We need to look at our sin problem and ourselves from a new perspective. When it comes to righteousness, we are nothing but in the way! And yet, we are to seek for it: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33. We are told to seek for God’s righteousness, but in reality, it is He who seeks us, and we respond to His seeking, as we are told in Romans 3:11: “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.”
Verse 12 continues, “They are all gone out of the way . . . .” We have all gone out of the way to ignore God and His authority. We want our own authority; we want to do our own thing. The fact is that we, like Eve, want to be our own gods. Oh, we want God to feed us, clothe us, protect us, and take care of us, but we do not want Him to tell us what to do, unless what He tells us is in agreement with what we think or with what we want to do.
Deep down inside, we desire to be our own gods, to call our own shots, to do our own thing, to have our own kingdoms.
The word kingdom comes from two words—king and dominion. A kingdom is a place where one king has total and complete control and authority. We want to have our own kingdoms. We want to be our own authority.
The temptation to be our own god appeals to the unfallen as well as the fallen. When it appealed to Eve, she was in an unfallen state. Before her, it appealed to an unfallen angel, the highest of all the angels, the one closest to the throne of God. A desire arose in Lucifer’s heart to have his own authority, to call his own shots, to be his own king, his own god.
Problem of Pride
Isaiah 14:12–15 gives the reason for Lucifer’s fall: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! [how] art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” Lucifer wanted his freedom. He did not want to be under God’s authority. He wanted to establish his own authority.
Pride was the problem. Pride turned an angel into the devil. Ellen White wrote: “There is nothing so offensive to God or so dangerous to the human soul as pride and self-sufficiency. Of all sins it is the most hopeless, the most incurable.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 154. “Pride [goeth] before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18.
Pride is an overly high opinion of one’s self, and it leads to rebellion. We need to ask ourselves, How are we doing with pride? Pride is a very dangerous sin—the most dangerous and incurable, we are told. We do not have to have a fallen nature for it to arise, and the reason this is important to us is because it can happen after we have been converted. This is why conversion is not a one time event. It is a daily, moment-by-moment experience.
Satan Spreads the Misery
Lucifer, or Satan, sold his idea to a third of the angels, and they were all cast out of the kingdom of God to this earth, where Satan went about setting up his kingdom. He well knew the power of pride, since he had already fallen for it, so that is the tool he used. He went to the ones who had been created in the very image of God, who, if they had stayed on track, would have become more and more like God throughout eternity. He convinced them that if they would come out from under God’s authority, and develop their own authority, they would become like God.
The bottom line of the lie he told them was, “Come out from under God’s authority, and you will gain status, you will gain knowledge, you will gain authority, you will gain freedom.” As one preacher has said, “As long as a train stays on those twin ribbons of steel, it has a lot more freedom than what we call a ‘free train.’ When a train jumps the tracks and takes off across the meadow, it is free all right, but it is only free to crash.”
The enticement was, “Adam and Eve, come out from under God’s authority and get your own authority.” But the truth was that they already had authority. We are told in Genesis 1 that they were given dominion—in other words, authority and jurisdiction—over the whole world, over the fish, the fowls, and the beasts of the field. Psalm 115:16 says, “The heaven, [even] the heavens, [are] the Lord’s: but the earth hath he given to the children of men,” and in Psalm 8:4–6, we read, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all [things] under his feet.”
Through trickery, though, Satan deceptively snatched that dominion away from them. Adam and Eve had been given authority, as mentioned previously, over all things on earth, and if they had exercised their authority, they probably could have ordered the serpent out of the garden. Adam had been placed in the garden to keep it, to protect it. It was in his possession. He was to take care of it; he was to guard it, but instead, he lost it and the whole world with it to the devil.
How Could This Happen?
How could this happen? First, in spite of being warned to the contrary, Adam allowed Eve to wander away from his side. “The angels had cautioned Eve to beware of separating herself from her husband while occupied in their daily labor in the garden; with him she would be in less danger from temptation than if she were alone.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 53. Alone, Eve became deceived, and then she became Satan’s evangelist. Adam was her first convert. As a result of their actions, they both entered into slavery.
Romans 6:16 says, “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” The Greek word doulos, which is here translated servant, properly signifies slave. So Adam and Eve became slaves to Satan, and the slave owner owns what the slave owns. This is how Satan gained Adam and Eve’s possessions, how he took this world under his dominion.
Adam and Eve yielded their dominion and their authority, and this is why, when Christ came 4,000 years later, Satan could offer the world to Him. “And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.” Luke 4:5, 6. The Greek word exousia, translated power, means “authority or jursdiction.”
As long as Adam and Eve were under God’s authority, they had power or authority. As soon as they tried to get more authority, by coming out from under God’s authority, they lost all authority, even over their own wills.
Rebellion of Sin
Every single sin, no matter how big or how little we think it is, is rebellion against God’s authority. This is the underlying issue. Sinning says, “I want to be my own god.” As it says in the parable in Luke 19:14, “We will not have this [man] to reign over us.” This is what we are saying when we sin. We are telling God, “I want to be my own king, and I want my own kingdom. I do not want You to be King over me.” We certainly would not say those words to Him directly, but our actions are actually saying it. Do you see why there is no such thing as a little sin?
“He who willfully breaks one commandment, does not, in spirit and truth, keep any of them. ‘Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.’ James 2:10.
“It is not the greatness of the act of disobedience that constitutes sin, but the fact of variance from God’s expressed will in the least particular; for this shows that there is yet communion between the soul and sin. The heart is divided in its service. There is a virtual denial of God, a rebellion against the laws of His government.” Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, 51.
For what many would consider one little sin, Adam and Eve lost their noble place of authority and joy and communion with God, and they were placed in the position of bondage and fear and servitude to a new master.
Either/Or
A man had legally lost the world’s dominion, and it had to be legally reclaimed by a man. The second Adam had to come and redeem what the first Adam lost. The whole history of humanity boils down to those two men. We are either in Adam or we are in Christ. We are either in the flesh or we are in the Spirit. If we choose to be in Christ, then we can experience Christ’s victory. If we choose to stay in Adam, then we stay in Adam’s bondage.
The question is, How do we make the switch? We are all born into Adam. We have all inherited his nature, and his tendency to rebellion. The only way out is to be reborn into Christ.
We read, in 1 John 5:4, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, [even] our faith.” When we are born again, we are born to win.
Christ Conquered
Christ defeated Satan when He was in the wilderness of temptation, on the same ground, with the same test on which Adam fell. How did Christ win the victory? He did not do it by pulling rank. He did not do it by using power that He brought with Him from heaven. He did not do it by being God. He did it by being a man, totally and completely dependent upon and surrendered to God. His weapons were the Spirit of God and the Word of God. With these weapons, He conquered. Adam could have done this. We can do the same thing.
Because of Christ’s victory, authority again changed hands. Christ’s followers no longer have to remain in bondage to the world, to the flesh, and to the devil. The sad part is that most people do not know this. Many Christians do not realize this. Most have probably heard it or read it, but they either do not believe it, because the news seems too good to be true, or, like many throughout history, they believe the truth that we can be free, but they do not know the truth about how to be free. They do not have a clue.
People do not know how to be victorious because they do not learn from God. God tells us how, but a majority of people has been trying a failed plan. This faulty plan did not work the first time somebody tried it, and it will not work today, but many of us keep trying it anyway.
You know, the definition of insanity is to keep trying the same thing over and over, expecting different results. We have been in this state of insanity for about 6,000 years, and God wants us to come out of it. He has tried desperately to teach us another way.
In 1888, God tried to teach the way, but it apparently appeared to be too simple and too humbling to self, so that way has been repeatedly rejected. It is still the only way. Whether we accept it or reject it, it is still the only way. We need to look at the way; we need to humble ourselves to receive it. God wants us to come back under His plan and under His authority. He wants us to take back some of the lost dominion. We would not get it all back right now; we would not have dominion over the animals, for example, but we could have dominion over the flesh and the devil, in the area of temptation. This is what we need. We can have victory!
Not Over Until Under
One thing is certain. We will never be over the things that God wants under us until we get under the things that God sets over us. We must learn to submit to Him. Do you know that there is a large number of Christians who are very committed to the truth and the cause of God, but they are not submitted to the God of the truth and the cause?
Romans 8:37 tells us that we can be more than conquerors through Christ.
“For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:17. So, by one man’s offence—Adam’s—death reigned, but if we are no longer in Adam but in Christ, then we reign over the world, the flesh, and the devil. But we will never be over until we are under.
A Biblical Example
The centurion understood this concept very well. In Matthew 8:5–10 is the story of a centurion who came to Jesus and asked Him to heal his servant. Jesus said, “Yes, I will come and do it.”
But the centurion said, “No, You do not need to come to my place of dwelling. Just speak the word only, and my servant will be healed.” And the centurion began to explain to Jesus, “I know how this works, because I am a man under authority.” The centurion understood. “The only reason I have authority over 100 Roman soldiers is because I am under the authority of the Roman Government.” And he understood that Christ had authority over evil and sickness and death because He was under the authority of His Father. He was over because He was under.
Not of Ourselves
In John 5:30, Jesus makes this very clear: “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.”
Jesus sent out 70 disciples as lambs among wolves. Their experience is recorded in Luke 10:17: “And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.” How could they have that kind of power? Verse 16 says, “He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.”
Do you see the chain of command? There is the Father over Jesus and Jesus over the 70, and the 70 over the devil. It is an authority thing.
Verse 18 says, “And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” Well, He not only beheld it, but He was the One who cast him out. In verse 19, it says, “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” The first power in this text is translated from the Greek word exousia meaning “authority.” The second power is translated from dunamis, which is actually referring to “strength.” In other words, “Behold, I give unto you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the strength of the enemy [Satan].”
Authority vs. Power
Authority is a lot better than power. You can have power and have no authority, but when you have authority, you have more than power. You know, when a little skinny police officer holds up his hand and blows his whistle in front of an eighteen-wheeler truck and that eighteen-wheeler comes to a stop, is it because of that little policeman’s power to stop it? No, it could have just run right over him. It is all about authority. The policeman represents authority, and that is why the truck stops. He is under, so he is over.
The devil has power, but he has no authority. Apostasy has no authority, except what men will allow it to have. You may usurp some authority on your own, and people who do not know any better may submit to it, but it will not last long. Someday your little kingdom will come down around you. To have real authority, you must be under real authority.
The devil recognizes whether or not you have authority. He is not fooled. Acts 19:13–16 says, “Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. And there were seven sons of [one] Sceva, a Jew, [and] chief of the priests, which did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.”
These exorcists were fortunate. The name of Jesus is not a magical charm, and if we are not surrendered to Jesus, the devil knows it. I say that these exorcists were fortunate because he let them know right away that they did not have any authority. We may not like the way they found out, but it is a good thing that they did find out right then and there. Most of the time the devil is smarter than that, and he does not let us know right away. He plays games with us, and we could end up like the group in Matthew 7:21–23 that comes to the end of time and says, “Lord, Lord, look at all these things we did in Your name. We prophesied; we even cast out devils,” but Christ says, “I never knew you.” It was not Christ who helped them cast out the devils. Who helped them cast out the devils? It was the devil; he was playing a game with them. They did not have any authority over him, but he did not let them know that.
Committed but not Submitted
There are very many who are committed, but they are not submitted. They are committed to the truth, but they are not submitted to God. They are not surrendered. The foolish virgins of Matthew 25 are an example.
“Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five [were] foolish. They that [were] foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.” Verses 1–8.
You know the rest of the story. The door was shut. The five foolish virgins did not make it inside. All ten were virgins—symbolic of a pure religion and a pure doctrine—and they carried lamps.
“Thy word [is] a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Psalm 119:105. They had the Word of God, and they were not scoffers. They were waiting for the bridegroom to come. Was sleeping the problem? No, all ten slept, both the wise and the foolish, so that was not the problem.
“The class represented by the foolish virgins are not hypocrites. They have a regard for the truth, they have advocated the truth, they are attracted to those who believe the truth; but they have not yielded themselves [they are never surrendered; they have never submitted] to the Holy Spirit’s working. They have not fallen upon the Rock, Christ Jesus, and permitted their old nature to be broken up. This class are represented also by the stony-ground hearers. They receive the word with readiness, but they fail of assimilating its principles. Its influence is not abiding. The Spirit works upon man’s heart, according to his desire and consent implanting in him a new nature; but the class represented by the foolish virgins have been content with a superficial work. They do not know God. They have not studied His character.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 411.
Surrender
So, commitment without surrender can be very dangerous. In fact, it can be downright scary. The word commitment really did not come into large usage among English-speaking Christians until the 1960s. Whenever a word gains popularity, it usually pushes out another word, and in the 1960s, the word commitment pushed out the word surrender. Christians used to talk about being surrendered; now we talk about being committed.
Dangers
As a Bible worker, I am becoming concerned about this, because at the end of a Bible study, I always want a commitment, but I am starting to rethink this. We need to get people to surrender; commitment is not enough. If they have commitment without surrender, we well know the results. We see people come into truth and then fall away.
In 1 Corinthians 13:3, it talks about a people that are so committed to the truth and the cause of God that they are willing to become martyrs for Him. It says that they are willing to give their bodies to be burned. That is commitment! Yet, they are still not saved.
Others become committed but not surrendered, and, eventually, they become discouraged, because they see they are not progressing. If they are honest with themselves, they know that their hearts have not changed; they are still rotten inside; they are just going through the outward motions. They are putting on a show. They usually end up becoming liberal, or what we call antinomians, and they come up with new theologies such as, we do not have to keep God’s Law, because we cannot keep it.
So, you see that commitment without surrender is very dangerous. Commitment without surrender can make us very sincere, legalistic, Pharisaical zealots, but it will never change our hearts. There is no joy in that kind of religion. It may puff up the flesh, but it will never make us Christlike Christians.
Many people are fighting a very worthy battle, but they are fighting it at the wrong time, with the wrong tools, and in the wrong way. When we fight the battle without first surrendering, then we are doing all those things. We can fight all we want, for all we are worth, but we are still going to lose. So why are we so reluctant to surrender?
Hardest Thing To Do
Surrendering seems to be the hardest thing in the world to do. One reason is fear. We are afraid of what God is going to do with us and what He is going to ask of us, if we fully surrender. That just shows that we really do not know Him. To know Him is to love Him. To love Him is to trust Him. To trust Him is to obey Him. To obey Him is to be blessed by Him. The key is knowing Him. What is He like? What is His character like? How does He think and feel?
We will never know the answers to these questions if we are not spending time with Him each day. If we are not doing this, then we do not stand a chance. But as we spend time with Him each day, getting to know Him and to trust Him, a safe environment will develop in which to surrender.
Steve Currey is a Bible worker for Steps to Life. He may be contacted by e-mail at: stevecurrey@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.