Flee From Sin: Flee To God!

Man who is born of woman is of few days

and full of trouble. He comes forth like

a flower and fades away: He flees like

A shadow and does not continue.

And do You open Your eyes on such a one,

and bring me to judgment with Yourself?

Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?

No one!

Since his day are determined, the number

of his months is with You; You have

appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass.

Look away from him that he may rest,

till like a hired man he finishes his day.

Job 14:1–6

            Oh! What a fallacy it is to think that you are autonomous, that you control your life. I some ways you do, but you do not have the day, hour, or minute that you pass from this world. God knows and controls our time here on earth. We do know that death is coming, how, when, why, where, and by who, we do not know unless it is be some terrible disease, but we do know it will fade away like a flower. Who can save one from such a terrible curse? NO ONE! No one but God. This is His world, it is His to maintain, to control so that His purpose for creation will be accomplished. None of this curse that is applied to the world caused by man’s sin, or the death that plagues the world would exist if not for the sin of one man; Adam. Would it not have been better if Adam had obeyed the command of God? Would it not be better for us to obey the commands of God? To not obey God is not to love God, it is to be carried away by the blasphemies of Satan; it is to annihilate the glory of God. Would have not been better for Adam to keep his desires in restraint? Yes, Satan did exist, and Satan is a liar, a thief for he stole what man had, a true relationship with the creator, and immortal life, a time by which he could eat of the Tree of Life. God would then in His providence deal with Satan, and man would not be in the turmoil he finds himself, the world would not be groaning under the sin that plagues the universe: “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with the pangs together until now” (Romans 8:20–22).

            We may fail to realize that Adam’s spiritual life was what was affected and that is the cause for him to have the curse put on him by God. Our spirit life is to be bound with our creator, and not to be bound to Him is to be estranged from Him by the death of our soul: this is what happened to Adam. Now the world, a perfect world, was perverted and the whole order of nature is deteriorated by this revolt towards God. Are you revolting from God? Why should the world bear the punishment of Adam? This question is asked and it is a good question. The world was made for man, for a perfect man but now man was no longer perfect as created and the world fell under the curse upon Adam, a curse that would not allow for the world to provide the perfection that was lost by sin. This was the punishment deservedly for man, for man was the “apple of God’s eye” and the reason for all other things to exist. All creatures were then affected by this original sin, and this made cause for death, for sickness, for pain, and suffering. Ante–flood people still lived in a world that is not as our is, a world that was still in the throes of perfection but was being destroyed by sin, and sin would have it way with the people of that era, a sin that made cause for God to desire to destroy all that He had created but for one man Noah who found favor in the eyes of God, God was merciful and saved him and seven others of his family. God is merciful, but God does require payment for sin. The question for us is will God be merciful to us and save us from the calamity that is destroying us eternally? Will God see faith in us, a faith in Him? If so that faith will be seen in our exercise of that faith by following His commands. Noah was faithful and built a “boat” when boats were not even known about at that time, a boat to house animals: think on this, a faith that God would somehow bring to him animals of all kinds? HUH! How, how can I believe that? Noah may have wondered but Noah believed in God. God offers salvation to His children, eternity that was lost by original sin of Adam that spread to all the world, his progeny. Do you believe that? Or is it just a hope! Are you doing the will of God that is as simple as what Adam had placed upon him, to not eat of one tree in the garden? God gives us two things: His commands, things which we can perform, and He gives His children His Spirit to guide us in our exercise of His commands. Unless we ignore the influence of the Holy Spirit, and we ignore His commands so that we can live the way we desire, a way that is blasphemous to God, a revolt against the God, our creator, our Sustainer, our Savior.

            It is not unreasonable to think that a holy God would require payment for willfulness of man, a willfulness shown in revolt to Him, and a willful sinning that has affected to world. God is just, not just a fair God. This is His world, it is His to control, and to determine even our days on this earth. It was Original Sin that we are in bondage too, and there is NO ONE who can save himself; it requires what man cannot do: It requires God who created us to save us. This He has done by His Son the Lord Jesus Christ and all we have to do is allow the faith that God gives freely to believe on the Only Begotten Son of God and be saved. Will you!

For those who live according

            To the flesh set their

Minds on the things of the flesh,

            But those who live according

To the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

            For to be carnally minded

Is death, but to the spiritually minded

            Is life and peace.

                                    Romans 8:5–6

Be Counted Today As One Of God’s Children

Richard L. Crumb

Pride And Ambition Are In Opposition To God

Now the serpent was more cunning than any

beast of the field which the LORD God had made.

and he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said,

‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

And the woman said to the serpent,

‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden,

but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst

of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it,

nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’

Then the serpent said to the woman,

 ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in

the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened,

and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Genesis 3:1–5

            How often men get so involved in arguments that have no basis, that is, they argue what can never be known, at least in this life. Many want to argue as to the serpent, what was he, how could he be talked with, and why did Eve listen to a serpent? And so on! I don’t know! You don’t know! And no one can give an answer to any of these questions. Why? Because we do not have enough information about the pre–flood era. Any such argument in regards to the Serpent is to miss the point of this narrative. Eve knew what God had commanded. Period! Eve knew not only not to eat of this tree in the middle of the garden, but also not even to touch it, and if she did she would die. Now, the serpent gave a bold–faced lie: “You will not surely die…’ (vs. 4). The woman at this point should have scolded, in the least the serpent for saying such a thing, but she did not, she kept on listening to the serpent. Now the serpent told Eve the one thing that intrigues and draws people away from God, His commands, and it pride, pride to be autonomous, to be more than they actually are, to be great, to be a celebrity, to have fame, fortune, to have somehow through there own efforts a happy, and fulfilled life. The serpent led Eve by furthering his lie by saying that “For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (vs. 5). The serpent spoke in direct contradiction as to what God had said, and then gave this subtle fact, “God knows” and this was to speak that God was holding back some knowledge, a knowledge hidden from man so man could not become a god. And in her desire to have what possibly was being kept from her, a chance to be as God and to know good and evil, she listened to the serpent and did eat of the fruit that God had commanded her not to eat or even touch. Did she get to know good and evil? Yes! Did she become like God, Yes, in this sense she now knows what God knew, good and evil and her attitude was one of defiance in light of the truth that God was Good, and that God was with her and Adam and that God had provide all they needed and only gave a simple but direct command. Eve knew she sinned, and this sin was against a holy and just God. When a person looks upon those things that God has commanded for man to avoid they become a desirable thing, and man will not only approach this thing which God commanded to be avoided they will continue to look upon it and soon they will act upon this detestable thing in the eyes of God: “So when the woman say that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate” (vs. 6). Keep looking at the bottle of Vodka, that beer, that chocolate, that huge plate of food, more than is necessary, or that woman or man, and soon all thought of its evil are gone and it has a pleasant aroma of being good, and you will partake of it. It becomes no longer a matter of the eyes, it becomes a matter of the heart. In a large sense these objects of our desire take on a matter of worship, and no longer are to be used properly as God intended, rather they are used as objects of our enjoyment and not simply an object of use, and object if used properly will become objects that lead a person to worship of the only object that has a right to worship; God. To not do what God has commanded is to despise God, and to try, as best we can, to become as god, to know what only God knows, to have which has no business in our life, a business that will draw us away from our God and Savior. When God approaches a sinner they run away and try to hide, to hide behind false theologies, false and improper ideologies, and make excuses for not be faithful to their creator, God: “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves form the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden” (vs. 8). How often do men try to hide themselves in activities that are honoring God, or in activities that make them feel pious, only to be hiding from actually doing the will of God. This infidelity is the root of all evil, the rood of revolt, a revolt against God. This infidelity springs from ambition and pride, and ingratitude, all that man devises by his longing for more than what God has intended for man to have, an intention that will only bring good to man, and immortality. But Adam willfully sinned, no pretence here, Adam was first in creation of man, it was to Adam that God gave this command and it was Adam who willfully sinned against God knowing that God spoke of death and life and to sin was to become dead. This apostasy was not a simple apostasy, it was a foul insult to God, a rebellion against God, a just God, a justice that now had to be atoned for a perfect man now was a dead man and that death now reigned on this earth affecting the earth and man and man being totally depraved could no save himself for this eternal death. God to fulfill His purpose for creating man must be satisfied, but man could not satisfy this debt. It would take a perfect man, a man that faced with all that the serpent can throw at Him would not cause Him to sin and then since death now reigned upon man, it would take the death of a perfect man to atoned sin, to satisfy the justice of God.

            This will continue in the next blogs and we will come to a knowledge as all what this sin has done to this world, to society, and to the children of God.

In him also we have obtained

            An inheritance, being

Predestined according to the

            Purpose of Him who

Works all things according

            To the counsel of

His will.

                        Ephesians 1:11

God Worked His Power Through Christ

Richard L. Crumb

Seeking The Wisdom Of God

Wisdom is good with an inheritance,

and profitable to those who see the sun.

For wisdom is a defense as money is a defense,

but the excellence of knowledge is that wisdom

gives life to those who have it.

Ecclesiastes 7:11–12

Wisdom is better than weapons of war;

but one sinner destroys much good.

Ecclesiastes 9:18

            Wisdom may come to a person through experience; in fact there is a wisdom that comes from experience but the experience may be painful and extols unprofitable results which a wise person learns not to do such and such again. Wisdom may come from study a knowledge learned and the best knowledge is the wisdom of God learned through study of His word for it is His wisdom that gives life; life eternal. Wisdom used by a sinner may cast forward atrocities for that wisdom comes by the means of his own thinking, his own self–centered presuppositions: i.e., Hitler, Pol Pot, Jim Jones, and others who have done much harm by leaning on themselves as the center of their universe; their own wisdom. Faith is necessary in life. There is a faith that has as its foundation some knowledge that enables a person to do a thing, or not to do a thing. When a person drives their car across the Golden Gate Bridge there is a measure of faith that is needed, but there is knowledge that it would be ok to cross as the foundation has knowledge of the many cars that cross it each and every day. But until a person crosses the bridge the faith is faith potential, not faith exercised. Faith must be tested. A wise person has some knowledge and foundation for their faith but faith is not faith until it is tested and proved. This is the case with the original pair, Adam and Eve. This original pair had their faith tested  and a way to exercise their faith: don’t eat of the tree of good and evil, the tree of knowledge. Adam and Eve had their faith tested by exercising their willingness to be obedient, a willing submission to the will of God. Was this an impossible feat to keep, to be obedient too? No! Until they ate of the fruit they only experienced the good and this was their knowledge and as a wise person they would not eat of the tree of knowledge because God, their creator asked them not to do so and before them was eternal life, immortal life. By Adam and Eve eating of the fruit the disobeyed God and employed His wrath upon them, the world, and all that would come after them, children, and the world without the chaos that now entails the world as we know it. This was huge thing to disobey God, willfully disobey God. God being just and having the need for His justice to be met due to the giving of this command to not eat of this tree of knowledge, one that could easily be kept demanded that the sentence be placed upon the world and upon man: death, destruction. How could Adam and Eve be so easily tempted and seduced to listen to the Serpent? Now, don’t get caught up in the debate as to what this Serpent was or looked like, it was Satan disguised as an acceptable being that Adam and Eve would listen too and then speak against God, but more so, fueled the pride of man into being disobedient, willfully disobedient. Did they need to listen to the Serpent? No! But the did, and it was pride a self–centeredness that made them sin, to miss the mark, a mark they could have avoided even shooting at for all they needed was already supplied. The fall of man has its origin, not in just listening to the Serpent, but had its origin in disobedience: “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19). Thank God for His mercy and for the One obedient Man: Jesus Christ.

            When the word of God is despised, all reverence for Him is gone! How is it possible to give to God the majesty due Him as God, as Creator, as Savior, and as Helper, if we do not obey His word? When we put ourselves, our presuppositions that are making God to be what we want Him to be, and to make God the giver of things as though He is a vending machine, that He must do what we desire are we not usurping the authority of God? Yes! Are you a man or woman of integrity? If so, why not do what His word says we should do? Why do we make excuses like Adam did: “Then the man said, ‘The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave men of the tree, and I ate’” (Genesis 3:12). Adam put the blame the fault onto God and shunned his responsibility to follow God’s command. Are you doing the same? I ask myself the same question. When God say to keep the Sabbath, and for Christians that is the first day of the week, Sunday, holy, are we? Or, are we finding ways to disobey God? Are we pushing the ox into the ditch so that we cannot do what God has commanded. Is our desire so great that we will willingly disobey God? This is monstrous impiety! The greatest impiety, in a large sense, is that the Son of God, the Wisdom of God, God Himself would come to earth to pay the debt that no man can pay for himself and this was done by Jesus Christ upon the cross after living on this earth and not sinning. Oh, He was God you say, yes, He was God, but He was fully man and experienced all the sorrows of that man has to endure. He did not turn aside as man to do the will of man, rather He came and did the will of the Father who clothed His wisdom in flesh, to experience all that man experiences, to die in place of man who could by the inherited sin from Adam was not able to save himself. Oh, there are those who teach that man has just enough goodness in him that he can save himself. Really, man is not totally depraved? Huh! Show me a man who can save himself, who has enough goodness in him to make cause in him to not sin, to not be willingly disobedient. There are none: “As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good no, not one”(Romans 3:10–12). Gain wisdom from this knowledge found in His word, that disobedience to God bring wrath, and obedience gives life, a wisdom that gives life.

Blessed are those whose

            Lawless deeds are forgiven,

And whose sins are covered;

            Blessed is the man to whom

The LORD shall not impute sin.

                        Romans 4:7–8; cf. Psalm 32:1–2

Love God, Live life!

Richard L. Crumb