Entitlement is lethal.
- Liev Schreiber
Origin stories play a pivotal role in determining intended design and effect. This is nowhere more true than dealing with spiritual issues. Yet few topics are less understood than sin's origin. Including its purpose and progress among the races of both angels and men, throughout both time and eternity.
Study of this topic has been deemed passé, yet researching the cause and impact of sin is far from being merely a theoretical exercise. God requires we understand righteousness "from the inside out." To do so we must demonstrate the courage to honestly face the devilish cunning and "exceeding sinfulness of sin."
Who can deny the explosive growth and advancement of technology? Equally obvious should be that religion, even Christianity, seems frozen in time by comparison. In fact, in light of the powerful presence of God and miraculous gifts of the Spirit leaping off every page of the Gospels and Book of Acts, the effectiveness of modern Christianity appears to be deteriorating before our very eyes. The early Church was mighty with God, overcoming persecution and every obstacle. So much so, that in only a few generations Christianity had conquered Rome, the greatest military, religious and political power of the Old World. Sadly, the reverse may be true in our day. In a single generation faith and morality has been turned on it's head. Within a few decades, six thousand years of religion and ethics have been inverted by Hollywood, Motown and Madison Avenue.
Rather than sounding an alarm, Churchianity continues on with business as usual. Attending church has replaced being the Church. A passion for bigger buildings, mega ministries and comforting messages has usurped the fire of prayer, Bible study and selfless service, hallmarks of true Christianity down through the millennia.
When it comes to progress, the Church could stand to learn a lesson or two from science. Among them would be the major role the honest handling of data has played in recent and unprecedented advancements. The scientific method, first introduced by Christian researcher Galileo, is designed to pursue the truth at any cost. Persecuted by the Church of his day, he persevered. Like Galileo, all who seek understanding must be prepared to continually and comprehensively reassess past presumptions. Good research requires testing every aspect of every theory. Of course, the importance of such honest devotion to the pursuit of knowledge should be as obvious as the axiom "junk in junk out." Yet when it comes to religion's dealings with spiritual truth, it seems to be anything but. We can never hope to know the truth by "cooking the books" by downgrading the Church's objectives and redefining success. Yet when it comes to accurately studying and teaching God's Book, its passages and meanings have been so manipulated and fractured as to leave Christianity' shattered into 38,000 differing denominations. A sad state of affairs given Christ's revelation that, "God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
Consider current levels of understanding of such a central tenant of Christian theology as that of original sin. Few today possess more than a rudimentary grasp of what, according to the Bible, constitutes sin. Far fewer still grasp how this devilish plague began and was subsequently spread across Three Heavens to eventually fill the Earth to the point of devastating mankind. Most modern Christians consider pursuing such insights into theology puritanical or irrelevant. After all, contrary to scripture they've been taught their personal salvation rests on Christ's atonement alone, leaving little or no need to develop living faith much less keep it alive and healthy by continued expression through righteous habits and lifestyles. Rather than warning billions of the most self centered and unthankful, immoral and bloodthirsty generation to ever walk the Earth of impending judgment and Great Tribulation, Churchianity's message is one of eternal security through God's free gift and that without condition, provided one gives the right answers to a handful of important questions. Tragically, it seems the warnings of the Apostles Paul and Peter ring true:
- "Don't be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They'll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they're animals. Stay clear of these people." 2 Timothy 3:1-5 The Message
- "But there were also lying prophets among the people then, just as there will be lying religious teachers among you. They'll smuggle in destructive divisions, pitting you against each other—biting the hand of the One who gave them a chance to have their lives back! They've put themselves on a fast downhill slide to destruction, but not before they recruit a crowd of mixed-up followers who can't tell right from wrong. They give the way of truth a bad name. They're only out for themselves. They'll say anything, anything, that sounds good to exploit you... Their specialty is greed, and they're experts at it. Dead souls! They've left the main road and are directionless... Men and women who have recently escaped from a deviant life are most susceptible to their brand of seduction. They promise these newcomers freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption, for if they're addicted to corruption—and they are—they're enslaved. If they've escaped from the slum of sin by experiencing our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ, and then slid back into that same old life again, they're worse than if they had never left. Better not to have started out on the straight road to God than to start out and then turn back, repudiating the experience and the holy command. They prove the point of the proverbs, "A dog goes back to its own vomit" and "A scrubbed-up pig heads for the mud." 2 Peter 2:1-2, 14-15, 18-22 The Message
The Bible's full of passages detailing the havoc caused by the great and fallen Archangel once called Lucifer or in Hebrew הילל בן־שׁחר Helel Ben-Shachar. Like the gravitational force of dark matter and energy, the effects of his ancient angelic rebellion and current campaign of temptation and terror, encompass the entire Earth.
There are hundreds of Bible verses directly and indirectly referencing Satan's significance. Specific passages in the New King James Version include the usage of the name Lucifer (1), Satan (54), Devil (34), Dragon (13) and Evil One (5). Additionally, Scripture's use of words such as temptation (13), deception (6), pain (43), death (428), evil (491) and sin (1153) can be indirectly attributed to the architect of disobedience.
Such Scriptures reveal important truths as well as shed light on original sin and it's continuing impact on modern society as well as the Church. It would seem once again Satan has been busy deceiving even God's anointed. This is why such research is far from being practically pointless or an archaic study of Judeo-Christian mythology. While buried beneath the rubble of collapsed doctrine, even a laymen's grasp of "scriptural archeology" is well worth the trouble. Given the modern tools at our disposal, a little "Biblical forensics" unlocks an astounding cosmic crime scene spanning the history of eternity, revealing the truth behind humanity's past, present and future.
Why Eden Was Lost
The Bible explains sin originated long before Adam and Eve, in of all places, Heaven itself. Amazingly, the apparent age of our universe is 14 billion years yet scripture strongly suggests that an angelic rebellion, lead by perhaps the most powerful and glorious of the Archangels, Lucifer, may well predate the Big Bang by eons!
Particulars are somewhat sketchy but it would seem that while the unprecedented uprising was in many ways suppressed, the rebels were not summarily judged and sentenced. Instead, it appears God chose to allow a Trial in Heaven's Supreme Court were the fallen Lucifer became Satan (Adversary) and the Devil (Accuser). Scripture reveals that in his role of Prosecutor he currently accuses mankind in general, and Christians in particular, "day and night."
Tragically, the influence of the arch Deceiver has played a prominent role in shaping the course of human history. For a being capable of inciting perhaps billions of ancient, glorious and holy angels within the very gates of Heaven, deluding mankind down through the millennia's offered little challenge. Compared to such a race, the whole of humanity taken together was born yesterday only to die tomorrow. To answer this challenge, God placed Adam in a Garden of Eden with instructions to keep and guard it. When the Serpent beguiled Eve, paradise was lost:
- "The serpent was clever, more clever than any wild animal God had made. He spoke to the Woman: "Do I understand that God told you not to eat from any tree in the garden?" The Woman said to the serpent, "Not at all. We can eat from the trees in the garden. It's only about the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, 'Don't eat from it; don't even touch it or you'll die.'" The serpent told the Woman, "You won't die. God knows that the moment you eat from that tree, you'll see what's really going on. You'll be just like God, knowing everything, ranging all the way from good to evil." When the Woman saw that the tree looked like good eating and realized what she would get out of it—she'd know everything!—she took and ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband, and he ate. Immediately the two of them did "see what's really going on"—saw themselves naked! They sewed fig leaves together as makeshift clothes for themselves. When they heard the sound of God strolling in the garden in the evening breeze, the Man and his Wife hid in the trees of the garden, hid from God. God called to the Man: "Where are you?" He said, "I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked. And I hid." God said, "Who told you you were naked? Did you eat from that tree I told you not to eat from?" The Man said, "The Woman you gave me as a companion, she gave me fruit from the tree, and, yes, I ate it." God said to the Woman, "What is this that you've done?" "The serpent seduced me," she said, "and I ate." God told the serpent: "Because you've done this, you're cursed... I'm declaring war between you and the Woman, between your offspring and hers. He'll wound your head, you'll wound his heel." He told the Woman: "I'll multiply your pains in childbirth; you'll give birth to your babies in pain. You'll want to please your husband, but he'll lord it over you." He told the Man: "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree That I commanded you Don't eat from this tree,' The very ground is cursed because of you; getting food from the ground will be as painful as having babies is for your wife; you'll be working in pain all your life long... Until you return to that ground yourself, dead and buried; you started out as dirt, you'll end up dirt." Genesis 3:1-19 MSG
- "God said, "The Man has become like one of us, capable of knowing everything, ranging from good to evil. What if he now should reach out and take fruit from the Tree-of-Life and eat, and live forever? Never—this cannot happen! So God expelled them from the Garden of Eden and sent them to work the ground, the same dirt out of which they'd been made. He threw them out of the garden and stationed angel-cherubim and a revolving sword of fire east of it, guarding the path to the Tree-of-Life." Genesis 3:22-24 MSG
Evil And Violence
On the heels of his successful assault against mankind's innocence, we're told Satan dispatched certain fallen angels to interbreed with women. The result was to partially pollute the human genome and fill the Earth with evil and violence:
- "When the human race began to increase, with more and more daughters being born, the sons of God noticed that the daughters of men were beautiful. They looked them over and picked out wives for themselves." Genesis 6:1-2 MSG
- "God saw that human evil was out of control. People thought evil, imagined evil—evil, evil, evil from morning to night. God was sorry that he had made the human race in the first place; it broke his heart. God said, "I'll get rid of my ruined creation, make a clean sweep: people, animals, snakes and bugs, birds—the works. I'm sorry I made them." But Noah was different. God liked what he saw in Noah. This is the story of Noah: Noah was a good man, a man of integrity in his community. Noah walked with God. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. As far as God was concerned, the Earth had become a sewer; there was violence everywhere. God took one look and saw how bad it was, everyone corrupt and corrupting—life itself corrupt to the core. God said to Noah, "It's all over. It's the end of the human race. The violence is everywhere; I'm making a clean sweep." Genesis 6:5-13 MSG
Sun Tzu, in his famous, "Art of War" warned "If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain to be in peril. If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles." Unfortunately, modern society regards the Devil as no more a threat than any ancient myth. Rather than take the hundreds of Bible verses directly and indirectly targeting Satan seriously, even the Church has fallen into the trap of marginalizing the daily global and individual impact of "the god of this world." The vast majority of believers taking the time to considering the Devil at all, quickly declare themselves victors over a defeated enemy, overlooking billions of souls enslaved to deception and sin and hundreds of millions of Christians falling like flies to his many temptations.
It's gloriously true that Jesus conquered Satan on the cross. A great many scriptures dealing with the issue make Christ's victory clear. Here's just one as rendered in two different Biblical versions:
- "And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." Colossians 2:15
- "He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets." Colossians 2:15 MSG
- “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’" Matthew 7:21-23
Surely the Church should celebrate Earth's Normandy. Yet we must not forget the struggle still rages and the stage is being set for a final period of Great Tribulation. Soon physical war will break out in Heaven and Satan and his fallen angelic army will be once and for all cast out of Heaven onto the Earth. Furious and knowing his time to be short, he immediately raises up the Antichrist, making war against and overcoming the saints. Only after patiently enduring and overcoming him "by the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony and not loving their lives unto death" does Christ return to rapture the faithful who remain. As the Book of Revelation declares:
- "I looked up, I caught my breath!—a white cloud and one like the Son of Man sitting on it. He wore a gold crown and held a sharp sickle. Another Angel came out of the Temple, shouting to the Cloud-Enthroned, "Swing your sickle and reap. It's harvest time. Earth's harvest is ripe for reaping." The Cloud-Enthroned gave a mighty sweep of his sickle, began harvesting earth in a stroke. Revelation 14:14-15 MSG
Entitlement, The Root Of Sin
Until the Church's true V-Day the Bible warns that spiritual and physical battles will not only rage but grow exponentially in intensity. Thankfully, for the time being, in First World Nations much of the cosmic war is one of subtleties. Much like in the Garden of Eden, temptation is the current weapon of choice. Just as Eve found the forbidden fruit "beautiful and its fruit delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her" so too our generation has been seduced by the same trinity of lust:
- "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever." 1 John 2:15-17
If such blessedness and more belonged to Heaven's least denizen, what majesty and honor was bestowed to Archangels? And of the great three, Gabriel, Michael and Lucifer only in regards to the latter does scripture ascribe such a glorious state:
- “You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and exquisite in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God. Your clothing was adorned with every precious stone, red carnelian, pale-green peridot, white moonstone, blue-green beryl, onyx, green jasper, blue lapis lazuli, turquoise, and emerald—all beautifully crafted for you and set in the finest gold. They were given to you on the day you were created. I ordained and anointed you as the mighty angelic guardian. You had access to the holy mountain of God and walked among the stones of fire." Ezekiel 28:12-14
- “You were blameless in all you did from the day you were created until the day evil was found in you. Your rich commerce led you to violence, and you sinned. So I banished you in disgrace from the mountain of God. I expelled you, O mighty guardian, from your place among the stones of fire. Your heart was filled with pride because of all your beauty. Your wisdom was corrupted by your love of splendor." Ezekiel 28: 15-17
- “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground—mighty though you were against the nations of the world. For you said to yourself, “I will ascend to heaven and rule the angels. I will take the highest throne. I will preside on the Mount of Assembly far away in the north. I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.” But instead, you will be brought down to the pit of hell, down to its lowest depths. Everyone there will stare at you and ask, “Can this be the one who shook the earth and the kingdoms of the world?” Isaiah :14:12-16 Living Bible
Rather than choosing to use our God given wealth to love one another, like the Rich Man in Christ's story of Lazarus, we ignore our responsibilities to our own peril. Worse still, like the Prodigal Son, we squander our resource in "riotous living" refusing to come to our senses.
Tragically, such sin only serves to feed the massive trunk of lust of the cosmic "Tree of Death" already spanning Three Heavens. On Earth, it branches off into the trinity of lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and lust of the ego or pride. Covering the globe with temptation, it's passion fruit's daily devoured, captivating and intoxicating billions.
Like Eve, all of us find some form of temptation irresistibly beautiful. With so many to choose from, one is nearly guaranteed to find its mark. Like her, if it feels good we find a way to rationalize the right to do it. Often irregardless to God's counsel or the consequences to ourselves and others. Humanity, like its mother, too often seeks "more" at any price. Enslaved by sin, we think ourselves wise even while becoming stooges and pawns, lackeys to a Devilish agenda.
And as a fallen Eve tempted Adam, so too we lure one another into slavery to sin. Often for a price, we sell our souls and those of others to the "god of this world." Today, branches of entitlement seem hopelessly entwined in every facet of life from government and education to financial markets and entertainment. Sometimes hidden, sometimes not, overgrowth stymies godliness, entangling mankind from above, about and within. Religion, including modern Christianity, is snarled in entitlement issues as well. Knowing the potential the Church possessed, it's long been assaulted by all three branches of sin:
- "Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don't have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn't yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it. You wouldn't think of just asking God for it, would you? And why not? Because you know you'd be asking for what you have no right to. You're spoiled children, each wanting your own way. You're cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way. And do you suppose God doesn't care? The proverb has it that "he's a fiercely jealous lover." And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you'll find. It's common knowledge that "God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble." James 4:1-6 MSG
Down Is Up
Wise as a serpent, sin strikes at the mind, heart and will of individuals and societies. Temptation's designed to so capture the imagination and inflame desire that the compulsion to act is difficult to resist. So much so, that the net effect is to create a global mindset that scripture identifies as the "wisdom from below." As every Christian knows, those envenomed by such "earthly, sensual and demonic" wisdom find their actions and attitudes perfectly sane and rational. Trapped in a devilish delusion, incrementally misguided thoughts, feelings and actions solidify into a worldview incompatible with and even hostel to the claims of Christ.
Through global media and connectivity, such thinking permeates every strata of society. Tragically, even believers are susceptible to entitlement's message, which passes through Church walls as effortlessly as television and radio waves. While pandemic today, even early Christians were strictly warned to be vigilant in their war against worldliness:
- "So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor." James 4:7-10
As previously mentioned, entitlement is the root of all sin and lust is entitlement's stock in trade. Upon close examination scripture reveals a vital truth billions have experienced first hand. Lust can never satisfy. In the end, it turns out that rather than being "too much" lust's actually "never enough." One need only examine the lives of countless millions addicted to drugs or alcohol, sex or violence to see how demanding "more" escalates into slavery rather than freedom. The Bible's filled with cautionary tales exemplifying such Divine physics, including the two greatest examples of all:
The Great Satan:
- Likely the pinnacle of creation, Lucifer or in Hebrew הילל בן־שׁחר Helel Ben-Shachar, inflamed with entitlement turned Heaven into Hell for he and his rebells by demanding "more!" As it is written: “ How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’" Isaiah 14:12-14
The Great Savior:
- As the pre-incarnate Christ, Jesus releases the rights and privileges of Omnity, unspeakably humbling Himself by descending to accomplish mankind's atonement. "You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross." Philippians 2:5-8
- Christ's willingness to become "less" didn't stop there. Sadly, many have "died a criminal's death" even "on a cross." Yet only the Son of God could make the journey from Divinity to humanity to becoming sin. "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21
- Once having paid atonement's unfathomable price, Christ is exalted on high completing His unparalleled and extraordinary journey. "Therefore God has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:9-11
Glory Of Diminishment
While aspects of original sin regarding the angelic rebellion remain a mystery, certain observations can be applied across the board. Entitlement exaggerates the right of the creature above that of the Creator. Attempting to take "more" by force forfeits what God has and would give by grace. Entitlement's demands for "freedom" at any price always deteriorate into self imposed slavery and objectifying others, even God, as simply means to an end.
Christ reveals a better way. From feeding thousands with a few loaves and fishes to a widow's mite gaining God's attention, less can be more when wholeheartedly offered to and blessed by the Lord. Like John the Baptist, the wise know they "must decrease that He might increase." Of course, this is far easier said than done. Even the faith of the great prophet and wilderness wanderer was shaken in Herod's prison. Yet in the end he stood strong, joining such icons of history as Moses who "chose a hard life with God's people rather than an opportunistic soft life of sin. He valued suffering in the Messiah's camp far greater than Egyptian wealth because he was looking ahead, anticipating the payoff."
Overcoming temptation and the sin of entitlement is life's greatest challenge. Scripture recognizes this fact in numerous ways. Take the message Jesus to the seven Churches, or Church ages, recorded in the Book of Revelation. Laodicea, the final Church, is clearly the most selfish and self deceived of the bunch. Yet even so, it's to Laodiceans willing to do the difficult work of breaking free of self delusion that the glorified Christ offers the greatest reward:
- “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference. Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne. Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.” Revelation 3:15-22
- “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Smyrna. This is the message from the one who is the First and the Last, who was dead but is now alive. I know about your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich! I know the blasphemy of those opposing you. They say they are Jews, but they are not, because their synagogue belongs to Satan. Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you. You will suffer for ten days. But if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life. Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. Whoever is victorious will not be harmed by the second death." Revelation 2:8-11
- "This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength. Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God. God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord." 1 Corinthians 1:25-31
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