Vampires, Icebergs, and the Mother of all Sins

Vampires? Isn’t this Good Friday? Easter Weekend? How could you possibly use Vampires at a time like this? Besides, what do icebergs have to do with this? And what do you mean by “Mother of all Sins”? Well. I am glad you asked. All of these will play an important part of this post.

Vampires. Yes. I am about to write about a mythological character in a fictional novel. But I am going to only use one aspect of this created character from one book only—a gothic horror novel, “Dracula” by Irish author Bram Stoker (1897).

Stoker describes one characteristic of his version of a vampire that is important for this post. What could that possibly be? Well. It has to do with mirrors. Now some of you may already be zooming ahead of me your mind. It’s ok. I’m going there. According to legend, a mirror can reflect part of your soul. But, it cannot reflect what you don’t own. And since vampires don’t have a soul they cannot see themselves in a mirror. There. The important thing to remember is not being able to see it in a mirror. This sin I will be talking about is like that. It is often invisible to the person who has it.

Ok. So we cannot see this sin in the mirror. But what about the icebergs? Ahh. It’s a very similar concept. Ohhhhhh. I can hear a number of minds racing ahead. Why? Because they already know that you can only see the “tip of the iceberg”. The density of an iceberg is less than that of water. It floats, but about 90% of the iceberg is under water and only 10% is visible above water. So even if you can see this sin, it will only be the tip of something much larger lurking in your soul. Ugh. That sin could be really bad.

It is. It *is* really bad. Most folks will recognize the tip of the iceberg, especially in *other* people. It is almost impossible to recognize it in yourself. I am calling it the “Mother of all Sins” because I believe I can trace almost any sin back to this as its source. The root of wickedness. The source of evil. Ha. I am hearing racing minds again. You thought it was Satan. The devil. Well. You are correct. Sort of. But I called this a “sin”. We don’t really have Satan himself inside us. But we have his nature. The nature and character of the first fallen man, Adam? Yes. That fallen nature. The old nature. Sometimes referred to as “the flesh” depending what version of the Bible you are reading.

Well, does this “sin” have a name? Yes. It is “pride”. The tip of the iceberg—the part that is easily seen in others is boastfulness, arrogance, and an air of superiority. The I’m-right-and-you’re-not kind of superiority. People with self-inflated egos are pretty easy to pick out. Yet they themselves often do not see their own folly.

The part that gets sticky is the part that is under water. The unseen part. The unrecognized part. If you are still reading this you may want to stop right here. You think that you are not boastful, arrogant, or superior to others. You feel safe. But, I am going to expand on pride. The Bible has more to say about pride than the dictionary.

Here’s why understanding pride is important. Look at the last part of this verse:

“God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
—1 Peter 5:5 (NIV)

Notice the word “opposes”. In English dictionaries this word can mean many things. It can be something rather harmless like disagree in argument or disapprove of. But it can also be used as an opponent in a conflict or competition. Do you really want to have the Almighty God, Creator, Master, and Lord of the Universe to be your opponent? But how can we know if this is the harmless disagreement or the opponent in competition kind of meaning? Ah. By checking its original language (Ancient Greek) we find that the word used here is an ancient military term literally meaning organized resistance. Like battalions in formation in full battle array and ready to fight. Whoa! That verse sounds much more intimidating now!

In direct contrast, the word use for “favor” actually is the same Greek word for “grace”. It’s not just favor. It’s unmerited, unearned, and free favor. And it is for the humble. So now we have the two groups, the proud, and the humble. And we have how God treats each one. The great thing is, that we get to choose which group we are in. It is the ultimate free choice. Now you know why understanding pride and humility is so very important.

Where there is strife, there is pride…
—Proverbs 13:10 (NIV)

Is there strife in your life? Time to search your soul for any evidence of pride.

As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.
—Proverbs 26:21 (NIV)

Do you find yourself in a lot of arguments? Yep. Pride is probably lurking somewhere.

For as churning cream produces butter, and as twisting the nose produces blood, so stirring up anger produces strife.
—Proverbs 30:33 (NIV)

Do you find yourself getting irritated often? Do you allow the irritation to fester and become anger? Uh-oh. Pride is probably somewhere closer than you want it to be.

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.
—Proverbs 11:2 (NIV)

Do you feel like you have been unjustly disgraced? Dishonored? Shamed? Oh, my. You didn’t think I’d go here, did you? If you’ve had this happen as a result of your stand as a Christian you understand it. But if it’s been happening to you and you don’t know why then it’s time to look inside. Pride deceives us into believing we’re doing a good thing when really we are doing not for the good of others but we are hoping that we’ll look better in other people’s eyes.

An unfriendly person pursues selfish ends and against all sound judgment starts quarrels.
—Proverbs 18:1 (NIV)

Remember the quarrelsome person mentioned above? Here we find that one who starts quarrels ignores sound judgment. The same person is unfriendly because he pursues selfish ends. Pride is expanding to include selfishness. In fact, that is the very best definition for pride—inordinate self-focus.

For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
—James 3:16 (NIV)

Disorder is not a physical disorder. It is disorder—like chaotic disorder. Things are out of control in your mind. There’s a riot going on inside your head. You don’t know which way to turn. And everything you try to do seems to fail. You are overwhelmed and confused. Self focus to the exclusion of others? It leads one down a dark, lonely road.

So how does this sin hide itself so well in us?

In their own eyes they flatter themselves
too much to detect or hate their sin.
—Psalm 36:2 (NIV)

Do you see it there? A person can flatter themselves so much that it makes their own sin undetectable. In other words, it’s as good as invisible like the Vampire in the mirror example or at least looks acceptable since only a little bit is showing, like the iceberg example.

What does all this have to do with Easter? Everything! Easter has it’s roots in the Jewish Festival of Passover. They do their spring cleaning by ridding their houses of all leaven (yeast) up to the start of Passover. And for a whole week that will eat only unleavened bread.

Yes, you say, but we are Christians. But I tell you Jesus was a Jew. (And he still is). Our understanding of true Christianity can be greatly enhanced by understanding the significance of Judaism and its profound influence on early Christianity. So what does this unleavened bread (bread without yeast) have to do with Passover?

First of all, unleavened bread is part of the Seder. It’s a feast that celebrates the Passover tradition in the book of Exodus. Unleavened bread was eaten on the night before they were freed from the slavery under the Egyptians. The Exodus is the story of their deliverance. It was unleavened bread because they had to eat it in haste. There was no time for it to rise.

Did you know the Apostle Paul wrote about unleavened bread? He did it in a letter to the believers in Corinth in Greece.

6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
—1 Corinthians 5:6-8 (NIV)

Did you see that? Paul is associating boastfulness with yeast (leaven)! The leaven represents pride. And like yeast, pride spreads quickly throughout one’s life. It is insidious. So get rid of the old pride and put your trust in the Christ, the Messiah, the Chosen One.

Pride is putting trust and confidence in our own abilities. Humility is putting your trust in the Passover Lamb—the Messiah. We cannot whip pride on our own. We must rely on Jesus to give us a new heart. A heart that is pliable and willing and hears the Voice of God and is quick to obey.

So I encourage you to read the story of the Exodus again this weekend. Read about the plagues. Read about the deliverance. It’s an amazing story of God’s favor to the Israelites. Thanks to that deliverance, the Jews were still around over 1,000 years later. Without that, Jesus could not have been born and we would not have Christianity today. For Jesus, the Christ, did not only give his life for the Jews. He graciously died for our deliverance as well.

During Passover, the Israelites brushed blood on the doorposts and lintels of their homes. The blood was a sign. The plague of the death of the firstborn son was passed over those homes with blood on the sides and top of the door.

Brush the Blood of the Passover Lamb over the doorposts of your heart. Apply His Blood to your mind, your will, and your emotions. Submit your lives to Jesus. He is the keeper of your heart. He is the Lord and Master of the Universe. He is God. And He loves you far more than you can possibly imagine.

This weekend I encourage you to take communion. You can do this at home even if your own church doesn’t do it. If you’ve got some matzo bread (unleavened) then great. If not, that is ok too. If you’ve got wine, great. If not, grape juice is fine. You now know the significance. That is what’s important.

Take the bread. Give God thanks. The bread represents Christ’s fulfillment of the Law. Christ has shared all the blessings of the Law with you. And He has broken all the curses of the Law. You get all of the benefits. None of the curses. It’s the too-good-to-be-true news. That is what Christ accomplished in His death. Every time you eat it, you proclaim this good news! Rejoice! It’s your deliverance!

Take the cup. Give God thanks. The wine represents Christ’s blood. It is the Cup of Redemption. This is the New Covenant. He has given us all a new heart. We are new creations. His perfect work has made us clean, without blemish, and without blame. He wants us to trust Him completely. Every day. Every moment.

The Easter Message

Amazon River – Peru – March 2016 – Photo by Greg Miller

The first sin of man in the Garden of Eden happened before the tasting of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. They had made up their minds to sin before the act of eating ever occurred.

Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden the same day, but their physical deaths didn’t happen until years later. But God’s promise was that they would die the same day that they ate of the forbidden fruit. They died a spiritual death that day. Their physical deaths happened years later. Their bodies were corrupted from the inside out.

From Adam to Moses, sin was not passed to each generation, yet sin still reigned. And folks continued to die.

Once the Law given by Moses was instated, sin was transferred from generation to generation. Every man and woman from then on was born with an evil nature—a corruptible, evil core.

The Law was given to us as our tutor. The Law only made sin more obvious. It was impossible to keep. Truly attempting to keep the Law should prove man’s incompetence and point to his need for a Savior. For sin is not just an outward act, but what comes from within. True righteousness includes every thought, every imagination, every dream, and all desires and intentions.

The sin nature was imputed through the male. This is why it was important for Jesus to be born to a virgin so He would not inherit the nature to sin.

But sin was possible without the nature to sin. Adam and Eve were created in God’s own image without a nature to sin. Yet they still fell. So the sin nature is not the source of being able to sin. The sin nature is the tendency to sin and along with it, the lack of power to overcome it.

Jesus limited himself to that of a human being even though he was God’s own son.

God gambled everything on Jesus, the man.

Sin derives its power from the Law. The harder someone tries to keep the Law, the more obvious sin becomes. Sin is not just external actions, but also thoughts, intentions, and imaginations of the heart.

Sin is internal. The Law is external. There is no amount of external behavior change that will ever satisfy the righteous requirements of the Law or change the internal nature to sin.

All persons are judged guilty because of their internal sin nature. All have fallen short of God’s standard.

This is the setup for the second greatest injustice of all time—you are not judged for your actions, but because you were born with a sinful instinct. And, no amount of good deeds can ever redeem your condition.

No matter how hard you try to do right, you cannot perform. It is because it is no longer you doing the act, but it is sin inside of you. Even though you have the best of intentions you will fail.

What is the solution to this dilemma? It is Jesus.

Jesus existed from the foundation of the world. He came to earth, born of a virgin, Mary. He was of the lineage of King David. He lived a sin free life on our behalf. God made him to become the embodiment of sin—the very nature that has plagued mankind since Moses. And the faultless, spotless Jesus took sin upon himself on the cross—the greatest injustice of all time!

And the power of sin was abolished with Jesus’ death. Mercy took our deserved punishment. Mercy took our judgment. And Grace conquered the power of sin upon His resurrection and gave us a new heart—a new life.

Satan is the Accuser. He’s like a prosecuting attorney. It is his mission to bring condemnation to each of us. He is empowered by the Law—man’s attempt to be righteous. When we fail, he accuses us using the Law. The very thing we thought would lead us to a righteous life actually brings us condemnation because of our inability to live righteously in and of ourselves.

But thanks to Jesus who fulfilled the Law. Because once the Law was fulfilled that Law was no longer in effect. Jesus was the author of a new covenant! So Satan lost his ammunition. He can no longer bring accusation using the old covenant. There is no more condemnation. We are guilt free. Faultless. And we can stand in the Presence of the Almighty God. It is because the New Covenant was established between Christ and God. And we got written in as beneficiaries based on Christ’s accomplishments instead of our own!

Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. And this happened before he received the sign of the Old Covenant, circumcision. So he is the father of all who have faith in God.

The Law was given to the Jews by birth. But faith is for all. True Jews are those who have been circumcised of the heart—those who believe in Jesus Christ the Son of God.

So all those who believe in Jesus, the Christ, are recipients of the blessing of Abraham.

And God blessed Abraham in every way. These are the blessings to everyone who believes in God.

It is by faith that we have a heart transplant. Our stony hearts are removed and we get a new heart of flesh and a new spirit. And God’s Laws are written on our hearts.

Our old sin nature is crucified with Christ, once and for all, for all time. And in its place we receive a complete acquittal before God and the punishment is removed. All guilt and condemnation are gone. Not because of what we have done, but because of what Jesus has done for us on our behalf.

We are saved by faith in Jesus Christ. We live every day by faith. We walk in His divine grace. We have absolute confidence. It is no longer us who perform righteous acts, but it is Christ inside of us. Sin no longer is lord over us. Sin has lost its grip. Addictions are broken. Fear is gone. Worries and cares fade away in His Presence. We are free. We are surrounded by His love daily. His power lives within us. As He is so are we in this world. We reign in life because of what Christ has accomplished. Every day. All the time.

When we walk in step with the Holy Spirit our lives will change. We will not fulfill the desires that once bound us. But we will be useful in loving others with the good news of the gospel—the power of God.

Jesus died and rose again to crush the power of the sinful nature within us and give us new insides—a new nature. This new abundant, overcoming life is one of victory. Not because of any deeds we have done but because of what Jesus has done on our behalf. Now we walk in the light of His favor.

Jesus left the earth so He could give us the Holy Spirit. It is the life in the Spirit that allows us to walk in victory every day. The Holy Spirit is God in us. Just as Jesus was Love in a body, so are we. We are to others what Jesus was to the world through the power and ability of the Holy Spirit. We listen to His voice. We can walk in supernatural love and power. And just as Jesus healed many folks and performed miracles and signs, so we too can expect God to move similarly in us. It is not because of any great will power or dedication, it is only by a child-like trusting in the same God as Jesus did.

This is the Kingdom of God—not a bunch of external rules and regulations, but it is comprised of the internal qualities of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit!

This is what our Easter celebration is about. It is not about going to a church (although that is important). Or doing some religious thing. Or feeling sorry for Jesus. Yes, He despised the shame and didn’t enjoy the suffering. He did it for the joy of the reward. It is the reconciliation of friendship between man and God.

So talk to God today. Listen for His reply. Allow Him to encompass you with His Love. It’s not about your love for Him. It is ALL about His Love for you! Enjoy it! Thank Him for it! Give your consent His glorious victory on your behalf. And be glad for the friendship you have in Him.

You are greatly blessed, highly favored, and deeply loved by God! Happy Easter weekend!