Atonement

What means atonement? 

What is the reason and purpose of Christ’s atonement? 

The word ‘atonement’ was crafted by William Tyndale, around 1525, to help describe in English the reconciliation between humanity and God that occurred through Jesus Christ’s life, suffering and death. 

This word was crafted as at-one-ment, making one what was two. 

First, this atonement was realized and manifested in Jesus’ life. He was born through the coming of the Holy Spirit on Mary. For this reconciliation, for this re-unification to be true and complete, the Word of God became flesh, became man. As a man, Jesus relinquished all the advantages that he could claim as God, as the Son of God, so that he could be an example to be followed. This emptying (called ‘kenosis’ by theologians) is a key element of the atonement, beautifully described by Paul when he was himself suffering the emptying experience of imprisonment, in the text of Philippians 2:3-8,

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
And being found in human form, he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Therefore God has highly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus’ emptying was a fundamental element of the atonement, the reconciliation between man and God, so that it could be reproduced in other humans. We can see how Jesus hints at this clearly in texts like John 14:12, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.”

Jesus atonement meant his union with God, experienced fully already at his baptism through the descent of the Holy Spirit on him, through the approving voice of the Father who said to him: this is my beloved son, in him I am well pleased’. This unity, this reconciliation, this atonement, implied an intimate relationship and communication with the Father. This reconciled relationship, this pure communication could be well described as hearing, listening and obeying.

First, as Jesus, as a man, he was hearing, listening and obeying to the Father at every moment and in every domain of his life. He listened and obeyed to the Father’s voice first, even before listening to his human parent’s voice, when he became ‘religiously mature’ at his ‘barmitzva’, at the age of twelve, when in the temple he said to his concerned human parents “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Yet, he remained obedient to his parents, thus keeping his Father’s commandment to honor his parents (see Luke 2:41-51). He also listened first to the Father’s voice and guidance even when he was weak and fragile for forty days in the desert, his body aching for food, yet never obeying the seducing voice of the devil, but rather reminding himself of the voice of his Father who taught him through the Holy Scriptures that man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God, that he should not put the heavenly Father to the test and shall worship and serve God alone (read Mat 4:1-11). 

Jesus also always listened to the Father’s voice first and before any other, keeping this listening and obedient relationship with the Father vibrant and burning through the Holy Spirit in him. 

Jesus did not let the disciples derail his service by their advice, listening to the Father through dialogues in prayer and following Him to other villages when his disciples wanted to have him come back because of the people’s desire (Mark 1:35-38). Jesus accepted the Father’s plan of love, even with the knowledge of the coming cross, not listening to Peter who opposed it through his words (hear Mark 8:31-33). Even in Gethsemane, when his emotions were shouting about the coming pains that he was to suffer, he chose to obey the Father’s will over his own self-preservation and prepared in prayer for his crucifixion (listen to Mat 26:36-46). Even crucified, when people challenged him in the heart of his pain, telling him to make a miracle and go down from the cross, he did not obey this tempting voice but rather went to the end of his earthly journey in full obedience, always listening to his Father, his last word being to his Father: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

Second, this atonement or reconciliation between Jesus, as man, and God the Father implied that the Father listened and obeyed to him in return (in the Old Testament, each time you read that God ‘listened’ it often involves obedience because it is the verb ‘shamah’ which can mean to hear, to listen or to obey). Jesus’ listening and obeying to the Father is the first part of the atonement or reconciliation, the second part is that God then agrees to listen and obey in return. 

This is the foundation of all the miracles that Jesus did, because the Father answered to Jesus’ prayers, because the Father then agreed to obey Jesus in return. The foundation of his miracles is not Jesus’ divine origin, since he emptied himself of his divinity when he came on earth. The foundation of his miracles is his intimate communion with the Father, first and foremost grounded in his listening and obeying to the Father’s voice, a voice that he heard in the Holy Scriptures, a voice that he heard in his continual life of prayer. 

This is the foundation of texts like: “the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16) This is the foundation of Jesus’ amazing words to his disciples: “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (John 15:7). This is the foundation for the miracles that God did through Jesus, as he explicitly stated before resurrecting Lazarus: “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” (John 11:41-42) This is the foundation of Jesus’ confident statement to his disciples: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:12-14). As we read, Jesus is promising that this atonement, this reconciliation with God that took place in him was to take place also in all his disciples. For this to happen, another element was needed.

Third, Jesus’ atonement was not only listening to the Father or the Father listening to him, but also his sacrifice for others. This third facet of the atonement is the most highlighted, and for good reasons. It is because of Jesus’ sacrifice for us that our sins are atoned for, that we can be released from listening first to selfishness and begin again to listen to the loving voice of the Father and trust this voice again. It is because of Jesus’ pure life offered for each of us on the cross, that we can experience the reconciliation with God, that we can be reunited with the wonderful and loving heavenly Father. 

It is because of Jesus’ gift of his life for us and him sending to us the Holy Spirit that we can, like him, live a life united to God through him, first fully listening and obeying to God, then God fully listening to us, so that we also take up our cross and announce this wonderful reconciliation to others. This ministry of reconciliation involves suffering in this present world, but eternal joy in the coming one. 

All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Is 53:6). God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16). As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. (John 3:14-15). Jesus said: If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. (Mark 8:34-35)

How to experience for ourselves this wonderful atonement, this full reconciliation with God through Jesus’ sacrifice? For this to take place, it is useful to understand key points of how God works in His creation. 

It is useful to understand what God’s amazing and prevenient grace means. 

It is important to understand and practice repentance. 

It is crucial to meditate and embody God’s justification, regeneration and adoption. 

It is also fundamental to enter into God’s holiness, this entering being sometimes described in Scriptures as entire sanctification. 

These four points: a. prevenient grace, b. repentance, c. justification-regeneration-adoption, and d. holiness and entire sanctification will be explained in the coming posts on this blog.

Original Sin and Personal Sin

Sin, Original and Personal

What is the meaning of 'sin'? 

To miss the goal? 

Then, what is this 'goal'? 

What do we find in the Bible about that?

To sin means "to miss the goal" (in the languages the Bible was originally written in - Hebrew and Greek). 

Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying the voice of God, by listening to a voice contradicting God, the voice of the serpent, and eating a fruit of the tree God told them not to - so that they would not die (see Genesis 2:17 and 3:1-6). 

Since then, this original sin has propagated to all humanity, with its consequence that is death. We sin when we disobey a known teaching of God, when we don’t listen to God’s voice. 

If to sin means ‘to miss the goal’, what is this ‘goal’ that is missed?

To answer this question, we need first to observe the life of Adam before he sinned. Then, we can observe the life of the only person in the Bible who is described as ‘without sin,’ Jesus of Nazareth, who has therefore 'reached the goal' (see 1Peter 2:22 “He committed no sin”, to compare to Romans 3:23 “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”). 

Before sin, Adam would walk with God in the Garden of Eden, hear the voice of God and speak with Him. He did participate in the creation of God, when he named the animals (2:19). He also was happy in the relationship with his wife, a helper fit for him, a bone of his bones, flesh of his flesh (2:23). After sin, Adam and Eve blamed God and each other, and went away from the garden of Eden, they could not anymore communicate easily between them or with God. 

This quality of communication with God is something we find again in Jesus, the new Adam. It can be described as both hearing and obeying. (in Hebrew, the language of the Old Testament, the same verb - shamah - is translated: to hear, to listen or to obey). We read in John 12:49-50 that Jesus did not say anything that the Father did not tell him to say, which implies two things: 1. Jesus could clearly hear the Father speak to him (hearing, listening), 2. He then said what the Father told him to say (obedience). In the same way, in John 5:19-20, we read that Jesus did not do anything without seeing God show him first, and then doing it. 

To summarize, we 'miss the goal' or 'sin' when we don’t do what God tells us to do, or when we don't say what God tells us to say. To sin means to miss the goal, and the ‘goal’ is a quality of relationship with God in which we clearly hear and see God, and say and do what He tells us to. 

The stories of the Bible after Genesis 3 show us God’s answer to heal this broken relationship with Him, culminating in the perfect solution offered in Jesus. Jesus was in perfect communion with God - saying and doing what the Father showed him and told him. This victory, this solution to the problem of sin, this perfect relationship is then available to us through the teachings of Jesus, through the welcoming of the Holy Spirit in our lives, so that each of us also can clearly hear God and do what He tells us to do (see Matthew 28:18-20). We can then learn from God - the Creator - how to love God, how to love our fellow humans and how to love the creation of the Father in its beauty and fullness. 

As Jesus said: My sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me (John 10:28). 

This victory can be described as holiness or as pure love. 

Listening to the Teachings of Creation (Psalm 19:1-4)

StudyMap of Psalms 18-20. For all the Psalms, click here.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. 

Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. 

There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. 

Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. 

Lord Jesus, please explain to me this text. 

Response received:

We want to speak to humans through all the creation, not through only one part. We want to speak to you through the stars, through the sun and moon, through the beauty of plants and trees, through the wonders of animals, through the marvel that humanity is and can be. As you learn to be open to my voice, I will speak to you concerning all creation. As you welcome the Holy Spirit he will teach you all things. Learn to observe your world, learn to listen to my voice, and you will learn through simple things as I taught my disciples. You will learn through a sower, through a lamp that lights a room, through a computer that communicates far away, through all that is around you. The key is to be opened to my presence, to the presence of the Holy Spirit, and to ask us to teach you. 

If you think that you know enough to do your tasks every day, then we will let you experience the day without us, with all the unnecessary struggles that this implies. If you want to learn from me, then I will teach you. As you discover evil in many places around you and in you, you will realize that you are not able to solve these problems by your strength. When you see people sick or despairing, you will have to face your very limited abilities to help others. 

As you face these limits, you will become ready to receive my good news in the depth of your being. As people realize their inadequacies, their inner struggles and their lack of peace, they become ready to welcome my peace, a peace that surpasses all understanding. As long as people naively think that they can ‘make it’, that they figured out how to be happy or how to solve all the problems of the world, the impact of their faith is at best minimal, if not null. 

As you recognize your weakness and your need of help in all domains, come to me and I will give you rest. I will teach you and guide you. Of course, the Bible will be a key tool in the training. Of course, all of the creation will also be a key part in your learning. In all this, you will first have to realize that your world is not as split up as it seems, you will realize that as I teach you to see with my eyes, you will find meaning in all you see. You will find beauty in many places of the creation and will rejoice at what I am doing, and how you can participate in living and spreading my good news. 

This good news is that I came to deliver prisoners, to heal and free the creation from evil. I had already won the battle in my human body when I was on earth, as the foundation and pattern for all humans to imitate, to welcome the Holy Spirit to bring this freedom from brokenness and evil in all lives. I came to renew humanity, to bring real hope and peace. I died for the sins of humanity, so that a new freedom from sin would be possible for humans. I offered my life as a sacrifice of love to the Father and to humanity. Welcome this sacrifice, welcome my deliverance. 

Like David who wrote this psalm, learn to see our love at work in you and around you, learn to focus on what is meaningful, learn to ask questions and to receive my answers. You will then be amazed at all you can learn from the simple things of your life, and how freedom is simple with me. Freedom is for accomplishing the grand purpose of the Father, which is love and harmony. This purpose involves a cost, because not all will accept this. Some will prefer selfish gain and will crush those who threaten their goals. It is what happened to me during my life. Such persecution is something I warned my disciples they would face. Change always has a cost, and you must be ready to accept it in order to live with me. 

As you find meaning and purpose in all you see and all you do, I will also teach you what is your part in the concert of God’s love. This part will involve joys but also risks and pains. As you learn to play your part, you will rejoice and experience freedom and peace, as you also see oppositions. Be careful not to think you are better than others, because God alone is good. Remain humble in all you do, finding direction in fellowship with us so that you don’t forget that you don’t have life and peace in yourself but only in communion with us. Many think they have figured out what peace and love mean, and then they proudly teach others what their own selfish and naive version of what peace and love means instead of coming to the fountain of love and peace that we are with the Holy Spirit and the Father. 

Come to us and your eyes will be opened to the purpose of the universe, like an orchestra with the Father as the conductor. Learn to see with my eyes, learn to play your part and rivers of living water will flow out of you and bless others. The Holy Spirit will guide you in all things and darkness will not be able to crush you. Remember that in this orchestra you are not alone, that we are with you, that many humans are already playing their part, as parts of my Church. The more people in my Church learn to play together the song of creation, to follow me and to do the Father’s will, the more beautiful the music that comes from them will be, and the more people will believe that I have sent them. Do not focus on problems but focus on my love and guidance. There are problems and evil both in the world and in churches, but there is also beauty and grace. Focus on my grace, follow my lead, and you will help my Church to grow in love, as a key part of our plans of love. 

As you follow me, you become a living part of my Church and enter in the mystery of my union with the Church. This mystery is a wonder that cannot be grasped by analysis, that can be approached only through love and humility. To enter into the kingdom of heaven you have to learn again to wonder and marvel at the different parts of creation, like children do. Rejoice in this simplicity, let the beauty of creation impact you every day, learn to seek for diamonds of our grace in all you see and all you do, and you will be a free child of God, a light for those in darkness, a hope for the hopeless, a sweet aroma of our divine love in this struggling world. 

Following the voice of God with Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3)

Genesis 11-23, the story of Abraham. For the full StudyMap of Genesis, click here.

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Lord Jesus, teach me about this text. 

Response received:

Abram, who was to become Abraham, was a simple man, and he listened to our voice. He took the risk of following us, of leaving his country, his kindred and his father’s house. He lived in idolatry, as all the persons around him. It is only by learning to listen to our voice that he was able to get away from this idolatry and to find peace and joy. We did not give him any specific direction, other than leaving and following our guidance. His wife was barren, and his hope for the future was dim, yet he did not despair but accepted to take the risk of following our guidance. Faith in God always involves risk, it involves following our voice. 

Many look for things, like houses, money or getting a spouse or children, yet all this is not the most important. What is the most important is to follow us, to learn to walk in the spirit and in love. That is why the key for Abram was to accept to go and to trust us with his life. We created the heaven and the earth, so we can provide anything that is needed, but these things should not become the center of a life. Love is the real purpose of your creation, receiving and giving love, the pure and holy love that comes from us and flows through us. 

Abram did not follow his ideas but our guidance. We did promise him blessings for him and for all the families of the earth. Our purpose was to open a new path with Abram, a path of life and peace, a path where the many deceptions of idolatry could be removed. The way we guided Abram is the way we want to guide every believer, through our voice. I am the Good Shepherd, and my sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me. Abram became a model for all believers in the world, who learn to listen to the voice of God, to our voice, and to follow this voice. The Bible is not here to replace us, but to guide people to us, to recognize my voice. 

When you read the stories in the Bible, the key is always to listen to our voice. It was the case with Abraham, with Moses, with David, Isaiah, Daniel, and many others. As you learn to listen, you become able to discover how faith and obedience are two facets of a same reality. As you learn to welcome our voice, to recognize our voice and to follow our directions, you learn to welcome our love and to share this love with others. One of the biggest mistakes is for people to think that they can love without help. Love is about humbly receiving and humbly giving. Love does not focus on itself but on God and your neighbor. 

Abraham learned to love as he followed our guidance. He heard me and saw my day, he rejoiced in advance about what was going to happen. Abraham did make mistakes, like lacking in the protection he should have given to His wife, letting her be taken by Pharaoh for instance (see Genesis 12:10-20). We taught him, and he learned to respect his wife (see Genesis 17, where Sarah is to be his partner of covenant with God), to be careful not to make of his dear son Isaac an idol (see Genesis 22). As he walked with us and learned from us, he became our friend. That is why we shared things about the future, like the story of Sodom and Gomorrah (see Genesis 18:16-33). We are not looking for people who obey blindly, but who listen to us and learn with us. We don’t want robots, but people who learn to love. We don’t seek control but grace and joy. 

As you learn from Abraham, we encourage you to remember that faith implies risk, that walking by faith will require to leave many things behind and to trust us. As you read the New Testament, you learn to recognize my teachings and my voice. I will never guide you to hate or lie. I will lead you in the ways of truth and love, that is the whole purpose of my coming on earth and the sending of the Holy Spirit to dwell in you. People tend to judge and condemn, yet I came to save and deliver those who would trust in me. Do not judge and you will not be judged. Do not condemn and you will not be condemned. Forgive and it will be forgiven to you. 

As you learn to walk with me, as you learn to listen to me and follow me, we shape you and transform you, we guide you to the places where you find the water of the Spirit, where you find that I am the Bread of life given by the Father. As for Abraham, we want you to be blessed and become a blessing for many. This is not about proving that you are better than others, but simply about listening and walking in our love. That is what I showed to my disciples on earth, that is what I still show to my disciple today. I am with you until the end of the age. Learn to dialogue with me, to ask so that I can respond to you, to seek so that you can find me, to knock so that I can open to you the doors of our love and guidance. We want to bless all the people and all the races of this world, yet the path we chose is a path of humility. We want to spread this love through my disciples, who follow me and do the Father’s will. This is the way we want to transform the world. Through Abraham and through his example, we want to bless all the families of the world. 

The Art of Worship (John 4:19-24)

John 4. Find the StudyMap of the Gospel of John here. 

The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know, we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Jesus, please explain to me what worship is. 

Response received: 

Among believers, the temptation is often to limit worship to a specific place and time in the creation. Many people limit worship to Sundays in churches for instance. Yet, this should only be a small part of worship. Since I came, people are invited to become temples of the Holy Spirit, and therefore worship should not be anymore limited to a moment and place, but it should become a lifestyle. Worship is about coming to God and responding to His love, through words, actions and attitudes of the heart. 

When I came on earth, I learned to worship by remaining in constant communion with the Father, and He trained me during all my years. As a human, I learned to worship him also in Jerusalem, but this was only a very small part of it. You are to learn to worship Him in spirit and in truth. To worship in spirit implies that you are not limited to a specific place, you can worship God in any place and at any moment, as you welcome the Holy Spirit in you and let us guide you. Worship implies dialogue with us. Worship is about centering your heart on God, on us, and letting us guide you as you worship. In ancient times, people would come to a king by lying on the floor until the king would tell them what to do. It is similar with us, we want to guide you in your worship, the Holy Spirit wants to teach you all things, to remind you my teachings, so that you can worship the Father with simplicity and truth. 

As you learn to let the Holy Spirit flow in you, like a wind can flow in a room, He will teach you, he will lead you in all truth. Remember that this is supposed to be simple, you ask and receive. You ask the Holy Spirit to my Father and He will give it to you, as a loving Father who has good gifts for His children (see Luke 11:11-13). As the Holy Spirit flows in you, ask Him or ask me questions, and we will answer you. Ask us how to worship the Father. Sometimes it is simply singing with your heart worship songs, sometimes it is showing love to your neighbor, sometimes it is listening and learning with us, sometimes it is showing the way to a person in darkness, sometimes it is accepting to be humiliated as you show love in the way we ask you to do it. Worship is a way of life, it is about welcoming the Father’s love and responding to this love in all you say and all you do. You can’t worship alone. Worship always needs for you to come in our presence, and sometimes to be with other brothers and sisters in the faith. 

As you learn to worship, you begin by inviting the Holy Spirit in you, to create a temple in your heart. As you do so, a space of dialogue with us is created. You are then to receive my words of truth, sometimes by listening to us directly, sometimes through reading biblical texts, sometimes through songs or hymns, sometimes through learning from nature, sometimes through listening to a person. As you welcome our spirit and receive teachings of truth, you will realize that truth is not only about facts to know, but that I am the truth, the way to life. The Holy Spirit will help you realize that I am your guide, that truth cannot be mastered but only received, that the ultimate truth is that you have been created to be in constant fellowship with us and that in knowing me, in knowing intimately the Father you have eternal life. 

Worship is not a technique, but a way to relate to this world through our love, through our presence in you. Worship is about love and freedom. As you learn to worship, you will perhaps first make simple steps like repeating biblical verses that bloom into your heart, or repeat words of songs with others, or listen to a sermon or to my voice, but this is only initial steps. You will then learn to respond to me, to respond to the Father or to the Holy Spirit, as we speak to you through our creation. You will then learn the flow of our love, to receive and to give, to listen and to respond. You will then begin to learn the steps of the dance of creation, of the joyful fellowship with us. As this love flows in you and through your words and actions, you will see flowers of hope and joy appear around you, you will see buds of love blossom even out of the mud of pain and despair. 

Worship is like learning to dance with us. It is not a lonely dance in which you want to impress people and attract the attention, but a humble and joyful dance in union with us. It is about moving at our rhythm, at the pace of our love, in the ways that the Holy Spirit opens before you. I learned to dance this dance with the Father, who led me in all I did and in all I said. In the same way, let us teach you the art of worship, the dance of divine love. As you learn to worship, you will understand what is the purpose of your creation, the reason of your existence. As your life becomes worship, you will learn that true happiness is a fruit of our love, a fruit that no person can destroy, a fruit that opens the doors of eternal life. 

Come to us, to learn with us the dance of creation, the art of worship, the rhythm of our love in you and through you. You will then understand what kind of worshiper the Father created you to be. You will then understand what it means to worship in spirit and in truth. 

What is the purpose of the serpent? (Genesis 3:15)

Genesis 3 StudyMap. Complete StudyMap here. 

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)

Lord Jesus, why have you not crushed the serpent or devil then? Why did you let him harm our heels for all these generations?

Response received: 

Your heel is where you are weak, where you need protection. This reflects a key element in your creation. You have not been created to be self-sufficient, but to rely on others. This was a key element that would help you move toward love and away from the pride and bitterness that the evil spirits have acquired. 

You have to learn to discover that weakness is not a curse, but a blessing, as you learn to come closer to us, as you learn to love us and love your neighbor. Without weakness, you would be even more tempted to despise others. It is a paradox, but allowing the serpent to harm your heel is a key help we gave you to not wander too far away from our love. 
The problem is with people who despise their weakness and want to deny it. They will then enter into always greater lies and thus always more under the power of Satan, so that they will be destroyed by all the lies that they have accepted. Satan, the ancient serpent, and all the impure spirits, don’t have power as long as you remain in the truth, they get their power only through lies. 
It is only when you are with us that you are safe. All the creation is designed for love and mutual respect, grace and peace. This is where I am shepherding you, as all of my disciples, for you to learn what love is. 

I invite you to realize how your growth in love has always been related to a form of weakness or need. Without this, love does not grow much. When you learn that you have a need, you will seek help outside of yourself. Sometimes, people don’t seek help the right way, they demand and claim that you or others have to help, without respect and humility. This is a reality, yet this is not the only way to handle a need or weakness. Others will try to deny a weakness in order to hide that they need help, this is also a reality. Yet, there is another way to handle weakness, it is to acknowledge it and to come to us for help, to come with humility to your neighbor and humbly ask for help. It is not about claiming, it is not about despising, it is not about denying, but it is about humbly recognizing that you are incomplete and that you need the help of someone else. Ask and you will receive. It then becomes an occasion to realize that you have been created with needs, and that you need help to meet these needs. You need security, food, affection, many needs that we have embedded in humanity to help you overcome the pride and bitterness of fallen angels like Satan. 

As you learn about your weaknesses, that some are still there, like Paul learned (see 2 Corinthians 12:7-10), you learn to deepen your relationship with us. We created you to learn to love, and you cannot learn alone. It is not a punishment, but rather a healthy safeguard. You can then discover where real strength comes from - from communion with us, from communion with your brothers and sisters in faith. You can then help others with their needs, and others can help you with your needs. If you observe around you, this relationship between mutual needs and mutual help is the foundation in your world of all healthy economies. It is such a simple reality, but also such a deep one. 

We allowed the serpent to bruise your heel, but don’t forget that I crushed his head, so that you also can now crush his head. I brought a final defeat on his evil power by accepting to rely on the Father, in a time of great weakness. I chose to trust his love, when I was to be crucified. 

In the way of the cross, there is the secret of the victory over evil. You learn to rely on love, on the pure love of God, so that evil cannot destroy you anymore, so that you are completely free to continue to love. This victory was costly, and in some ways this victory will not be easy to receive in your life, you have to follow my path. 

I died once for all, to open the way to complete freedom from sin and death. Yet, you also have to deny yourself, your desire to be self-centered and self-sufficient. You have to take up your cross and to rely on our love. I had weaknesses as you have weaknesses. I have won the victory, so that you can be renewed in the image of God. You can now welcome the Holy Spirit, after having been purified from your sins through faith in my sacrifice. 

As you welcome the forgiveness that flows from the cross, you are invited to follow me, to welcome the Holy Spirit and to walk in full communion with us. Some weaknesses will remain, but you will then be able to do what I did, to remain in communion with the Father, through the Holy Spirit and through me. Then, the weaknesses - these attacks on your heels - will become occasions to crush the head of the serpent and to find deeper freedom in our love. As I told you, take heart because I have overcome the world. With me, you will also be able to overcome the world in its temptations and deceptions. All things are possible when you are with me, when you follow me. 

Remember, our path is the path of love, love for God and love for your neighbor. On this path, you will find the peace and joy that your heart longs for. 

God's Promised Victory Over Sin and Death (Genesis 3:15)

Genesis 3. Full StudyMap on Genesis here.

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring an her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)

Lord Jesus, please explain this word that was given to the serpent, after the Fall of Adam and Eve. 

Response received:

This verse, the Father's word to the serpent, mentions both the tension between the serpent and humanity, and announces my coming victory. 

When Eve and Adam disobeyed the Father’s command, when  they ate from the tree of good and evil, they went away from His perfect protection, and discovered evil. They already knew about what is good. What they did not know was what evil is. Now they began to learn about evil, about doubt and loneliness, about guilt and shame. This had a sad impact on the relationship with us, they could not anymore experience this closeness and intimacy that was there before, they forgot that the Father loved them dearly and they began to fear Him. They had entered on the path of sin and self-centeredness, of broken relationships, they began to distrust us and to accuse each other. 

In your life, you also have learned the consequence of listening to the voice of the serpent, the voices of power, pride or selfishness. You have learned the cost of following such voices, but now you learn how to be released from evil through my cross and through my guidance. 

This verse speaks about the battle between good and evil, and announces my coming and victory. I would be born of a woman, a distant offspring of Adam and Eve. The devil did bruise me, but I crushed his power. He could only harm my heel, the weak places in my life, but I came to crush his head and defeat him. 

The devil could bruise my heel or target my heel, attack me when I was weak. It is what he did when I was fasting in the wilderness, he only came when I had spent 40 days fasting and that I was weak and hungry, and he came again at Gethsemane when I was tired and struggling to fully accept the weight of the cross. 

In the same way, the devil will try to attack you in your weaknesses. Remember that we are able to sustain and to protect you, particularly when you are weak, but you need to come to me. When you are tired and weak, come to me and I will give you the rest that you need (see Matthew 11:28-30). You need to discover that it is when you are weak that you are strong. 

If you follow my example, the moments of weakness will become key moments in preparing fruits for your life and for others. After the serpent targeted my heel - my weakness, in the wilderness, after I stood by the words of my Father, I began the ministry that He had prepared for me, in the power of the Holy Spirit. As I kept my Father’s word, He sent angels to serve me (see Mk 1:13). As I fully accepted the cross and refused the temptation of the devil to reject the perfect will of my Dad, I could win the final victory over death and sin. I could defeat the devil, who was keeping people enslaved through sin and the fear of death. 

Through my death and resurrection, I could demonstrate that the power of the snake, his hideous head, was crushed forever, that the life of the Spirit in me had defeated sin and death. This victory is final, and each person who comes to me and learns from me will share in this victory. Eternal life is not about a distant future, it is about partaking with me of the life given by the Father, it is about renewed fellowship, it is about learning to know the Father and to know me. As you learn to know me, as you learn to fellowship with us and to follow me, you learn to let eternal life flow in your veins (see John 17:3). As this eternal life flows in you, you experience already the first fruits of my victory over sin and death. Take heart, I have overcome the world.