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▋THINGS WE CANNOT CHANGE. Let’s face it, there are things we can never change. For instance:
⬣ DNA. No matter how hard we try, we will never be able to change our DNA, that mysterious ‘double helix’ that determines who and what we biologically are. Even were we to bribe the lab technician to switch the specimen containers in which DNA samples are preserved, we will never be able to change our DNA; we are stuck with it forever. Let the transhumanists fiddle with our genes and bio-engineer our DNA as much as they like, they will never change who we are.
⬣ “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
⬣ DNA. No matter how hard we try, we will never be able to change our DNA, that mysterious ‘double helix’ that determines who and what we biologically are. Even were we to bribe the lab technician to switch the specimen containers in which DNA samples are preserved, we will never be able to change our DNA; we are stuck with it forever. Let the transhumanists fiddle with our genes and bio-engineer our DNA as much as they like, they will never change who we are.
⬣ Fingerprints. We cannot change our fingerprints, no matter how hard we would try. Yes, fingerprints may fade over time, but no effort of technological innovation or criminal engineering will ever change who we are. Our fingerprints are unique, whether still new, old or already faded. Like the stripes of the tiger our true identity has been ‘tattooed’ (metaphorically speaking) into the fabric of our skin and psyche, whether physically or spiritually (after it has faded) forever; even if zoologists were to shave the tiger till its skin bleeds dry, the stripes would doggedly remain.
⬣ Our true identity. Let’s face it, all the plastic surgery in the world will not change who we are, not even with a new, FBI-facilitated ID-card and a changed 'safe' address. Unless some astonishing, extraordinary miracle happens, we are stuck with who we are … forever.
⬣ Our true identity. Let’s face it, all the plastic surgery in the world will not change who we are, not even with a new, FBI-facilitated ID-card and a changed 'safe' address. Unless some astonishing, extraordinary miracle happens, we are stuck with who we are … forever.
▋LIVING WITH THE PAST. Having to live with an inglorious past can, for many, be a daunting challenge. After all, what to do with all the painful failures, the embarrasssing (moral and social) indiscretions or crimes and sins against others, against God and against the Holy Heavenly Courts of Absolute & Infinite Justice? What to do with the crimes (and all the misdemeanours of our reckless youth and smug and swaggering adulthood!) that still may be haunting so many today?
It is in times like these that the pastoral counsellor or psycho-therapist’s admonition of, “Don’t you think the time has come for you to forgive yourself?” sounds as empty and hollow as a brown paperbag with the last donut left eaten by the dog; in fact, I have searched the Bible deep and wide but has yet to discover the scripture that authorises us to ‘forgive ourselves’ ... forget it, it doesn't exist.
It is in times like these that the pastoral counsellor or psycho-therapist’s admonition of, “Don’t you think the time has come for you to forgive yourself?” sounds as empty and hollow as a brown paperbag with the last donut left eaten by the dog; in fact, I have searched the Bible deep and wide but has yet to discover the scripture that authorises us to ‘forgive ourselves’ ... forget it, it doesn't exist.
But, if only we could change who we were, i.e., change our identity to become a different person with our chequered past as pure, uncluttered, innocent and morally pristine all over as that of a newborn baby! That would be Heaven on Earth.
How lucky those people who live a charmed life and whose faults, mistakes, social blunders and discourtesies toward others never bother them in the least or make them lie awake at night. What a (treacherous?) gift to have been born with a cast-iron conscience never bothered by the still small voice of the Holy Spirit or haunted by the pangs of remorse and guilt ... not even on a deathbed.
▋“YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN!” The words of Jesus Christ’s clarion call to Nicodemus the Pharisee still ring far and wide today:
“Do not marvel that I say to you, you must be born again.”
[John3:7MKJV].
What does it all mean? It means that trying to change who we are would be of no avail and that wasting time trying to ‘reform’ ourselves would be worse than useless. What we needed was ‘transformation’, not ‘rehabilitation’. In other words, we have to be born again. The miracle of spiritual regeneration as taught by the Bible is that we can be born again into that innocent new person we clamour to be. Jesus Christ has said: “You must be born again!” There is no other way.
▋STANDING ON THE PROMISES OF GOD. God, who cannot lie, has solemnly promised:
⬣ “Come now, and let us reason together, says Jehovah; though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool.” [Isaiah1:18MKJV].
⬣ “But as many as received Him [JESUS CHRIST] He gave to them authority to become the children of God, to those who believe on His name.”
⬣ “Come now, and let us reason together, says Jehovah; though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool.” [Isaiah1:18MKJV].
⬣ “But as many as received Him [JESUS CHRIST] He gave to them authority to become the children of God, to those who believe on His name.”
[John1:12MKJV].
⬣ “So that if any one is in Christ, that one is a new creature; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
⬣ “So that if any one is in Christ, that one is a new creature; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
[2Corinthians5:17MKJV].
⬣ “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
[Romans6:23].
▋THE DOUBLE GUARANTEE OF THE POWER OF GOD TO PRESERVE BELIEVERS OF THE GOSPEL AND FOLLOWERS OF JESUS CHRIST.
“And I [JESUS CHRIST] give to them eternal life, and they shall never ever perish, and not anyone shall pluck them out of My hand … My Father who gave them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand.”
[John10:28-29MKJV].
▋SUMMARY. This is the priceless promise, i.e., if you are a Chistian having received Jesus Christ as Saviour and LORD, (i) no one shall pluck you out of Jesus Christ's hand and (ii) no one shall pluck you out of the Father's hand.
✋
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