The Story of a Man

As man begins his journey, he is built with a desire to explore his world.  In his explorations, he gains knowledge and his eyes are opened to ways of the world around him.  However, this knowledge is not necessarily equivalent to truth.  In fact, to the extent that the knowledge contains false premises, the knowledge will actually lead to captivity.

Take for instance, the saying that, "curiosity killed the cat."  This is another way of saying that curiosity leads to knowledge which leads to captivity.  This is written in our DNA and begins with the story of Adam and Eve.

Genesis 3 reads: “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” and "Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves."

So the story of a man begins with this fall.  But what might this fall look like in today's times?

Well, for example, sex might be seen as eating the forbidden fruit.  In the sexual sense, the female body might be represented by the tree of life, while the male body represented by the serpent.  Through taking this forbidden fruit, a couple might conceive children.

Through parenting, a couple would inevitably gain knowledge of the world.  In fact, many of life's lessons simply cannot be learned without having children.  However, this knowledge also comes with the curse of being captivity: to provide, protect and pave the way for the such young ones.

In our world, there are many forbidden fruits.  And for many people, they simply do not know they are partaking of the forbidden fruit.

Proverbs 14:12 reads along the lines of "There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death." with Proverbs 16:25 reiterating.

So the story of a man always includes this initial fall.  This death.

When, we experience this pain first hand, we naturally search for things of this world to soothe our pain.  Something to bring back control into our corner.  Something which will comfort us in our pain.  And what we grasp is man made.

So the story of a man also includes him placing his hope in man made comforters known as idols.  Unfortunately, these idols come with a curse.

Deuteronomy 4:27-18 reads a curse for those who pursue their idols, "The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the Lord will drive you. 28 There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell."

Psalm 115:4-8 reads: "But their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands. 5 They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. 6 They have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell. 7 They have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk, nor can they utter a sound with their throats. 8 Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them." and Psalm 135:15-18 reiterates the same concept.

What are examples of such idols?

Well, I have heard that marriage can be one of the loneliest places.  Feeling disconnected could be a sign that you adore your ideals of a romantic partner, perfect husband or loving father more than you love your spouse.  Not letting go of these idols will surely lead to disconnection and loneliness.

I have also heard people say that a person has never felt so alone as being in the middle of a crowded room.  Putting on a false mask so that no one knows you are imperfect, vulnerable and dependent, ie human, can also come from refusing to let go personal ideals.  Expectations and disappointments in others can couple with this false bravado to kill two birds with one stone.  That is, one can simultaneously kill both sides of the intimacy coin.  The definition of intimacy being, "To know and be known."  The result.  Disconnection and loneliness.

After a man falls, he tries to save himself.  The result.  Complete and utter disaster.  He is a like a temple, that is torn down, then built up, then torn down, then built up.  Various seasons of life will represent the inner war.  A war over his body, the temple.

2 Chronicles 7:19-22 reads, "19 But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 21 This temple will become a heap of rubble. All who pass by will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ 22 People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why he brought all this disaster on them.’"

Rebuilding a temple may seem like a seven year imprisonment or a life long journey.  However, once a man makes a decision to change, the light at the end of the tunnel is not far off.  The decision only needs to be made once while a life time is needed to manage that decision.

2 Chronicles 19:35-36 reads, "So the service of the temple of the Lord was reestablished. 36 Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had brought about for his people, because it was done so quickly."

So what does the rebuilding of a man actually look like?  What if false hope has been placed in many different idols, as is often the case?

Daniel 2:31-45 reads, "31 “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth. 36 “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. 37 Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; 38 in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold. 39 “After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. 41 Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. 42 As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay. 44 “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. 45 This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces. “The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”"


And this is how it will be with you.  You will have golden idols, with super strong holds on your life.  You will have iron idols and clay idols.  When you make the decision to attack these idols, the spirit of God will reunite with you, live within you.  When you are touched, a war within you will begin.  But over time, each stronghold will be crushed.  It will be like the very foundation of you has been altered.  Something so powerful that you cannot deny.  Tired and weary at times, feeling your struggle against this battle, you will want to quit.  You will have seasons where you will run back to your idols of comfort and control.  But fear not, for "he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." as Philippians 1:6 reads.

At times you will be frustrated because you will not be able to defeat your strongholds.  You will give up because you do not understand the reason for your struggle.  Our God is a relational God.  He does not give you your struggle so you can overcome it.  He gives you your struggle so that you will seek Him.

When you seek Him, he will bless you with truth.  Knowledge is easily gained while truth is difficult to find and only comes from the Father.  John 8:32 describes, "32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

So the story of a man ends with redemption.  Only when redeemed and free, can a man finally obey.

John 14:15-23 reads, "15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[a] in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” 22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” 23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.”"

So how do knowledge, captivity and truth relate to one another?

Knowledge is like education.  It is like the law.  It is empty and misguiding.  If we went over the theory of walking and how hard it is, we might convince a baby that walking is simply impossible.  If we went over the theory of business and explained that 90% of businesses fail, we might convince people to ignore their God given destinies.  However, behind each failure is a lesson.  Behind each failure is growth.  If you go into business to succeed, you might as well not pursue your dreams.  If you go into business, to grow, you will be successful.  The truth, the spirit, set us free from the law.  As you battle, you do not battle to win, you battle to grow.  You have already won, you just don't know it.  Now, it is about growing into that victory.

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<SI> Scott Izu, PhD
Copyright December 2015