Commandment #6: When God (the Word Who became Jesus Christ) finished recreating the heavens and the earth, thereby bringing everything back to its previous perfect condition, He set about creating man–the icing on the creation cake, so to speak. He created His most prized possession to be like Himself in terms of appearance (likeness) and character (image). It was the latter part that brings us to the subject of this teaching. Man (Heb.–Adam), like the angels before him, was created by God with the capacity to choose. One third of the angels chose to rebel against God and will spend eternity regretting that decision. Man has the same power of choice. Our original ancestors, exercising their power of choice, chose to follow in the footsteps of the rebellious angels. As was the case with the angels, Adam and Eve, and everyone who has ever been born thereafter except Jesus, had help in making the wrong choice–Satan, the “serpent” of Eden and the powerful being written about in Revelation 20:2. As Jesus told John, in the last days of this age man will grow more and more sinful. As we are seeing on the evening news, man’s anger and hate toward his fellow man is growing exponentially.

Man is the highest form of life created by the Lord. Just as He created each species of creaturedom “after its kind,” He created man after the God kind. All of mankind was created in the likeness and image of his Maker (Gen. 1:26,27). The Hebrew word rendered image in English refers to spiritual character. Man’s physical creation (same form and shape as God) was complete at the creation of Adam and Eve. However, man’s character (spiritual creation) is ongoing and greatly influenced by man himself. It is God’s desire to create His very character in any human being who desires for Him to do so. Building Godly character requires not only God’s Holy Spirit, but also time and experience on the part of man.

Man’s sole purpose in this life is to qualify to receive eternal life which will be lived in His (God’s) presence. In fairness, God had to create man with the capacity to qualify for salvation or not to do so. Unlike angels, man is mortal–subject to eternal death (Gen. 3:19). A human being has only a few years in which to prove him/herself worthy to spend eternity with the Godhead and others who have qualified to live in the Kingdom of God. Read about that kingdom using the key word–Kingdom.

Man is special. For this reason God levies a most harsh penalty upon those who would take the life of a fellow human being, which, as we approach the end of this world, is happening more often than in any other time in man’s history, with the exception of times of war during which man is expected, even required to take the life of his fellow man. Such killing is not a sin, but rather a necessity. Almost as bad as the taking of life is the reason for doing so–hatred. In today’s wicked world that hatred often has no realistic cause. We recently watched a man kill a woman in a subway. He had never met the woman, did not know her name and had no reason to hate her. She was there; he had a knife, so he killed her. Why did he hate her enough to kill her? Only one reason: SATAN TOLD HIM TO DO SO. We read or hear of people who say “a voice” told them to kill someone. I believe it. And I know whose voice they heard. I have also heard Satan’s voice to do or not do certain things. Those who know their God and His Word cannot be seduced by the devil. However, the other 99% of humanity is low-hanging fruit for him. Always keep in mind the fact that the man Jesus of Nazareth had the power of choice. Otherwise, why did Satan tempt Him? BECAUSE HE KNEW THAT JESUS WAS A MAN LIKE ALL OTHER MEN AND THEREFORE COULD SIN AND FALL SHORT OF HIS CALLING.

This type of messaging also takes place relative to man’s attitude toward himself. In 2002 the World Health Organization reported that a person takes his/her own life about every 40 seconds. Also, a person kills another person at the rate of one per minute, and a person dies in armed conflict about every 1.5 minutes. The Apostle Paul, having been given a glimpse of the future, wrote to the Apostle Timothy: “This know also, that in the last days dangerous times will come” (2 Tim. 3:1). He was so right. People are killing their fellow man for any reason, or no reason at all. Man’s heart is filled with hate. And in the eyes of God, that hatred is equal in sinfulness as the actual act of killing. Sin happens in the mind. Everything else is simply follow-through.

Jesus Christ addressed this issue, saying: “You have heard that it was said by those of old time: ‘you shall not kill, and whosoever kills will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause will be in danger of the judgment, and whosoever will say to his brother, ‘Raca’ is in danger of the council, but whosoever says ‘thou fool’ will be in danger of hell fire” (Mat. 5:21,22). In saying these things Jesus most certainly did not do away with the law against murder as we are told. To the contrary, He expanded it to include the mental transactions that lead to murder. This is known as “the spirit of the Law.”

In the above statement, Jesus takes us directly to the sources of murder–hate and anger. He makes it clear that one who fills his heart with hate toward another person is in danger of judgment, which means condemnation. If that anger can, and often does, lead a person to have hatred toward another human being, he will be in danger of the council, which means punishment from God. Finally, if the problem is not corrected and a person allows his mind to become so full of hatred toward his fellow man that he calls him a fool, he faces the lake of fire. And we haven’t even touched the subject of physical murder.

Anger and hatred involve the SPIRIT OF MURDER. As I have noted in previous teachings, all sin takes place in the mind (heart) first. Actions follow thoughts. The key is to eliminate the thought when it first arrives in the form of a “fiery dart” from Satan. What we spend the most time thinking about, we usually do. John wrote: “If a man says, ‘I love God’ and hates his brother, he is a liar, for he that does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? This command we have received from the Lord, ‘He who loves God must love his brother also'” (1 Jn. 4:20-21).

Through John the Lord teaches us that the spirit of love toward God and the spirit of hatred toward our fellow man cannot abide in the same person. To prevent murder, man must control his thoughts. This level of power can only come through the indwelling Holy Spirit. Those who want such power must seek to receive God’s Holy Spirit. The real test of our desire to please the Lord was voiced by Jesus when He commanded that we love our enemies. Again. the power to love all people, regardless of their words and actions, can only come through the power of the Holy Spirit. Ask the Lord to fill you with His Spirit. L.J.