courage to lay aside our strength, power, and prestige for others)

Self-Control (The courage to do what is right even when we know we are afraid)

If we go back to Romans 8:1 we can understand the courage it takes to live free. Those who seek power and to enslave others will be the most fearful among us.  The tool of enslavement is CONDEMNATION!!!! In today’s world we see it in the rebirth of racism, gender politics, and especially in social media.  I’m always amazed by those who preach the new religion of ‘identity’ and the hypocrisy they get away with.  Social Media has given rise to what is called the tyranny of the majority and all dissent is condemned by mindless millions who like nothing more than to pile on the weak. John Adams warned against it when our nation was being formed, and now we see it in all of its ugliness through social constructs. It will take courage if we are to bring the Kingdom of God to earth.  Holy Spirit gives us that courage if we will learn to trust HIM.Throughout history, the Kingdom of God has been resisted, and its citizens killed for preaching it. Still, it has advanced despite persecution.  Love conquers fear.

THE KING OF LIFE

There never was, and there never will be a King like Jesus. It is easy for us to view Him through the abstract lens of His deity, instead of seeing Him as the expression of God’s compassion, and goodness.  Without the help of Holy Spirit, our view of Him is that of a stoic, emotionless man sent to keep people from having fun. Yet, if you try and inform people of what life was like under ancient rulers, they won’t believe the tyranny, and utter disregard these ancients had for individuals.  How do I know how God feels about humanity?  By looking at what Jesus did while He was on this earth!  How do I know what the Kingdom of heaven looks like?  By looking at the King of heaven and what he did. 

The Kingdom of heaven is life!  Not just your heart ticking, and your brain spinning, but a life of wholeness, and healing.  When Jesus entered into this vale, He didn’t come as a warrior king with a vast angelic army.  He came as  a lowly infant, lived among us, and became as we are.  The Spirit of God put on the garment of flesh, so that He would know exhaustion, pain, sickness, and disease.  He is touched by our infirmities!  There is nothing we can go through in this life, that He hasn’t touched or seen. Throughout history, when the Kingdom would invade this earth, it would be to bring healing and life to all it touched.  Every other king could only take life.  They worked people till they couldn’t work anymore.  They brought diseases with them from foreign lands they conquered.  Jesus conquered sickness and disease.  No other king has done this.  

Jesus brought life to the downtrodden, giving them worth, and value.  He knew the very number of hairs upon our head, knowing when they fell.  Once liberty has been given, it can’t be taken away.  They can lock you up, beat you, and even kill you, but the liberty of Jesus Christ can’t be taken away. No other King has ever done that!  Only Jesus has set the captive free!  The foundations of other kingdoms were built upon the emptied lives of slaves, and servants.  No matter where you were in a kingdom or empire, you were still subject to the king.  You couldn’t escape or run away from your fate.  Ancient kings saw everyone as their subjects, and if you tried to escape, you were killed.  

Ancient kings would try to invent cruel ways to kill rebellious subjects. The description of these horrors don’t need to be recounted here, but suffice it to say that death was often more preferable to the torture humans could inflict upon one another.  Highways were often lined with the rotting corpses of those who dared to challenge the kingdom.  Jesus opened up the gates of the Kingdom of heaven and paid the price for our entry into it.  He prepared it for us, and is making everything ready for us to enter.  

The King of Life allowed himself to be suspended between heaven and earth, offering his life for our salvation.  His anguish allowed Him to be a caring loving King extending a hand of mercy, to all who reached out to Him.  

More than anything else, He left His Spirit within us!  His Spirit allows us to extend grace and love to generation after generation.  There is a direct line of ancestry from the cross to a document stating that all men are created equal, and granted inalienable rights by their creator. His Kingdom is life, and He is the King of life!  

THE GOSPEL

What is the gospel?  In our evangelical fervor it is easy to forget the fact that most people are fairly content in their lives, and the gospel has very little draw.  For most people living today, there is little thought beyond tomorrow, and even less thought given to eternity.  Yet, in most evangelical services you will be bombarded with the threat of an eternity in hell without Christ Jesus.  This is not the Kingdom message Christ sent His disciples into the world with. Gospel is almost always translated as "Good News."  

So, what is the good news?  What was so different about the message of Jesus?  

You have to look at what HE said, and what HE did to come to an answer.  

John 3:16 is the encapsulation of the salvation message, but it isn’t the good news.  Prior to Jesus, and for many centuries after His death, and resurrection, the governments of this world operated on the idea that you had value only as long as you were valuable to the ruler over you.  It didn’t matter whether you thought you were valuable, only someone above you could give you worth. The idea of imputed worth flowed from the family who needed sons as a captive workforce.  It was also given to you if you were of worth to the tribe, city, state, or nation you were in.  Your worth was determined by what you did, or who your family was.  This was never God’s intention.  Kings, and rulers believed they were either chosen for their role as rulers, or that they themselves were gods and were fated to rule.  

Then came Jesus!  

The incarnation of the godhead didn’t come to this earth in splendid array, dressed in gold, nor did He come in adult form.  If a ruler ever stooped to live in the poverty and squalor of the poor, He would have been quickly dethroned.  More than that, Jesus came to restore individual worth, and liberty to all people. If you ever wanted to know what the Kingdom of God is supposed to look like, all you have to do is look at Jesus’ first message.  

Let’s look at Luke 4:14-30

This passage was a description of what Jesus said immediately after being baptised, and then being tempted in the wilderness for 40 days and nights.  

You can’t preach the kingdom without being in the power of the Spirit.  Jesus taught in the synagogues as He made his way to Nazareth, and we’re told He was glorified by all. 

Then He gets to His hometown where he goes to the synagogue of His youth.  He is given the scroll of Isaiah (He didn’t choose it), and proceeds to read from Isaiah 61.  This is the mission statement of the Kingdom.  God didn’t come down with angelic armies (even though He had in the past.)  He didn’t enter with great pomp and circumstance as men would do.  

He said; The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, (if the Spirit isn’t upon you, you aren’t anointed to proclaim the good news.)  because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. 

Unlike any other King before Him Jesus wasn’t interested in the rich and powerful.  The poor were the ones who were treated the worst, and were often forced to sell themselves as slaves to those who were better off.

He said; He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives.  The slave, servant, or indentured servant could be free.  Freedom is why Jesus came.  

What does a good God do?  He heals the blind, gives liberty to the oppressed, and declares the year of God’s favor.  

If there is one thing that defines the Kingdom of God, it is liberty, healing, and deliverance.  These blessings have flowed independently at various times throughout history before Christ, but never together.  While many want you to believe that the miracles of Christ were done to convince men of His divinity, I would argue that they were simply the expression of the Kingdom, and were meant to continue in us, through us, and as gifts to mankind.  They were never meant to be signs, but were simply the heart of God being revealed to people everywhere, in every time. If as Paul said in Romans 8:29 that Christ was to be the firstborn among many brothers, then the same Kingdom purpose should be in us. Throughout the history of the Church, the greatest threat to the Kingdom has never been from the outside, but from men and women of God focusing on only one aspect of the Kingdom message. The mission statement of Christ should prompt us to be like Him. There is nothing we can do to rectify past failures of the Church. What we can do live up to the high calling of Christ, and become  what God predestined us to be. The Kingdom has come slowly over the last 2,000 years, but there is a resurgence as we take Christ’s words to heart.  Jesus is speaking throughout the nations to His brothers to break the bonds of enslavement both physically, and spiritually.  We have to ask ourselves

What is good news to the poor?  

What is good news to the captive?

What is good news to the blind, deaf, and lame?  

What is good news to the oppressed?

We don’t have to guess what the good news is. God spoke it through His Son, and the Son showed us what the Kingdom looked like through His actions!  God’s first ambassador revealed what the Kingdom looks like in heaven, and what it should be on earth. Because God is Love, everything Christ did was love. The Kingdom abhors poverty, enslavement, disease, and oppression. Most people today don’t know what the Kingdom is, because we’re fulfilled by the things of this life. The carnal nature rises up if it feels threatened by the Spirit working within us, and justifies itself by using scripture to push away Holy Spirit.

For example, caring for the poor is often shut down by quoting Jesus saying that ‘you will always have the poor among you.’  During the early part of the Evangelical movement, the Second Coming of Christ was used to bludgeon people with fear to accept Christ. The fear of hell was preached so often, that no one knew what the Kingdom of God looked like. The Church has focused on eternity and getting out of this present life for so long, that we don’t know how the Kingdom flows beyond salvation.  Physical death comes to all of us all too quickly, and we waste most of this life wanting to escape it.  

Jesus came to give everyone who will believe in Him a taste of the Kingdom so we will know that we have worth, and value to the Father. The poor, the captive, the crippled, and the oppressed all have hope because the Kingdom is here. 

What Jesus said about individual worth:  Matthew 10:31, Matthew 6:30-32, and most especially the Parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son found in Luke chapter 15.  In Luke chapter 19, Jesus reaches out to Zacchaeus (A tax collector) and offers to eat with him.  Through one act of kindness, the Kingdom came to an entire family.  This is just like what OCC does with one shoebox.  One child gets the box, and an entire family finds salvation. Individual worth for one is the light that shines on others.   

KING OF KINGS

Here we are at the last lesson in the Introduction.  WWHHAATT!!!!!!!!  You have to be kidding me!  This was just the introduction?  

We’re talking about a bunch of History, and in the midst of all of that a long succession of kings, kingdoms, and empires.  As we study the individual cities and states that the Apostles wrote to, we’ll look at their kings, and the crazy, and also cruel things they did throughout history.  For the moment, I want to talk about Jesus,the King of kings, and the Lord of lords.  These were titles He never gave himself, but were ascribed to Him later by the Apostle Paul, and John.  (See: 1 Timothy 6:15, Revelation 17: 14, Revelation 19: 16, ) In a bitter touch of irony, Pontius Pilate mockingly declared Jesus to be the king of the Jews as they hung Him on the cross.  Jesus was MORE than the King of the Jews.

What could Pilate the Roman Prefect of the great Empire have to fear from an unknown zealot who’d been handed over to him by his own people.  It was barely worth his time to deal with the situation. To Pilate, Jesus was just another in a long history of messiah’s. The history of the land of Canaan was filled with would be kings, upstart city kingdoms, and small insignificant rebellions.  In his mind, this Jesus was just another slave of Rome.  He would be hung on a cross just like every other rebellious slave.  It would be just one more tree in a forest of crosses that dotted the roads between Rome, and its far flung holdings.  Pharaohs had come and gone, The Assyrians, Persians, Babylonians, Philistines, and Greeks had all failed in their attempts to establish lasting kingdoms.  Like every good Roman, Pilate believed that the Roman Empire would be the last great kingdom, and it would last forever.  The man who stood before him, this Jesus couldn’t even scrape together a handful of supporters to defend him.  The man’s ‘disciples’ had all disappeared when he was arrested, with only a few women left to weep and cry as Pilate  pronounced his judgment on him.  Herod had told him about outlandish rumors of healings, and miracles done by this ‘Jesus’, but the man standing before him could barely stand. If he was a sorcerer, or great magician, he was keeping it well hid. 

King indeed!

Little could Pilate know that the beaten, bleeding man who stood before him would one day establish a worldwide Kingdom called Christianity.  Little did he know that Jesus would influence the affairs of men from lands as yet undiscovered. The unseen Kingdom of Jesus would change the affairs of mankind from that day forward, and it will do so forever.  Jesus was a different King, a servant King, a lowly humble peasant king whose Kingdom wasn’t enforced with military might, but enshrined in grace and love.

As we’ll discover as we go further into our study, the kings of the ancient kingdoms were cruel, and ruled by the carnal nature.  Most of them viewed themselves as being more than just kings.  They saw themselves as gods, and their exploits were sung everywhere they went until they died, or were killed in battle. Then a new king would arise, and shine briefly, and then be forgotten soon after they too died.  The crimes these rulers did to their subjects were never punishable, because they were....kings.

It would be the lowly son of a young girl from the tribe of Judah that would change the course of history more than any other king before Him.  Jesus was everything ancient kings had hoped to be.  Where King Darius claimed to be the defender of the truth, Jesus said, “I am the truth.”  The kings of Persia, Medea, Greece, Egypt, and yes even the Philistines hoped to be seen as placed in rulership by their gods. They claimed to know the way, while Jesus boldly declared “I am the way.”  The ancient kings would dress themselves in golden splendor, and sit on thrones plated in gold, Jesus declared, “I am the light of the world.”  The ancient kings ruthlessly murdered opponents in hideous forms of torture, while Jesus mildly restored the ear of a guard when Peter picked up a sword to defend Jesus.  Ancient kings would gather vast armies and send them on great campaigns to conquer and destroy.  Jesus would send disciples in front of him to declare that “the Kingdom was at hand.”  When the King of kings would arrive, He would quickly get to work healing, delivering, and restoring lives.  The Kingdom of God brought new hope to a beleaguered humanity; Individual Worth!

Prior to Jesus, the individual had no rights. The world Jesus was born into didn’t recognize individual worth.  Eighty percent of the population of the civilized world were slaves to one ruler or another.  The only way a person could be ‘free’ was to live on the fringes of society, or to be born into power.  Power was defined in physical strength, prowess in combat, financial strength, or dynastic birth. The only equalizer throughout history was death.  Everyone dies!  Even in death, your wealth was plunder for the bandit willing to dig up your grave.  The oppressor, could be overcome, and become the oppressed.  The cycle went on and on through thousands of years. Then Jesus came and offered citizenship in an eternal kingdom.  Even this idea wasn’t new.  What was new was who was offered citizenship.  God’s offer of eternal life was predicated upon one simple premise; Belief in the atoning work of Jesus Christ.  Eternity no longer belonged to the powerful, noble, or religious adherent. As if to add insult to injury, Jesus made it clear that every human being could have eternal life through believing in Him.  His was an unseen kingdom, and its power would eventually change the way governments ruled, secure rights, and liberties for every human being, and lay the foundations for the individual rights we enjoy today.  

Sadly, the power of the carnal nature is insidious, and pervasive. It would take nearly 1700 years for men to fully embrace the message of Jesus.  When Jesus left this earth, He left behind His Church to advance His kingdom. The Church would stumble and lurch its way forward through outright persecution, and sadly through corruption from within. The carnal nature would infiltrate the Church, and subvert believers into inaction, and impotence.  Still, despite the deception of the evil one, and our own carnal nature, Holy Spirit guided and directed the church in its mission to bring the Kingdom of God to earth.  Many lost their way, because they listened to their carnal natures, others lost hope, but the Church has never failed. 

The message of the Kingdom persisted because Jesus was a king unlike any other before, or after Him. With His death, and  resurrection, He defeated the grave, and made us eternal children of God.  Not just to one, or a few, but to as many who are called.  Jesus gave mankind their individual worth.  Many internal battles have been fought, with most people barely being able to live a victorious personal life.  Yet, the Kingdom of Grace and Love has changed the world in ways we’ll soon discover.  Hold your head high Christian, be a jubilant church, the kingdom is at hand and will be until Christ returns.  

Now, our study can begin in earnest.  WHEW!!!

NO LONGER SLAVES

Now that we have looked at the founding of our great nation, and visited the memories of those who were instrumental in shaping our Constitution, it is time to return to Christ Jesus, the author, and finisher of our faith. It is time to place Him in HIStorical context, and put in motion the faith that He gave us over 2,000 years ago. It is time to give credit where credit is due, and declare the righteousness of God before it is too late.  It is time to become the Church militant, and make war against the gates of hell.  This isn’t a call to physical arms, but a call to spiritual warfare unlike any in the history of the Church.  

Let me reacquaint you with the scene from the gospel of Matthew 16: 13-20.  This is the passage I wrote to you about when we began this study. Jesus had taken a boat to Caesarea Philippi, and walked with the disciples to the temple of Pan.  It is hard for us to picture this site as it existed at the time of Christ. It is nothing but ruins now, and the worship of Pan no longer happens.  At the time Jesus and the disciples visited it, it was a typical Greco-Roman structure standing on a rocky escarpment flanked by a huge grotto filled with water.  It is said that people would come to the grotto which was called the “gate to hell”  and offer a goat to the god ‘Pan’.  For any Jewish man, this would be a terrifying place.  Not because they were afraid of the false god that it was built to, but because of their fear of the one true God who deemed places such as this as unclean.  

As they come upon the scene, I can imagine people whispering about the group of men, and wondering what they were doing there.  In my mind, I am sure that Jesus’ name was being whispered through the crowd. Maybe they thought he was a prophet coming to declare war on the Roman god of virility?  Maybe He was going to announce his Messiah status?  What better place to reject the gentile Roman government than the seat of one of their gods.  Instead, Jesus asks the boys, “Who do the people say that the Son of man is?”  

The whispers were audible, and the disciples were listening; “Some say that you are John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others, Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets.”

This was a quick reply, and one to which they probably had addressed before as Jesus created huge crowds.

In this instant, I believe Jesus was taking them on a life affirming journey of their faith.  I can imagine him pulling them around him like a cloak, “But who do you yourselves say that I am?”  

I don’t think Peter wasted one second in his answer: “YOU ARE THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD.”

I can imagine the others nodding their heads, and smiling at one another.  Maybe this was the moment when Jesus would declare his divinity, lay aside His earthly robe, and crush the Roman rule over God’s people. Maybe by declaring Jesus as Messiah, it would spur the Son of God to action. Surely, every angel in heaven stood ready to crush the Roman empire, and establish the Jews as the chosen rulers of earth.  

I can imagine Jesus seeing the hope in their faces, and the courage that always arises when the Lord is revealed.  He stares across the crowds gathered to give their sacrifices, and the heathen temple where the unholy gave gifts to a god that was not God.  He looked down at the stone platform they were standing on and put his hand upon Peter’s shoulder; “Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.”

You have to stand back from this for just a second and go ‘Wow!’  I want this said about me!  I want that kind of praise from the son of the creator.  

“And I also...  (Please don’t read the scripture so fast!!!!!!)  say to you,” 

Not only had the Father revealed the Son to Peter, but now Jesus is going to personally reveal what the Father’s plans are for the knowledge Peter was just given.  AND I ALSO, SAY TO YOU!!!

“You are Peter, and upon this rock, I will build MY CHURCH, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”  “I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”  

There was no sudden appearing of an angelic host, no fire leaping from out of the putrid grotto in front of them, there was no thunder, no lightning, or any other sign that the Kingdom of God was about to overtake the earth.

This was Jesus’ declaration of war, and His army numbered twelve simple men.  The enemy was given notice!  Jesus was going to make war in the heavenlies and the Church would be His army.  The Church would be built upon the rock upon which they stood.  Not the physical platform, but upon the freedom of Christ invading men’s fearful hearts.  Jesus would walk into the very pit of hell and wrest the keys of hell, and the grave from satan.  Men would no longer be slaves to sin, and the war was on.  The Church was Christ’s chosen means of setting men free.  

I began this study telling you how much God hates slavery.  On the other hand, it is humans who love enslaving one another, and the carnal nature is always revealed by oppressors, no matter who they are, but it only takes an instant in time for the oppressed to become the oppressor, and for the slave to become a master. From that moment, the kingdom of grace and love was set in the hearts of men, not upon stones, tablets, or even upon sheets of paper written nearly two thousand years later.  We are part of that Kingdom!!  This great nation is but a pale shadow of that Kingdom, yet even in its blurry silhouette, the radiance of the Kingdom of God is revealed.  

As we turn our attention back to the pages wherein liberty is proclaimed, we are going to look at how Jesus Christ, and His church has destroyed the idea of slavery, and how we as the Church can continue the task of proclaiming liberty to the captive.

We can see the power of the carnal nature all around us as the truth is revealed. The oppressed want to be the oppressor. The victim wants retaliation, and retribution.  The injured want to inflict injury, and the wounded wishes to draw blood for the wounding. The Kingdom of Grace and love isn’t about these things.  Jesus probably disappointed the men who were looking for Him to call down fire from heaven to consume the wicked.  Hell was put on notice that day that it would no longer be able withstand the Kingdom of God. God’s faithful were a mighty army who would not be resisted!

Did you think Jesus was only speaking of spiritual matters?  Did you think He enjoyed seeing lives of hopelessness?  We must see with spiritual eyes into the affairs of mankind, and speak freedom.  NEVER again will the Church sit idly by as men inflict cruelty upon another.  As we saw from John Locke, William Penn and the host of founding fathers, courage is born of faith, and faith reveals God.  Let us be as brave as those who set this nation in motion.   

A REPUBLIC: PROPHECY AND PROMISE

 I want to thank Bro. Tony Mincer for the wonderful series of lessons on William Penn.  As I look back on the men who shaped the founding of our great nation, I come away with a huge heart of humility.  While I would like to think I could be as brave as William Penn, I'm not so sure.  

Now we will turn our attention toward a man whose faith in Christ was less obvious, and whose life was circumspect to say the least.  As we dive into the life of Benjamin Franklin, I would like all of you to keep in mind the purpose of God in bringing our great nation into being.  In today's world it is easy to point out the displacement of native peoples, the terrors of slavery, and the repression of peoples as somehow indicative of the moral failure of the founders, and in turn a statement against our republic, and capitalistic economy.  This is not true.  The declaration of Independence, and our Constitution were both a prophetic declaration of human dignity, and a promise of what could be.  A republic was a new creation, and democracy was considered a failed governmental experiment.  Capitalism was new, and it's power yet untested.  As with all great endeavors, evil will often shadow the purest of motives.  Cruel, and heartless men will attach themselves to good ideas in the hope that their evil hearts won't be revealed.  

While slavery and servitude were hallmarks of European cultures for over 3,000 years, it only took 60 years from the creation of our United States for slavery to be abolished.  While monarchs lived in great wealth, and purchased the loyalty of tribal leaders throughout Europe, our great country saw average ordinary men rise to great wealth and provide employment for generations.  All of these benefits grew, and grew as men, and women became free to follow the voice of God.  

While it is easy for Marxists, and humanists to point out the flaws of the Church throughout our nation's history, they seem less willing to admit the good done by the Church when confronted with the truths of its many successes.  

It was Christians who discovered God's hatred of slavery, and began the march toward its abolition.  It was Christian women who led the suffrage, and acquired the right to vote.  It was Christians who took up the mantle of human rights and began the march to destroy racial persecution.  Justice is a Jewish, and Christian concept, and the United States has led the way in the battle for justice.  The Church has led the way for liberty, justice, and human rights.  The Church has made the world a better place to live.  These are facts that can't be disputed!  I have seen the conditions in other nations, other continents, and in other cultures.  We have made the world a better place, and God willing, the Church will continue to be a shining light for good in a darkened world.   

AS THE ENLIGHTENMENT FADES

We've been blessed in our study of two of the most influential men in our nation's history.  John Locke, and William Penn both were major contributors to the age of enlightenment, and we find their ideas, and philosophies written throughout our Constitution, as well as our Declaration of Independence.  

Neither of these men were perfect!  Humans aren't perfect.  We slosh around in the swamp of our passions, morality, and soiled character looking for ways to improve the condition of those around us while tethered to our own selfish desires.  There is no human being, other than our Lord Jesus Christ, who has conquered the muck of our human condition.  Even the most dedicated, and selfless of us succumbs to our weaknesses at moments.  The Apostle Paul called it the 'carnal nature', or the 'flesh.'  

YET, the Apostle Paul saw something that caused him to willingly lay down his life for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  He witnessed Grace, and love, and its power to uplift men from the swamp of carnality.  What the law was powerless to do, Christ accomplished by His death, and resurrection.  

Both John Locke, and William Penn experienced the light within, and sought to inform their generation of the truth revealed to them.  While it is impossible to teach about them without noting their flaws, and contradictions, it is impossible to ignore the vision they held for mankind, more specifically the institutions of government by which humans must submit to one another.  For anyone who looks at this age through just one lens, they will see what they expected to see.  If our lens is black history, you will see how miserably these men failed, and even appeared to be hypocrites.  If you view them through the lens of white supremacy, you will be disappointed by their liberal views of humanity.  Locke, and Penn were products of their generation, and were constrained by their peers, as well as the financial constraints of the time in which they lived.  Still, they wrote down their dreams and aspirations to which they themselves hoped to live by.  It is much like the same 'voices' in our society who call for social justice while abusing the very demands they make upon others. Duplicity continues!  If anything put a magnifying glass upon the hypocritical nature that lives within all of us, the Pandemic of 2020 would be an electron microscope.  

Our nation's founders were products of their generation, to judge them by ours is to make our moral failures even more circumspect.  It's like the old saying, "while you're pointing a finger at someone else, there are four more pointing back at you."  By the time our nation's founders were formulating the path to freedom from Europe, the "enlightenment" was fading.  Our Constitution would be its crowning accomplishment, and a model for others to follow for the next 250 years.  The highest aspirations of Locke, Penn, and a host of others would be enshrined within a small letter to a despot across the ocean.  Nearly 12 years later it would be woven into the fabric of our Constitution.  At the core of this great document was the novel idea of individual worth.  This was a secular treatise upon a spiritual truth revealed in Christ Jesus. 

For example, Alexis de Tocqueville who would come to the United States from France around the 1850's studied our working republic and left hopeful, and yet fearful for the experiment of liberty.  He was filled with hope because of our focus on local governments, spiritual freedom, and exercise of capitalism.  He was fearful because he saw the threat of tyranny if the government became too centralized.  He called it the 'tyranny of the masses.'  Our founders sought to create a government that would unite us in purpose, while at the same time protecting the rights of the individual.  Hence our three separate, but equal branches of government.  Sadly, as time has marched on, we've seen the effects of allowing one branch to become more powerful than another.  Our legislative branch no longer legislates as it should, giving more and more executive power to the Executive branch.  This in turn puts a greater burden upon the Judicial branch to interpret, and rule upon what is legal for an Administration to do.  

As we succumb to the tyranny of the minorities, we find ourselves drawn ever deeper into the arms of socialism.  The age of enlightenment is fading quickly because the citizens of our nation no longer hold to the truth that we are 'endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights.'  Without a sovereign God, there is no moral foundation to place our feet upon.  We are pulled ever deeper into the morass of pettiness, and selfishness that is the human condition.  Grace, and love are the only salvation for those who are sinking deeper and deeper into the swamp.  Grace and love are from Christ alone.   

The Enlightenment

 As we move forward in our study of the Kingdom of Grace and Love, we find ourselves in a period of time called "The Enlightenment."  This time of great introspection, and investigation would eventually inform the founders of our nation, and set in motion the framework for one of the most radical experiments in governance (USA.) The printed bible, and then the printed word spurred men, and women to think critically for themselves. Until the printed bible, very few people had access to the word of God, and it was explained to them by 'clergy.'  As we know by now, even though the word of God is inerrant, the men who teach it aren't always the best of people.  From the time of Christ, kingdoms, and empires continued to ebb, and flow as men, and women often used Christianity to bring legitimacy to their rule.  Sovereignty over others was validated by taking scriptures out of context, and then forbidding others to read those scriptures for themselves.  Cruelty and enslavement can certainly be found in Christian Europe during the time of the enlightenment, but carnality has always found a place to hide when people don't have a personal relationship with their creator.  

When I asked Bro. Forest to teach us about John Locke, I wanted to make it clear that there were men who I believe were positioned by God to change the course of history, and bring about the slow march toward Governments recognizing individual worth.  Our nation's constitution is a prophetic statement of how God wants men to live with one another.  I say that because it is all to easy easy for Christians to focus on the 'after-life' and forget that we were left here to bring the Kingdom of God to the earth. At the time of its penning, we were far from realizing the words written on the hearts of those who put it to paper. Without knowing it, they became prophets of what was to come.  

Throughout the history of the Church there have been too many times when we've been swayed from our purpose by either being too earthly minded, or too focused on the end times.  We aren't powerless, and we have so many good gifts to give those around us.  The Church must be the voice of grace, and love, but it must also inform the unregenerate about what is moral, and holy. History is filled with failed attempts to usher in the wisdom, and beauty of the Kingdom of Heaven. For over 1600 years from the time Christ walked the earth, the church seemed incapable of affecting great change for the better.  In some instances men and women claiming to be Christians did greater harm to the Kingdom than Satan could ever do.  But, all was not, and is not lost.  The printing press put the word of God in the hands of ordinary men, and hope sprang anew.  Within Europe, people began to see the truth of the gospel for themselves, and the 'Age of Enlightenment' began.  Sadly, the great philosophers of the 'Age of Enlightenment' eventually had to come to grips with mankind's predilection for cruelty.  While kings, and monarchs could be cruel, lawless people could be far worse. Amidst a time of great upheaval came John Locke. John Locke believed God to be a logical and reasoning being who gave men intellect in order for them to dwell together in societies.  It was in this revelation that the seeds of our republican form of governments was sown. This would begin another period of growth in the Church, and finally men would be convinced of the wickedness of enslaving others.  The prophetic words of the Constitution quietly guided men and women throughout our history toward the knowledge that the many have a duty to ensure that the individual is protected from the masses. 

One day, we will look beyond the color of our skin, the texture of our hair, or the place of our birth.  Till then, we move forward, ensuring that grace is given, and love is lived.  

This Sunday, Pastor Tony Mincer will be teaching us about William Penn and his contribution to the founding of our great nation.  

LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL

Wow, Dave, why did you time jump two thousand years??!!!  

Because I can!!  

I think by now I’ve made the point that unregenerate humans are capable of despicable wickedness given the opportunity.  In the two thousand years since Christ walked upon this earth in physical form, the Church has limped along in the mission it was given.  There have been occasional bursts of spiritual enlightenment, but just when you thought the Kingdom of grace and love was about to invade the earth, carnal men would co-opt the faithful and Holy Spirit would have to begin again.  When I explain this to people, I often get asked “Why doesn’t God just make people love one another?”  My answer is simple; “Because He loves you too much to force you to do His will.”  Yes, you have to obey His commands to be His disciple, but it’s still your choice. Yes, He does coerce, lead, and prod people to a place where they have to make a choice, but at that moment of decision, the choice is yours.   That is love beyond measure!!  Sadly, the church hasn’t always been led by regenerate people. Over the last two thousand years history tells us that many terrible things were done in Jesus’ name, but at the end of the day, it is human beings who are cruel, and wicked.  

In my 66 years of life, I’ve heard many arguments against Christianity, and unending lists of crimes committed by so-called Christians.  The marginal Christian, or dare I say, false teachers have existed from day one of the faith. Christ came for one purpose, and that was to give life to us while we live upon this vale, and to give us eternal life after we roll up this tent. God has not changed, nor His vision for us living here with grace, and love for one another.  Christ’s sacrificial work was for more than a ticket to eternity.  He came so that we could be repositories of His Holy Spirit.  Holy Spirit is the one who teaches us, and leads us into all truth (righteousness).  Not long ago, being ‘born again’ was a fad, but very few really were.  

Being born again means becoming a new creation that loves as Christ loves, and does as Christ does.  Later, when the Charismatic movement happened, it became fashionable to be ‘Spirit filled, and the Church enjoyed a short period of overall acceptance. As with being born again, people quickly came to the knowledge that the indwelling of Holy Spirit is for more than just a feel good feeling.  

I believe that the Church’s greatest days are yet to come. I also believe that the founding and creation of the United States was one of the greatest steps toward bringing the kingdom of grace and love to the world.  The church has fought spiritual battles with the carnal nature throughout its existence, and it has taken much longer than I know God would have liked.  Liberty, and justice are not catchphrases with God!  The entire prophetic works of the Old Testament point repeatedly toward God’s hatred of enslavement, and injustice. 

Because I am an Evangelical Protestant, I had to learn about the Universal Church (Roman Catholic Church) through reading, and study.  That history is arduous, tortured, and at times cruel beyond measure.  Generations would move in and out of the true faith, and the evils that were done in the name of Christ were actually the carnal nature at its worst.  In the midst of the wickedness, there were always those who were really born again, and whose salvation was without question.  

Then, as if some light was turned on, groups of people from every protestant faith began to study and read the scriptures for themselves.  As the seventeenth century began, there was an awakening unlike anything before it.  The Bible provided the fuel, and Holy Spirit fanned the flames of men’s hearts to experience that liberty which Christ had purchased for them so many hundreds of years before.  Whereas in generations past, the gospel was used to build vast fortunes and establish empires, now the gospel was viewed as what it really was; God’s desire to impart individual worth upon all mankind.  The creator of the universe, stepped into His creation, and became the created so that we could know how much we meant to him at a personal, and individual level.  What is the ‘good news’?  You have worth!!!!  This UNDERSTANDING would unravel ancient kingdoms, crush age old prejudices, and begin the march to liberty, and justice for all.  IT ALL BEGAN IN THE CHURCH.  These weren’t secular ideas!  From within the seventeenth and eighteenth century awakenings we saw the birth of individual worth.  Christians began to cry out against the indignity of enslavement, and the wickedness of murderous empire building.  The fires of liberty began in Europe, but erupted into a burning furnace in the colonies.  It would take at least three more awakenings before the flames consumed the carnal nature.  As the founding fathers began to argue separation from the two great national powers of the day, they discovered spiritual truths that had existed from the time of Moses, and that had found its fulfillment in Christ.  We are all created equal, and we can serve one another as equal citizens in this land.  To make my point, the prevailing thought in the U.S. is to avoid intervention in the affairs of other nations.  

Was our beginning perfect?  NO WAY!!  It was a beginning!  Individual worth became enshrined in our Constitution, and the laws of our nation were created to guarantee individual freedom.’  Freedom to speak openly, and to defend your speech against tyranny was written in words never uttered before.  A Declaration of Independence became the foundation for a novel idea called a republic.  I believe that our founding fathers set in motion the framework that would guarantee every citizen equal status under the law.  I believe they deliberately wrote the Constitution in such a way as to eventually destroy the institution of slavery, and give every citizen of this great nation the privilege of voting for its representatives.  I think it probably broke some of their hearts that it took so long, and cost such a high price in human life to see these freedoms at their full bloom.  Since the Civil war, our nation has wrestled with the definition of personhood, and citizenship in many personal, and sometimes heartbreaking events.  Still, at every juncture, the Constitution has been the document we return to in order to resolve our conflicts. As a nation we are wrestling with the sins of our past, and the carnal nature that is inevitable within a free nation. 

I despise the wickedness of slavery, but I can’t undo it.  I despise the history of denying women the same rights as men, but I can’t undo it.  I despise the cruelty of racial bigotry, and genocide committed upon native Americans, but I can’t undo it.  All I know is that at no other time, and in no other country on this earth are so many different people able to be united in continuing this great endeavor called a ‘Republic’!   Despite what others may try and say, I know that it is because of Christians, that the idea of individual worth has finally triumphed.  Now, the question is, will we allow ourselves to become the tools of our own destruction, or will we embrace grace and love.  You see, Christianity is a reflection of the love of God.  No other religion is as tolerant, or loving as Christianity.  Maybe we will see that revealed if the current trend toward CRT and other progressive ideas gain a foothold.  I don’t want to see it happen, but I know that this present vale is not my home, and that should I be persecuted for believing in Christ, I will live forever with Him.  No government can take that from me.   

For the next few weeks we’ll look at some of the men who helped guide our nation to becoming the republic it is.  

THE RULE OF MAN

The Rule of Man is what I refer to as the ‘big guy principal’.  From the beginning of mankind, it has always been the ‘big guy’ that rules. I’m not just referring to someone’s physical stature, but the nature of the one who rises to rule over others.  Kings, and warrior leaders will exert their physical might, or their cruelty upon those who are weaker, or peaceable.  The rule of man is always about subjugating others to their will.  When Moses received the Ten Commandments, they were intended to reveal how God expected the people to live with each other, and with Him. Under God’s law, men would live ungoverned by other men.  There was no need of the ‘big guy’ if you followed God’s laws. The basis of God’s social law was simple; if you lived with fealty toward one another, without desire to enslave one another, then you could live free of government.  

OOOPS, one problem; the carnal nature and its tendency to enslave.  

The problem for the Hebrew children was that God’s law didn’t physically change the carnal nature.   Eventually, the carnal nature twisted God’s laws, and eventually devolved into a ruling elite forcing others to live by their interpretation of the Laws. Carnal men, and women were able to take the law and enslave others to it.  Before long, you once again had a ruling religious elite who believed they were better than, and knew more than everyone else.  It is all too easy to get fat off of the desire of people to please God.  Something the Apostle Paul spoke often about even as Christianity began to take hold.  God never intended men to be governed by anyone other than Himself. Amazingly though, for a brief time in history (about 440 years), a people lived without a centralized government, or ruler telling them what to do.  This was the people of Israel before the kings. It wasn’t a perfect time, because surrounding this semi-nomadic nation of shepherds and farmers, there were developing kingdoms bent on enslavement. God himself had conquered many of the nations in miraculous interventions so that His children could grow in number. Then a problem occurred that changed everything for the Hebrews.  The commandments and laws began to be ignored.  The tribes of Israel began to try and subjugate one another, and in the process ignored the Commandments concerning their worship of their creator, and FATHER. The tabernacle, once the proud symbol of God’s presence, sat in disrepair, and its High Priest grew fat and old upon the sacrifices of the few people who still worshiped.

During the time of the ‘Judges’ the world was changing around the people of God. Human beings were beginning to fill the earth as commanded, and the Jewish people found themselves surrounded by enemies and warrior kingdoms who claimed to be ordained by their gods to enslave the world.  The Egyptians, still fearing God’s rebuke of their claim to ownership, would only help other rulers attempt to invade Israel. Tribal memories are long. The Philistines, a conglomeration of mediteranean sea peoples, set their sights on the ungoverned Hebrews because it was much easier to pick off their little cities here and there, than to attack an entire kingdom. The Hebrew people were not a nation, they were a family, and a very dysfunctional one at that.  Worse, they were no longer loyal to the ONE true God of their fathers.  The Philistines found the children of Israel to be godless, ignorant, and leaderless. Worse yet, you could get them to turn against their own people by paying bribes, or promising lucrative trade deals.  In later studies, as we look into the many places that the Apostles visited, we will do background studies into how those cultures came to be. Suffice it to say for the sake of this lesson, that idolatry abounded in the many nations which sought to destroy Israel. At the same time,  there was a remnant of people who interceded for the cause of God’s people. (Although, I’m convinced that God didn’t need to be coerced into protecting the people of His hand.)  

The law of God did not appear to be a shield from the vast armies surrounding Israel.  The ‘civilized’ world of that time had kings, pharaohs, and mighty warrior chieftains who led their city states in ever increasing attacks on their neighbors, and even kingdoms far removed from their home of origin.  Poor wicked, rebellious, Israel couldn’t even call upon their God because they’d spurned Him for the idols of their neighbors.  It is in this state, that the Israelites approach Samuel, the last Judge of Israel, and beg for a king to lead them.  The wickedness of Israel was complete.  They wanted to be like everyone around them.  Godless, and wicked. This example is being played out in modern day America.  Whenever I hear the calls for socialism, it is almost always followed by a comparison to other nations who have it.  The warnings are just as real today as they were in ancient Israel.

The Rule of Man, even good, and decent men, will be in direct opposition to God. God is always about freedom, and choice, so He allowed the Hebrews to be governed by a king.  From that point on, every civilized people would be basically the same, SLAVES!!  It doesn’t matter what form the ‘big guy’ took, the big guy would be the master, and everyone else would be their slave.  This form of ‘government’ (I use the term loosely,) would be the pattern for mankind for thousands of years until a small group of Christian men, and women rose up against tyranny and created an amazing thing called a republic!!  Up and until the birth of the United States of America, mankind had followed the ‘big guy’ form of rule.  God told Samuel what it would look like for the Hebrew children and that is what happened. Samuel warned them: A king will draft (enslave) your sons to fight wars.  He will draft YOUR sons to work his fields, harvest his grain, and make his wines.  He will enslave your sons to work as blacksmiths, engineers, mine ores, and create weapons.  He will take your daughters to be cooks, and household servants for him. He will take your best lands, take your best livestock, and tax you on everything you produce.  So it has been, and so it will be for those who trust in the ‘big guy.’  Thomas Jefferson said it best when he said: “The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground”.   Enslavement (not racial enslavement) is the end result of all governments which seek to centralize control.  The subjugation of people to the strong man’s will is seductive to those who don’t lead a Spirit led life.  Call it laziness or stupidity, even free people will sell themselves for the illusion of safety, and provision.  From the moment Saul became king of Israel, the Hebrew people were defeated, and would eventually be conquered.  The Rule of Man is wicked and those who are the most cruel, eventually end up being killed by someone more wicked and cruel than they were. There isn’t a form of government from the earliest tribal systems to modern day nations that hasn’t had subjugation to the will of the leader as its foundation.  Only our great republic was formed upon the idea that the people COULD govern themselves. Every other form of government from monarchies, socialists, communists, and even theocracies like Islam fail because it is too easy to fall into enslaving others.  

Sadly, even our own country is seeing the slow and merciless march toward enslavement.  Identity politics is self-devouring, and fraught with intersections where one minority's rights are in conflict with another’s.  The journey from city states to huge nations that span oceans is a journey of war, cruelty, and wickedness beyond imagination. I would like to think that Christianity could change that, but only the Church can.  AND, there is a difference between Christianity and the Church.   Real Christianity is the model for nations, and their leaders to go by, but that would mean giving up power, money, and prestige.  These are powerful and seductive forces that only a born again believer can overcome.  Those who profess Christ in word only can’t withstand the seductive pull of the carnal nature.  Yet, this is what Christ came to change.  The church will change it, but it has been and will continue to be a slow process because carnal men and women can pretend to be spiritual.  Without the morality born of the Spirit of God, the world will always be searching for a ‘big guy’ to rule them.  

MESO-AMERICANS, NATIVE PEOPLES, AND TRIBAL EXISTENCE

One of the reasons for this study was to provide you with enough information to discredit the unceasing criticisms of Christianity and western culture in general. One of the tools of Social Justice Warriors is to repeat the lie that western civilization somehow corrupted, and or destroyed noble native cultures in their drive to colonize the world. The lie is compounded when they try to paint these native cultures as somehow being cultures that lived in harmony with nature, and other peoples.  Nah, not so much.  As I’ve said before, the carnal human nature is to kill and that nature finds its expression in all peoples. Because we've already looked at the cruelty of mankind through middle eastern biblical references, I want to point toward the savage behavior of native peoples on continents far removed from ‘white’ people.  This is to counter the progressive narrative that somehow ‘white people’ have the corner on enslavement and cruelty to others.  We’ll begin with what is usually considered to be one of the most peaceful of all cultures, the polynesian culture.

In Polynesian history there is well documented proof of intense ‘pre-contact’ warfare and tribal conflict.  Prestige, land, and resources were often the main reasons for conflict.  Because Polynesian cultures were a people of the water, we don’t have much proof of their sacrificial religious history, but you can be sure it existed. The numerous gods and deities were violent, and when things went bad on an island, human sacrifice often was the only way to appease their gods.Tribes would often raid other islands, but even on the larger islands, many wars were fought with the tribesmen gathering in a clearing and facing each other in a huge circle.  They would often be ‘cheered’ on by their spouses, and their children. When the posturing, and chest beating were over, the battle would wage on till one tribe gained an advantage in numbers. The victors would then chase the losers back to their village, killing wives and children along the way. While we may like the idea of a people who were in tune with nature, respecting the land and ocean, nothing could be further from the truth.  There is a proven history of Polynesian cultures devastating the ecology of their island to the point where they had to flee, or worse yet, be starved to death.  Cannibalism was not uncommon.  Cannibalism can be found in almost all cultures when famine, or sieges happen.  Still, the image of calm peaceful polynesian islanders is a falsehood.  Somehow, humans always find a way to destroy one another and ultimately enslave one another. The carnal nature is always to kill and destroy.

Before I launch out into criticism of Meso-Americans, let me point out that about 4,000 to 5,000 years ago there was a world wide growth in temple building, and an explosion of city state cultures around the world. This happened without any contact with other peoples.  The Ugaritic cultures of the middle east were building walled cities, and establishing trade with Africa, Asia, and Europe, but at the same time the (native?) peoples of the Americas were also building huge structures and cities.  Every one of these cultures were built upon war, conquest, and the enslavement of the people in order to satisfy the whims of a crazy, whacked out, bully (The big guy).  There was no utopian society, Shangri-la, or whatever you want to call a utopian society.  Every group has a carnal nature.

Meso-American’s of South America, and native Americans of North America were warrior peoples who often clashed over territory, and food sources.  Tribal rivalries were a part of everyday life for these people. Yet, somehow, thousands of years later we want to make heroes of these ancient barbaric peoples because they ‘worshipped the earth’, or some aspect of it like fire, sky, water, and earth.  Somehow this makes them more noble than ‘Christians’ who worship the God who created it all.  The ancient peoples were not any more virtuous, or noble than any other culture to this date.  Enslavement, genocide, and torture were very common in native American cultures. People are people!!!  Witness the return to the worship of the earth in modern culture.

The Olmecs, Incans, Mayans, and Aztec peoples were bloodthirsty beyond our imagination.  Throughout Central and South America, there is abundant evidence of human sacrifice, and more specifically child sacrifice. Children were often offered up to appease their gods, or to please some blood lust that is just as alive today as it was then.  AGAIN, I will say that ancient cultures never recognized individual worth. Everything that flowed from their religions, or their cultural life was done for a despotic ruler or priest.  There was no evil you can imagine that was not left undone in ancient peoples.  There was nowhere on this earth where people weren’t killing, or enslaving one another.  There was no people group that was free of the curse of subjugation and it continues to this day in our modern world.

Our modern 'cancel culture' is no different than anything that was done in ancient times to control the freedoms of people.  Witness the current cancel culture in our Universities and throughout modern media.  Today, the focus of hatred isn’t just one race, but is based on skin color.  The modern form of blaming others is to say that caucasians are now the reason for all of the world’s ills.  Which sounds eerily similar to another pre-genocidal movement called fascism.  Enslavement has to remove the danger of dialogue in order to succeed.  Genocide is the natural end to the failure to enslave.  If one person can’t control another, then they will simply kill you.  This is the carnal nature in its purest form.  

In Meso-American cultures, the enemy was often just another ‘city’ away.  In order to appease the gods of their fleshly nature (fears) they had to give a sacrifice.  Conquest could give you an endless supply of sacrifices until you too were conquered and then given as a sacrifice.  There was nothing noble or utopian in ancient American cultures.  Whether they were Incan, Mayan, or Aztec, they all found their expression of the carnal nature in the same enslavement, torture, and murder cycle. It is time to see the truth for what it is.  Native American tribes of North America were warriors who often fought each other over lands, food, and natural resources. This isn’t endemic of ‘white’ culture.  Although ‘white’ people have the same carnal nature in them. The carnal nature exists in all mankind!  There isn’t one race, or ethnicity who can lay claim to a moral high ground.  

There are other cultures that seemingly look to be utopian, but once you remove the veneer of their belief systems you find the same rotting carnal nature.  Buddhism with its shrine of enlightenment is rife with death, enslavement, and tribal cruelty.  Hinduism, with its caste system is the worst kind of enslavement.  It presumes you are born into a caste, and nothing can lift you out of it.  It is just another form of tribalism run amok. Thankfully this system is beginning to lose its power. 

The tribal systems of Australia, Africa, and North Africa have all been part and parcel of the carnal nature to enslave, torture, and murder those who are different than themselves.  Underpinning all of these cruelties is the belief that they were right in doing what they did.  Middle Eastern cultures that produced the history we know from the Bible were also the worst expression of tribalism we know.  

As we go through this study, I hope to show you how the depravity of the carnal nature was manifested, and how God used the Church to lift mankind up from its wickedness into His Kingdom of Grace and Love.  It is not a kingdom based upon conquering, or enslaving people, but upon freeing human beings from their carnal nature.  Sadly, it can be subverted by the carnal nature when wicked men seek to use it for that means.  These people can be spotted easily by their demand that you do what ‘they’ say because they have heard from God, or because they have been given authority by God to rule over you.  In other words, the first sign that something isn’t in line with the gospel is when enslavement to another person occurs.  This is different from ‘submission’ which is a willing offering of yourself to others. True Christianity is unique in that it doesn’t demand anything of anyone else.  The Spirit led nature  wants to give everything to everyone because you know how pleasant it is.  This is the Kingdom of Grace and Love.  It is the object of scorn and ridicule among the fleshly minded.  No other religion in History has made love its guiding principle as Christians have.  I am going to make a very bold statement that will be proven in later lessons.  The purpose of the church was to set men free to love God, others, and yourself with abandon.  We were set loose upon the earth to demolish the strongholds of enslavement, fear, and wickedness to one another.  I can point to how the Church has succeeded, and I can point to how much further we have to go.  In the end, all of mankind will have no excuse when standing before God to give account of themselves.  The lives, and the testimony of the Church will stand in defense of what God has done through the ages.  Now let’s get back to Moses.

The Law of Moses

 I truly hope all of you enjoyed Pastor Colby's lesson on the early Roman Empire.  I've found his knowledge and insight about Roman culture refreshing and informative over the last year.  I hated to bring his study out of sequence, but I'm sure it will come in handy when we begin our study of the book of Romans.  SO, now we'll jump back into the study of the ancient world and the monstrous evils worked by mankind till Christ came on the scene.  

As we move away from the early bronze age into the middle bronze age, we find mankind having moved away from the nomadic, hunter gatherer tribal systems, to a long history of the city states from the beginning of the Egyptian dynasties till the departure of the Hebrews from Egypt. Modern movies, and television try to paint a civilized picture of Egypt under the Pharaohs, but nothing could be further from the truth.  They were a people who used war, violence, and torture to keep control of the fertile land of the Nile valley. You will often hear Egypt referred to as the 'longest running continuous civilization on earth, but it was because of their brutal society, and cruel military.  

Children had no value other than as slaves.  The elite, and religious leaders of the day were the only ones who enjoyed the fruits of the great Nile river.  Women didn't have rights, and were often sexually assaulted even in the midst of their daily duties. The elderly weren't valued and often killed when their usefulness was over.  The city states of Egypt often fought with one another when they weren't conquering other lands.  It was a brutal time.  

Enter Moses!  Well actually it is God using Moses as His mouthpiece.  Once God had freed the Hebrews from Egyptian control, He led them to Mount Sinai, and there he revealed His thoughts on how men should treat one another.  I'm not going to bore all of you with a lengthy recitation about the various laws, but I will tell you that they were unique in all of history up to that point.  At no other time had a deity given insight into how He wanted men to treat one another.  The law can be broken down into three aspects of life. At the forefront of it all was the declaration that God was the only one true God.  That man's greatest purpose could be realized in worshiping Him only.  That worship was to be totally different than their captors, and those around them.  What was unique about the Hebrew people was that God had chosen them from among all people to be 'separate.'   They would be different in their worship in that they would not offer up human sacrifices.  They would not make idols, and that they would come together three times a year to worship God.  The intimate, personal relationship with their creator was unique to them.  This in turn would inform their relationship with one another.  

While Egypt was a confederation of city states, Israel would be a people.  God intended for them to be a 'family.'  As such He didn't create a theocratic government, nor any kind of government at all.  Yet, at the same time the foundation for our American system of justice was laid down.  People of any position in life were granted 'personhood' and had value.  God revealed his displeasure with slavery through numerous laws.  Personal injury was no longer a reason for killing your neighbor.  "An eye for an eye,' was a bold break from the vengeful and cruel killing of someone just because they hit you.  Under God's law, mankind finally saw women being given land, status, and worth beyond sex objects.  Under God's law, children were valued for more than just labor.  God laid out specific lines of inheritance, and established a court system to resolve issues.  Honor killing was taken from the hands of the parents and placed in the hands of the elders of the community.  You could no longer kill your child if they misbehaved.   God established personal boundaries including land ownership.  Even a person's material goods were considered private property.  Slaves were to be freed at the end of seven years, and all debts were to be resolved every fifty years.  Transgenerational ownership of people was forbidden.  This was unique and unheard of among Israel's neighbors.  More than anything, the law of Moses gave each individual the right to lead themselves.  There was no established government.  If you treated one another according to God's law, there would be no need for men to govern you.  This wasn't only unique, but it was a radical break from the current city state systems that surrounded them.  Finally, God's law established how we should treat this earth, and the animals upon it.  The land was to be 'rested' every seven years, and domesticated animals were to be given food while they toiled.  Cruelty to animals was forbidden, and viewed as evil as mistreating another human.  The Ten commandments alone stood as God's revelation of His intent for life with one another.  

The foundation of Christianity was laid in the stones of a rocky desolate land, and in the hearts of a small group of people.  My admiration for the law of Moses is in the birth of human rights.  There was no "big guy" rule where the biggest meanest dude ruled the others.  For nearly 440 years, the people of Israel were governed by a code of conduct given to them by God.  During this time nations began to be larger than the cities of their birth, and peoples arrived from all over the then settled world.  In fear, the people of Israel no longer trusted God to protect them from their enemies. Their own failures had long ago negated the covenant of God.  Each time they returned to their faith, God would rescue them, and inevitably, they would fall into idol worship.  "Give us a king!"  they demanded of the prophet Samuel.  Samuel tried to warn them what would happen once they followed the "big guy" concept of government.  Samuel's words would be proven right immediately.  Every blessing of the rule of God's laws was negated by their desire for a 'king.'   People would once again go from being free, to being owned by someone.   Utopia had slipped quietly away, and no one cried for it.   

ABRAHAM, LOT, AND JOB

 In ancient cultures, human life didn’t mean anything outside of the family, tribe, city, or nation you belonged to.  Sometimes even family wasn’t enough to guarantee your safety. There were no human rights, no protections from those who held power, no worth outside of who you belonged to.  Those who were physically strong were often the rulers of tribes, and armies. There were only two classes of people at that time in our history, those who were free, and those who were slaves.  Sadly most people were slaves. Even Abraham owned slaves.  Sarah had a handmaid (a slave) who served her, and could even be instructed to sleep with her husband.  Do you think this kind of lifestyle could happen in America today?  There is no way to really calculate how many years lapsed between the flood and the birth of Abraham, but the common number is 350 years.  During that time the world didn’t improve much.  

By the time we have Abraham in the picture, we have a world that we can’t even fathom today.  To give it even more depth, let’s make it clear what the world was like at that time.  You had people like Abraham, Job, and Lot who were considered righteous men.  YET, they had handmaids and servants.  Abraham had so many servants, he could join them to a war with three other kings and win.  Maybe you aren’t seeing the power of the story, but the facts are, that people ‘owned’ other people and it was considered acceptable. Slavery isn’t acceptable to God.  Getting people to see the wickedness of slavery would take thousands of years. God’s textbook is often written over hundreds and thousands of years, and the lesson against enslaving others required a drastic course of action. You might wonder why I’m making a big deal about slavery, but I can tell you that even in its most basic expression, slavery is detestable to God.  Ancient peoples didn’t feel slavery was wrong, with many considering owning slaves to be a noble virtue.  God didn’t approve, but he wasn’t willing to start over again like He did with Noah.  He had a better plan. That plan to bring men to a higher level of understanding would require a greater sacrifice than anything men could offer.  

During the time of Abraham, Lot, and Job, we find entire cities given over to sexual debauchery. We find the rampant sexual desires so strong that the inhabitants demanded any new men to be given to them.  In other words these ancient peoples were raping each other regardless of whether they were men or women.  Mobs of sexual bullies roamed the streets at night without restraint.  Children were their main target.  They wanted ‘new’ men, which meant that they’d already molested and raped everything that was in the city.  To refuse to give in to the sexual depravity of the city was to risk your home, your family, and even your life.  Sexual liberty is just a mask for slavery, just ask any little girl in Asian street markets.  The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are an ancient example of what is beginning today. If we don’t stem the tide of this sexual liberation it will soon be a hate crime to deny someone’s sexual advances.  Crazy, you say!  Even now we are making it a hate crime to speak out against the LGBTQ agenda. Just ten years ago we were promised that legal recognition of gay marriage wouldn’t change anything in the church.  How’d that work out?

During the time of Abraham, children were also given to be used as temple prostitutes.  There was no sanctity of life!  Children were of no value to the culture of that day.  Babies were often abandoned at the doorsteps of shrines and these babies would be given up as sex slaves from infancy.  Human life held no worth.  Babies were often thrown alive over the walls of ancient cities into the smoldering trash heaps outside the city.  Is this too bleak of a picture?  Is it too dark for you?  Are you wondering why I’m even dwelling on this?  This isn’t even a hint of what was going on during this time in our history. When a culture loses the sanctity of life, when a child is nothing more than a sex toy, and we begin to allow our children to be played with in their sexual identity, we are not far away from the insanity of the ancient world.  

There is hope!  The influence of the church hasn’t been completely destroyed. There is an ancient wickedness that we haven’t seen yet, because of the Church’s influence in the world today.  Sadly, that influence is diminishing, and we are beginning to see mankind revert to the evil of the past. I am hopeful that God will intervene if we ask Him to. 

Slavery is more than one man owning another!  Slavery is the repression of free thinking, free speech, and freedom of movement. God’s plan to make slavery abhorrent would take thousands of years, and sadly turn families against each other.  Carnal nature is hard to break!  God has to first declare it wrong, then mankind has to experience firsthand why it is wrong, and then that memory becomes part of a desire to seek God’s way over the carnal nature. 

Slavery is the epitome of every evil we do to one another.  Rape, violent cruelty, torture, abuse, child abuse, and emotional abuse are all expressions of slavery.  The carnal nature finds its greatest expression in enslavement, and murder.  Wars throughout human history have all been the result of someone wishing to take what isn’t theirs through physical brutality. Power, whether physical, or mental, finds a way to express the worst of the carnal nature. 

A PERSONAL REVELATION:

As a young man in the Air Force, I was a military hawk.  I believed we had a right to enforce our form of government on other peoples and cultures. If another nation challenged us, I had a sad statement that was simply “Nuke them till they glow.”  Without even knowing it, I was exhibiting the most base aspects of the carnal nature, enforcing my will upon another.  

This carnal nature to enslave isn’t excused even if the desired result is good.  A matter of fact, I’ve found out that the carnal nature to enslave others is usually cloaked in the desire to ‘do good.’   As our current culture has shown, enslavement can be manifested as ‘political correctness,’ and  ‘controlling speech.’ These manifestations of enslavement are ancient in origin, and evidence of the fear of free societies. The mainstream media has taken the art of mental enslavement to a fine art, by declaring anyone who doesn’t agree with the progressive agenda as deplorable, uneducated, haters, and fascist. If freedom lovers don’t stand up against the move to enslave us to thought control, we will be enslaved once more to the elitist, totalitarian lifestyle of ancient cultures. Yes, free speech can be abhorrent at times, but it is still freedom. A truly free society is able to exist with dissent, different thought, and even rebellion.  How do I know this?  Because God has existed with us even in our worst expression of the carnal nature.  He could have simply spoken us out of existence and started over, but He didn’t. He could have made us automatons simply carrying out a set of programmed functions, but He allows us to be FREE.  Sadly, it was fearful Christians who began the cries for censorship in the media instead of offering up hope, and faith in God. The knife of censorship cuts both ways, and now it is cutting at religious liberty.  Christians will soon find themselves slaves to an overbearing, overreaching government intent on enslaving everyone.  

Enslavement is unique to the carnal nature.  Throughout this study you’re going to see many references to slavery because it is so endemic to the carnal nature.  God has never sought to enslave us, but to free us from the carnal nature. The carnal nature rebuffs God’s love, and despises grace.  The perfect law of love can’t be manifested outside of regenerate man.  That is why the Church was given the mandate of ‘preaching’ the gospel instead of ‘enforcing’ the gospel. There are many voices in the halls of Christianity that want to create another Christian ‘state.’  I hear them, and see their posts on social media.  This was never what Christ intended.  Yes, I believe we should prefer one another in business, in relations, and in invention. The regenerate mind is far superior to the mind controlled by the flesh, BUT that doesn’t give us the right to enslave others to our views. Abortion, sexual deviancy, and cruelty to others will always find a path to expression as long as mankind is free to think.  This is why God has never instituted a theocracy on earth. The book of Revelation shows us that when Christ returns to rule the earth, it will only take a thousand years for the carnal nature to rebel against the divine Kingdom. Please discover how Christ has to rule doing those thousand years.  History is replete with the horrors of the carnal nature. God knows that the carnal nature will pervert good into evil.  Enslavement is the definition of wickedness. Wickedness ruled mankind from Adam to Moses, until God became so frustrated with what he saw, he decided to finally declare His nature to a small group of insignificant people who’d been enslaved for hundreds of years. His hatred of slavery would finally be written in stone.  

WICKEDNESS: FROM ADAM TO NOAH

 “It is impossible for men to govern themselves without God,  because they've proven they can’t govern themselves.”  David A. Bragg from The Chronicles of Zach Rader: Last Flight of the Ice Warrior.

I wrote this statement in 2004 in a fiction novel based in a future almost 400 years from now. I wrote the book in response to utopian dreamers who believe that humans can overcome their carnal nature, and create a society free of despotic rulers, class warfare, and tribalism in all of its forms. The best we can hope for till Christ returns is what we’ve enjoyed here in the United States of America till about 10 years ago.  Our great Republic was a brave experiment in self governance, but even the founding fathers knew that it could fail given a slight tip in the precarious balance of checks, and balances they’d set in place. They knew that if one branch gained leverage over the other, the republic would crumble into a smoking ruin.  More than anything else, they knew that the governance they sought to give the people was fragile if it wasn’t based upon God given rights to every man. The unravelling of our republic is due to our government denying God, and embracing the carnal nature. The rejection of God's boundaries always leads to a slippery slope toward unchecked wickedness. 

While our present generation seeks to create a grand utopia, free of religion, and free of social expectations of any kind, the truth is, it will never happen. Wickedness has reigned from the day Adam and Eve left the garden of Eden, and it continues to this day. We weren’t even one generation removed from Adam and Eve before we had the first murder. There was no religious or societal expectations in the beginning. Cain and Able had no one else to affect them.  They had no societal pressures, no environmental issues to lead them to express the basest of human nature, yet we find Cain upset at his brother over something as simple as a gift given to God. Cain’s reaction to rejection is classic carnal nature, he sulks.  It is at this point that God intervenes and says to Cain;  “If you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door: and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”  (Genesis 4:7 emphasis mine.)

The way we would say this to our children today is; If you make a mistake, anger and shame is lurking at the door, and it desires to consume you, but you can master it.  Simply put, 'you didn't get it right this time, but you can try again.' Instead, Cain continued to sulk, envy soon took over, and mankind began its first generation with a homicide. From this point forward, humans have repeatedly demonstrated the power of the carnal nature to destroy, and enslave. The carnal nature is described by God as Wickedness.  The Hebrew word for wicked is “Ra” or “Resh” which is also the letter ‘R’ in the Hebrew alphabet.  It’s root meaning is to break, demolish, or destroy, it implies the desire to destroy the purpose of something. The power of wickedness doesn't get weaker over time.  If people are left unchecked by moral standards, they will destroy everything, and everyone in their path. It doesn't take long for wickedness to multiply to the point where God has to intervene.  I did some real sloppy math and came up with about 1,670 years from Adam to Noah, during which mankind was ruled by wickedness.  A matter of fact by the time Noah was born, you have to realize that man was pretty wicked. In Genesis 6:5 it says; “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of mankind was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually.”  For God to repent of creating man, you know it wasn’t good.  Then came Noah.  Here was a good man in his generation. How bad could mankind have been?  Can we even begin to imagine what people were doing that would drive God to obliterate mankind with a flood? How wicked could a bunch of stone age people be?  I guess my answer would be: bad enough to destroy mankind from the face of the earth.  Everything was contaminated by man’s wickedness, even the animals. Sadly, there has never been a time when people weren’t wicked. The greater truth to be learned here, is that mankind was destroying God’s purpose for the earth.  That means ancient man was killing, stealing, destroying, and doing wickedness all the time.  Time to wash the earth of the wickedness.  Enter the flood.

When Noah entered the ark, you would hope that would bring peace between God and man.  God would wash away the wicked, and leave the righteous.  You’d think that reducing the earth’s population down to one family would solve everything.  NOPE!  Almost immediately, we  have incest, murder, more murder, and even more murder immediately after the flood.  We had people exploring every facet of sexual behavior.  Lying, and stealing, cruelty of every kind followed mankind wherever he went. Families turned against families, and within a generation we were right back where we started. The carnal nature is pervasive!  It didn’t take long for Noah’s children to forget God, and create their own gods.  Once that happened it didn’t take long before people began offering up their children to  those idols.  People had sex with anyone they wanted to. (polyamorism as opposed to polygamy.)  Eventually polyamorism led to deviant sexual behaviors, pedophilia, child enslavement, human enslavement, adultery, murder, torture, and evils beyond anything I am willing to write about in this blog.  Simply stated, mankind did whatever they wanted whenever they wanted.  

Why am I being so negative?  Because this present  generation is proof of how wicked people can be to one another when God is removed from the equation.  In today’s ‘woke’ culture, if you don’t agree with the left's ‘woke’ ideas, you are ‘cancelled.’  The rage culture on the internet is beyond the norms we would talk to one another if we were face to face.  Cancelling people today is no different than ancient cultures throwing you out of the tribe, city, and family in ancient times.  

Oops, rabbit trail!  Back to Noah.  Not long after the flood, we find nations being formed, magnificent structures being built, and people trying to subjugate one another by force.  The sin of slavery began to introduce itself throughout all peoples, and cultures. BE SURE, God deplores slavery as much as He hates killing.  Slaves at that time weren’t solely acquired by conquest, but they were often the result of people simply selling themselves to another person. Once again, we see mankind unable to govern themselves. However, before you start judging ancient people, you have to see what is going on today.  If you want a car or a house, you sell yourself to a bank and they demand payment from you.  In order to make that payment, you ‘sell’ yourself to an employer who pays you what they think you’re worth.  Not quite the same as slavery, but it is the same motivation for selling yourself as a slave in ancient times.  The major difference between then and now, is that often times parents would sell their children into slavery, not unlike what we are doing with all of this Coronavirus relief stuff. We are selling our future generation of children  to the taxman, just as parents would sell their children to anyone who would buy them.  There was no appreciation for individual worth or dignity.  REMEMBER THAT!!!!!  

The carnal nature is revealed throughout time, and is prevalent today. Christianity is the only antidote for the carnal nature.  I can say that with confidence, because I can point you to what people have done to one another throughout ancient history.  As we move deeper into this study, you’ll find out that the Church is God’s best plan for mankind.  Salvation is more than just a personal experience, it is God’s purpose for all people, and designed to bring liberty to all the earth. The United States of America was founded upon the idea of religious liberty, but we’ve seen it perverted into an experiment into sexual liberty.  This clash of ideals will eventually bring us to the point of dividing this nation in a hundred different groups.  The carnal nature doesn’t give in, neither should we.  The Church has always been and will continue to be God's best plan to redeem people from their wickedness.  Of that I believe, and I am sure.