Sin, Holiness, and the I AM

So... I've been doing a lot of pondering on the connection between sin, holiness, and The I AM (Lord, Master, Yahweh) God.

Every time we see the word LORD in the Bible after Moses' encounter with The I AM at the burning bush, it is a reminder to think back to that time... that face-to-face-ness God wants us to have with him. But He is holy, and sin cannot be in His presence. Thank God for the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, Who intercedes for us and cleanses us from all unrighteousness and sin!!

Sin isn't just an action. It is an attitude in many cases. And, what I have been learning to be true about that is that sin always begins with a refusal to worship The I AM Who created us, loves and saves us, and calls us into His presence, wishing to have with us a relationship as rich as the one He had with Enoch and face to face as it was at times with Moses. He wants to get personal with us; He wants us to get personal with Him. It is WE who stand in our own way of doing this a lot of the time, when we allow other things to preside in our hearts besides adoration, love and worship for the Almighty.

But the LORD tells us that if we will humble ourselves before Him, admit our wrongdoings, and worship Him, He will take all the other steps to reach us. This is a simple thing, and yet so difficult for many. I admit it has at times been difficult for myself. But it is worth much more than the rest of life put together, those moments with God; with the Triune Living Love Who is The Great I AM. This God Who walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden. This God Who started the planet over with Noah and his family. This God Who walked with Enoch. This God Who led Moses to lead the people out of Egypt.This God Who wrapped the Light of Who He IS in flesh and became a baby, a child, a teen, a man Who was, ultimately, Living Love; Living Sacrifice; Living Grace.

Someone made a comment earlier today that if Jesus was standing at the front of the church or tabernacle where we are worshiping, people would behave a lot differently than they do. But if we truly believe in the Holy Spirit of God, then we know that Jesus IS right there... not only looking from the outside, but also from the inside out. He sees it all... no matter how dark, dank, light, or bright, He sees it all and loves us unconditionally. Loves us anyway because, while He is holy, He became one of us; one WITH us... and we come from Him, as well. If we truly believe the Word of God - in the flesh and on the page - then we know that the breath of life, the Holy Spirit, is what keeps us. It isn't our ticking heart or our thinking brain; it isn't machines and medicine. It is the grace and goodness and mercy of the God Who loved us enough to step down from the starry heights of glory and the live among the filth of humanity. To picture this might be to use the analogy of having the Queen of England live on the streets for a week to better understand her people (which, I believe, one of her grandsons did for one night). Multiply this to a whole life; to thirty three and a half years. Imagine someone stepping down from the most royal and ornate and glorious place you can imagine and deciding to live among the paupers and the ill. Mother Teresa was much like this... but these are but word pictures to help gain a little grasp of the magnitude of what Jesus Christ, the flesh-enwrapped I AM and Living Love did on our behalf. We were the paupers and ill He came to be with because He loved us. We were the filthy and desolate.

When sin rules over us, the devil, world, and flesh are attached to it. The Word of God tells us that we are ruled by sin forever unless the Holy Spirit grabs hold of us, and He can do this only when and if we are willing. We must be receptive. We must be ready.

You shall know them by their fruits, Jesus told us. Know the people around you are authentically in Christ if they show love, grace, peace, kindness, gentleness; know they are walking genuine before the LORD, the I AM Who revealed Himself to Moses, Who walked in the cool of the day with Adam and Eve if we have the Spirit's fruit rather than sin and the world's. Sometimes, it takes more than salvation. Often times, it does. We don't like to think it does, but it does. What do you think generational curses, principalities, and powers do when you get saved? Walk away without a fight? No. They will do what they can to reduce the power of the Spirit and of Christ's atonement in your life. They will aim to weaken your link to the Father. And if you let them, they still win. You may end up in heaven, by the grace of God and through faith, but how much will you regret from life when you get there?

It is time to take back our God-given lives, talents, personalities, etc for Christ. And to do that, we have to be willing to allow sin to be removed from the thrones of our hearts by the Holy Spirit of God, The Great I AM. And we will have to fight with the flesh. This has been a challenge forever and will continue being so, but with God on your side, nothing is impossible. He is Holiness itself. He is Love and Grace. He is The Great I AM.