The usual dogma goes something like this:
“We were created in God’s image, but since the fall of mankind when Adam sinned, now we are under a curse of sin doomed to an eternity in hell unless we believe in Jesus for salvation.”
Let’s get the record straight.
According to the Bible, we still are created in God‘s image:
https://youtu.be/YbipxLDtY8c
It would be impossible to be made in God‘s image and cursed sinners at the same time. That theology contradicts itself and does not speak the Truth of the Bible. According to Augustine of Hippo (354–430) sin is "a word, deed, or desire in opposition to the eternal law of God," or as scripture states, "sin is the transgression of the law."
The idea that an action a man made millions of years ago affects my life today is not True. I am responsible for my own actions, and so are you. We do not sin because we can’t control it. The fact of the matter is that we sin either because we choose to, or because we are ignorant of the Law.
This is the Truth:
We need to repent, because the Kingdom is at hand. (Matthew 4:17)
According to the Bible, we were made in His image to be Holy and perfect as He is, and to have perfect communion with Him forever.
Genesis 1:27: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
Matthew 5:20: “For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Colossians 1:10: “so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God.”
2 Samuel 22:21-25: “The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; He repaid me according to the cleanness of my hands. For I have kept the ways of the Lord and have not turned from my God to wickedness. Indeed, I have kept all His ordinances in mind and have not disregarded His statutes. I was blameless before Him and kept myself from sinning. So the Lord repaid me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in His sight.”
There are so many other examples in the Bible about our call to righteousness from the LORD, but how can we keep ourselves from sinning and “keep the ways” of God if we are cursed to do otherwise? It just doesn’t make sense.
He wants us to want Holy communion with Him, but He is disappointed generation after generation:
Génesis 3:17: “To Adam he said, ‘Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
‘Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.’”
Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Notice that when mankind fell, God cursed the ground, not Adam, or his lineage. When we sin, which we all do, we miss the mark of His holiness. Think of it as a target, and sinning is simply missing the bullseye. It is not that we are cursed and incapable of hitting the bullseye, and when we miss, it does not determine our destiny. It’s just a mistake. The next time we try, we’ll aim better. This is the whole point of sanctification.
In order to show us where to aim, God gave us clear instructions of how to hit the target. He teaches us how to live a holy life in order to restore us back to what He created us to be.
By obeying the lifestyle He prescribes as it applies to us, we are able to live righteously and holy as we were created to be. The only curse placed on yourself would be disregarding the relevancy of Torah to all of God‘s children today. We are able to access the Kingdom of Heaven right now here on earth (not because we have the keys, that’s a whole other misunderstanding in itself), and work on repairing the relationship between our Creator and ourselves as it was always meant to be. The Spirit of God inside of us compels us to do this until He returns to fully restore Eden once and for all.
If you disregard the Law, then you are doomed to live in your sin because you are ignoring God’s path to righteousness, but this is true even for the believer. It’s not so black and white as
unbelief —> judgment;
believer —> heaven
We will all be judged for our sins (our faithfulness or negligence to adhere to His Law), whether in Messiah or not.
“Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned” (Matthew 12:36–37)
So, I encourage you to turn back to Torah, learn which commandments apply to you according to your cultural and gender identity, and begin walking in the way of righteousness to have that beautiful communion with our LORD today. We do not sin because we are “sinners,” and our sin does not define us. We are sinners because we sin, but God is faithful to forgive and extend His mercy to us for those missteps. That is the best news ever!!
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape so that you are able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:13
God is my strong refuge; He makes my way perfect. 2 Samuel 22:33
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