Day 100 (Year 3)

Those Who Follow the Lord Must Change Themselves

God said to Adam, “But from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:17 NASB)

“Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.” (Hebrews 2:14 NKJV)

In Genesis, when Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they did not die instantly. God’s death sentence means that they would fall into the hands of the devil, who holds the power of death. In other words, those who directly or indirectly follow the devil’s words fall under the power of death. Thus, apart from Jesus, all humans follow Adam in sinning toward death. Besides, without Jesus’ guidance, all people inevitably have flawed standards for discerning good and evil.

Adam’s failure called for Jesus’ first coming and restoring what was lost. Apart from Jesus, all of us have inherited the tendency of the ancestors toward corruption, sin, and rebellion against God. The devil thus legitimately controls the vast majority. But the coming of Jesus reversed the devil’s control over sinners. His victory began at His birth, and His triumph over the devil’s temptations gave Him authority to free the oppressed. Finally, His substitutionary death nullified the devil’s authority to rule over us and revealed the immeasurable worth of humans. From this, it is clear that Jesus’ salvation benefits us, and His victory over the devil also becomes an example for believers to follow.

We who follow Jesus must make an effort to offer our ownership unto Him unceasingly. Following Jesus rather than Adam begins with believing and obeying Him, following His will, and seeking His help to transform our lives thoroughly and break free from Satan’s bondage. In this process, we will find that relying on personal strength alone doesn’t work. People who try to force themselves to change without first knowing the old nature of Adam within them will easily fail. But we who are determined to walk the path of faith must learn to relax and be still, to know God’s will and guidance. This includes carefully reflecting on the reality of our lives before Him, how to break free from the influence of darkness step by step, and change all wrong beliefs and thoughts one by one according to the Lord’s words. Negative thoughts are not necessarily bad, and feeling pessimistic about bad people or bad things is normal. But if we have negative thoughts, such as believing our lives have no value, and these are inconsistent with Jesus’ perspective, then change is needed.

Reflection questions:

1) Do you feel that because of Jesus’ salvation, you are moving away from the path of sinning toward death with substantial changes recently?

2) What beliefs or thoughts do you hold that are inconsistent with Jesus’ words? If any, how will you change yourself?