Quotation: Romans, 8:1-2
Some days ago, I visited a new born baby at a hospital. We talked, "It's so pretty! Its eyes resemble its father's, nose and mouth resemble mother's." We usually feel like this. It is natural and also mysterious that a baby favors its parents. Nowadays, medical science is highly developed, and we know DNA transfers genetic information. If I look back myself, I find I resemble my father, he resembled his father(my grand father), he resembled his father, ... As the Holy Bible tells, if the history of human being is about six thousand years, and if we assume each generation lasts twenty years, total generation is three hundred(=6000/200). Our grand grand ...(three hundred times)... father is Adam in Genesis. We think Adam and Eve lived so long ago. But if we suppose it was three hundred generations ago, we feel we are tied so closely. We inherit what can't be explicitly explained from our parents. Then, we find we inherit something very terrible, that is, "a heart to resist the God", the Book tells. It is an undeniable fact whether we are aware of it or not. Genesis, 2:16-17
Genesis, 3:4-6
Adam and Eve disobeyed an only command the Creator God prohibited. As a result, they knew good and evil. After three hundred generations, its result is clear. We think, "I will ...", "I will ...". If we examine ourselves, we find we take ourselves as a god. Knowing good and evil is not stated as good thing, but tragic thing. It made how we are now. Galatians, 5:19-21
These are how we naturally are, because we knew good and evil in a bad way. Let's think about "discord", we discord each other because we think "What I think is right and good.", that is each one of us has his own knowledge of good and evil. If we don't have the knowledge congenitally, there will be no discord, fits of rage, envy. The cause of agony in this world is that they have too much knowledge of good and evil. It's so cynical, "I am right.", "I am right.", ... discords are caused between right people. By the way, one of the most surprising thing among lots written in the Book, human beings are made in His image. Looking at me, and people around me, I can't definitely be convinced that these are made like Him. Genesis, 1:26
What's written here and what we feel in our daily life are totally opposite. However, the Book tells nothing but truth, the Verse 26 tells truth. More over, He saw them and said they are good. But looking at how we are, we are totally opposite to how they were. This contrast shows a dreadfulness of sin. There's no sign to show we were like Him, because we inherited a characteristics after their Fall. It was before Adam ate a forbidden fruit that he was certified good. Before their Fall, the Lord God was all of all for them. They loved and worshiped Him absolutely just like a baby sleeping in mother's arms, completely relying on her. Mother is also filled with happiness. But, what will happen, if a soundly sleeping baby abruptly starts cursing its father? Actually, for Him, an incident that Adam and Eve ate a forbidden fruit was one like this. And we inherited their characteristics through three hundred generations. How fearful it is! Thus, Paul said, there is a law that the evil lives within us congenitally. Let's read his letter to Romans, Romans, 7:15-21
Here, Paul wrote there is a law that the evil lives within us. And these are cries of all Christian who accepted the Lord. If a man don't cry in this way, he's not yet saved. Only a saved man recognizes a conflicting sin within him. Unbelievers won't recognize such a sin. You may not understand what a word "law" used here means. It means something works in the same way regardless of any situations, locations, time. A Christian explained it in an easy parable. The most familiar law is the law of gravity. A gravity works universally. For example, there is a pencil, if its weight is about 10 g at Kichijoji, the weight is the same at London, Beijin, Arctic, and Antarctic. It is because, there is a law that the earth pulls it with a force of 10 g. This is how a law is. If we release a pencil, it will fall onto the ground being pulled toward the earth. If we want to keep it above the ground, we have to hold it in our hands by our efforts. It is obvious which is stronger, a gravity or our will. We may hold it by our force of will for a while, but we gradually feel it heavier and heavier, and want to hold it down. Our will won't struggle against a gravity. In the same way, there is a law of sin within our bones regardless of our will. Thus, we keep discording, feeling jealousy, getting angry, envying at anywhere, whenever, and forever. We can't control it with our will, the Book tells. "I know I'm so easy to get angry that I make a lot of troubles. I made up my mind not to get angry by my will." It may last a day, but it won't last until tomorrow. We can't struggle against a force of sin which comes out ourselves. The Book tells it solemnly, and we experience it by ourselves. For example, an emotion of envy, there's no need to pay any effort to envy. If we are put in such an environment, a mind of envy comes out of ourselves naturally. No one became to envy by any own training. If an environment is arranged, it comes out naturally, because it is already within us. It is within us as a law of sin, and whenever comes out. It comes out regardless of any location, even in USA, Arctic, Antarctic. Twenty or thirty years after a graduation of a school, students may hold a meeting to meet their friends again. They talk their recent situation, and spend a good time. (Side A -> Side B) If we compare our situation with other's, we will envy. If we are in worse situation than others, it's bad for us. According to a knowledge of good and evil, our situation should be same or higher than those who learned at school together. Naturally, envy comes out without any efforts. The Book tells, it is because we have a law of sin. We inherited this characteristics. Thus, how we are is written in a letter to Romans, Romans, 3:10-17
And in Job, Job, 21:14-15
A baby is pretty. It is really pretty, or too pretty for words. The most unselfish, self-effacing love among human loves. A happiness and joy parents receive from a baby is unmeasurable. But if a baby curses its parents, says bad things and resists, they will be too surprised to say any words. The God faced this situation. By the way, last week we enjoyed fullblown beautiful cherry blossoms. The Cherry trees looked as if they have been dying for fifty-two weeks, but suddenly flowers bloomed. We find His wonderfulness of creation. How beautiful is the universe. His words were powerful enough to create such splendid things, but His Mighty words couldn't redeem us, and had to shed His own son's blood. We can't imagine how dreadful our sin was. I think most of us are Christians who accepted Jesus as a savior, a son of the God. For those who haven't yet accepted Him, I would like to tell this. When we see a baby, we say, "You gave birth a pretty baby,..." If we say "birth", those who bear and being born are in the same species. When a woman bears a child, those bear and being born are human beings. Dogs bear dogs, pigeon bear pigeon, elephants bear elephants. If we say "make", those who make and being made are not in the same species. A man can make a doll, but can't make a real baby. In the Book, it is written the God is father of Jesus, but He made a man. Psalms, 2:7
It is clear that Jesus is a son fo the God. And as for a man, Genesis, 1:26
The God made a man. The Book tells a deadwood made from a clay will be treated as Jesus, if he believes Jesus was put to the cross to redeem us, and resurrected. How wonderful it is! We can't understand it by such a small brain. We will know it all when we enter the Heaven. For salvation, it is necessary only to believe that a law of sin is within us, and He was put to the cross to redeem our sin, and resurrected. In the beginning of quotation, Romans, 8:1-2
As we leaned through a parable of a law of gravity, a law is much beyond our will. Any efforts won't defeat a law. Any of us have an universal and dreadful law of sin in our blood. We can't control what comes out this law, in a situation, they come out endlessly. We inherited it from Adam and Eve. This is a cause of unhappiness. This is what the Book tells. The law is so strong, and we have nothing to cope with it, we need another law to overcome it. As written on the Verse 2 in the Chapter 8 of Romans, it is the Law of Life. Only by the Law of the Spirit of Life, we can overcome the dreadful law of sin. When we believe this law of the Spirit of life, His death on the cross, a life resurrected, we can take this resurrected life as our own, and a splendid new law is introduced within us. Then, we will be released from that cursed law of sin. This is the way. If we try to hold a pencil against a gravity, we will be able to hold it as much as an hour, or so. 10 g is heavy enough for us. But, if we struggle using another law, we will be able to hold it without any efforts. For example, if we give up to hold it by our own muscle, and put our hands on a table, it supports our hand and a pencil, it won't fall onto the ground. Another law, a table gives us a force to overcome a law of gravity. Law for Law. The Book solemnly tells, anger, envy discord are outward appearance of a sin within us, if we cope with only a phenomenon, it won't be a solution. The cross and a faith to believe it is only measures to cope with the law. As many brothers and sisters experienced in many ways, the essence of them is the Lord Jesus resurrected, comes into us as the Holy Spirit, overcomes the law of sin we can't struggle, and changed us splendid. This can't be explained by common sense. All Christians have experienced them. Through these experiences, we have been taught that what written in the Book is true. Let's read the Chapter 5 of Romans, Romans, 5:17-21
We have been taught, through wonderful experiences, that the Book tells nothing but truth. Mysterious things happen, if we admit our sinful nature, and admit thoroughly that we can't control it, and ask Jesus, "Please help me.", from bottom of our heart. In a situation we quarreled, we may not quarrel, "Oh, it's something different." In a situation we had a fight, "Oh, I'm calmed. Now I don't care such a thing. There's no need to fight.", "I have envied in the past, but now I don't want it." We will surely experience such mysterious changes. We will experience we have never experienced, when the Holy Spirit comes into us, and Jesus works. We will learn through these, "Ah, what's written in the Holy Bible is true. How wonderful is Jesus!" |