Who Himself carries up our sins in His body on the pole, that, coming away from sins, we should be living for righteousness; by Whose welt you were healed
Peter to the Dispersion 2: 24, Concordant New Testament
The other night I watched a confessional video interview of rocker Alice Cooper who declared that it was God who had healed him of his addiction to drugs and alchohol. While I do not doubt that the Lord healed the old rocker, I see something else in play here. After watching the interview, I immediately thought to myself, so this is what happens when God becomes more important in our lives than the addictions we're enslaved in. I can say that I am speaking from personal experience. I recall the night standing outside a local strip club in Portland and wondering why I couldn't just walk in like I had so many times before. Yet this time was different. This time the appeal just wasn't there anymore. So it is that I can relate to the words and experience of one Alice Cooper. Now, he might believe in his heart that the Lord delivered him from the throes of his addiction, and he would be right in thinking that. But, wasn't it God who allowed him to be addicted in the first place? Well, the apostle Peter speaks to just that in First Peter. Peter speaks to the Father briefly allowing our sufferings in order that we might benefit from them {Peter to the Dispersion (1) 5:10}. Peter also speaks that we should not find it strange when we encounter various trials in life, but that we should rejoice in the unveiling of Christ in us {Peter to the Dispersion 4:12-13}. Wasn't it the Father who allowed me to be addicted to pornography for as long as I was? Indeed, this is also true. The apostle Paul proclaims in Galatians that Christ Jesus has set us free from the yoke of slavery {Paul to the Galatians 5:1}. Jesus has broken those chains! I submit that when Christ is revealed in us, those chains of our sin will indeed be broken. Paul also has declared that we are indeed dead to sin {Paul to the Romans 6:11}. Since I was dead to sin while in the midst of my own addiction, why was it that I continued to engage in it? Well, it was at that point in my life that I did not know just who I was in Christ. In essence, I didn't know who I truly was inside. It had been preached to me that I was simply a sinner who had been saved by the grace of God. So, in my mind I was doing what sinners do. The knowing of Christ Jesus had yet to be revealed in me. Standing outside that building that night, God showed me not only who He is, but who I am as well.
For freedom Christ frees us! Stand firm, then, and be not again enthralled with the yoke of slavery
Paul to the Galatians 5: 1, Concordant New Testament
The revelation of Christ that I have received from the Father is the knowledge that it is Christ who I now live in {Paul to the Galatians 2:20}. We do well to understand that this revelation, which was also revealed in the apostle Paul, has no set time schedule. For Paul spent more than a few years steeped in the Jewish faith and persecuting the followers of Jesus until Christ was revealed in him {Paul to the Galatians 1:15-16}. This revelation only comes "When it delights God." I believe that this is exactly what Alice Cooper experienced as he was in that hospital so many years ago. For he went in an addict but came out with the realization that he wasn't the same man he thought he was. The chains had been broken! I enjoy hearing the confessions of those who have come to their own "Jesus realization" moments in their lives. Let me be clear, Jesus has always been with us from the beginning {Johns Account 1:1-3}. For all was created by Him and for Him. We also understand that we are created in the Fathers likeness {Genesis 1:27}. Having been created in His likeness, how can we not have the Father in us? Yet all too often we forget that truth, or the truth has yet to be revealed in us. The mainstream church, for their part, do not speak to this truth of Christ in us. Jesus and the Father live separate from us in heaven. This is the lie of the deceiver spoken in the garden which continues to be spoken from church pulpits today {Genesis 3:1-6}. The truth is that God has never been apart from His creation. It is in our minds that we accept this as truth until such time that the Father reveals Himself in us.
~Scott~
2 comments:
It seems that my proof reader kind of lost his way this morning. His comment to me was that, "God allowed you to step into immorality?" Yes, it is the Father who allowed me to engage in my pornography addiction as well as for Alice Cooper to engage in his addictions as well. How do we know this? Well, besides the fact that nothing ever escapes the Fathers notice, we're told in scripture that He allows difficult times that we might benefit from them {Peter to the Dispersion (1) 4:12-13, Peter to the Dispersion (1) 5:10}. It is the passage which we find in 1 Peter 4:13 which I find most revealing. Here, Peter proclaims that it is through our sufferings that we shall "Exult in the unveiling of His glory." Would Alice Cooper have been able to see the wonders of the Lord without going through the hell of his own addiction? I would doubt it. Furthermore, would I have seen Christ unveiled in me without the trials I have faced? Again, I would say definitely not. For it is when we are at our weakest that He is strong {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 12:9-11}. Let's not forget, Mr. proof reader, that the Father knows everything before it occurs. :)
Your proof reader here. I find the verses you are using say nothing about "God allows" That seems an assertion of your own. If you hold to the premise that God "allows", you are also holding to the false idea that you have your own independent self and God has to let you have your way. As you know, there is no such thing as your own self and self will. You do well to look at Rom. 1:21, "but vain were they made in their reasonings". Also, in v22, they are made stupid, and again in v 24, "Wherefore God gives them over..." When you chose not to glorify God with your body, He turns you over to your dishonor. Why? In 11:32 Paul says God does this so that He can show His mercy. Sometimes, we have been "turned over" to dishonor but praise His name, He does so to also show His mercy and grace in delivering us. What you call "allowed" suffering is not God's passivity but His intention.
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