Tag: Jesus

The Devolution of Man

~ Sowmya Gali

To devolve means moving from a higher level to a lower level. Some of the synonyms are demotion, degradation, deterioration, debase, etc. When God created man in the Garden of Eden with His own hands and breathed into him the breath of life, we were created in His image – a creation far superior than anything that God created. A creation that was given authority over all creation. We were created to be rulers and stewards over His creation. However, when man encountered sin and succumbed to its allure, the devolution of man began. Contrary to the scientific definition of the evolution of man, we have continued to devolve.

With advancements in science and technology, we may have become more intellectually superior than our ancestors. However, with rise in intellect, we have become morally deficient and are on the downward spiral of further degradation. Dependence on God and sticking to the ancient paths has become a sign of weakness and immaturity. Being a person with high morals is not a badge of honor. How did we embark on such a journey? How did we stray so far from our original design?

In the very first chapter of Isaiah and Romans, the steps are clearly laid out for the devolution of man.

Step 1: Disobedience

Isaiah 1: 2

Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth;

For the LORD speaks,

“Sons I have reared and brought up,

but they have revolted against me.”

Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden by eating the forbidden fruit. The appeal of being like God as baited by Satan, was enough for them to disobey God’s one command. When we disobey, whether in matters small or big, we are taking the very first step to challenge God’s commands. Ever since the first sin, our human flesh is constantly fighting against God, disobeying at every instance.

Because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. (Romans 1: 19)

Step 2: Ignorance

Isaiah 1: 3

An ox knows its owner,

And a donkey its master’s manger,

But Israel does not know,

My people do not understand.

In ignorance, we have failed to recognize who our Creator is. We have become ignorant of our divine purpose. In the process of becoming intellectual, we’ve strayed too far from the truth, relying on man’s experiences and embracing the lies that are dangled before us as truth. Lie becomes truth and truth becomes lie. Despite the clear demarcation between the absolute truth of God and lies that the devil portrays, man chose the lies.

“They bend their tongue like their bow;

Lies and not truth prevail in the land;

For they proceed from evil to evil,

And they do not know Me,” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 9: 3)

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (Romans 1: 20-21)

Step 3: Defiance

Isaiah 1: 4

Alas, sinful nation,

People weighed down with iniquity,

Offspring of evildoers,

Sons who act corruptly!

They have abandoned the Lord,

They have despised the Holy One of Israel,

They have turned away from Him.

Disobedience leads to ignorance. Ignorance leads to defiance. Now that man has failed to acknowledge God and forgotten Him, he became defiant. In order not to obey God’s commands, man embraced corruption as his new vocation. Every step that we have taken away from God in defiance has led us farther away from Him.

“We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant, Moses.” (Nehemiah 1: 7)

Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. (Romans 1: 22-23)

Step 4: Despair

Isaiah 1: 5

Where will you be stricken again,

As you continue in your rebellion?

The whole head is sick

And the whole heart is faint.

Being defiant of God’s commands, leads to confusion and despair. In the man’s zeal of finding his own way, he becomes disoriented and wanders around trying to find himself again. He has devolved into worshiping idols that he has carved for himself. Seeking a god apart from the Almighty God has never satisfied any man. Despite the innate urge to be united with His Creator, he will trudge on to the immoral paths that will farther lead him to confusion and despair. Look at all the idols we have placed high above God in our current culture. With shifting priorities, man is bound to feel anxious and unsure of his bearings.  

He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside. And he cannot deliver himself, nor say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?” (Isaiah 44: 20)

Every man is stupid, devoid of knowledge;

Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols;

For his molten images are deceitful,

And there is no breath in them. (Jeremiah 10: 14)

Therefore, God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever, Amen. (Romans 1: 24-25)

Step 5: Disease

Isaiah 1: 6

From the sole of the foot even to the head

There is nothing sound in it,

Only bruises, welts and raw wounds,

Not pressed out or bandaged,

Nor softened with oil.

On this path of defiance, there is despair and disease – the twins. Man, first loses his mind and heart to despair, followed by health to diseases in his body. We go about weighed down by our own guilt of disobedience. Yet in this lowly devolved stage, we still don’t acknowledge of our disobedience and return to God. The defiant nature in us will not allow us to return to our merciful Father. Even though we have extended the average lifespan of man, it is not without numerous maladies that afflict man.

There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities are gone over my head; as a heavy burden they weigh too much for me. My wounds grow foul and fester because of my folly. I am bent over and greatly bowed down; I go mourning all day long. For my loins are filled with burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am benumbed and badly crushed; I groan because of the agitation of my heart. (Psalm 38: 3-8)

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper. (Romans 1: 28)

Step 6: Desolation

Isaiah 1: 7-8

Your land is desolate,

Your cities are burned with fire,

Your fields – strangers are devouring them in your presence;

It is desolation, as overthrown by strangers.

The daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard,

Like a watchman’s hut in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.

Man comes to the end of himself. A place of desolation:  physically, mentally and spiritually. There is just emptiness there. Nothing satisfies him. Everything hurts him. No answers to be found. Yet in such lowest devolved stage, he fails to recognize the hand of God. A merciful God has stretched forth His righteous right hand to lift us up from debased state and set us again on the path of righteousness. Are we willing to be rescued?

Therefore, My wrath and My anger were poured out and burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, so they have become a ruin and a desolation as it is this day. (Jeremiah 44: 6)

Step 7: Death

Isaiah 1: 9

Unless the Lord of hosts

Had left us a few survivors,

We would be like Sodom,

We would be like Gomorrah.

The twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are now heaps of rubble and never inhabited by man. The Lord in His righteous anger rained on them fire and brimstone so not a single person survived. The only climax to disobedience is death – an eternal separation from God. With man’s dead soul, decaying body, and depraved mind, death is the only culminating factor to end everything.

And although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. (Romans 1: 32)

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. Therefore, what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. (Romans 6: 20-21)

The Solution

Despite the depravity and devolution of man, God shows mercy. As promised in the Garden of Eden, He sent the righteous and perfect Lamb of God to redeem us, His beloved Son Jesus Christ. His righteous right hand will rescue us from our depravity only if we are willing to return to Him, acknowledge Him as Lord, and worship Him as our Creator. He will cleanse us of all unrighteousness and restore us to Himself. The true evolution of man happens when he denounces the world and embraces God and His ordinances. The true evolution of man ensues when he is snatched from the path of destruction and set on the path of righteousness. The true evolution of man occurs when he is transformed into Christ’s likeness.

Now in that day the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 10: 20)

The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem will go forth a remnant and out of Mount Zion survivors. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. (Isaiah 37: 31)

But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6: 22-23)

“The highest glory of the creature is in being only a vessel, to receive and enjoy and show forth the glory of God. It can do this only as it is willing to be nothing in itself, that God may be all. Water always fills first the lowest places. The lower, the emptier a man lies before God, the speedier and the fuller will be the inflow of the divine glory.” – Andrew Murray

Inside Enemy’s Gates

~ Sowmya Gali

2 Chronicles 26: 3 – 6

Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Jechiliah of Jerusalem.

He did right in the sight of the Lord according to all that his father Amaziah had done.

He continued to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding through the vision of God; and as long as he sought the Lord, God prospered him.

Now he went out and warred against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod; and he built cities in the area of Ashdod and among the Philistines.

Soccer is one of the popular games played around the world. The two teams comprise of both offense and defense players. If one of the team’s offenses is stronger, then they are capable of ploughing through any of the defenses of the opposite team and score a goal. If the defense is stronger, then they may be able to keep the opposite team from breaking through their defenses and stopping them from scoring a goal. If both offense and defense are stronger, then that is a winning team.

King Uzziah was a winning king. He was a young teenager when the responsibility of leading the nation of Judah was laid upon his shoulders. However, he sought the Lord and the Lord directed his steps. He did everything that was right in the sight of the Lord. And God prospered him in all aspects. God provided wisdom through Zechariah the prophet. Through out his reign, the enemies of Judah paid tribute to King Uzziah. He had an elite army who could wage war with great power.

Historically, other nations attacked Israel and Judah. They always were on the defense. In many instances, they cried to God and He supernaturally protected them while routing out the enemies. The only time that the nation was on the offensive mode was when they came out of Egypt and claimed the Promised Land. Once the boundaries were established, and peace and prosperity prevailed, the enemy sought to destroy. Israel, for the most part of its history, has been defending its territory and protecting its borders.

In the story of Uzziah, one thing strongly stands out. He followed God whole heartedly. He ensured the nation followed the Lord. Once his own country was stronger, he had the courage and confidence to war against the Philistines. In this instance, King Uzziah went on the offense. He went into the Philistine territory and conquered them. He not only broke down their walls but he built cities inside the enemy territory. Building cities means fortifying them securely and establishing your presence there. Historically, we know that the Philistines have always been the offender. They constantly provoked Israel for war.

How did Uzziah manage to not only conquer the Philistines but build fortified cities inside their territory? He certainly went with the power of the Lord. He had confidence that his God would protect him and prosper him. In ancient days, when one nation conquered another and subdued its rulers and people, the first thing the conqueror did was to bring in their gods. They would build a shrine and offer thanks to their gods in the presence of their enemy, taunting them that the gods of the conqueror were powerful. King Uzziah did that exactly. He rubbed it in the face of the Philistines that his God was so much more superior than the gods of the Philistines by building cities inside their territory.

Hebrews 6: 1

Therefore, leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,

Only mature Christians know how to be on the offense. Once their foundation is secure, they are ready to conquer. We are called to not only be defenders of faith but go out and preach the Gospel of Christ to the world. When we are on the offense, the enemy will surrender. When an enemy surrenders, we can fortify the enemy’s territory with the Gospel. When we have fortified inside the enemy’s gates, we have won the ultimate battle.

Dear Saint of God, let us mature from the elementary teaching about Christ. Let us equip ourselves to be on the offense. The enemy always plays dirty and tries to sneak in. Instead of being on the defense, let us pick up our weapon of offense – the Word of God in our hands (Ephesians 6: 17) and start to be on the offense. We are equipped and empowered from above by the Holy Spirit to enter into enemy’s territory, smash to pieces their strongholds and fortify their hearts with the Gospel. Many of us have people in our lives battling mental issues, addictions, anxieties, etc. Many of us know of people who are refusing to believe in Jesus. Many of us have people in our lives who are sailing in two boats. Many of us know of someone who is in despair.

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, let us break through their defenses, fortify them with the Gospel and establish the Word of God in their hearts. Only through the power of Christ, only by His name, we can conquer every stronghold. Jesus Christ has given us authority to do just that. We must remember when we go out into the battle field, we are not fighting against flesh and blood but against the spiritual forces of wickedness (Ephesians 6: 12). Not only we must conquer the enemy, we must fortify their strongholds with the Gospel. Only then we have won. Only then we have fulfilled our mission. May our Lord of Hosts strengthen us and equip us as we march on the offense.