EVIL CONTAINS THE SEED OF ITS OWN DESTRUCTION

EVIL CONTAINS THE SEED OF ITS OWN DESTRUCTION: Lawlessness. My friends have heard me repeat that evil contains the seed of its own destruction, & one big reason is its lawlessness. Satan (called “the man of lawlessness” (A)), his spiritual Powers, & his human agents, all like to disregard boundaries & rules. But the rules of the universe apply whether one chooses to obey them or not. One reaps what one sows. Several young men have told me about driving off cliffs; one can disregard the law of gravity but not the consequences for disobedience. One of them is haunted by the death of those who were riding with him. In the movie Matrix, Morpheus makes a profound statement that World System has to play by the rules & that is WHY the Matrix will lose, “their strength, and their speed, are still based in a world that is built on rules.” His statement resonated with me, and why it did is the topic of this post.

A WORLD BUILT ON LIES WILL NOT BEAT A WORLD BUILT ON TRUTH. Morpheus explains the Matrix to Neo, & his description could well be the World System we live in: “You’ve been living in a dream world, Neo. Let me tell you why you’re here. You’re here because you know something. What you know, you can’t explain. But you feel it. You felt it your entire life. That there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there. Like a splinter in your mind – driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I’m talking about?” Earlier he had explained, “The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you’re inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it.”

Reality/truth, this principle runs the real world. When YHWH God said, “Thou shalt not bear false witness” (B), He was saying a key to reality, a practical principle of the universe. God’s laws are like gravity, ignore it and there are consequences. “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed…”(C) We cannot steal, we cannot lie…without consequences…the mills of God grind slowly. Why did God reveal these laws? The ten commandments are reliable rules that give us spiritual power, a moral Constitution. They also are relevant presuppositions based on natural law. Following the 10 commandments gives inner peace & lets us see God. Many preachers & people sitting in the pews are missing the beauty of the law’s practical life giving principles. The wise sage said, “Hide not thy commandments from me.”(D) They are the way to walk (E), and even a light to the Gentiles (F). The Scripture has revelations of reality’s principles; the Word is like a flashlight lighting our path.(G) This is why early on it said that we live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.(H) As 1 JN 5:3 says, “This is love for God: to obey His commands.”

MORALITY (THE LAW) was REVEALED, THEN REALITY (THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH) was REVEALED. The law was truth, but the fullness of truth came when Christ revealed the Holy Spirit of Truth & Father God. “The Word was made flesh…full of grace & truth.”(I) This is why the Word says, “the law was given by Moses; grace & truth came by Jesus Christ.”(J) With good reason, Christ’s followers called themselves “the Way”.(K) And Christ himself said he was “the Way”.(L) He was the Way to act. He said, “Everyone who is of the truth, hears my voice.”(M) He said the Spirit would guide us into all truth & that the letter of the law would bring death, but the Spirit of the Law would give life. The point is that Christ revealed the real world, and the Way to escape the World’s matrix of lies. He gave us the Reality of God (i.e. the living presence of the Spirit) to guide us when he left. We were not left with a lifeless code, we were given the Spirit of God to enliven the written rules. We need life-giving boundaries for a healthy balanced life. Why are there red lights & stop signs in life? Sure we can ignore them.

BOUNDARY LAWS. Examples of boundary laws in the Word of God are: a. sowing & reaping (N), b. love others, but let them live life for themselves, i.e. the law of proper responsibility, for instance, “I can’t think for you.” (O) c. the law of respect, where we practice the golden rule, we don’t judge others & we recognize as 2 COR 3:17 says, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” For 7 more Spiritual Boundary Laws see the book “Boundaries” by Henry Cloud & John Townsend (Zondervan, 1992). I might add here that it is a difficult boundary between carrying someone else’s excess burdens (GAL 6:2) and making sure one carries one’s own load (GAL 6:5). The wording here in Galations is calling us to help others with something like furniture which too much for one person, but when it comes to our own load, like a backpack that we ourselves can carry, we should carry our own. Psalm 16:5-6 speak about the psalmist’s portion (lot). We need to be aware of what is our responsibility and what belongs to others. When we fail to distinguish the difference, problems arise.

PSALM 15. This psalm is another place where an organized list of precepts is given. It says to live blameless, do what is right, speak the truth, keep promises, despise the reprobate; and it forbids slander, reproaching others, interest taking, bribery, and doing wrong. DT 27:15-26 gives us another list of rules. But the one that stands out above all others is the one God wrote with His finger into stone: the Ten Commandments. We can not take dominion & fight the World matrix if we don’t know & don’t apply those 10 laws of life. We know & apply the laws of electricity, gas, …and other things. Those who don’t apply God’s laws of life will of course be in trouble. When God took Israel out of slavery and gave them the law, it was called the Exodus, which means an “exit”…their exit out of trouble. Sin is the transgression of the law given by Moses.(P) Egypt, which is a type of the World System—and was the superpower of its day, did not receive God’s law.

EVIL OVERSTEPS BOUNDARIES & BRINGS JUDGMENT ON ITSELF. Satan (HaSatan) in JOB chapters 1 & 2 approaches God with accusations about Job, a decent man of faith. YHWH God places limits on what Satan can do to Job. In the NT, we see that Satan loves to deceive & masquerade as an angel of light.(Q) Yahshua, when he stood for truth, then suffered. We may have to suffer for the truth…but often when those who torment us persecute us, they overstep their boundaries & bring God’s judgment on themselves!! God sent the pagan cruel Assyrian army as a judgment on His own people.(R) Good King Hezekiah(727-698 B.C.) repented & did what was good in the Lord’s sight. We know from both the Bible & secular history, that Hezekiah’s nation got mauled badly by the Assyrian army. Hezekiah knew this discipline was from God & his faith never wavered.(S) The Assyrian army then overstepped their limits, and were destroyed by God’s angel.(T) This pattern has repeated itself countless times in history. The World in its lawlessness oversteps the limits God has given them, and they bring judgment on themselves. Sin has its consequences.

THE WORLD HAS RULES TO FUNCTION. The World Order has rules—sometimes draconian law & order like Stalinist’s USSR. When the top leaders are corrupt, the lawlessness filters down. The more it filters down the more useless become the tools of govt. This happened not only in the USSR, but other nations where principles are not followed. Hitler ignored the rules of war, and the principles of war. Soon some of his most trusted SS generals were ignoring his commands. If the World’s leaders fail to follow rules, they can create chaos.

THE ANTI-CHRIST & HIS WORLD SYSTEM ELIMINATE CHRISTIANITY, JUDIASM, & ISLAM. In describing the final Anti-Christ the Word says, “Who opposeth & exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped…shewing himself that he is God.”(U) Talk about crossing boundaries. All the mainstream monotheistic religions will be destroyed and he will cross the ultimate boundary and call himself “God”! As you know after reading this—if you didn’t already—there are consequences for crossing boundaries! As this post started out, evil contains the seed of its own destruction. The World’s matrix is lie upon lie, deception upon deception, lawlessness upon lawlessness…bringing consequences upon themselves!

(A) 2 THES 2:3 (B) EX 20:16 (C) GEN 9:6 (D) PS 119:19, 2 CHR 20:12 (E) ISA 30:21 (F) ISA 49:6 (G) cf. PS 119:105 (H) DT 8:3 (I) JN 1:14 (J) JN 1:17 (K) Acts 9:2; 19:9,23; 22:4; 24:22. (L) JN 14:6. (M) JN 18:37 (N) GAL 6:7-8 (O) this law is found in JN 15:12, PHIL 2:12-13 & others (P) 1 JN 3:4 (Q) 2 COR 11:14 (R) HOS 11:5, ISA 7 & 8 (S) 2 KGS 18:3-6) (T) 2 KGS 19:35 (U) 2 THES 2:4