Return to Eden

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Religion teaches us to humble ourselves, but perhaps not in the best way. Often when people think of preachers they think of someone screaming at them that they are sinners and going to hell because they are, fill in the blank. I have heard preachers and religious teachers condemn and scream and yell until they are blue in the face about how terrible people are. But my family, this is not the gospel.


Yes, it is true that there is hell. And it is true that there will be people that are there. I don’t think Hitler and Satan will be the only ones there either. But that is not what Jesus came to tell us. We are all condemned. We are born condemned by our own nature which is contrary to what we were created to be. We were created to be like God (Genesis 1:26), but we gave up that right to be something less. We defied our very nature and became more like animals rather than God’s beloved creation that was meant to mirror him. Our very nature now calls for our destruction. We live to die. Without hope in God we are utterly and completely destroyed.

But that is not what Jesus came to do (John 12:47). He came to give us LIFE (John 10:10). For we were dead in our sins, but he saved us to bring us BACK to life (Colossians 2:13). Still we don’t know what that life looks like. We still feel like God is punishing us (1 John 4:18). We think that we are horrible sinners even after we are saved. So many times I have heard people say, “I am only a sinner saved by grace.” Nope. Nope, ladies and gentlemen. You are no longer a sinner, for you have put off the old man (Ephesians 4:22). You are made new! We were raised with Christ, and so we share in his inheritance.  How can we do that if we have not been made part of the family and adopted by God into sonship with Christ. And, if we are adopted into sonship, then we are also like Christ and made new to be as God and as we were made to be in the beginning.

So when you start doing things like him, and people start complimenting you, don’t shy away from it. You are putting on display the good work that he is doing in you to make you as you were always meant to be, like him. We were made to be like God, and now we are returning to our Father and being made to be like him again. We are no longer sinners but saints. We are no longer orphans but children of God, sharing in a great inheritance. We are no longer lost but found. We are not held in chains but free. We are not dead, but we have been given life.


Stop letting the enemy tell you that you are nothing, because Jesus died for you and that makes you worth a lot. Lift your head. Let him tell you what you are worth and rebuke the voice of condemnation.  





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