John 8:32 : the Truth! ( You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.)
I have wondered how Adam and Eve's disobedience led to our being born spiritually dead with driving needs for significance, security and acceptance.
All these things lead back to the beginning ( Genesis 1-2 ). The entire understanding is divided into mainly 3 parts; discovering for ourself our identity, understanding the original creations of God and lastly the effects of 'the fall'.
First of all; My identity.
Who am I? 2 Cor 5:16, Is who I am determined by what I do, o is what I do determined by who I am?.
This statement or rather question is kinda like the chicken and egg question. Both questions are linked together in a cycle. Both connected to each other. But in my opinion, who I am is actually determined by how I am brought up, or rather the uprbinging process. It is also ' nature versus nurture' issue, where our lives are being hounded upon by external factors like peer pressure, the environment we were in when we were brought up.
Do I naturally identify myself as a child of God?
John 1:12-13. God brought us in basically for a purpose. What purpose would that be eh? Its all in his hands.
How does my belief system affect my behaviour? Do I have any false ideas about myself? Hav I pursued any false equations in search of my identity?
Our belief system actually works together with our self confidence. Eg: when running in a race and you know you want to win a certain place you would most likely tell yourself that you can do it and begin to push the extra mile in order to achieve that particular goal. Thus our self confidence or belief system effects our whole life, it determines the results/process of our actions.
Next would be the original creation, what did God originally created us for. Why do we look the way we are; fat, slim, tall, short etc etc the list goes on.
Gen 1:26-27.
We were designed/created by God in His image. v26: We were meant to be significant.
Gen 1:29-30.
All our needs are provided by God.
Gen 2:15.
We are made with a sense of purpose. we were given responsibility.
Combining all these verses, I can comment by giving an example. Let's say after graduating from high school/college, there is a long break around 3-9 months. For around 1-2 months, we all will usually feel happy and free, fool around, play...do some stuff you have been wanting to do when you couldnt. After enjoying all you can, and there is nothing left to do, we will become bored, no sense of purpose or direction. Our hearts and minds will feel itchy and wanting to accomplish something. We will feel that we want to achieve something worthwhile, long for a sense of purpose. It is by God's will that He created us to have a sense of direction and purpose. we were made to accomplish wondrous tasks/things/goals.
The effects of the Fall. Here I looked at the issue of how did Adam and Eve fall and the effects of it towards the now everyday life.
Gen 3:7-13. How can we relate ourselves to any of Adam and Eve's behaviour?
In this passage, Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent. Their behaviour is very easy to relate to ours. There is a saying; Success has many fathers but failure is an orphan. It is so easy to put the blame on others than to claiming credit for ourselves. There are many issues in our lives that these things happen. For example: A friend went on a holiday and left (let's say me and another guy called simon) me and simon to take care of his things for him. So we go playing on his playstation. So when he is away, simon removed something from the playstation and I turned on the power and the PS got busted. Simon and I blamed each other , each not wanting to take the blame on that incident. (this is just fiction ..not real...just an example).
Thus as we all see it is so easy to put the blame on another.
The effects of man's fall were dramatic, immediate and far reaching, infecting every subsequent member of the human race-including us. What are the effects of Adam's sin on us? Do I recall becoming aware of feelings of guilt, powerlessness and rejection?
Naturally it is easy to contemplate on our failures than our successes. Feelings of guilt, powerlessness and rejection dwell in us for a long time while successes can be forgotten in an instant. Unless we forgive ourselves for those incidents which incite those negative feelings, we will never be able to overcome these feelings. When we were brought up it is very hard for us to do good but extremely easy to do evil. Why is this? (see below)
What did Jesus come to do about this? What fundamentally did He come to give us?
Since the fall of Adam and Eve, we were born with sin. Only by reborning and the acceptance of Jesus as our saviour and lord then we will realise our ways were bad and thus a huge amount of change within our hearts and minds. This will then affect the way we lead our lives. Jesus came into this very earth, to provide substitution. In the early passages of the Bible, aka olden days, when someone needs to redeem him/herself for his/her sin, they are required to sacrifice a spotless young lamb as an offering to God. Only then he/she will be forgiven. However Jesus came down to this earth to be a living sacrifice, to be rid of all the sin once and for all; to carry the huge amount of burden onto his shoulders so he can save us all. Jesus provided the justification for us.
2 Cor 5:21. Jesus took it all to provide us with the reconciliation with God. He redeemed us to set us free from the clutches of sin.
If God says something about you, is it true even if it doesnt feel true? Yes! We all must learn how not to operate at the level of our feelings. We must think before we act! Consider the long-term outcomes when we do what God wants us to do.
I have wondered how Adam and Eve's disobedience led to our being born spiritually dead with driving needs for significance, security and acceptance.
All these things lead back to the beginning ( Genesis 1-2 ). The entire understanding is divided into mainly 3 parts; discovering for ourself our identity, understanding the original creations of God and lastly the effects of 'the fall'.
First of all; My identity.
Who am I? 2 Cor 5:16, Is who I am determined by what I do, o is what I do determined by who I am?.
This statement or rather question is kinda like the chicken and egg question. Both questions are linked together in a cycle. Both connected to each other. But in my opinion, who I am is actually determined by how I am brought up, or rather the uprbinging process. It is also ' nature versus nurture' issue, where our lives are being hounded upon by external factors like peer pressure, the environment we were in when we were brought up.
Do I naturally identify myself as a child of God?
John 1:12-13. God brought us in basically for a purpose. What purpose would that be eh? Its all in his hands.
How does my belief system affect my behaviour? Do I have any false ideas about myself? Hav I pursued any false equations in search of my identity?
Our belief system actually works together with our self confidence. Eg: when running in a race and you know you want to win a certain place you would most likely tell yourself that you can do it and begin to push the extra mile in order to achieve that particular goal. Thus our self confidence or belief system effects our whole life, it determines the results/process of our actions.
Next would be the original creation, what did God originally created us for. Why do we look the way we are; fat, slim, tall, short etc etc the list goes on.
Gen 1:26-27.
We were designed/created by God in His image. v26: We were meant to be significant.
Gen 1:29-30.
All our needs are provided by God.
Gen 2:15.
We are made with a sense of purpose. we were given responsibility.
Combining all these verses, I can comment by giving an example. Let's say after graduating from high school/college, there is a long break around 3-9 months. For around 1-2 months, we all will usually feel happy and free, fool around, play...do some stuff you have been wanting to do when you couldnt. After enjoying all you can, and there is nothing left to do, we will become bored, no sense of purpose or direction. Our hearts and minds will feel itchy and wanting to accomplish something. We will feel that we want to achieve something worthwhile, long for a sense of purpose. It is by God's will that He created us to have a sense of direction and purpose. we were made to accomplish wondrous tasks/things/goals.
The effects of the Fall. Here I looked at the issue of how did Adam and Eve fall and the effects of it towards the now everyday life.
Gen 3:7-13. How can we relate ourselves to any of Adam and Eve's behaviour?
In this passage, Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent. Their behaviour is very easy to relate to ours. There is a saying; Success has many fathers but failure is an orphan. It is so easy to put the blame on others than to claiming credit for ourselves. There are many issues in our lives that these things happen. For example: A friend went on a holiday and left (let's say me and another guy called simon) me and simon to take care of his things for him. So we go playing on his playstation. So when he is away, simon removed something from the playstation and I turned on the power and the PS got busted. Simon and I blamed each other , each not wanting to take the blame on that incident. (this is just fiction ..not real...just an example).
Thus as we all see it is so easy to put the blame on another.
The effects of man's fall were dramatic, immediate and far reaching, infecting every subsequent member of the human race-including us. What are the effects of Adam's sin on us? Do I recall becoming aware of feelings of guilt, powerlessness and rejection?
Naturally it is easy to contemplate on our failures than our successes. Feelings of guilt, powerlessness and rejection dwell in us for a long time while successes can be forgotten in an instant. Unless we forgive ourselves for those incidents which incite those negative feelings, we will never be able to overcome these feelings. When we were brought up it is very hard for us to do good but extremely easy to do evil. Why is this? (see below)
What did Jesus come to do about this? What fundamentally did He come to give us?
Since the fall of Adam and Eve, we were born with sin. Only by reborning and the acceptance of Jesus as our saviour and lord then we will realise our ways were bad and thus a huge amount of change within our hearts and minds. This will then affect the way we lead our lives. Jesus came into this very earth, to provide substitution. In the early passages of the Bible, aka olden days, when someone needs to redeem him/herself for his/her sin, they are required to sacrifice a spotless young lamb as an offering to God. Only then he/she will be forgiven. However Jesus came down to this earth to be a living sacrifice, to be rid of all the sin once and for all; to carry the huge amount of burden onto his shoulders so he can save us all. Jesus provided the justification for us.
2 Cor 5:21. Jesus took it all to provide us with the reconciliation with God. He redeemed us to set us free from the clutches of sin.
If God says something about you, is it true even if it doesnt feel true? Yes! We all must learn how not to operate at the level of our feelings. We must think before we act! Consider the long-term outcomes when we do what God wants us to do.
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