Message 2 - By
Jerry D. Green
God’s
Number One Enemy
Introduction
God’s Number One Enemy is also the number one enemy of man; and
vice versa. But until we understand what that enemy is, we will never
understand why God sent Jesus to suffer and die the death of a cruel cross,
that all of lost mankind (the world) might have the option of being reconciled
back to God (John 3:16; II Corinthians 5:18-19).
Upon the entrance of sin, death immediately ensued; because “…the wages of sin is
death…” (Romans 5:12; 6:23). The end result of
true reconciliation, however, is being made “free indeed”
from that enemy of both God and man, which is sin (John 8:30-36);
and receive everlasting life. Sin gained entrance to the Godly
creation (Adam and Eve), by the transgression of “one man,” which was Adam.
Through their unbelief and disobedience to God, Adam and Eve received the fallen
sinful nature of the serpent, the devil himself (Revelation 20:2), which was, and is
inherently, passed on from generation to generation. The world is made
up of those who are of Adam and Eve’s offspring; i.e., all of fallen
mankind. The world includes every person on this earth (who has not
been made partaker of the true salvation of God; through Jesus, the Christ).
Unfortunately for all mankind, through the transgression Adam, the Genie was
out of the bottle so to speak, never to be returned. Short of the direct
intervention of God Himself, no man would ever again enjoy the bliss of his
former state in the garden. Instead, lost and separated from God with no
possibility of ever being able to reinstate himself to God, in whom is the
source of life; death was the irreversible situation in which all
of lost mankind found (and still finds) himself.
But thanks be to the great love, wisdom, and justice of God, by
whom “all… (is) …possible” (Matthew 19:25-26), “whosoever will” may now partake of God’s great provision which is by and
in His Son, and the true gospel
of Him (Revelation
22:17; Hebrews 2:14;
II Corinthians 5:18-21).
It is only because of that which God did for us, through Jesus who was and
is the Christ, that we can be reconciled to God. Our prayer is that this
message will enlighten your understanding, not only to the gravity of sin,
but to God’s great answer for sin (the number one enemy of
both God and man) by Jesus, the Christ, at Calvary; that we may see our
great need to take full advantage of His answer. JDG
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God’s Number One Enemy
There are many enemies of God: the devil, demons, sickness, and
death, just to name a few. There is, however, an enemy of God which is much
greater than any of these; and it seems that very few people today are even
aware of it. This is the enemy I want to tell you about in this message. If we
do not know what the number one enemy is, we cannot possibly understand the
great work of salvation which God has wrought for us through His Son Jesus
Christ; through His great sufferings for us.
Some will think God’s number one enemy is the devil, but that is
not the case. God’s number one enemy is sin; and the last enemy which
will be destroyed is death. God, however, is a God of life…. He
hates death, yet death is the fruit, or “wages of
sin.” Sin entered first,
then
“death by sin” (Romans
5:12); which is why sin is the number one enemy. I Corinthians 15:26 tells us: “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” Strong’s
Exhaustive Concordance says the Greek word, Strong’s #2673, here translated
destroyed, means “to be ([or] render) entirely idle ([or] useless).” Death
can only be stilled by destroying the source of its strength, which is sin.
This is exactly what Jesus did when He submitted Himself into the hands of
wicked men and offered Himself, the perfect sacrifice unto God, for us.
Although we may never know or comprehend in this life, all that Jesus did for
us at Calvary, the scriptures plainly tell us of many things which were
accomplished for us there, the foremost being freedom from sin; which is
the New Testament Jubilee.
Paul tells us in Hebrews 11, of many
great things men of God (through faith; which is simply believing God,) had
accomplished down through the ages of time before Christ; yet he sums up the
chapter saying, “…these all, having obtained a good
report through faith, RECEIVED NOT THE PROMISE
(of
God to mankind): (but now) God having provided some BETTER THING for us…” What is this better thing? It is a new covenant IN Christ (Isaiah 42:1-6; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:24-27). It is the New Covenant of
grace. More specifically, what could possibly be better than all these great and mighty things
(works) of which he has just spoken? Well I must tell you, its to be free from sin.
Not one of those great men could ever in their lifetime know freedom from sin
(“…the old man…” of sin; Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:9-10). Let’s look further into this enemy of God called sin.
First, we’ll discuss committed sins. Jesus said, “…Whosoever
committeth sin is the servant (slave) of SIN (John 8:34). Committing
is most peoples concept of sin: doing something we should not, or
failing to do that which we should. In doing and/or not doing these things
(works) God will surely be pleased with me. This is the basis of all religion(s):
man trying to please God by his works. Every person has their own list of
things which he or she can and cannot do to please God; “…every man…
(every person does) …that which…
(is) …right in his
(or her) own eyes” (Deuteronomy 12:8; Judges 21:25; Proverbs 14:12). They read religious books,
magazines, tracts, the Koran, etc., and yes, the Holy Bible itself, to garner
the things for their list. They also take into account and weigh all of the
things they are taught from their youth. We’ll call these the traditions of the
fathers. But even if we had the perfect list, and we do, we could never please
God. The children of Israel were given the perfect list. We call it, “The Ten
Commandments,” the perfect law of God, ordained to life (Romans 7:10-14). But the
scripture says the law was “…weak through the flesh…” (the human nature) Romans 8:3. The flesh (or
human nature) could not keep God’s law. How much more destructive is this human
nature, when combined with sin? The Apostle Paul said, concerning the
righteousness which is by the keeping of the law of Moses, that he was
blameless. Yet he counted it all “…but dung (worthless) that… (he) …might win Christ,” the real righteousness; the “…better thing…” (Philippians 3:8; Hebrews 11:39-40).
Jesus said to desire,
or lust, or hate in the heart is to be counted as guilty as actually committing
the act (Matthew 5:28).
Some use this as an excuse to commit the act (to sin); but I must warn
you, once you commit sin, you
become a servant (a slave) of, and to sin. This means you aren’t in
charge any longer; sin (the
master) is. We all need to understand this, especially our children. And no,
not committing the act doesn’t save us either, but it does leave us in control
of our lives (a state in which we can yet chose what we will do). The end
result of committed sin(s) in this natural life can be
devastating indeed, but to as many as will believe it, the true gospel
of Jesus Christ will save and make free indeed FROM ALL sin (Romans 1:16; John 8:36).
Lets look further into this thing called sin. Sin
is something most people know little or nothing about; yet sin, the root
cause of all committed sin(s), is something man, of himself, can
do nothing about. I would submit that even though sin is inherited
(passed down) from Adam, and is often referred to as the Adamic, or sin nature, the words “sin nature” are never used
together as such, in the scriptures. Nevertheless, this nature to sin
will forever be with a person (work in their members) until they have heard,
believed, and submitted themselves unto the true gospel of Jesus
Christ. This is the only means by which a person can ever be made “…free indeed…” FROM sin. Jesus told
some Jewish believers, including His own chosen twelve, “…If you
continue in my word then are you my disciples indeed; And you shall know
the truth (of the true gospel of Him), and (in
believing) the truth (of the
gospel of Him, it) shall MAKE you free indeed (from sin; John 8:31-36). Notice that the truth that
makes free indeed was to those who would continue with Him, and in His
word(s); for Jesus had not yet gone to the
cross. Today we can be made free as soon as we can hear
and believe the true gospel message from the heart. This may still take some continuing in His word,
but for us, the work is already done. “…Our old man (of sin) IS crucified with…
Christ… (Romans 6:6; Galatians 2:20) and… we ARE sanctified through the
offering of the (natural, physical) body of Jesus
(who was, and is, the) Christ; ONCE,
FOR ALL (Only one
body, and only one time would it ever be offered; but that one body, and
that one time was sufficient for all mankind, for all time and all
eternity; Hebrews 10:10).
We are ALSO raised together in newness of life in Him (Romans 6:4-5; Ephesians 2:6). These are some of
the most important things we can know about the good news (the gospel).
In the scriptures, the word flesh in some cases speaks of
the natural, physical body. In others however, it is often used to describe the fallen
human nature (the nature of the serpent). Do not be confused by
this. Your physical body has
no nature, disposition, or inclination, either to sin, or not to sin.
It is only an earthen vessel that you live in. It does your bidding much like a
machine does the bidding of its operator. An operator can take a giant earth
moving machine and do massive amounts of good work, building roads, drainage
ditches, reservoirs, etc.; or, he could do massive amounts of destruction by
destroying perfectly good houses, public buildings, or anything of value. Is this
destruction then the fault of the machine? No! It is only doing the bidding of
the operator. It is the same with the body. It only does that which the person
dwelling within directs it to do. It is a persons heart that dictates
what they direct their body to do. This is the reason we must receive, from
God, “a NEW HEART” before we will ever be able to please Him (Ezekiel 36:26; Hebrews 8:10).
A few
scriptures that are prone to confuse the reader are: “that the BODY OF SIN might be
destroyed (permanently
stilled)”
(Romans 6:6); “who shall deliver me
from the BODY OF this DEATH?” (Romans
7:24, and,) “…in the putting off (of) the BODY OF THE SINS OF THE FLESH
(in this instance flesh
is in reference to the physical body) by the circumcision of Christ” (Colossians
2:11). There may be others, but these come to mind as examples. Our
physical BODIES are an assembly of many members: feet, legs, hands, arms,
trunk, organs, etc.; individual parts that form a whole. This is the way Paul intended
for the word body, used in these passages, to be understood. All
of sin; the whole of sin; the entirety of sin; the source
of sin. In the cases above he is not speaking at all about the physical BODY.
There are
other enemies of God. The devil is referred to as “…an enemy… (Matthew 13:28).” Jesus said to
those He sent out, “…I give you
power…over all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19-20), referring to the devil and his
demonic spirits; but this was before Calvary. At Calvary, the scripture says
that, “through
death, He (Jesus, would) destroy (Strong’s #2673; meaning to: still; or
render entirely idle or useless) him, …that is, the devil, …
(who) …had the power of death (which is sin; Hebrews 2:14; also, Mini
Message 2; “The Nature of the Serpent”). The devil was not created a devil; but
rather, a beautiful and powerful angel, until he himself became the victim of sin
(Ezekiel 28:12-19).
The scripture says he was “perfect in… (all his) ways… (un)till iniquity (sin) was found in” him; when he was lifted up in pride. Because of the sin of pride,
the sentence of death fell upon him, and in his pride, along with
himself, he also brought about the fall of man. Having deceived Eve in the
garden, and causing Adam to transgress, he then became the great accuser. He
yet (at that time) had legal access to heaven where he accused man before God
both day and night (Job
1:6-11); before he was cast out of heaven at Calvary (Revelation 12:10).
Exactly what his accusations were, I can only surmise. Perhaps he continually
reminded God that if he was to be judged and “cast into the lake of fire” because of sin (Revelation 20:10-15),
then
all mankind must also be judged and (“cast into the lake
of fire”) because of sin. Or, perhaps he thought before God would
destroy man, He would change His mind about sin and spare him also.
Whatever his reasoning, he underestimated God’s attitude concerning sin
and its wages (death) on both counts; as well as His unsearchable
wisdom, justice, and great love toward man, who found himself to be a sinner
because of someone else’s doing.
Although fallen man was also the enemy of God because of his fallen
nature, anti-God, anti-Christ, ignorantly opposing God and himself; the love
and justness of God did not count him so, but rather, a poor lost sinner
in need of a savior. One of the glorious mysteries of Calvary is that in
the great love, wisdom, and justice of God, the sentence of death which
was upon all mankind was fulfilled unto all who would ever believe the gospel of Jesus, the Christ;
in that “the old man” of us all died,
IN (union with) Him
(Ephesians 4:22-24;
Colossians 3:9-10).
Some will ask,
how is it that Satan and sin are still around if they were destroyed?
The answer is in the meaning of the Greek word which was translated destroyed.
As we mentioned earlier, according to Strong’s Concordance the Greek word
#2673, which was translated destroyed in these verses, doesn’t mean
complete and total destruction as we understand destruction, but rather, means
“to be ([or] render) entirely idle ([or] useless).” I urge you to check this
out for yourself. Sin and the devil simply have no power over the
true believer. Through believing the gospel, sin and the devil are permanently
stilled (my words), i.e., “rendered “(entirely idle ([or] useless);”
concerning the true believer. Yes, they are still around, but for the
true believer, they were and are completely and permanently defeated (by,
through, and) in the blood of Jesus. With this, I must now
address another question. Which is a “better thing” for us (Hebrews 11:40)? To have
all power over sin and the devil (that is, to be victorious in
every battle and/or every struggle with sin and/or the devil [but
always facing another battle, another struggle, against sin and/or the devil]; OR, a devil
and sin that have absolutely no power over us (as we simply rest
in Jesus’ victory over them)? As a true, born again, child of God, the latter
is exactly the case. Sin and the devil have no more power
(dominion) over us, for we “are not under law, but under grace” (Romans 6:9-14; Genesis 4:7; Hebrews 2:14). There is absolutely no input on our
part other than believing the gospel. Jesus did it all at Calvary.
Revelation 21 and Revelation
22 tell of a beautiful city symbolic of the church, the bride, the wife of
the Lamb of God, Jesus, the Christ (Hebrews 12:22-23; Revelation 21:9). Of it’s beauty, holiness,
and purity there is no flaw. But to be a member of that body we must be quick
to “deny” (denounce) ourselves, our flesh, and all of our (or it’s) religious
works and “count them but dung” (Matthew
16:24; Philippians
3:4-8) “that…
(we) may win Christ,” putting all of our faith in the glorious gospel (the good news)
of all that Jesus did for us: For it, and it alone, “…is the (mighty) power of God unto salvation…” to all who can believe IT (Romans 1:16).
At the final
judgment, the last enemies (death and hell) will be cast into the
lake of fire and brimstone; for everlasting destruction (I Corinthians 15:26; Revelation 20:11-15), along with all
those whose names are not found written in the Lambs book of life. On
the other hand, all who have believed the true report of the glorious gospel of
Jesus Christ, and have been transformed by its mighty power; will forever
enjoy, everlasting, abundant life
along with all the other true
children of God in the presence of God, our Savior Jesus, the Christ, and the
holy angels.
JDG Message 2 - God’s Number One Enemy
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Note
All JDG messages deal with the true gospel of Jesus Christ, the
foundation of our salvation
(I Corinthians 3:10-11); but
other important teachings are also dealt with. Please read all of
the messages for a broader understanding of the great love, justice, and of
grace God. JDG
JDG Message 2 - God’s Number One Enemy
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