Your True Identity: Part 2

God is the ultimate Reality, and structure is His creation-servant.

When we identify ourselves with our spiritual man inside, we are identifying with Love. That is who we really are. Anything else is a "straw man" that inaccurately represents us. A "straw man" derives its existence from Reality purely by one's consent, for it has no authority other than what we give it. It is you only if you agree that it is you (or that it represents you).

A straw man is not actually you, but it can be legally you, if you make it your representative. It is not even harmful, if it remains your servant, and if you are able to command it properly. But the problem with straw men is that most of them end up ruling us, because we lose our sense of being and begin to identify ourselves with it, instead of the other way around.

Structures are God's creation and were pronounced "very good" in the beginning. In a very real sense, Adam was God's own straw man, for he was called to be God's representative in the earth, to rule it with Love even as God Himself would rule it.

The fall of man, however, put the servant in revolt against the Master. Not only did Adam disobey and rebel against the express command of God, but also on a personal level, Adam's own soul rebelled against his spirit. The soul, being finite, attempted to understand the universe by creating opposites, for the purpose of comparison and analysis, in order to comprehend all things. Then it judged one side as "evil," in order to establish control and domination.

The soul, that is, the carnal mind, thus broke the unity of all things and began the age-abiding project of recreating Reality in its own image. This is the core of the Babylonian mindset that is now coming to its predestined Identity Crisis. The structure of divine government in Adam created a straw man, which has been recreating Reality and then charging an exorbitant fee for its service. We have all become its debtors.

But we are now approaching a great Sabbath millennium, in which God is about to set Creation free from the bondage of the straw man.

Christians must be careful to understand the nature of straw men and structure. Christians must know who they really are in their core being--their spiritual man, their Most Holy Place. That spiritual man is Christ--the offspring of God and man. It is the perfect New Man. There is nothing that a believer can do to make that Man more perfect than it already is. The carnal mind will tell you that you must do this or do that, sacrifice this or that, discipline yourself, fast and pray, in order to become more acceptable to God so that He will hear your prayers. But this is all an illusion. Just be who you already are, and do not allow the carnal mind to recreate Reality in its own finite likeness.

Likewise, structures such as Church denominations, which ought to serve God by setting men free, eventually become self-serving and self-perpetuating. I have seen and heard many reports from people who were bludgeoned weekly, and told how they were great sinners (long after their sins were covered by the blood of Jesus), for the purpose of putting them into bondage to the denomination. Denominations often rule by fear and guilt, and they succeed in gathering more servants by assuming the role of protector and sin-forgiver.

Men cannot be manipulated if they have no fear or guilt. If they know who they are in Christ, they cannot be manipulated by threats of excommunication. If they know the truth, they cannot be frightened by the prospect of being caught by Satan or by a "cult" if they were to leave the organization. If they know they are forgiven of their sins, they cannot be tricked into endlessly purchasing forgiveness by giving "indulgences" to the Church organization. If they live in abundance mode, they cannot be swindled by prophets of greed who preach fear of scarcity in the name of prosperity.

For this reason, many in the ministry have gone the way of Balaam, selling prophecies and the gifts of the Spirit for profit or position. It is common nowadays for people to buy tickets to a Christian meeting. It is common nowadays for sick people to have to pay money to stand in line for prayer. It is common nowadays for people seeking a word from God to be required to pay for such a word--under the threat that if he does not pay, then the good things being prophesied will not come to pass in his life.

Some of the most well-known television evangelists are among those who do such things. I do not blame the people for being vulnerable to such racketeering, for they are taught fear and guilt much of the time whenever they hear preaching. How many of them are taught who they really are in Christ? How many know that they are Love? How many know that they can have a direct relationship with God and do not need any mortal structure to act as their straw man or their priest?

My voice may be small, and it may be a voice crying in the wilderness, but woe is me if I do not preach the gospel, the Good News! The message of freedom in Christ will never trap many sheep in my corral--especially since the doors are always open. Teaching people how to grow up into Christ will not keep the people forever dependent upon me as a spiritual father. Teaching people how to live in abundance mode rather than in scarcity mode will never make me a millionaire. But I guarantee that I will sleep well at night with a clear conscience before God, and He will supply my needs according to His abundance.

I know this, because even before God called me back into the ministry in 1991, I was already tested on these principles in the crucible of need. Time after time, I saw the miraculous power of God manifested at the last minute, just before potential disaster. I have more stories of God's provision than I could possibly tell you. We even shared our monetary needs with our children, so that they could participate in the joy of answered prayer. Faith became a way of life for them, not a cloak to put on in preparation for going to Church.

We learned to forgive God for His discipline and training exercises. Yes, you heard me. Half the world is angry with God, and the other half does not know Him at all. No one is exempt from hard experiences in life, but only those who can forgive and let go of all bitterness and anger will actually progress spiritually. Learning requires forgiveness, and when we learn to forgive, then we have the right not to have to go through that experience again.

All of these experiences are designed to reveal the Love that is our core being and to extend it to all structure, beginning with the soul itself. From there it can radiate through the body in a smile, a word of encouragement, an act of kindness, or even a loving correction that will assist another in finding the right path to the joy of the Lord.

Thus, to conclude this study of Your True Identity, the choice is set before us. We can go through life in the pursuit of advantage over others, or we can follow Jesus' example as servants of mankind. We can live in a self-serving manner as God's privileged people, or we can radiate the Love of God as His people, chosen to manifest His character. We can identify with structure, such as organizations and genealogy, or we can identify with Reality and Love as the children of God.

These are the alternatives in life. Follow which ever path you believe will lead to God.