Being Human

Come build a church with soul and spirit, come build a church of flesh and bone.

We need no tower rising skyward; no house of wood or glass or stone.

Come build a church with human frailty, come build a church of flesh and blood.

Jesus shall be its sure foundation. It shall be built by the hand of God.

Some of the weaknesses of our humanity became apparent in the record of Jesus’ disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane.  It is important to emphasize that we are all part of that same human condition.  We’ve even considered the frailty of the Man Jesus and accepted His invitation to suffer with Him.  Christ is building His church with disciples who are flesh and blood. This is particularly pertinent when we’re working through the process of forgiveness.   

It is so easy to judge an offender with “I could never have done that.”  Now that we have gotten past the statement, “I will never forgive him for that,” the Holy Spirit will continue to open our heart and mind to reveal the depths of our humanity.  Humility becomes an obvious first fruit in this process as we surrender ourselves to His strength, but we can expect compassion to grow as well.  Soon we will see that God’s compassion will reach from our hearts to bless even our enemies.

Awaken the Dawn

In Gethsemane, the Son of Man, the Anointed One was pressed to the point of sweating blood as He gave over His will to the Father.  From Gethsemane we too can expect to be pressed and anointed so that we can be fruitful to the glory of our Lord!  The Cross is the cost we share so that redemption prevails. It is an invitation to a daily walk, starting at the Garden together with the Lord in the “cool of the morning.”    

Now that I’m wakening, I look to You and find my hope in your Word. 

Ps 119:147 I rise before the dawning of the morning, and cry for help; I hope in Your word. 

148 My eyes are awake through the night watches, that I may meditate on Your word.

Even in our darkest circumstance, through the Living Word, we now have a wonderful confidence.  We are well-informed:

Prov 6: 22 When you walk, they will guide you; 

when you sleep, they will watch over you; 

when you awake, they will speak to you.

We know that to come into this garden with Jesus and follow Him out may mean a day of suffering.  There may be a trap being laid.  

Ps 57:6 They have prepared a net for my steps; My soul is bowed down; They have dug a pit before me; Into the midst of it they themselves have fallen. Selah 

The psalmist tells me to “Selah”, to think about it.  And I have thought about it.  Today, I’m prepared.  Today I’m confident in the grace of my God.  This is the Day that the Lord has made!

Ps 57:7 My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise. 

We know that we have a loving Father.   Therefore we can choose to exalt the Lord our God.   

            Ps 57: 5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; Let Your glory be above all the earth. 
So I choose to sing with the chorus of Scripture:

Ps 57:8 Awake, my glory! Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn.

Is 52:1 Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city

We choose to give thanks in all circumstances.  As we entered this garden giving thanks, we will leave it giving thanks.  

1 Thes 5:18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you

God’s Word offers that the morning dew He has put on us will even waken the dead!

Is 26:19b Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust;
For your dew is like the dew of herbs, And the earth shall cast out the dead.

Rom 13:11b Time is running out.  Wake up, for the coming of our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
12 The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here.
So don't live in darkness. Get rid of your evil deeds. Shed them like dirty clothes.
Clothe yourselves with the armor of right living, as those who live in the light.  (NLT)

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Meditation

Psalm 119:25-32 Daleth

Ps 25:4 Show me Your ways, O Lord;

Teach me Your paths.

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Bruised for Our Iniquities

Is 53:5b He was bruised for our iniquities:

Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would be bruised for our iniquity.  What is this “iniquity”?  Is it the same as sin? Is this one of the “sprinklings” of Jesus’ blood?  If so, how is it applied to my salvation?  This portion of our study will answer these questions and more.

Our approach is three-fold: (1) Understanding and identifying iniquity, its origin and manifestations in our lives, (2) understanding and receiving Christ’s provision for our healing and deliverance from iniquity, and (3) identifying and implementing strategies to becoming free, helping free others and maintaining our freedom in Christ. 

Iniquity and Sin

Often we equate iniquity and sin, but Scripture shows us otherwise.  In most cases of Scripture, sin is the general term for wrong actions.  A common word picture is “missing the mark,” as in missing a target.  An archer may overshoot or undershoot a target.  We overshoot when we take actions beyond God’s established boundaries.  These are sins of commission.  We undershoot, as in sins of omission, when we fail to do what we should do.  What is the mark?  Paul says,

Phil 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

To miss the mark for him would be to miss God.  When we fail to hit the target in its center, we fall short of God’s perfect glory.  

In contrast to our actions, Iniquity refers to our heart (which also falls short of God’s standards).  Our character, our disposition, our inclinations are flawed and vulnerable, regardless of whether we have committed sin; however, sin usually results from those flaws. 

Root of the word “iniquity”

“Iniquity” appears more than 200 times in Scripture translated from `avon.  It is very interesting to look avon’s primitive word origin, `avah.

Definition to bend, twist, distort (Niphal) to be bent, be bowed down, be twisted, be perverted (Piel) to twist, distort (Hiphil) to do perversely to commit iniquity, do wrong, pervert (Qal) to do wrong, commit iniquity (Hiphil) to commit iniquity  King James Word Usage - Total: 17 iniquity 4, perverse 2, perversely 2, perverted 2, amiss 1, turn 1, crooked 1, bowed down 1, troubled 1, wickedly 1, wrong 1

In God’s choice of illustrative Hebrew terms, we see the translated word “perverse” pictured as “bent”, “bowed down”, “twisted” and “distorted”.   Avon describes the condition of the heart, (our temperament, disposition, inclinations) and refers to the character or nature of a sinful act, not the act itself.  

Bent Nature

In his allegorical SciFi novels, Space Trilogy, C.S. Lewis created characters which he called Bent Ones.  Bent Ones were fallen beings whose very nature had been “bent” so that they were continually inclined toward evil.  Ezekiel describes the first being Scripture attributes with “bentness”:

Ezekiel 28:12 "Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord God, "You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.  13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: the sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.  The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created.  14 You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.  

Ez 28:15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.'"

We often hear the expression, “original sin.”  It may be more apt to use the expression,  “original iniquity.”  Here it is:

Is 14:12 "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!
13 For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.'

This is the ultimate “missing the mark!”   To exalt oneself against God, to say in one’s heart, “I will be like God” would seem to be the primary iniquity.  From it derives all forms of lawlessness.

As Adam came under the lies of Satan, Satan transmitted his condition to Adam.  We are all “cut down to the ground.”   By its nature, Iniquity pressures all of Adam’s children to bow or bend under the weight of its destructive nature, inclining us downward toward the earth by its oppression and twisting us inward toward ourselves. This condition is spiritually genetic.  All generations born of Adam come into this world with it.   

Is 43:27  Your first father sinned; your spokesmen rebelled against me (NIV)

Is 64:6 We are all infected and impure with sin. (NLT)

Deut 32:5  They [have] behaved corruptly toward him; [they are] not his children; [this is] their flaw, a generation crooked and perverse. (Lexham English Bible)

Gen 6:5 the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 

Gen 8:21b people's thoughts and actions are bent toward evil from childhood.  (NLT)

Trees are a common scripture metaphor for ‘men’

.  Trees will naturally grow toward the sun - unless they are forced by pressure or injury to grow otherwise.  Like a misshapen banzai tree under the guiding hand of an evil and sadistic master, the pressure of iniquity bends our adamic nature to its will, stunting and diverting upward growth, with unnatural twistings and turnings.  

Ez 7:13 Not one person whose life is twisted by sin will recover. (NLT)

Similarly, our fallen ways of thinking and walking out our thinking seldom finds straight paths.  

Is 65:2 I opened my arms to my own people all day long, but they have rebelled. They follow their own evil paths and thoughts.  (NLT)   

Hab 2:4 Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked (NLT) 

Coming under the power of iniquity, submitting to its inclinations leads to death.  Proverbs describes adultery as a common form of iniquity:

Prov 5:1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom, listen well to my words of insight, 2 that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge. 3 For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; 4 but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword. 

5 Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. 

6 She gives no thought to the way of life; her paths are crooked, but she knows it not. (NIV)

Under the Yoke

Another illustration of the force and effect of iniquity is the use of the word “yoke.” Often Scripture uses the word “iniquity” as under “the yoke.”  

Merriam-Webster defines a yoke 

a : a wooden bar or frame by which two draft animals (as oxen) are joined at the heads or necks for working together
b : an arched device formerly laid on the neck of a defeated person

The most common context of “under the yoke” or as “in a heavy yoke,” is bowed and directed (dominated) under the force and weight of oppression.  I may come “under the yoke” of iniquity in several ways: (1) by my words, (2) by my actions (3) by my response to others’ actions and (4) by the generational effect of iniquity.  Each of the ways of iniquity is essentially relational: My words, actions, my response to others’ and my earthly ancestry all stem from my identity as a son of Adam.  I was born in this world with an identity card as slave.   Jesus said,

John 8:34 "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.”

Therefore, without the delivering grace and power of God, I am helpless against it.  As the psalmist says,

Ps 65:3 Iniquities prevail against me 

The influence, power and affect of iniquity is often illustrated in Scripture by the image of the burden of a yoke. Quoting King David,

 Paul describes God’s people

, “May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.” (NIV) 

In this verse, iniquity is described as having three effects: (1) blindness (2) bent backs and (3) adding the long-term, generational aspect of iniquity: defeated forever. Often we are blind to the reality that we live under an unnatural yoke.  We find it remarkable when we meet a person of integrity, one who walks “upright.”  Being hunched over with spiritual burdens seems “normal,” especially when everyone in the world around us seems similarly burdened with “their backs bent.”   We think that is the way it has always been and that is the way it will always be.  But the Gospel of the Kingdom says otherwise!

Let’s examine the phrase, “their backs bent” from Romans 11.  Strong’s Concordance tells us that the Greek word sugkavmptw, transliterated “Sugkampto”, and translated “bent,” is used metaphorically, “to subject one to error and hardness of heart, a figure taken from bowing the back by captives compelled to pass under the yoke.”   

Hardness of heart

Strong’s 

Mark 10:5 And Jesus answered and said to them, "Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.

Mark 16:14 Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.

Rom 2:5 But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God

Yoke

Expressions containing the word “yoke” are found more than 50 times in Scripture.  Here is a good example:

Lam 1:14 "My sins have been bound into a yoke; by His hands they were woven (twisted) together. They have come upon my neck and the Lord has sapped my strength. He has handed me over to those I cannot withstand. 

In the New Living Translation:

Lam 1:14 "He wove my sins into ropes to hitch me to a yoke of captivity. The Lord sapped my strength and gave me to my enemies; I am helpless in their hands. (NLT)

When a yoke is used in Scripture as a symbol of oppression, we can see it carried on our shoulders (governance), weighing us down (burden), and coming under its power to direct our lives. (The stronger of the two creatures under a yoke determines the direction they both walk). 

Much of our lives can be consumed by our willingly taking on impossible burdens.  When we conform to the values of Western society, we stoop to pick up excessive credit card debt, ungodly social responsibility, workaholism, and, worst of all, unforgiven sin.  Modern life parallels ancient Babylon in many ways.  The chief domestic god of Babylon, Bel, gloried in the accumulated wealth of the Babylonian Empire.  The god’s chief scribe, Nebo, kept record of the earthly and heavenly events of Bel’s rule.   He may have been a kind of Wall Street Journal.  Nebo may even have been useful in the “keeping up with the Joneses” of the day.  But even great Babylon’s idols must fall.   Isaiah prophecies the doom of Babylon as the idols are carried away:

Is 46:1 Bel has bowed down, Nebo stoops over; Their images are consigned to the beasts and the cattle. 

Idolatry in any form is a burden to the people.  We were not created to take on the weight of an idol and all that it entails.  Isaiah tells us that even beasts of burden are over-loaded as they haul them away:

Is 46:1b The things that you carry are burdensome, A load for the weary beast. (NAS)

In the end, both the people and the false gods must fall and be carried away as captives.

Is 46:2 They stoop, they bow down together;
They could not deliver the burden, but have themselves gone into captivity.

Perhaps because its intractability under the Law or perhaps because iniquity is so effective in establishing itself within a person’s character, the scribes and the Pharisees of Jesus’ time had come to ignore the internal challenges of iniquity and presumed that they could deal with the external manifestations of sin and thereby be righteous.  Over time they had shredded the Law to minutae of ordinances and traditions.   Instead of acknowledging the condition of the heart, they even increased the weight of iniquity:

Matt 23: 4 For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. 5 But all their works they do to be seen by men. 

The Lord Jesus gave dismissed their external efforts to achieve external righteousness by going to the heart of the matter:

Matt 5:20 For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

21  "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.'
22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. 

27 "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.' 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

He even went so far as to trace the line of iniquity to its source:

John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

Today Believers often fall in the same trap of the Pharisees.  We tend to hide and tolerate iniquity in those secret places in our hearts and focus on obvious sin.  However, what is required is not only a cleansing from the things I have done and will do, but the total removal of my heart of iniquity – a heart transplant.  A rehab is not good enough.  Behavior modification will not do.  Sin management will always fail.  I need a new heart of integrity, totally clear of the DNA of Adam.  

Is that possible on this side of heaven?