Self-sufficiency from a Biblical standpoint refers to the state of not requiring any outside aid, support, or interaction from God. A good example of self sufficiency in the Bible is shown through the heart of Lucifer. Lucifer, an anointed Cherub, was the highest of God’s created Angelic beings. The order of Angelic beings can be seen as Cherubim the highest, Seraphim, Archangels, Angels, etc. Within the heart of Lucifer selfishness formed and led him to rebellion against the Creator. Lucifer desired to exalt himself higher than God. The pride within Lucifer’s heart toward God was, “I don’t need you anymore, and I can do it myself.” Note Lucifer’s declaration of… "I will" in Isaiah’s prophecy.
· Isa. 14:12-15…How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
After the fall of Adam defeat, death, and eternal damnation were pronounced upon the serpent and contained in God’s promise of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. The Devil had no foreknowledge of the miracle of Christ’s redemptive power through His descension to earth; or the fullness of His resurrection and exaltation back to the Throneroom. Nor did the Devil know the glory contained in the triumphant power of Salvation and holiness provided for the human soul through the redemptive work of Christ on the cross.
· Gen 3:14-15…And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Although Lucifer was created a perfect being he was limited in knowledge. Lucifer did however separate from God because iniquity was found in his heart.
· Ezek 28:14-15…Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
Selfish works from the heart of the serpent found a selfish part of the human soul in Eve. The serpent’s deception thus assisted in leading Eve into disobedience against God.
· 2 Cor 11:3…But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty,
The work of the Devil that influenced Eve caused God’s curse to come upon humanity after the “Original sin”. God’s curse came as the Adamic nature that has since been passed down through the entire human family. The ripple effects from the Adamic nature come in a form of man’s self sufficiency. For this purpose Christ was manifested to “destroy” the ongoing affects of self suffiency in the hearts and lives of sinful men.
· 1 John 3:8…He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
Cain the son of Adam was wrapped up in self sufficiency and missed the righteousness of God by faith. Cain with selfish intent gave the work of his hands as an offering to God. Cain in the Hebrew text…means to acquire or possess something by works. Unrighteousness from the Adamic nature possessed the heart and life of Cain.
· 1 John 3:12…Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.
Abel was a righteous man because of faith and gave a firstling from his flock out of obedience to God. Abel’s intention was not selfish toward God. Abel obtained a righteous witness because of his faith in God. Abel proved righteousness from the heart through the sacrificial offering of his firstling to God.
· Gen 4:4…And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
· Heb 11:4…By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts:
Self sufficiency has caused many to fall short of God’s righteousness. Self sufficiency caused Lucifer to fall. Self sufficiency opposes God’s righteousness given to the heart of man by faith. Self seeks its own.
Man’s natural tendency of self sufficiency has formed false religions throughout the pages of history. Ponder the following:
· Reincarnation as all the following believe …Scientology, Native American Indian religion, Hinduism, Theosophy, Buddhism…In the Buddhist scriptures, our body is compared to a guesthouse and our mind to a guest dwelling within it. When we die, our mind leaves our body and goes to the next life, just like a guest leaving a guesthouse and going somewhere else.
· Karma, the works of man
· Zodiac, Astrology, tarot cards, Ouija board
Religion is a form of worshipping something or another God without the experience of a God given righteousness in the human soul. Hundreds of Religions have formed through course of time as the hearts of men have chosen not to recognize God’s authority through conscience nor remain faithful to His Holy presence. The Devil from the beginning was created perfect and accountable to God…but separated because he abode not in the truth. When iniquity was found in his heart he lost faith and thus became unfaithful to God.
· John 8:44…Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Adam and Eve were both created accountable to God. They separated from God because they lost their faith and became disobedient to the Creator. Cain and Abel both heard of God from their parents. Out of jealousy and unfaithfulness to God (from the Adamic nature) Cain slew his brother Abel.
· 1 John 3:12…Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.
Abel was righteous because he had faith in God. Abel maintained faith by a righteous witness given from God. Faith allows man to have a righteous witness from God because guilt and sin is removed from the conscience. The Lord had respect Abel’s sacrificial offering by faith as it pointed toward the redemptive work of Christ on the cross.
· Heb 12:24…And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
Men of faith are faithful to God. Obedience is a product of Faith. Faithful men do things pleasing in God’s sight. Examine the Scripture closely you’ll see that Enoch pleased God by faith.
· Heb 11:5…By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
Faithfulness is and always has been a product of Gods righteousness in the hearts of men who have faith in God. Unfaithfulness and unrighteousness are products of man’s unclean heart without faith in God. Man cannot please God without a clean heart. Man cannot cleanse his own heart through works, religious acts, sacraments, or a philosophy however; this is man’s natural inclination and tendency.
Religions are formed by natural men that attempt to change themselves or lead others to a higher plain by human effort or human knowledge. Religion proves mans natural inclination to be self-righteous; or shows mans ability to achieve God through works. Religion leaves out the impartation of God’s righteousness in the human soul that men receive by faith alone. After the flood in Noah’s day, observe man’s religious works that led them to build the tower of Babel.
· Gen 11:5-9…And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel;
· Tower of Babel…When God saw that they acted so madly, he did not resolve to destroy them utterly, since they had not grown wiser by the destruction of the former sinners; but he caused a tumult among them, by producing in them diverse languages, and causing that, through the multitude of those languages, they should not be able to understand one another. The place wherein they built the tower is now called Babylon, because of the confusion of that language which they readily understood before;The Hebrew meaning of the word Babel, is confusion.
