“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My
ways,” says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8, 9).
These verses became reality at the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden. There the human race, in Adam, dramatically changed, according to these verses, both the way we live and even the very way we think.
Originally Adan and Eve did think God’s way. ”We are little children who know nothing of deciding for ourselves,” they would have said. They only did what Daddy (God) told them to do. However, after Satan’s temptation at the Tree, they decided they didn’t need Daddy anymore to tell them what to do. “We’ve got it now,” they said; “From now on, we’re going to do things our way.” With the eating of that fruit, the whole human race, in Adam, became addicted to living independently from God!
Frank Sinatra, the ultra-popular crooner of the 1940s, 50s, and ‘60s, had an all-time, greatest hit in 1967. It was called My Way, and expresses this independence perfectly. Here is the exemplary first verse of what the whole song boldly and defiantly proclaims:
“And now, the end is near
And so I face the final curtain
My friend, I’ll say it clear,
I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain.
I’ve lived a life that’s full,
I traveled each and every highway,
And more, much more than this,
I DID IT MY WAY.”:
This song struck a wildly responsive chord with Rebels and, less obviously, Pharisees (including me; it was one of my favorites!), and Wannabe Pharisees as well.
However, my addiction to a compulsion to try to obey my law of choice was broken as I died in Jesus at the Cross. For me, as a Pharisee, that law of choice from which Jesus set me free is biblical law, and when I died in Jesus on that cross, my addiction to even biblical law-keeping was smashed. How so?
When Jesus died there, He did so after having lived His life like a little child, just as He told me to do (Mark 10:15). He said, ”The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do…I can of Myself do nothing” (John 5:19, 30), and He continues to live this same way, as He now lives His life through me (Galatians 2:20)!,
So, I am to walk, personally and individually, as a “little child,” doing nothing but what Daddy shows me in my heart to do, which will (surprise, surprise!), naturally, spontaneously and unconsciously (NSU) be obedience to His law! As I have seen, this happens by honest repentance, and child-like faith in a nebulous, invisible process that God is using in my personal life.
The result is that I, a fallen, addicted sinner, who ate of the fruit in Adam, am now learning to “think God’s thoughts” and to “walk in God’s ways.” Yes, because of the cross of Jesus Christ, we are now doing the very thing Isaiah, in our introductory verses in Isaiah 55:8, 9, proclaimed was impossible!
Because of this miracle, God’s great, eternal purpose of ruling over the earth through man is not nebulous, invisible or ethereal, as many Christians believe, but public, visible and corporate. It is not accomplished in the isolation of my own personal closet. It is accomplished only by the very observable functioning, for all to see, of God’s three institutions, ordained specifically for this purpose.
The family SUPPLIES trained, educated, disciplined, young people to populate both the church and the civil government. The church EQUIPS its members to spread the gospel over the earth, naturally, spontaneously and unconsciously (NSU). The civil government PROTECTS both of these institutions so they can accomplish their purposes.
In my posting next week, I want to lay the foundation stones for each of these three institutions that are absolutely crucial for their effectiveness.
