Mankind Deluded

An excerpt from a article my friend Art Licursi wrote.

A New Moral Consciousness for Man
By Receiving the Light of Christ’s Life

Rich

http://www.angelfire.com/al4/artlicursi


Mankind Deluded

That first deluded choice was made by Adam and Eve, although it was not totally deliberate on their part, as was Lucifer’s choice. Lucifer’s choice established him as false deity with his self-for-self nature. Adam’s choice placed mankind within Lucifer’s grasp. By this, Lucifer could and did infect Adam and Eve with his false-self, joined to their soul-selves. Lucifer is "that (evil) spirit who works in us the children of disobedience." Eph. 2:1-3. Man was the one 2 Cor. 4:4 In whom the god of this world (the Devil) hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

By now I hope you can see that all humans are born under a delusion, thinking of our selves as being self-acting persons, when in actual fact we are expressing another life and nature. We are "driven" to express the nature of an indwelling spirit who is "working" within us. This delusion is the huge lie that prevents Christians from enjoying the life and power of the indwelling Christ as their life with rest in their souls. When we were sinners we thought it was "just us." There never was a "just us." It was formerly "Sin" as us, and now, now being regenerated, it is "Christ" as us.

The Sin-spirit himself – the Devil, was the first to occupy man’s being, and he is at work in all "the children of disobedience". Therefore, the plain and simple outcome is that, through the fall, mankind became spontaneous expressers of Lucifer’s self-for-self nature ("in sin did my mother conceive me" Psalm 51:5), yet at the same time we are deluded into thinking it is just we who are failing and having a hard time trying to be like Jesus of Nazareth. The truth is that we are not to be "like" Jesus; we Christians have Christ alive in us, desiring to live His life through us as the new us.

No Longer I

Paul ultimately saw through this delusion saying Romans 7:17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. Paul saw that an indwelling nature, Sin, had usurped mankind and him. Yet, Paul also came to see the remedy that is the Christian’s via the cross. The remedy is ours when we see Christ’s death as our death to our "old man" (Rom 6:6-7), and receive His indwelling life and nature as our new life and nature in place of that old, fallen nature of Sin. Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. This is man made alive by Christ, just as God purposed in Christ Jesus.