Scripture: Genesis 1 v 26 - 27: "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."
John 4 v 24: "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
We are made in the likeness of God! When He said, Let us make man in our image, He was speaking to His Son, who is the Creator of all things. God spoke and Jesus made it happen.
We are spirit beings because we came from a spiritual place called Heaven and our Father is a spirit. We were taken hostage by Satan before the foundation of the world, and Jesus redeemed us, He paid the ransom with His own life to set us free. Revelation 13 v 8 - 9: "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear."
Everyone whose name is not written in the Lamb's Book of Life will worship the Beast i.e. the Antichrist. Those that follow him will follow him into the lake of fire. Please note that the Lamb was slain at the moment the world was founded. That was when He was in His spirit form. He was slain in His human form 2000 years ago. What happens in the spirit realm will manifest in the physical world.
As hostages in our spirit form we became clothed with souls, which was the outward covering of our spirit, but the soul is like a pillowcase into which our spirit is crammed. On Earth we were given a fleshly body through which our soul manifests its traumas, hurts, memories, sorrows, bondage and sin, from when we were hostages. This is why we were born in sin, or born sinful.
Before we are born our soul is endangered by evil that attacks the unborn baby in the womb. It bears in its tiny state all the remembered pain of capture and torment. Satan wants us under His invisible control before we are even born.
Years ago I found a book that I have read many times as it is literally a handbook of exactly how and what Satan did to us to make us slaves to sin. It is called "False Memories" by Dean R. Koentz. I am sure the author did not know that he was writing such a deep exposure of the devious mind of our mortal enemy, but I am grateful to him as he explained it so graphically.
It is not a Christian book but anyone who truly wants to know how we are controlled by evil we cannot see or understand, will find this book enlightening. And then we will also know why our Heavenly Father went to such extremes to save us. We will also understand the true meaning of the words Jesus uttered while dying on the Cross, Father forgive them as they know not what they are doing!
Another book blessed me. "The Hand that Drove the Nails" by J. Fletcher Ray. The author was wounded in Italy during WW2 and spent a long time in Rome being rehabilitated. He visited the Museum in Rome so often that he became close friends with the curator. The day before he was due to rejoinder the army the curator gave him a very old sealed wooden box as a gift. He posted it back to his home and after the war he opened it.
Inside he found the bones of the severed right hand of a man and in a leather bag a parchment written in old Latin. He sent it off to someone who could translate it and that translation was published in this book. It was the confession of the Roman soldier who had nailed Jesus to the Cross, and became convicted of that sin to the point of cutting off that offending hand and visiting everyone who knew Jesus to learn more about Him.
He was an endangered soul forgiven by God, and he speaks for all of us. The blood that flowed from Jesus is the only substance that cleanses our soul of sin, and removes the false memories brainwashed into our subconscious by Satan, which he uses to control us with fear, lies and pain.
The moment Jesus died, God answered His dying prayer of forgiveness for everyone. He cancelled the power of sin for every human being saying that everyone who believes in His Son will be saved.
John 3 v 16: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
All those false memories are used by Satan to make us forget God and His love and the Heavenly home we had with Him. Why would we willingly leave such a place for an uncertain life on a planet that only offered sorrow, pain and death? Its because we were conned by the Father of Lies, and we believed those lies and many still believe them. Until we reject those false promises and false memories we cannot receive the eternal life in Heaven God has for us.
So today examine your heart and find out what you really believe. If it lines up with the Word of God then you are overcoming the false beliefs. If it is contrary to the Word then you need to start over and conquer all the falseness so you can make a true commitment to the only One who can save you.
He is the way, the truth and the life and He is faithful. He wants to rescue your endangered soul and make you secure. To try stop the lies and false memories He wiped our minds clean of everything Satan did to us as hostages. Ecclesiastes 1 v 11: "There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after." The former things are that which happened before the foundation of the world.
Genesis is the beginning of the rescue plan for all endangered souls. The first souls to emerge were so badly damaged that God was sorry He had made mankind and sent the flood to wipe out all but eight righteous people. He then reduced our life span to 70 years to contain the situation. The only hope the human race had was to be set free by Jesus who became SIN, so that we could become righteous or us again.
Prayer: Heavenly Father You have said in Your Word that we must not neglect so great a salvation. We should not take lightly that which cost so much in pain and suffering as Jesus died for us. Help us O God to overcome false memories that block us from receiving all You have for us, and which stop us from the praise and worship which You deserve. In Jesus' name. Amen.
