By Felix Ngunjiri Gichuri

After Man Sinned, God Helped Man Resist Sin by Putting Hatred of Sin in his Heart

Though sin had made a barrier between God and man, and made necessary Adam’s expulsion from Eden, God did not leave him in a state of despair. His first promise was one of courage and help. One would come who would bruise the serpent’s head and destroy the enemy who had led man into sin and who was planning still more evil. Said God to the serpent, ‘I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed” (Genesis 3:15). A paraphrase of this text, without doing violence to its meaning, would read, ‘I will put hatred of sin into the heart of man.” This was a distinct promise of present help to Adam. God would help man resist and conquer sin by placing enmity to it in his heart. Hatred of sin is vital to full salvation. Humanly speaking, no man is safe until he has learned to hate sin as deeply as he formerly loved it. He may resist sin. He may even flee from it, but as long as there is a lingering love of sin in his heart, he is not on safe ground. As love of good is vital, so also is hatred of evil. It may truly be said that our capacity for love of the good is measured and balanced by our capacity for hatred of evil.

Christ Loves Righteousness and has Deep Hatred of Evil

Of Christ, God said, “But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your fellows.” (Heb 1:8-9 [ESV2011) In Christ, love of righteousness was accompanied by a hatred of evil. Because of these two attributes, He was anointed for His work by God. This combination of love and hatred must be in every Christian. They are fundamental in Christianity. It is significant that the first promise of a Savior in the Bible is prefaced by the promise of God’s help in conquering sin by giving man a capacity for hatred of evil.

We can conquer sin because Christ conquered and overcame sin for us. Jesus says something incredible in Revelation 3:21: “To him who overcomes (sin and the world), I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” Christ who knew no sin offered Himself to be made sin on our behalf (2 Cor 5:21) and He died our death by offering Himself to be crucified for the sins we committed so that we obtain forgiveness of our sins if we believe in Him. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit” (1 Peter 3:18 ESV). “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8 ESV). “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son (to offer Himself as sacrifice for our sins and die our death), that whoever believes in him shall not perish but (shall) have eternal life” (John 3:16, NIV). His sacrificial death brought forgiveness of sins to whoever believes in Him. “He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Heb 9:26, [TSK])

This hatred is a great factor in our struggle with evil and-our eventual victory over it. Were it not for the fact that God implants in the heart of every Christian a hatred of evil as well as a love for the right, there would be little hope for us. God commands us to hate evil with all our bodies, with all our hearts and with all our minds and instead love God with all our body, soul, strength and mind in what our Lord Jesus called the greatest commandment.

The Greatest Commandment is to Love God and Other People

“But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matt 22:34-40 [KJV])

When you love God with all your heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind “all things will work together for your good for those who love God, those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Loving God is Abiding in Him

Loving God with all your heart, and with all thy soul means abiding in Him. And when you abide in Him, He will abide in you, and you shall bear much fruit, for without Him you can do nothing.

Jesus said “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that bears not fruit he takes away: and every branch that bears fruit, he purges it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing.” (John 15:1-5 [KJV])

God Longs for an Opportunity to Dwell in Your Heart

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”(Rev 3:20-22 [KJV]) When you love God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, He will come in and dwell in you anointing you with His essence, His attributes and His power because He is the one with the anointing who sent His beloved Son Jesus Christ to bring the anointing to us. No wonder Jesus is the Christ.

Christ Means the Messiah, The Anointed One

And what does Christ mean?  “When Andrew first found his own brother Simon, he said to him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.” (John 1:41 [KJV]) Another translation says “He first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah! ” (which means “Anointed One”) (John 1:41 [HCSB]) When you love God with the same intensity that you used to love sin, God Himself will anoint you, give you the anointed One to anoint (To anoint means to rub in, smear all over or fill with) you with Himself so that you will be exalted above your fellows because you will be like the Anointed One, like Christ, with God smearing Himself all over you, rubbing Himself into your flesh.  You can imagine the one who walked on water, calmed the stormy sea, cast out demons and raised the dead smeared all over you and being in you so that you confess like Paul that “Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus” (Col 1:25-28 [KJV]) When Christ is in you, God Almighty will anoint you with Himself, with His Holy Spirit, so that, like Christ, you will be highly favoured above your fellows and have power to get out of the sinking boat like ‘Peter who landed on the water with a thud and started walking on the water towards Jesus’ (Matthew 14: 28-29). With God’s favour upon you, you will also be able to calm the stormy sea of life with one word ‘Peace’ (Mark 4:39), and cast out demons and raise the dead. And Jesus commissioned His eleven disciples, telling them to “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.” (Mark 16:15-20 [ESV2011]) What Jesus did to His disciples, He does to all who believe in Him. If you believe in Him, you are a Commissioned Officer, commissioned to preach the gospel and empowered for that task to ‘cast out demons; speak in new tongues; pick up serpents with their hands and exercise supremacy over those serpents and devils; and if you drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt you; you will lay your hands on the sick, and they will recover.’ If only you believe.

23. GOD CAN FAVOUR YOU BY ANOINTING YOU ABOVE YOUR FELLOWS

By Felix Ngunjiri Gichuri

After Man Sinned, God Helped Man Resist Sin by Putting Hatred of Sin in his Heart

Though sin had made a barrier between God and man, and made necessary Adam’s expulsion from Eden, God did not leave him in a state of despair. His first promise was one of courage and help. One would come who would bruise the serpent’s head and destroy the enemy who had led man into sin and who was planning still more evil. Said God to the serpent, ‘I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed” (Genesis 3:15). A paraphrase of this text, without doing violence to its meaning, would read, ‘I will put hatred of sin into the heart of man.” This was a distinct promise of present help to Adam. God would help man resist and conquer sin by placing enmity to it in his heart. Hatred of sin is vital to full salvation. Humanly speaking, no man is safe until he has learned to hate sin as deeply as he formerly loved it. He may resist sin. He may even flee from it, but as long as there is a lingering love of sin in his heart, he is not on safe ground. As love of good is vital, so also is hatred of evil. It may truly be said that our capacity for love of the good is measured and balanced by our capacity for hatred of evil.

Christ Loves Righteousness and has Deep Hatred of Evil

Of Christ, God said, “But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your fellows.” (Heb 1:8-9 [ESV2011) In Christ, love of righteousness was accompanied by a hatred of evil. Because of these two attributes, He was anointed for His work by God. This combination of love and hatred must be in every Christian. They are fundamental in Christianity. It is significant that the first promise of a Savior in the Bible is prefaced by the promise of God’s help in conquering sin by giving man a capacity for hatred of evil.

We can conquer sin because Christ conquered and overcame sin for us. Jesus says something incredible in Revelation 3:21: “To him who overcomes (sin and the world), I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” Christ who knew no sin offered Himself to be made sin on our behalf (2 Cor 5:21) and He died our death by offering Himself to be crucified for the sins we committed so that we obtain forgiveness of our sins if we believe in Him. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit” (1 Peter 3:18 ESV). “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8 ESV). “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son (to offer Himself as sacrifice for our sins and die our death), that whoever believes in him shall not perish but (shall) have eternal life” (John 3:16, NIV). His sacrificial death brought forgiveness of sins to whoever believes in Him. “He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Heb 9:26, [TSK])

This hatred is a great factor in our struggle with evil and-our eventual victory over it. Were it not for the fact that God implants in the heart of every Christian a hatred of evil as well as a love for the right, there would be little hope for us. God commands us to hate evil with all our bodies, with all our hearts and with all our minds and instead love God with all our body, soul, strength and mind in what our Lord Jesus called the greatest commandment.

The Greatest Commandment is to Love God and Other People

“But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matt 22:34-40 [KJV])

When you love God with all your heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind “all things will work together for your good for those who love God, those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Loving God is Abiding in Him

Loving God with all your heart, and with all thy soul means abiding in Him. And when you abide in Him, He will abide in you, and you shall bear much fruit, for without Him you can do nothing.

Jesus said “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that bears not fruit he takes away: and every branch that bears fruit, he purges it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing.” (John 15:1-5 [KJV])

God Longs for an Opportunity to Dwell in Your Heart

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”(Rev 3:20-22 [KJV]) When you love God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, He will come in and dwell in you anointing you with His essence, His attributes and His power because He is the one with the anointing who sent His beloved Son Jesus Christ to bring the anointing to us. No wonder Jesus is the Christ.

Christ Means the Messiah, The Anointed One

And what does Christ mean?  “When Andrew first found his own brother Simon, he said to him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.” (John 1:41 [KJV]) Another translation says “He first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah! ” (which means “Anointed One”) (John 1:41 [HCSB]) When you love God with the same intensity that you used to love sin, God Himself will anoint you, give you the anointed One to anoint (To anoint means to rub in, smear all over or fill with) you with Himself so that you will be exalted above your fellows because you will be like the Anointed One, like Christ, with God smearing Himself all over you, rubbing Himself into your flesh.  You can imagine the one who walked on water, calmed the stormy sea, cast out demons and raised the dead smeared all over you and being in you so that you confess like Paul that “Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus” (Col 1:25-28 [KJV]) When Christ is in you, God Almighty will anoint you with Himself, with His Holy Spirit, so that, like Christ, you will be highly favoured above your fellows and have power to get out of the sinking boat like ‘Peter who landed on the water with a thud and started walking on the water towards Jesus’ (Matthew 14: 28-29). With God’s favour upon you, you will also be able to calm the stormy sea of life with one word ‘Peace’ (Mark 4:39), and cast out demons and raise the dead. And Jesus commissioned His eleven disciples, telling them to “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.” (Mark 16:15-20 [ESV2011]) What Jesus did to His disciples, He does to all who believe in Him. If you believe in Him, you are a Commissioned Officer, empowered to ‘cast out demons; speak in new tongues; pick up serpents with their hands and exercise supremacy over those serpents and devils; and if you drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt you; you will lay your hands on the sick, and they will recover.’ And the Lord will work with you and confirm the messages you will preach by accompanying signs and wonders.

Amen.