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January 24, 2008
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=========================== TODAY'S ARTICLE ==========================
Human Nature?, by Russ Lawson
Often in my writings I refer to "human nature" or "our human
tendencies" in some form or another. Often that "nature" is presented
as a weakness or a bad thing. But is it really bad?
Stop and think about what human nature really is all about. God created
us. He made us what we are, with the abilities we have. Is that really
a bad thing? Can human nature be inherently bad when God said that he
created human beings in his image? (Notice how clearly the Bible
declares this truth both before and after the Fall!)
Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our
likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the
birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and
over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth" (Genesis
1:26-27 NASB).
This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God
created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them
male and female, and He blessed them and named them Man in the day
when they were created (Genesis 5:1-2).
For in the image of God He made man (Genesis 9:6).
For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I
will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well (Psalm
139:13-14).
With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who
have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come
both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to
be this way (James 3:9-10).
Our human nature often opens the door for us to be involved in sin
doesn't it? It sometimes allows us to put ourselves in the path of
temptation even when we know better. Unfortunately we say, "Well, that
is just human nature." But that's not the "human nature" God made in
His image. That is what the Bible calls "the flesh" (Romans 7:21-25).
Let me suggest to you that "human nature" as God intended it is not a
bad thing! Human nature is the God given power to make choices. That is
part of that which makes us in "the image of God." We are not robots;
God wants us to think and make choices and come to him and love him
because we choose to, not because we are forced to or don't know any
better.
Some choices are good, some are not. One of my favorite scenes from the
movie "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" is the place where he
finally enters the room where the Holy Grail, the "cup of Christ" (as
defined in the movie), is located. The bad guy forces his way in and is
given a cup which his assistant thinks is the real thing. He drinks
from it and shrivels up and dies. The old Knight Protector (who is
there) observed, "He chose poorly." Then, "Indy" chooses a simple old
battered cup and drinks: he survives and the old protector says, "You
have chosen wisely."
From the beginning of time humankind has made poor choices. Eve chose
to believe a lie and eat of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil,
followed by Adam who also chose to ignore God's commandment and eat (Genesis
3:1-15).
We must not live in the poor choices of the past!
We may at times think that life would be easier if we just weren't
presented with so many choices. God, however, had more faith in us than
perhaps we do ourselves. He still believes in us and desires that we
make the right choices. If you wonder what he thinks about us and our
choices, notice what the apostle Peter has to say:
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count
slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any
should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
We can choose to leave the past and come to repentance. Look at how
Paul describes how the Corinthians had left their bad choices and their
bad past behind:
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the
kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor
idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor
thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor
swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you;
but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were
justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of
our God (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).
Our challenge is to not let the "flesh" dominate our choices. Then,
even if we have chosen poorly, we must not let ourselves live in the
past -- in the sin that we chose. Just as our "human nature" allows us
to choose poorly, it also allows us to choose wisely -- to choose
Jesus, to choose repentance, to choose to live as those created in the
image of God.
Human Nature! We all have it: the challenge is to choose wisely!
---------
(c) 2008 Russ Lawson <rlawson@wclo.net>, Messages from the Heart
<http://www.mfth.net/aboutus.html>. All rights reserved.
RELATED LINKS:
* Sunk by Our Own Desires
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200601/20060121_sunk.html
* The Cool of the Day
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200610/20061022_cooloftheday.html
* The Flesh Versus The Spirit
http://www.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/praying_paul/pwp.pl?188
* Messages from the Heart
http://www.mfth.net/aboutus.html
This article can be found on the web at:
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200801/20080124_humannature.html
=========================== FEATURED PRODUCT =========================
VELVET ELVIS: REPAINTING THE CHRISTIAN FAITH, by Rob Bell
In this provocative, hopeful book, Bell asks what the church might look
like if today's believers fully embraced "the way" of love, peace,
sharing possessions, compassion, risk, forgiveness, and harmony.
http://shopping.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/link?254
Find more great books, CDs and videos at the Heartlight store! With
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