Php 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in
Christ Jesus:
Php 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not
robbery to be equal with God:
Php 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took
upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he
humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Heb_4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot
be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted
like as we are, yet without sin.
When Jesus took on
our human sinful flesh, He took it on in such a way to prove IF it were even
possible, at all, whatsoever, for sinful man to obey God's commands.
If God's commands
were too hard, too impossible to obey, then Jesus WOULD have consented to sin
with His mind, just as all of us have consented to sin with our minds, joining
our natural sinful flesh nature to sinning willfully. But Jesus NEVER consented to sin with his
mind, not once! Jesus proved that through a connection with GOD the Father it
is possible for man to NOT consent to sin in the mind, even when His flesh
nature cries out towards sin.
Our trouble lies in
our believing that of our OWN ACCORD, separate from God, we should be able to
not consent to sin with our minds. We want OUR minds to have that power, but
truthfully it is ONLY GOD who has the power to keep our minds, IF we consent to
allow HIM to use His power in us. Christ
consented to GOD, and God through His own power kept Christ from sinning.
There was no reason
for Christ Jesus to take on flesh and become a man if He were NOT going to be
ABLE to prove to the toughest of judges, the most critical of challengers, that
what He was doing proved that-- God's laws and mankind's obeying them-- was POSSIBLE. For NOT sinning is NOT breaking the laws of
God. When Jesus lived a life of perfection, never consenting to breaking a
single commandment of His Father's, commandments they had agreed upon as one in
their creation, He proved the righteousness of God and God's laws.
Is it any wonder
Christ's mind must be in us for us to live?!
Php 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in
Christ Jesus
What mind was in
Christ Jesus?
A mind that NEVER
consented to sin, but trusted in His Father for all things!!!!!!!
Joh 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear,
I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the
will of the Father which hath sent me.
Joh 6:38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine
own will, but the will of him that sent me.
Jesus consented to
the FATHER and the FATHER only, and this alone gave Him victory over every
flesh tendency to sin. He NEVER consented with His mind to sin, not a single
time though He felt the pull of the flesh temptations even more so than we ever
will, He literally, truly knows the strength of every temptation we face. You might say there's no way He could, but He
does, He does. Our temptations might
come in different forms but the force of them throughout all ages has never
altered.
Jesus proved that
through perfect obedience to God's will, a will that is perfectly JUST, it is possible NOT to sin. MANKIND chooses to
sin by keeping themselves from God.
We consent with our
minds to sin because we choose NOT to rely upon GOD.
Eve first sinned by
choosing to no longer rely upon God's word, His command. Otherwise where did she sin? The act of sin
was and is choosing not to rely upon God's love, but believing rather that
somehow, someway we can live separate from our CREATOR to our own good.
We didn't and don't
understand that it is ONLY by remaining connected to our CREATOR that we can be
the CREATURES He intended for us to be in HIM.
We were not created to be separate from God, but we were created in His
image to be part of Him. God truly is LOVE and when we abandon God we abandon
true love and substitute something else for it, a self serving love, believing
we can somehow bring about a life that serves us at our pleasure, our goodness,
our love.
How many of us STOP
loving when we are abused? We reserve our love for only that which serves us
selfishly. You holler we should never be
abused. True, that is how it was intended
to be, no abuse ever. But the ability to abuse and hurt others came about when
man turned away from God's selfless love, to serve themselves.
So when we choose to
despise others we are choosing to serve ourselves, whether we want to believe
this or not, it is true. Even when we cry out our despising is justified, we
are serving ourselves. The truth is we
absolutely must HATE SIN, but at the same moment, absolutely LOVE the sinner,
because the sinner truly is a VICTIM of sin- even if a willing victim, they are
a victim of sin and were NEVER intended to be so by God, never! And we must
LOVE all of those who are GOD'S which are ALL, because we have NO RIGHT to
judge who belongs to God and who does not. We can NEVER put ourselves in God's
place, never!
Jesus came and
revealed we are to love all, and this is why.
From the greatest of sinners to the least of them, He came and died for,
offering to stand in their place, to forgive them, to give them of Himself all
they need to be once more united with God.
Being right with God
is NOT having a life of ease, but rather an understanding that HE knows better
in all things and we trust Him in all things no matter how awful, no matter how
horrific. As sin and it's evil results
rage all around us on every side, abusing us in all the ways it possibly can,
we can KNOW that the evil has an end in CHRIST'S VICTORY! Suffer it all to be
so now, but there is an end in CHRIST'S LOVE.
He never consented to sin with His mind and He won the VICTORY for US!
THROUGH HIM ALONE WE LIVE, WE LOVE! We
ask for forgiveness for all, praying they seek God, that they seek forgiveness
in CHRIST and cling to HIM, seeking HIM to LIVE IN THEM, for HIM to LIVE IN US,
that through HIM we live, we love!
All by HIS GRACE!
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