A Lesson in Reciprocals
Why is that?
For the most part, we haven’t grasped the basic spiritual operating principles of this planet. We’ve learned a little about the force of faith and the principles of God. But there’s more going on here. A lot more.
You see, for every force and principle God has created, there exists a reciprocal.
Reciprocal referred to something which corresponds to something else but is reversed or inverted. The reciprocal of north, for example, is south. North and south are both directions on the compass. The difference is: one is the opposite of the other. No matter how far you go north, the moment you turn around, you will be going south because they are reciprocals.
If you were the navigator of a ship, you’d be at a great disadvantage if you didn’t know south existed, wouldn’t you? If the only direction you were aware of was north, you’d get off track very easily.
That sounds silly but the truth is, many Christians are trying to do that very thing in the realm of the spirit. They are trying to navigate by faith without taking into consideration the reciprocal force that can, and will, take them in the opposite direction if they don’t guard against it.
What is this reciprocal force I’m talking about? It’s the force of fear.
“Oh, I don’t feel like I’m afraid of anything,” you may say.
That doesn’t really matter because fear is not a feeling. It is not an emotion. It is a spiritual force. And, although it can and does affect your emotions, it can be in operation even when you don’t feel it.
To understand just how powerful fear can be, you must first realise the devil didn’t create it. He can’t create anything. He is not a creator. He is just a fallen angel, and the Bible says, “There is no truth in him” (John 8:44).
If he had ever originated anything, it would be a truth. But he hasn’t. All he can do is take what God has created and pervert it. So that’s exactly what he does. He takes the powerful principles God put in force to bless mankind and twists them, so they work in reverse and bring a curse instead.
Faith Reversed Becomes a Curse
That’s what happened in the Garden of Eden. before the devil got involved, Adam and Eve were living in total blessing. They were ruling with the authority God had given them over a planet that was governed by one master law – the law of the Spirit of life. Heaven and earth were spiritually connected by The WORD of God so everything good that comes from that divine life flowed freely without obstruction.
What happened?
You know the story. The devil came and questioned The WORD of God. He said to Eve, “Yea, hath God said…?” Then, once he had her attention, he flatly contradicted God’s WORD. “Ye shall not surely die,” he said (see Genesis 3:2-4).
He deceived Eve into breaking fellowship with God and His WORD through disobedience. Adam followed suit, though he knew better. By the time he was done, the devil had gained dominion over mankind, and therefore over the earth God had given them to rule. He had taken the master law of the Spirit of life and perverted it into its reciprocal: the law of sin and death.
Under the law of sin and death, every blessing became a curse. The ground which had once produced abundantly began to withhold its fruit, and prosperity became poverty. Health was turned to sickness. Success became failure. Victory turned to defeat.
What’s more, faith, the creative power of God He had given to man to use to rule the earth, became fear. So, when God came walking in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day to fellowship with man, “Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of The LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And The LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid…” (Genesis 3:8-10).
Two Master Laws
But, thankfully, that’s not the end of the story. God didn’t abandon the earth and leave man forever enslaved to the devil and the law of sin and death. He sent His own Son in the form of man to reverse what Adam had done. He sent Jesus, not only to the cross, but into hell itself to pay the price for sin and bear its penalty. Then, by raising Jesus from the dead, God reinstated the law of the Spirit of life for whosoever would believe on Him.
Romans 8:1-2 says it this way: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”
That means there are now two master laws functioning in the earth: God’s original, the law of the Spirit of life – and Satan’s reciprocal, or counterfeit – which is the law of sin and death. As far as God is concerned, every believer has been delivered from Satan’s law and all its effects. Jesus has done everything necessary to set us free.
Yet, in spite of that fact, vestiges of the curse often seem to dog the steps of many Christians because they unknowingly activate the law of sin and death and give the devil entrance into their lives. As Hosea 4:6 says, they are “destroyed for lack of knowledge.”
TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK:
Questions:
What are the two master laws in motion on this earth? How do they differ?
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What other lessons have you taken from this study?
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