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Lucifer began an experiment that produced unthinkably tragic results by meddling with the perfect order of how one thinks, relates and views himself and others. It is laid out in Ezekiel 28 where there is a very enlightening revelation of what went on inside Lucifer's head as he shifted his focus from heart-based, natural, life-giving interaction to externally-focused, self-centered, life-depriving existence. Though I do not have time to examine all the references here they can be seen by carefully observe the implications found in the descriptions of Lucifer's problems in both Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14. Notice the specific references that indicate the transition.
'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Because your heart is lifted up And you have said, 'I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods In the heart of the seas'; Yet you are a man and not God, Although you make your heart like the heart of God-- Behold, you are wiser than Daniel; There is no secret that is a match for you. "By your wisdom and understanding You have acquired riches for yourself And have acquired gold and silver for your treasuries. "By your great wisdom, by your trade You have increased your riches And your heart is lifted up because of your riches-- ...
...'Thus says the Lord GOD, "You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. "You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz and the diamond; The beryl, the onyx and the jasper; The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald; And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, was in you. On the day that you were created They were prepared. "You were the anointed cherub who covers, And I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire. "You were blameless in your ways From the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you. "By the abundance of your trade You were internally filled with violence, and you sinned; Therefore I have cast you as profane From the mountain of God. And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the stones of fire. "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor.... In the unrighteousness of your trade You profaned your sanctuaries.... (Ezekiel 28:2-18)
"But you said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. 'I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' (Isaiah 14:13-14)
There was a distinct shift, not only from an orientation of serving others to looking out more for himself, but from the results of focusing on his own external beauty, his own external splendor, his own wisdom and intelligence. In doing so God says that internally he became filled with violence, the disruption that occurs internally when anyone chooses to live differently than how they were designed and created to live. In seeking to exalt himself instead of exalting others and his Creator he accomplishes just the opposite in the end as what he is attempting to achieve.
This is the history, the background, the context within which everything else lies. Lucifer started a rebellion against the natural order of things, offering a counterfeit way of living with false promises of better results and more satisfaction than what God has to offer. And one of the basic premises in his alternative lifestyle is a focus on the externals over internal values, a shift in focus from living selflessly from a heart filled with love to living from an empty heart clamoring for fulfillment through external pleasures and selfish grasping for anything that will fill our own cravings. The things considered important and valuable in the counterfeit reality are externally oriented, behavior-focused and self-exalting. Instead of trusting our loving Creator to value us and satisfy our heart needs we are compelled to look out for ourselves and get everything we can get for ourselves in fear of feeling empty and worthless. Lucifer models for us just how to live in self-service and self-protection and everyone infected with his spirit, tainted with the virus of sin has this mindset embedded deep in the flesh of their brain.
God has put into place a means whereby anyone who wishes to escape this trap can be restored, healed and returned to the original design of creation. With their permission and cooperation He will teach them once again to return the focus of their life to internal values and reconnect with the unfallen universe through learning to live selflessly motivated with the passion of God dwelling in their hearts. It is called the plan of salvation and it is fully in place and available to anyone wishing and willing to submit to it.
Of course Satan (previously Lucifer) works tirelessly to subvert and distort everything God puts into place that would expose the fallacy of the lies that his system is based on. So he has confused us into what the real issues are in the great debate between his system of life and God's perfect arrangement. Satan has infected every aspect of religion so that what should reveal the way back to God becomes yet another means of self-exaltation, exploitation of others and a means of focusing of the externals in place of the internals.
One of the main tricks that Satan uses to keep us confused and off balance is to keep us living primarily from our conscious, intellectual mind and repress the heart that God designed us to live from. In addition he has also done many things to infect and corrupt our heart making it extremely suspicious of God's love for us thereby insulating us from receiving the very healing that God offers to restore us to freedom and joy. One of the main ways Satan has accomplished this is by getting people to focus on the externals in everything God says to them while ignoring and being oblivious to all the things addressed to the heart. By keeping the mind in front of the heart he manages to keep them off balance, keeping the cart before the horse so to speak.
What we see here in Romans are two groups of people that display attitudes characteristic of one side or the other.
For religion addicts the focal point is the rules, the Law.
For relational people the focal point is their relationships to others, the feelings and sense of bonding with others.
10:4 says that for those who live by faith – have a relational attitude toward God – then when they think about the Law of God it simply reminds them of Christ who is the focal point of the Law.
As I looked at verses 6-8 I wanted to understand what this really meant. These verses have always somewhat mystified me and so I went back to where they were quoted from and read them in the context of the whole chapter of Deuteronomy 30. What I found was very amazing to me considering what we often think of finding in the Old Testament. What I found was a passionate appeal by Moses to the people of God to live from their hearts and get their focus on internal values instead of externals. He had a clear picture of the real issues in the great controversy between God and Satan and he was pleading with the people to live differently than the method they had chosen at Mount Sinai, “all that the Lord has said we will do”. Basically they promised God to just show them the rules and they would perform them – a hopeless proposition but one that many are still attempting yet today.
In the verses from this chapter referred to by Paul in Romans, Moses is saying the same thing that Paul is again saying to anyone who will listen with their heart. The real way to live successfully – in connection with God the only Source of life – is to get away from our focus on the externals – Who will ascend to bring Christ... Who will descend to bring Christ... God is pleading with us to return to our original design of living from the heart and receiving the healing we need at the heart level. But the Word (Christ) is near you already, in your mouth and in your heart. So real spirituality is not focused somewhere outside of you on external things or behaviors but on the things you believe both with your intellect that you say with your mouth and the deeper things you believe with your heart that provide the basis for all of your expressions. When these two areas agree then there is no sense of conflict (guilt) and the person is saved (restored, healed). This condition brings deep and real satisfaction, for whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.
Here are a few thoughts on some of the things farther on in this chapter. I may take time to explore them more at a later time, but here are some initial thoughts.
The whole sequence of logic in verses 14 and 15 must be viewed in the context of heart vs. head knowledge emphasized repeatedly in the previous verses. Since that is so, then what people need in the messenger who is sent to make them aware of God, that in turn elicits faith and trust in God, is one who also demonstrates in their own life the kind of faith and intimacy with God that makes their words and message so powerful. The passage just said that it is with the heart that a person believes (10) so then shifting emphasis over to head knowledge in the act of preaching is to miss the main point of the text.
Another important point that is often overlooked or missed altogether is the step of being sent. This has strong implications of the messenger being backed and supported by a bonded community of mature people to which he is accountable and in which he can draw wisdom, counsel and encouragement. To be sent means that there is a launching pad of dedicated, committed people who are a rich resource of provision and wisdom and joy to the messengers selected by God to be the examples and announcers of the gospel to those do not yet know God personally. It is a group of people who strongly believe in and encourage the gifts and calling that are evident in the person being sent. They are people who are supportive in every way possible, not only financially but even more importantly with their personal investment of time, prayers and jealous support of the emotional and spiritual health of the person who represents them and their God. They are willing to invest their hearts and trust into the life of the person being sent. They become the umbilical cord through which supplemental life from God and from their resources can flow into the life and soul of the messenger.
