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About Jesus Steve Sweetman
Truth
Divides In
John 18:38 Pilate asked an age old question.
"What is truth"? When
it comes to matters of truth we need to head back to Genesis 2:16 where
God commanded Adam (not Eve) to stay clear of one specific tree.
That's all; it was just one tree among many trees.
I think I can safely assume that Adam discussed this matter with
Eve, but as the apostle Paul stated in 1 Timothy 2:14, Eve was deceived
by satan when she ate from the tree.
Paul's statement implies that Adam wasn't deceived.
Instead, he willingly chose to disobey the command that he was
given. His disobedience
introduced sin into the world as Paul stated in Romans 5:12.
Adam
was ultimately the one responsible for the couple's sin because he was
the one to whom the command was given.
Note also that it was Adam, not Eve, whom God confronted after
their sin was exposed. "The
Lord called out to the man, 'Where are you … who told you that you
were naked'"? (Genesis 3:9 - 11)
Of course God knew where Adam was, and He knew why Adam realized
he was naked. God just
required Adam to give a verbal explanation for his disobedience.
Confession of sin is important in God's sight, and so are our
words we speak. Jesus told
us that what comes out of our mouths shows what's really in our hearts. "The
mouth speaks what the heart is full of". (Matthew 12:34, Luke 6:45)
Our words expose who we really are. Adam's
verbal response to God shows us who Adam had become.
"The woman you put here with me – she gave me some fruit
from the tree and I ate it". (Genesis 3:13)
Adam spoke the truth to God.
He didn't lie. The woman that God gave him did offer him the
fruit and he did eat it. That
being said, it's my suspicion that even though Adam spoke the truth, he
manipulated it in order to shift the blame away from him and onto Eve,
or, even onto God Himself. In
other words, "Don't blame me God.
Blame Eve, or blame yourself for giving me Eve". The
problem with Adam's thinking, if in fact it was his thinking as I
suspect, is that God specifically gave the command to Adam, not Eve.
So Paul was right. Eve
was deceived while Adam chose to disobey.
Then, he attempted to shift the blame away from himself as he
manipulated the truth to protect his own self interest.
Ever
since Adam's act of disobedience man has consistently manipulated truth
to protect his own self interest. Jeremiah
confirmed this when he said the heart of man is so deceitful and wicked
that it's impossible for us to know how deceitful and wicked we really
are. (Jeremiah 17:9) I know
cultural correctness says that man is inherently good, but according to
Scripture, God views us as inherently evil when compared to His
standards of goodness. Human
tendency is to cover up the truth of any given situation by avoiding it
or by manipulating it. We
deflect blame away from ourselves and onto others to protect our own
self interest. Understanding that truth in any shape or form is inherently foreign to us, it's no wonder those who attempt to stand on the side of truth, especially Biblical truth, are so vehemently opposed from all corners of culture. The simple fact is that truth is often divisive. It can separate people, even those in long lasting relationships. For this reason Jesus gave us the following warning. "Do not think that I have come to send peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law - a man's enemies will be the members of his own household". (Matthew 10:34-36) Note the words "will be" in this statement. Jesus is predicting the future. He doesn't say, "might be". He says a man's enemies "will be" members of his own household. This is something we can expect. Note
also the word sword in Jesus' statement.
It's not a literal sword. This
sword is the Word of God, (Ephesians 6:17, Hebrews 4:12) the very Word
of God Jesus called ultimate truth in John 17:17. It's
this truth that separates and divides human relationships.
Satanic
forces will escalate their attack on those who stand for truth as we get
closer to the end of this age, so, be assured that truth will be more
divisive than ever in the days ahead.
Jesus predicted this in His end of this age discourse in Mark
13:12. "Brother will
betray brother to death, and the father his child.
Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to
death. All men will hate you
because of me". The
apostle Paul agreed. "But
mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.
People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful,
proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy
…" (2 Timothy 3:1 - 3)
Truth, especially
Biblical truth, is confrontational.
It cuts to the core of our untruthful and manipulative nature.
Therefore, truth is divisive.
If we can't handle the truth we'll discount it or manipulate it
to protect our own self interest. This
is one reason why western culture has redefined truth to be no longer
absolute but relevant. This
means truth varies from time to time, person to person, and culture to
culture. If there is no
fixed absolute truth for all humanity to embrace then no one can be
faulted for being in the wrong. What
is right or wrong to you may not be right or wrong to me.
Therefore, you can't accuse anyone for being in the wrong.
Your notion of wrong might be entirely right to another, so the
world says. The only ones
who are considered to be in the wrong as far as the world is concerned
are those who stand for absolute truth.
Pilate
asked, "What really is truth anyway"?
Little did he realize that ultimate truth was standing right in
front of him. (John 14:6) As
our culture holds high their anti-Christ concept of relevant truth, and
as it deflects blame away from itself, little does it know that ultimate
truth is found in those it opposes.
If you haven't experienced the cultural backlash for
standing on the side of truth yet, hang around a while, it's coming your
way. Biblical truth divides
because it "is living and active.
Sharper than any double edged sword; it penetrates even to
dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and
attitudes of the heart. Nothing
in all creation is hidden from God's sight.
Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of whom we
must give account". (Hebrews 4:12 - 13)
Should I repeat myself and say that truth is divisive?
Why not; truth is divisive.
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