Fire On Your Head

We have heard it said that in the last days the good will be called bad and the bad will be called good. During creation, each day God saw everything that He had created was good. Satan wants to flip over everything upside down. He wants people to call good things “bad” and bad things “good.” Therefore, those without a relationship with God will in general or naturally, do the opposite of God.

“There is a way which seems right to a man but its end is the way of death.” “Every man’s way is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weights the hearts.” Proverbs 16:25; 21:2

Restoration and Rebellion

God is good. The ways of men-which are inspired by the rebellion of Satan- are evil. This is why we need a Savior.  Jesus undid that which Adam allowed to control the whole human race; the influence, control, and manipulation of Satan.

In God, who is good, there is always restoration. In Satan, who is bad, there is always rebellion. So, who says what is evil, bad and rebellious? God! Not man. Remember, each man will go his own way, thus dissolving any moral standards. With God, the plumb-line of truth is drawn. This is not to keep us from being free, but to liberate us from the desire to do as we please. This desire, when unmasked, is demonic inspiration. Living for God keeps us free from falling into the self-liberating traps of the enemy.

The Order of Creation

The enemy wants to flip the order of creation upside-down so it will worship him instead of God. We think we are free when we pursue self, but in reality we are obeying Satan. If we get out eyes off God and on ourselves we have been deceived. This is the reason why Peter was rebuked so harshly by Jesus. Jesus revealed that He must suffer and die, and then be raised up. This did not sit well with Peter so he actually rebuked Jesus for it. Peter took his eyes off Jesus and did what seemed right to him. What Peter did not realize is that he was actually being led by Satan.

“But He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interest, but man’s.’ ” Matthew 16:23

Can you believe that Peter rebuked Jesus? How many times have we done the something for the sake of reasoning or “wisdom?”

In Romans 1 Paul mentions the order of creation. The creation is supposed to worship the Creator. The thing which will turn our hearts is creation looking at itself rather than God. This is the very thing Satan did when he fell.

“But you said in your heart ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God…’ ”

“I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” Isaiah 14:13a: 14 (emphasis mine).

Now he is trying to reproduce this death in us. He is death and his aim is to reproduce death wherever he goes (Job 1:7). Just as Satan wants to reproduce himself in us; it is only because God was doing it first. Jesus did the opposite. He did not look at Himself, He looked at God (Phil 2:4-11). Jesus is life and He produces life wherever He goes. Death cannot stand in His presence. Now He is reproducing His life in us who believe.

The Reversal

The devil looked to himself instead of God. This is not the order of creation. In worship we are to look to the Highest One, the Father. The first fall is to look to ourselves, next we fall further by worshiping animals, and finally we even start to worship the things that crawl on the ground. This is out of order to say the least. When this happens a reversal takes place in our hearts, the good becomes bad, and the bad becomes good. We were looking up to God-the highest place: And now we are looking at bugs-the lowest place. This is unnatural, for we are created to be supernatural. This happens by seeking God and not our own ways.

“For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.” Romans 1:21-23

The gaze of men went from looking above themselves to looking at themselves, and then to birds, then animals, then reptiles (ironic that the devil is a serpent). The order is reversed. The fruit of this is chaos and death. It’s unnatural in every way.

Producing Good Fruit

“For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, no, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit.” Luke 16:23

Bad trees cannot produce good fruit. There is no reproduction of creation, that which God created and called good (Genesis 1). This reproductive reversal causes men to have relations with other men, and women with other women. Nothing can be reproduced because the order of creation has been flipped in their hearts by believing the devil’s lie.

“Therefore God gave them over in the lust of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”

“For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also men abandoned that natural function of women and burned in their desire for one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.” Romans 1:26-27

In creation there is natural reproduction. In Homeosexuality there is no reproduction, also it  does not produce good fruit. It is a result of looking to ourselves and not to God. It just doesn’t happen naturally, nor does it practically work. To be homosexual, man has to try and change in some way the natural flow and parts God created for us to enjoy sex and reproduce. This is like removing the ancient boundries (Prov 22:28); altering the way of creation so man can fulfill his own pleasures (read all of Romans 1 for context).

Drawn to God

The book of Romans is about the obedience of the faith (verses 1:5; 16:26). There is a draw in every man’s heart to do good because we were created in the image of God, Who is good. The trick of the enemy is to try to draw that good from ourselves rather than drawing it from God. This results in an unfulfilled life because life comes from God. We did not create ourselves, so we must not look to ourselves by going our own ways, but we must look to God, our Creator.

God is not a puppet master. He came to cut the strings the enemy has placed in our lives that pull us this way and that. The enemy has tried to conceal this by reversing the idea of good and bad in our hearts. God is good and He has a good life for you. To know Him is so much better than anything we can accomplish in ourselves. He will use us to do things that are so awesome that we are not even able to imagine them. He loves us and longs to set us free, and that is what this message is all about.

Lord may this word slice through the enemy’s lines of lies that he has set in your children’s hearts. Take away from it me and add to it You, so they may know how much You love them. Amen.

What can be gleaned from the creation account, no matter if you interpret it literally or non literally? Here are some thoughts off the top of my head, from A to Z.

A. Everything is here the way it is because of God’s will somehow. Creation was God’s will and God’s idea. It has a purpose that involved humans and God. Gen 1:1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

B. God has an order to what He does. He wants people to likewise have purpose and order. This is reflected in the creation week and the seventh day Shabbat. The Shabbat was the template or example for the Israelites later on. Ex 20:8-11.  “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

C. God only did good things until sin entered the equation. Then evil/judgment was necessary. Gen 1:31. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

D. The devil is a tempter. He is evil. Recognize the nature of your enemy. Recognize our natural aversion to be humbly reliant upon God and His will. Gen 3:1. Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.He said to the woman, “Did God actually say…

E. Man natural is prone to be stupid and do dumb things under pressure, be wary of that. Hosea 6:7. But like Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me.

F. Don’t lead others into your own stupidity and sin like Eve did. Gen 3:12. The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree

G. Don’t be so naive like Adam acted at the tree of knowledge. Be a man or a woman and stand up for truth. Gen 3:17. 17 And to Adam he said, of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life.

H. God hates the devil because the devil tempts man to sin. Gen 3:14. The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field.

I. God’s original intentions for man and the creation are temporarily retarded by sin. God has promised (Gen 3:15) to fix this. Jesus began this repair of the world.  I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

J. The way that God does things (i.e. create, speak things into existence, make people from dust, etc.) is mysterious to our understanding. Gen 1:3 …And God separated the light from the darkness.

K. Man is the greatest of all living things because we are called “the image of God.” God chose to make His children out of the most worthless substance in the universe- dust. His breath of life is in man uniquely. The moral is that mankind is very personal to God. The only thing that separates us from the rest of creation is our spiritual nature that God engages in a relationship with us with. Gen 1:26-27.  “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

L. All life is sacred, but especially mankind. This is reflected in the charge God has given to mankind over other life. Gen 1:28. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

M. Man is called to be a good steward over the creation, taking care of it and protecting/preserving it. Gen 1:28. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

N. When God judges Israel and sends them into exile, he will begin to work out a better plan for them, eventually. This is demonstrated in the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden situated in the west of where he was originally, Gen 2:8. This is also demonstrated in Cain’s expulsion and exile. God severely judged him but Cain had a productive life after that episode. Cain and Abel have a lot of allegorical meanings that are applicable to ancient Israel and consequently those messages are fruitful for believers today to understand and apply to daily life.

O. The devil is an evil creature. He is associated with the “evil” things like snakes and people who are “clever” in a negative sense. Gen 3:1. Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

P. Since light and dark can not be united as one thing, we can safely say that God’s methods of creating things and just doing things in general is beyond the scope of human comprehension and it is supernatural to a large extent.
And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. Gen 1:4

Q. There is only one God who made/makes everything. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  Gen 1:1.

R. There are other intelligent beings in the universe, like the devil in the garden. “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.He said to the woman, “Did God actually say…” Gen 3:1. This is contrasted with “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper…” Gen 2:18.

S. The devil wants us to have a critical, unbelieving attitude of heart towards the God of the Bible. He wants us to just doubt God’s true intentions and God’s clear word (the clear parts, not all the in depth debatable things.) “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.He said to the woman, “Did God actually say…” Gen 3:1.

T. God provides for his people. God gave Adam food, clothes, a woman/companionship/family, authority to accomplish God’s call on his life, and genuine fellowship with Himself. “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. ” Gen 2:15.

U. God leads us into his plans for us. “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. ” Gen 2:15.

V. God is personally interested in us and He is fascinated by our thoughts. God brought the animals to Adam to see what he would name them. God allows mankind to learn new things. God is personally interested in what we do with our knowledge and why. God is very much like a good Father and his children. “Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. “ Gen 2:19.

W. God knows what we really need even when we just don’t know what that is. God made Eve for Adam because God knew it was not “good” for a person to live alone. “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Gen 2:18.

X. God desires to be in community with people like he did with Adam and Eve. “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Gen 2:18.

Y. Life is tough (the curses from sin). Realize that God still has a redemptive plan and purpose for us that is going to be fully accomplished before it over. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Gen 3:15.

Z. God is a hard, thorough, master worker who does things in a “very good” manner. God made everything in 6 days and then rested, just like the Jews ought to do if they want to be on the same page as God who is there as their lawgiver for their good. “Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Ex 20:9-11.