Independence

“’You will not surely die, ‘ the serpent said to the woman.  ‘For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”—Genesis 3:4-5.

            In the Garden we grasped for independence from God.  We could determine right from wrong.  We could be our own gods.  Independent, just like Him.  But our bid for independence left us naked and ashamed.  So we sew for ourselves a covering that in Hebrew means to restrain, to be afraid and we hid ourselves from the presence of God.  We’ve been hiding ever since; fearing the exposure, the nakedness.

            Our grasp for independence is sin.  It is wickedness.

 Proverbs 18:3—“When wickedness come, so does contempt, and with shame comes disgrace.”

            When you look at the actual Hebrew words this verse shows a progression or path.  First comes the morally wrong position, i.e wickedness.  This morally wrong position causes a despising or contempt. We have contempt for the revelation that we are not righteous; that we are not in fact like God.

From here two paths emerge.  One is to dishonor and shame.  We are ashamed of our own lack of living up to the standard; our own lack at being like God.  This leads to exposure through stripping or defaming. We hate the exposure of our own nakedness.  No matter how hard we try we cannot be like God.

But there is another path.  In bedded in the Hebrew is an alternative way. The other path puts a slightly different twist on the contempt.  The contempt can also lead to lightly esteeming. This lightly esteeming is not of the sin, but of our own ability to be like God.  We no longer exalt ourselves as knowing right from wrong.  We recognize our own lack and in humility we lightly esteem our own ability to live a righteous life.

The Hebrew word for disgrace can also mean a gathering of crops in ripeness of age or a betrothal. The lightly esteeming leads to a harvest or a betrothal.  We surrender ourselves over to the God who loves and cherishes us.  We cry out “Be the Lord my Righteousness!”  We embrace dependence on the Living God to make us holy.  As we humble ourselves we find ourselves swept into a betrothal with the Bridegroom.  We find ourselves in Christ, where the promises of God are fulfilled.  It’s the Promised Land! 

            As we all have to deal with our own morally wrong or wicked positions at some point in our lives (“for all have fallen short of the Glory of God”), which path you chose determines whether you become a woman of disgrace or a beautiful bride.  Many chose to hide their shame fearing the exposure, so they have no close friends and stay very busy.  Their business is a talisman to ward off the day of exposure.  We must cover our nakedness with business.  But there is another path.  Our contempt could lead us to lightly esteeming our own lordship over our lives.  It can lead us to the Cross-where we confess our inability to direct our own steps and the dire need to be clothed in the righteousness that can only come from God.  This surrender and defeat of our selves leads, not to a shameful exposure, but a beautiful betrothal.  Surrender to the Lordship of Christ and you’ll find yourself a Bride dressed in white.