With what shall I come to the Lord and bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves? Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:6-8)

With what shall I come to the Lord and bow myself before the God on high?” I wonder, in this sentence, if Micah was not asking the question that has been present in some form, at some time, in the heart of all men? If we all descended from Adam, beings created in God’s likeness, banished from Eden, where we had once known (in our natures), intimacy with God, what manner of catastrophe occurred in Adam’s (our) heart at the Fall? I also wonder what manner of trauma did God experience as this first born son brought separation between Him and His would be, and now mutated, family?

I suspect as Adam looked back over his shoulder at Eden and ahead at the ground he was about to plow, he was certainly shocked at the change in scenery. But that was nothing compared to the devastation of having lost the treasure of relating intimately, moment by moment, to God. The separation was not just geographic. Original sin had destroyed the communion between the spirits of God and man.

I believe the perfect harmony that God had crafted between Adam’s spirit, soul and body was also lost at the Fall. As the toxins that derived from the Tree of Knowledge were being absorbed into Adam’s being, I imagine they went directly to his spirit, which had been originally animated by the breath of God, and put it to sleep. Then like a computer virus, the invasive code moved into Adam’s soul, corrupting it with a program that was never intended to operate in a human. In the vacuum created by a lifeless spirit, the self expanded to become the primary operating system. The body too would succumb to a finite existence.

Operating now by his wits alone, Adam no longer had the spiritual capacity of simply and instinctively knowing God. All his fallen nature can now do, with its fading memory of God and Eden, is attempt to manage things with his still agile mind. As many answers as that mind was destined to generate in the manipulation of his physical world, it remains tragically incapable, by itself, in answering the fundamental questions of; “Who am I?”, “Where did I come from?” and “What is my purpose?” Adam left the Garden and God’s presence with a cosmic-sized rejection complex. Consequently, his legacy to us is a misshapen and insecure identity that perpetually wonders what will be required of it to please God and return to His presence. I believe this is behind Micah’s inquiry.

Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves? Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my first-born for my rebellious acts, the fruit of my body for the sins of my soul? (from Micah 6:6-7)

These are the questions asked by our enlarged souls, still reeling from the Fall, running on a corrupt program that suggests to us that we have the ability within us to do something that will save us and restore us to what we instinctively know is missing and are still groping to find. The name of that program running in us can be thought of as religion. The lie embedded in this program code is that we can do something that will atone for our sin and win God’s favor. As noble as this might sound, and as impressive as it might look, it is a satanically inspired idea designed to distract man from the only real solution he has ever had – the acquisition of a new heart.

Micah’s answer to his own question in 6:8 is true, poetic, yet incomplete. Ezekiel, I propose, has a better answer to the separation problem created by sin.

Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

An even more complete answer is found in a conversation Jesus had with a pharisee named Nicodemus.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ( John 3:5-6.)

The New Testament is the surprising and mysterious revelation of God’s Fatherly heart. It is absolutely true that man is a fallen being who has inherited a nature estranged from God, disabled in fulfilling its created function which is communing with God spirit to spirit. It is also true that God is a holy being that despises this satanic code running in His beloved creation because it has robbed them and Himself of the joy of fellowship. God has wrath and anger toward sin. The great news is that the portion of it that was due man was absorbed on the cross in Jesus Christ who was the only sacrifice (as an unblemished sinless lamb) who could atone for the catastrophe inherited by our hearts.

So, the biggest headline about God’s heart is not His anger and wrath. The Father’s heart is not inclined exclusively with anger and wrath toward men. The deepest truth about God’s heart is that it is inclined toward man in compassion. In Christ, we have become the apple of His eye, the dream in His heart, the love of His life. He was predisposed toward us in kindness even before we surrendered to Him. This is the heart of the gospel and the New Testament. Jesus Himself is the essential anti-religion revelation that, alone, destroys the toxic code that operates within our hearts and, unfortunately, has driven so much of what the world has seen as Christianity.

When we receive Christ as our Lord and Savior, His Spirit comes into us, restoring the spirit-to-spirit connection Adam had enjoyed. In Christ, God has once again breathed His life into us and we are born from above. We have new hearts (natures, if you will) that are formatted and compatible with both the Word and the Spirit of God. To be sure, we have old natures that have grown accustomed to living out of our enlarged souls but the transformation God intends for His children is awakened and nurtured by His Word and Spirit. His life, now within us, can take precedence over the spiritual virus that has been the rule of our hearts.

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. (Galatians 2:20) 

Father, animate Your life within us. May Your Spirit burn so bright and hot that it consumes the remaining effects of religion in us and in this world. In the freedom of our rest, may we learn what it is to live and move and have our beings in You. May You receive the reward of Your suffering and Your sacrifice as we avail ourselves of the spirit-to-spirit union that has been restored to us in Your Son. May the world see Your Bride who has rediscovered and claimed her rightful treasure of intimacy with You. Amen.

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