INNATE HINDRANCE: SINNER'S INSTINCT

The barrier of Cherubim which blocked Adam's entrance to the Garden after the Lord thrust him out, reminds us of what cast mankind out of the Garden to begin with. The choice to eat of the knowledge of good and evil is the culprit. The reason Cherubim remind us of this is due to the fact that Cherubim were first mentioned in the Bible as blocking Adam's return to the Garden of Eden after being cast out. The first mention of a thing in the Bible sets the pace for its meaning throughout the remainder of the Bible.

Today, as believers, we remain with a choice that is identical to Adam's. Believers have two sources from which to draw strength. There is the flesh, or the Spirit of God, God's Life. The flesh works on the basis of the amount of knowledge of good and evil which one possesses. Fleshly folks are convinced they have no need to go to a higher power for assistance in life. They have an inner, human ability to overcome so long as they "know".

"Just teach me what is right and wrong, and I shall be victorious!"

Such folks do not seek foreign empowerment. They merely wish to increase their storehouses of the knowledge of good and evil.

This is the reason the flesh is a barrier to oneself. There were Cherubim embroidered into the veil in the tabernacle and temple. God ordered this to remind us that looking to flesh in the endeavour to gain progress in God causes the Cherubim to block our way, as they did Adam's. They cry, "Sorry, you'll not enter in that manner!"

Cherubim are guardians. They kept or guarded the way of the Garden. They overshadowed the mercy seat, standing over the Law, manna and rod of Aaron within the ark.

The first mention of Cherubim is Genesis 3:24, where they were placed as guardians of the Garden.

Within the veil is a hindrance. And in your flesh is a hindering factor. It is the desire to merely use flesh power. It is hindering when we feel the only thing we must add to ourselves is the knowledge of good and evil.

Adam and Eve had two choices before them. They could simply add knowledge of good and evil to themselves. Or they could add the Life of God. They chose to add the former.

Yet, merely adding knowledge of good and evil will find one condemned. One will know what to do. And yet one will not be able to do it. One needs more power! Not more knowledge.

One who doesn't seek the knowledge of good and evil, but seeks life, will find oneself doing good and leaving behind sinful actions.

One who seeks the knowledge of good and evil instead of life will find oneself unable to do the good one knows should be done.

What a paradox!

People who seek knowledge of good and evil can never do that good. Those who don't seek it, are those who can do the good!

The Old Testament tried to show man this truth! Three books of the Old Covenant list law upon law and commandment after commandment. God told man what was good and evil in such lengthy treatises. And Peter admitted in Acts 15:10 that no one could keep all of the commandments!

We have two trees to pick from and sustain our spiritual lives. Life or knowledge.

And we have two Testaments to choose from. Old or New. Old offers knowledge. New offers Life.

Never regard Old Covenant as a temptation to reject the New. Realize that God used the Old to prove to man in that time frame that seeking commandments, or knowledge of good and evil, does not supply victory over sin.

God doesn't act as Satan and offer you Old Testament as opposed to the New, as Satan offered man the tree of knowledge. But, if you seek to be justified by Law, then He allows you to go ahead and try keeping the Law. You'll soon learn a good lesson. If you break one single law, though, you broke it all!

That innate desire to seek merely knowledge of good and evil alone will hinder us from entering fullness. The ripping of our veils must be our goal. Rip apart that desire! Since its in the flesh, rip apart that flesh! Deny its offer to help.

Deeply and intricately was the hindering image of the Cherubim woven into the veil. And so is this damnable knowledge of good and evil woven throughout the flesh. And that knowledge is as much of a hindrance as the veil in the temple was to the common person and priest. And the High Priest could only breach it once a year.

So, we come to our choice. Will we continue our christian walk by seeking knowledge of good and evil? Or will we continue by leaning on the Life of the Spirit in us since we've experienced Holy Ghost baptism?

If you're going to be in the Garden, you're going to have to desire Life alone. Otherwise you'll not enter. When you confront a problem, do you enter frenzy and begin frantically searching your memory of good and evil knowledge for an answer? Most of us who try to solve our own problems our own way, instead of seeking God's power to open a way, are depending on sinner's instinct.

Because this sinner's instinct is in our flesh, we have hindrance in our flesh. Its in everybody's flesh. Hence, so many never seek God. Including believers.

Sinners who give up on life, feeling there is no escape from failure, often become hypocrites in the Church. They see no way to truly live right, so they give up trying. They start to pretend. Such people also hold a rotten outlook on others, since they believe nobody can live a real life. If they happen to see one as living a true life, they may not understand how these are real Christians. Yet hypocrites who see people which they know, who truly are living for God, do not diligently seek to find out how they live it.