July 22, 2024 • 46 mins
Grateful for your unwavering support and prayers, especially during times of spiritual warfare, living with central pain syndrome, and traumatic brain injuries, we bring you a transformative episode centered on reconciliation. We acknowledge the journey from a survivor to a thriver, sharing how God's glory is revealed through our trials. We're thrilled to announce our upcoming collaboration with Jeff Tharp on the ElijahFire podcast, aiming to broaden the reach of our hopeful perspectives and share His Hope through my story.
Reflect on the perfection of the Garden of Eden and how sin disrupted this harmony, causing broken relationships with God and others. Jesus' profound response to the Pharisee about the greatest commandment highlights love as the essence of biblical reconciliation. Through stories of adultery, spiritual warfare, and the impact of mental illness, discover how deep faith and the transformative power of Christ's sacrifice can lead to miraculous reconciliations, even when societal and church leaders have their own reservations.
We delve into the importance of reconciliation in our relationships and our walk with Christ. Learn about the challenges and boundaries that arise when one party is unwilling to seek reconciliation, the necessity to set boundaries in abusive relationships, and the necessity of our being reconciled to Christ OURSELVES, first.
Are you inspired by what you hear today? Jason deeply appreciates his listeners taking their time to listening, downloading, and sharing The Hopeful Perspective Podcast. Please help me spread 'hope' to others by writing a review for the podcast making it reachable for all who need to be inspired, encouraged, and changed by hoping once again. Further, understand that downloading the podcast is a surefire way to help increase the algorithm thus the reach of The Hopeful Perspective, even if you delete the episode after listening so as to not affect your data storage. I have also provided a (Support the Show) link DIRECTLY ABOVE THIS PARAGRAPH to click on for those who have shared with me they are "all in" and feel called to financially support the mission and vision of The Hopeful Perspective. A special thank you to those who have made this humble step to financially support the podcast. Without you, there is no US!
Jason Hopkins can also be reached on Facebook as well as Instagram and Threads (jayhop9953). You can also follow 'The Hopeful Perspective' FB page; where you can find more information as well as learn about upcoming news and episodes on the The Hopeful Perspective Podcast.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Hopeful Perspective Podcast.
I am your host, jason Hopkins.
I cannot believe that, as webegin episode 11, that we have
been able to be together eachweek without an obstacle nor a
single omission.
I feel like I have been coveredand protected through the worst
(00:20):
of spiritual warfare during thesix weeks I shared my story, as
well as I have been guardedeven during painful central pain
syndrome, flare-ups and otherroutine issues I battle on a
recurring basis.
I appreciate all of you whohave been along for the journey
to this point and I cherish allof your prayers for me as I seek
to do what I have been calledto in this season.
(00:42):
To this point, we have beenlearning how my own life story
illustrates God's glory throughmy own destructive life
experiences and divineredemption, moving from survivor
to thriver.
My heart is to share my storyfor His glory, as I have also
been called to follow Christ inmy redemption, to which he gets
(01:02):
all the glory.
Some of you have said youwouldn't know by the podcast so
far, but I do struggle withcommunication at times and
basically brain stamina due tomy TBI from the brain injuries.
I just trust the Lord with allof this and know, regardless of
where he takes us.
He is ahead of us, his son iswith us and His Spirit is within
(01:25):
us.
Together we have talked throughthe basic yet foundational
principles of suffering,redemption, forgiveness and
restoration, or, as we exploredlast week, the otherwise known
as renewing of the mind.
Today we are going to talkthrough biblical reconciliation,
more specifically, the rolethat our relationships with God
(01:46):
and our other people play on ourjourney.
So I encourage you to grab yourfavorite snack, hot or cold
beverage, get comfortable andcome on this journey with me
today as we explore the powerand the freedom found in
transformation into a new childof God.
Before we jump into today'stopic, I told you last week I
(02:08):
have exciting news about ourpodcast.
I have been invited by my goodfriend, jeff Tharp, to
collaborate with him on thepodcast he hosts to share my
story for God's glory.
If you have been following fromthe beginning of our short
history, you know that themission and vision of the
podcast is to share the hopefulperspective with as many people
as possible, to extend our reachand influence as we grow.
(02:31):
I have stated that, whether wereach five people or five
million people, that the Lordwill be glorified through the
podcast.
I am thrilled to, already, soearly in the podcasting journey,
to be invited by my good friendand his sweet podcast ministry
to share my story for Christ'sglory.
I want to encourage all of youlistening to me that if you are
(02:54):
looking for an uplifting,spirit-filled and edifying
experience, check out the ElijahFire podcast.
Elijah Fire one word.
They have around 15,000 subsand over a half a million in
total traffic per month whotheir online ministry is
reaching.
Let's just say that at thispoint in our podcasting journeys
(03:18):
, they are just a little furtherahead on the path than we are.
Again, I am excited to jointhem as we record the podcast
tomorrow and we get to share thehope of Christ found in my
story.
I will let you know when theepisode is being released and I
appreciate all your support andespecially your prayers for this
divine appointment.
(03:38):
Now let's jump into today'sepisode topic.
I want to begin our timetogether in a reflective mindset
.
So whether you are driving,sitting on the porch, washing
your dishes, mowing the lawn orwherever you are, keep your eyes
on the road, of course, butjoin me in this exercise.
I want to begin ourconversation on reconciliation
(04:01):
by reflecting on the incrediblescene that we read in Genesis
regarding the Garden of Eden.
Can you imagine what it musthave been like for Adam and Eve
living in their own?
Hawaii, bahamas, jamaica,whatever your dream destination
is?
But now imagine all of theselocations rolled up in one in
(04:24):
Adam and Eve's own full-time,extravagant vacation.
Except at this point, the onlyso-called job Adam had to
vacation from, or just simplylive as it would have been for
them, is found in Genesis 2, 15and 16.
Here it says that Adam was towork and take care of the garden
.
Here it says that Adam was towork and take care of the garden
(04:46):
.
We do know that what we thinkof as difficult labor was not
involved.
We must account for the ideathat Adam nor Eve wouldn't even
know the concept of difficultyyet.
I imagine he and Eve pickingtheir favorite flowers, having
fun, frolicking in one of thefour rivers they had access to,
splashing and swimming in thewater, basking in the sun,
(05:08):
sipping on whatever heavenlycocktail or concoction they
desired.
At any time they were inclined.
Scripture says that they hadfull authority over creation and
they were to take care of it.
I can hear Eve laughing at someof the animal names Adam had
just created to call the variouswildlife around them before her
(05:29):
arrival, as we read in Genesis2, 19 and 20, that it was his
assignment of naming the animals, not just her appropriate
laughter, perhaps and this isjust my conjecture, and possibly
even my imagination applyingreal world ideas to the story,
because we are not told thespecifics.
(05:50):
But I can just see adamresponding to eve's laughter
with go ahead, my helper, mywife, you can rename a few of
them for yourself.
I figure eve named the seahawksand the Ducks and the Beavers
and the Huskies and the Cougarsall amazing animals, can you see
(06:11):
?
I live in the Pacific Northwestand you are saying what is a
Seahawk?
Well, they must have been inEden and since become native to
Washington, oregon, my homestate, home of the mighty ducks,
the beavers and our belovedtrailblazers.
Not an animal, as far as I cantell.
But we have digressed.
We can figure that, while whatEve said was logical and
(06:34):
organized, that Adam was the oneprobably responsible for
designating the names of theblobfish, the pleasing fungus
beetle look it up.
And of course he was the onetrying to figure out the
duck-billed platypus and thenthe screaming hare armadillo.
Yet in our reflection, try toimagine them running amongst
lions and tigers, grizzly bearsand tarantulas Okay, we've gone
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far enough, but imagine they'reexperiencing a level of safety
and security in this paradise,amongst all his creation.
They didn't know the concept ofdanger, yet.
They didn't know sin, sicknessnor sadness.
They didn't know what a powerstruggle or an argument on the
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way to church was Okay, we knowthat.
They didn't even, maybe, knowwhat a church was, or did they?
I ask this because we read inthe New Testament that Jesus
says again truly, I tell youthat if two of you on earth
agree about anything they askfor it, it will be done for them
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by my Father in heaven, forwhere two or three gather in my
name, there I am with them.
We see all of this in Matthew 18, 20, and then read in proper
context, with the appropriatehermeneutics or biblical
interpretation being applied.
We see that this is given atthe tail end of Jesus'
addressing broken relationshipsand sin in the church.
(08:02):
We know that, though Adam andEve knew and walked intimately
with God, thus fulfilling thedefinition of church that they
didn't yet know brokenrelationship or sin.
Yet Applying appropriatehermeneutics is so important to
gleaning and mining the nuancesfound in scripture Believers for
generations have found inscripture.
Believers for generations havegenuinely, yet mistakenly, used
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this passage speaking about twoto three believers gathered
therefore, god is with them asmerely applying to answering and
agreeing with our prayers, orto sound as though, because we
are gathered as two to three ormore, in his name he is
therefore present.
Is that thought consistent withwhat we know about God, though?
(08:48):
You see, we are instructed thatwhen Jesus ascended, he was
leaving a comforter, a helper inthe Holy Spirit, who we now had
direct access to.
Once we have made Jesus theLord of our life, having
repented and turned to our lifewith him, we have a helper in
the Holy Spirit on that walk.
(09:10):
We pray and have access to theLord when alone, so why would we
have to gather in two to threeto access his presence?
In this verse, that must not bereferring to what we think it
does, which means we have toread scripture within its
(09:30):
context, and we will dive moreinto what that means in terms of
today's topic.
But we have strayed away fromEden and we have to get back to
our pondering of Adam and Eve.
See, they didn't have to worryabout hermeneutics or homiletics
or eschatology, or even theirown biology.
Yet Am I right?
We have to understand that thefirst couple didn't just have
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paradise due to the environmentlacking, sin and stress,
sickness and sadness.
As we have said, we read inGenesis that they talked with
God directly.
We hear that he would walk andtalk in the garden with them
direct Genesis, chapter 3, andthis was normal for them.
Imagine having direct access tothe Lord in a physical sense
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and it being a normal thing.
Yet even in their paradise therewas designated boundaries.
We all know do not eat thatfruit or they would surely die.
They didn't know death yet,because its sting had never
entered their prolific existenceto this point.
(10:37):
Yet the Lord imposed thissignificant boundary and we know
, because they did everythingtogether, that they would both
participate by giving in totemptation, not due to their
lacking of anything, because weknow they had everything they
could ever need, but becausethey were tempted by the
half-truths and questioning ofthe enemy who we know eventually
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accessed the garden within hisown caricature.
We know him as the serpent.
You do not lack.
The serpent quipped God isproviding, but what if you could
have more?
Did God really say you coulddie?
How many times have Iquestioned or crossed a boundary
(11:23):
, because even though my grasswas pretty green, I am tempted
with the notion of getting evengreener grass on the other side.
Then Eve, having only known fullprovision, sufficient
protection and everlasting peaceto this point in her life, and
Adam, who had never worried,never worked, as again God had
(11:45):
provided, nor ever walked a dayin his life without God.
Neither of them, to this point,had known what death or
destruction may have looked like.
But the both of them would givein to the deception and the
Bible says their eyes wereopened to their being naked.
Something that was so natural,so normal, so biologically and
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psychologically inconsequential,as God had intended, was now a
source of shame to them.
Yet the deepest division andmost significant consequence of
their allowing sin, sorrow andseparation in through their,
their disobedience was thatrelationship, for the first time
in history, had been broken.
(12:28):
Their relationship with God hadbeen fractured for the first
time, and we read by the fingerpointing with one another in
Genesis 12 and 13 that theyexperienced friction in their
relationship.
If you are a believer in Jesusand or you are familiar with the
rhetoric of the Christian faith, you may have heard that one of
the consequences of sin is howit separates us from God or
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others.
We see its introduction in thefirst marriage and the first
people.
In their place of bliss andparadise, satan was now in their
home and tempting them to gooutside the safety and boundary
of their relationships.
And now, because they crossedthe boundaries, they now were
going to experience the physicaland spiritual consequences of
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their choices.
They would be forced out of theplace they knew was home.
Both of them would nowexperience what would eventually
be called hardship.
Work would no longer be ajoyful experience to Adam.
We see in Genesis 3, 17, and 19.
And God declared in verses 22and 23 that now, because they
were like one of us, knowinggood and now evil, another
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boundary had to be formed.
Some scholars believe this usrefers to the Godhead, the
Father, son and the Holy Spirit,while others believe it to be
the angels or the cherubim,because God places them as
guardians of the garden a fewverses later, when establishing
the boundary of Adam and Eveleaving the garden and having to
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be kept out.
In any case, we now know that aone-time pure and perfect
creation in the world we hadcome to know would now be
punctuated by good and evil,comfort and conflict, beauty and
brokenness.
Moreover, we know that alltheir offspring, birthed
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painfully, mind you, as anadditional effect on all women
and their female offspring, alltheir offspring birthed
painfully, mind you, as anadditional effect on all women
and their female offspring, thattheir offspring would forever
experience their consequences ofthe sin.
They would be both temptedtoward it and be separated
spiritually from it, and allrelationships were subjected to
this curse of division for therest of time.
(14:43):
As we know it, as Satan seeksto come between God's creation
and forever question God'scommands to us.
I imagine you know firsthandwhether your marriage, your
family, friendships, co-workers,ministry relationships you too
have experienced this curse andthis division.
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We have taken this time toexperience more fully the
relational bliss and then therelational brokenness that
resulted from the first marriage, the first human relationship
in history that Satan camebetween.
We will come back to this storybriefly in a moment.
Yet I want to move forward onwhy the brokenness and division
that resulted in theintroductory relationship
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matters to us today and what weare to do about it.
A couple few millennia or solater, jesus was asked by an
expert of Jewish law, one of thePharisees that were attempting
to entrap him.
In Matthew 22, 37 through 40,we read Teacher, which is the
(15:47):
greatest commandment in the law?
Jesus replied Love the Lord,your God, with all your heart
and with all your soul and withall your mind.
This is the first and greatestcommandment.
And the second is, like it,love your neighbor as yourself.
All the law and the prophetshang on these two commandments.
(16:07):
Wait what, how profound is thisresponse the Lord gives his
adversary?
The greatest commandment ofJewish law is that of love, and
Jesus said nothing aboutposition, possessions nor
protection or any other subjectthat the Jewish law covered in
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those days, laws that, if yourecall, were given to Moses to
re-establish the communion andthe worship that was affected by
rebellion and sin that wereintroduced from the Adamic.
Curse upon them.
First, let me say the law wasnot insignificant, as it
provided the necessaryguidelines and the boundaries
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for the people to live fruitfuland fulfilled lives as they
abided by the law and thetheocracy.
Here now is this Jewish man, atraveling rabbi, who some were
calling the Messiah, declaringthat the greatest law is to love
God and to love others, thatall the rest of the law was
fulfilled once we mastered, orlet's just say, moved faithfully
(17:12):
in living out thesecommandments, and this makes
sense Now.
If you were to ever have timeto read the Torah, the Old
Testament, you will be able tocome up with 613 laws that were
given to the Jewish people.
The Jewish people called thisthe mitzvah, the Hebrew for the
laws or commandments.
(17:33):
Jesus was basically declaringthat, out of the 10 commandments
and of the 613 totalcommandments, a Jewish convert
would have to know and followthat they all point to the two
most significant commands, thesame two relationships that were
essentially broken by sin inthe fall of Adam and Eve the
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broken relationship with God andthe broken relationships they
had with one another.
They were separated by theirsin from God, who banished them
from the garden, and they wereemotionally separated from one
another, and every relationshipwithin their offspring and those
who would populate and beproduced throughout history
would bear the relationaleffects of sin in these same two
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vital relationships.
Yet isn't it so, god, that inhis own sovereignty and
omnipotence, he didn't justleave us in the consequences of
our sin.
He also provided a way out?
This is what it means toreconcile, to restore that which
has been broken in arelationship, to rebuild what
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has been destroyed, and that oneof the ministries to one
another we are to be about isthe ministry of reconciliation.
Now let us return, as promised,to the story of the Garden of
Eden, with our main characters,adam and Eve.
Remember, god didn't just leavethem in their place of shame
and sin.
God addressed their currentposition of shame by creating a
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covering for their now exposedbodies with his own hands, hands
that had once created themwithout shame within their
nakedness, but now had to guardand protect them from themselves
as they experienced the neweffects of their sin in the
future the coldness, thenakedness, the pain, the
exposure, not only physically,but spiritually, mentally,
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emotionally and even nowsexually.
Spiritually, mentally,emotionally and even now
sexually.
So he didn't just address theircurrent position of shame.
He addressed their currentposition by providing a covering
.
And then he addressed theireternal position by evicting
them from the garden andpreventing them from not only
eating illegal produce, but alsopreventing what would result in
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an eternal spiritual separationfrom him.
He cared about them now and hecared about their eternity.
We can see, even in the firstrelationship, the truth of 1
Corinthians 10.13.
And God is faithful.
He will not let you be temptedbeyond what you can bear, but
when you are tempted, he willalso provide a way out so that
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you can stand up under it.
I want you to see howconsistent themes are within the
scriptures.
I want you to see that the Lordis capable of meeting us in our
current circumstance and willcover all of our shame and sin
if we turn to him.
The rest of scripture from thatfirst relationship in the garden
of Genesis is the story,through the Adamic, the Noahic
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and the Mosaic covenants, of himproviding a way out of bondage
that we often create ourselvesby reconciling our eternal
position through the sacrificesthat we were called to make.
And then he saw that there wasonly one who could make such a
sacrifice, the one who wouldtake on the bondage of sin and
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the sting of death forever.
That is the story of the newcovenant and the propitiation of
Christ, the only one who couldmake up for the sin of Adam and
Eve, cain and Abel, abraham andMoses, peter and Paul, all of
Israel, all of the Middle East,past and modern, the United
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States of America, past andmodern, every tribe, every
tongue, every nation, all ofhuman history and their sins
could and would be forgiven uponthe altar of Christ Through his
sacrifice.
This is the new covenant.
Your first sin to your mostrecent sin, your latest anger
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outburst with your spouse orchild, your secrecy, utilizing
the internet for porn and ordating sites as a married man or
woman, all those secret tripsto the liquor store or maybe
it's to the Taco Bell drive-thruto utilize a substance that
will make it all go away?
Perhaps you are skimming alittle money off the top at work
and you figure it's not hurtinganybody.
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You have your sobriety chip,but you are telling people you
are a few years clean, while allthe while you've changed your
drug of choice completely with aconsistent dealer and routine.
Maybe it's your last time thatyou pass judgments about that
person who annoys you orthreatens you by their position.
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You think they are not as goodas you are, as spiritual or
smart or as successful as youare, or you think they are
better than you.
And you now are entrenched inthe envy and your bitterness and
your resentment.
So you are tempted to shamethem, even if just in your mind,
or you are tempted to shun anddistance them in your jealousy.
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Whatever past or current orfuture sins you have, no matter
their size nor their quantity.
They are all forgiven.
It was done.
This was the ultimatereconciliation between God and
us so that we could walktogether again, not just now,
but for eternity.
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That, friends, but for eternitythat friends, is good news,
full of hope and redemption, andthat is the gospel message.
Yet we know that, even thoughour sins are forgiven, that we
will still experience both sinand the consequences of our sins
that affect us.
This side of heaven we stillsee the enemy serpent head at
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times creeping in ourrelationships, trying to create
separation.
I will demonstrate later how myown sins separated me and how I
pursued reconciliation.
Let's look at what the Biblesays of relationships that are
broken.
We read all throughout Genesisthe effects of sin and how it
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destroys relationships Murder,idolatry.
Recall last episode weaddressed how addiction and
idolatry are often synonymousHeroin, meth, pills, alcohol,
sex, food, relationships andcodependency, gambling power,
money position, anger, anxietySome people get high on being
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angry or anxious Pornography.
All of these can become our Godand any God put before the Lord
of heaven and earth is idolatry.
But continue on in the book ofGenesis.
We finish off with witnessingin the book acts of deception,
betrayal, sexual immorality.
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I mean the bases are covered inthe manner and amount of ways
that separated people from theircreator and those he created
for us to be in relationshipswith.
You ought to read throughGenesis and then take note of
how each sin you come acrosswhat the relational impact of a
particular action was.
I mean, it's an intriguing study, and it isn't until Exodus and
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some 400 years after the floodthat the Lord utilized to
cleanse all the evil and sin,that we read of the crucial
character of Moses, who wouldnow be the designated, anointed
figure, that the Lord wouldestablish first our 10
commandments and what wouldeventually be known as those 613
halakha, or Jewish laws.
He provided a way out theMosaic law, specifically the
ceremonial law that governssacrifices.
(25:19):
This ritual system revealed notonly the need for a sacrifice
to be made for sins, but wouldpoint to the messianic hope
found in Christ as our perfectsacrifice.
The people of their day couldrely on the law and the prophets
to add credibility to whomeverwas to move forward and fulfill
all the prophecies projectedabout a Messiah and someone who
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could save them.
Just like today, anyone canlook backward and see how Jesus
fulfilled the prophecies allthroughout the Law and the
Prophets, making them credibleregardless how strict the
measuring stick was.
The Jewish perception andexpectations of the Messiah
differed in part, as we commonlyknow.
Yet Jesus fulfilled theprophecies that defied the
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expectations and desires of thereligious leaders of the day
when you read the New Testament.
And all of this was sovereignlywoven into his redemptive plan.
Jesus would ultimately becomethe sacrifice, as we said before
, and the price of purchase issteep and is to be redeemed for
all of us today.
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You see, when he told us tolove God and love others, these
were the greatest of the halakha.
He said this with the fullwisdom of what the law was
intended to provide for worshipand for relationship, if lived
out in fullness.
He told the religious leadersto love God and love others,
with the full perspective thatthis would be difficult and at
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times feel downright impossiblefor his followers.
He also had the divineperspective of providing the new
covenant and the new kingdom ofa new church, of new
relationships and of new hope.
With God, it is possible tofulfill the spirit of the law.
Many of these, the disciples,wouldn't even understand until
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much later, let alone thePharisees and those who were his
adversaries.
Fortunately, we have hismessages and we also have the
apostles who helped usunderstand the ministry of
loving God and loving others.
We are given an understandingof what reconciliation truly is
and how to practically live alife reconciled to God and
reconciled to people when we arecalled to be.
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I want to share with you from mylife a particular story that
may be difficult to hear 15years after its plot would begin
in my life.
If you are listening today andyou have heard my story, shared
within six episodes, you know Ishared in brief that, while
having dissociative identitydisorder that my own Christian
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host that is, the one part of methat was the one that God
created during seasons of greatdifficulty, before I was healed
of the disorder and surgery andbefore I even found healthy
balance, that I had a full-onaffair with one of my wife's
good friends, one of my own goodfriends, who had been called
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for a season to walk along withus.
You see, so much shame andstigma does get applied to
adulterers because of the greatpain the sin causes, those that
they hurt and also the greatseparation from God and one
another due to the idolatry thatadultery represents.
I hope you can see thesynonymous nature of these words
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the pain of adultery,destroying relationships and
marriages and as a result, wesee why the scarlet letter.
You know for you literary buffs, why it's so powerful for those
who have committed thisgrievous act.
But I have to say something inspecific regarding adultery that
comes from this story.
You see, the woman that I hadan affair with within my
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personality disorder, she wasthe last woman who was in your
Sunday school dressed in theirSunday best, coming from a
Christian family that you wouldever consider to breaking her
marriage vows.
She and her husband hadn't evenas so much as kissed before
their wedding day.
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Due to their significantdiscipline and strong conviction
, they were going to bemissionaries and they were
building up support andpreparing for their eventual
journey.
While that time, they were inour small group and she was one
of the strongest and mostsensitive of prayer warriors
that we knew.
Again, no one wants to be in alineup of people that you think
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would commit adultery, but ifshe was in that line, she'd be
the first person you'd say noway to and you would deduce from
the equation.
Yet we know who Satan is In hisdeceptive and demonic strategy.
He was able to creep his headinto our relationship as she was
part of our support team as Iwalked with mental illness and
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instability, just as we were apart of theirs.
She and her husband walkedthrough the highs and the lows
of my disorder and she gotcaught up within this tornado of
spiritual warfare, demonicoppression and soul ties that
were formed between the two ofus as some necessary boundaries
were crossed in the relationshipand, before you knew it, as
(30:25):
some necessary boundaries werecrossed in the relationship and
before you knew it, we werehaving a full-on physical affair
.
I was switched into protectivepersonalities throughout the
course of the affair, which forpractical purposes, means that
my Christian host or my coreidentity was hijacked.
I was not yet able to walk withthe Lord in my disorder, who
enabled me to remain present.
Due to the satanic ritual abuseI endured in my childhood, many
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demonic vows were made whichspiritually impacted these
personality parts.
I had and would affect me intomy adulthood, sabotaging any
relationship that mypersonalities perceived could
possibly hurt me.
Satan had his heyday sabotagingthis once completely pure
relationship with our friendsthat at the beginning held
(31:10):
beautiful boundaries and abeautiful, profound reciprocity
of edification that existedbetween the two couples as we
walked together shoulder toshoulder, bearing one another's
burdens and the after effects ofour sinful affair were that two
marital relationships and fourgodly friendships were violated
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and they were broken.
We have spent the last fewepisodes talking through the
biblical perspective ofsuffering, as well as the
scriptural imperatives to laydown our lives and pick up our
cross, to forgive others as weare forgiven, and also we have
examined what it means to betransformed by the renewing of
(31:53):
our minds.
We are not just called to walkwith Christ by laying down our
selfish will and submitting tohis will as if that is easy.
Nor are we called just toforgive others as we are
forgiven and that's just the endof it.
We are called to undergorenewal by allowing him to
replace all the survival andprojected lies of the enemy on
our life with the truth that isfound in true restoration.
And then we are called to liveout reconciliation or to pursue
(32:16):
the rebuilding andreconstructing that in our life
which is broken.
My last point is that this wholeparadigm isn't as simple as a
one, two-three, step-by-stepplan done over a few days, nor
is it as complicated as analternative theology that adds
additional works to thesalvation message that's found
in Christ.
(32:36):
If you have received eithermessage, then?
Do not hear me wrong.
Rather, it is a process bywhich I have found in my own
life where God has revealed howhis son himself was betrayed and
broken and, by the power of thesacrifice he made on our behalf
, gave us the power andauthority to forgive sins of our
perpetrators and of ourselves.
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And he has modeled.
He has modeled the message andthe process by which our earthly
and fleshly lives will have todie away to our new identities
that are found in him.
We have this power andauthority to not only undergo a
transformative process thatreveals his work, but also, when
we reconcile that which theworld sees as broken, we reveal
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his power.
You see, this whole processwould play out the next few
years.
After our affair.
My wife and I had to undergo arestoration process where we
laid down our lives to oneanother.
My wife showed me the power offorgiveness by forgiving me and
then forgiving her friend.
I experienced the power ofChrist's forgiveness through my
(33:44):
wife as well as my friend, thehusband whom I had harmed.
He fully and genuinely forgaveme, and then the two of them
entered a few years of their ownpersonal restoration, and the
story is that both of us arestill married to those spouses
today, but the story does notstop there.
(34:05):
Still married to those spousestoday, but the story does not
stop there.
The Holy Spirit revealed to usthat we were to reconcile as
couples.
Now there were some, even keyleaders and pastors in our
churches that were telling usthat such relationships weren't
appropriate to reconcile.
And in truth, we do not seeexamples of many of these
relationships reconciled in ourculture.
We do not see examples of manyof these relationships
(34:25):
reconciled in our culture,unless you consider a divorced
spouse, now amicable or evenfriendly, as being reconciled.
Yet we all have to listen tothe scriptures better than that
than to arrive at a conclusionthat it is inappropriate to
reconcile any relationship.
In the Lord if he wills it, andthen he provides the way.
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You see, the four of us felt thesame pull of the Holy Spirit to
come together.
Where I asked the wife for herforgiveness, she did the same of
me, and then we establishedwhatever the new, restored and
reconciled relationship wouldlook like, going forward within
the four of us.
Mind you, this is many years ofa comprehensive process boiled
(35:11):
down into what it seems like afew sentences, but what came of
this was absolutely glorious,though our relationship looked
different and, don't get mewrong, it needed to be different
now, for obvious reasons.
Different, and, don't get mewrong, it needed to be different
now for obvious reasons.
We would now get together asfamilies again for dinner, like
we once had.
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I renewed my relationship withmy good friend, the husband, and
my wife did so with hers, andthen, years later, as they were
visiting home from one of theirmissionary trips, yes, they went
on to fulfill God's plan fortheir lives.
Following their reconciliation,the husband and I stood on the
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stage together at my church andsharing our rare story of
reconciliation on a Sunday thatI was preaching.
My wife and I have also spokentogether often about our
experiences with this process ofuncommon reconciliation that
took place after restoration tomany people in the audience and,
as a result, people often askus the important questions and
I'm sure some of them you as alistener have yourself Like how
(36:21):
could you forgive one another?
How could you trust yourhusband again, especially if the
four of you were socializinglater?
How could my wife be friendswith the best friend who
betrayed her Again, let alonewith me and the other wife?
I will answer some of that now.
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Yet I know we are running out alittle bit longer today and I
see that, but I will try to keepthat now.
Yet I know we are running out alittle bit longer today, and I
see that, but I will try to keepmy answers succinct.
We had new boundaries that wereboth imposed and necessary to
provide the variousrelationships amongst us with
protection, as well as trueglory and worship to the Lord.
Our suffering and our wounds,our sacrifices and our work to
(37:03):
restore all of it was given overto God as our spiritual acts of
worship.
We now had the full perspectiveand understanding of our sin,
the root of it, the plan ofsabotage, as well as the
brokenness in each of us thatresulted in the carnage.
Yet we also had the full planof Jesus and his redemption and
the fact that, when we repentedfor our sins and arrived at a
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healthy place, building trust inour marriages where we wouldn't
re-offend each other again, andwe were able to demonstrate to
the world the powerful messageof what loving one another truly
looked like, we are loving Godand loving others, and it looks
this messy and this difficult attimes.
And it looks this messy andthis difficult at times.
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But isn't God amazing?
And wait a second.
Doesn't my wife sound like awonder woman?
She truly is one of the mostsacrificial and saintliest
people I have ever met.
She is beautiful inside and outand, for the record, we are
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better today than we have everbeen as we face new challenges,
post-surgery andpost-personality changes.
I have always loved this versefrom the scriptures that
eloquently speaks truth to ourunique situation and, through
him, to reconcile to himself allthings, whether things on earth
or things in heaven, by makingpeace through his blood shed on
the cross.
Colossians 1, 20-22,.
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Once you were alienated fromGod and were enemies in your
minds because of your evilbehavior, but now he has
reconciled you by Christ'sphysical body through death to
present, to present you holy inhis sight, without blemish and
free from accusation.
We are made holy in his sightnow, without blemish and now
(38:57):
free from any accusations.
Where are the scarlet S's?
It's like what Jesus told thewoman caught in adultery in his
day.
When Jesus straightened hisfigure up from scribbling
something in the dirt, he askedher woman where are they?
Has no one condemned you?
No one, sir.
She said Then neither do Icondemn you.
(39:19):
But then Jesus declared this gonow and leave your life of sin
or go and sin no more.
Jesus declared this go now andleave your life of sin or go and
sin no more.
I can picture Jesus asking usthe same question, in the same
way he did to the woman at thewell, your accusers are now gone
, so go and sin no more.
Translated properly and in theright tense, that we are to turn
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180 degrees from ourdestructive behavior to repent,
to seek his transformation.
But what if you are in asituation where there is abuse?
You might be wondering.
Are you saying, jason, that Iam to forgive my abuser and then
reconcile with him?
Not only have I been asked thisquestion many times after
sharing our story, but manypastors have made both the
(40:03):
unbiblical and erroneous errorto say that women in specific,
ought to endure in theirmarriage as a survivor in abuse
in all forms.
This is offensive to my ownhard work in the restoration
process and it is to any othervictims to hear that one is
intended to endure the horrorsof abuse in the name of
(40:23):
forgiveness.
I downright condemn this asevil.
We are called to repent for oursin and our actions, and if we
are in a situation where one ofthe parties is unwilling to seek
repentance or restoration, thatis to walk the talk.
Then other steps got to betaken and boundaries got to be
(40:44):
drawn, and sometimesreconciliation just isn't
possible.
Forgiveness is always possibleand remember, it is also a
command.
Restoration is always possiblefor somebody and, the way I read
, we are to lay down our lives,hence submitting our will to his
.
I also hear this as a command.
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Reconciliation is beautiful andit glorifies the Lord when
possible, but it is actually theone aspect which may or may not
be possible, nor evenappropriate in certain
situations, and I have listedonly a few of these here.
Friends, we will all havedifficult people in our lives,
(41:27):
most of which will not abuse us,but we will be frustrated with
them.
We will feel authentic andgenuine strong feelings, and we
will experience the brokennessof relationships going forward.
Only when we get to heaven willwe be full circle, complete, in
an arena absent of of pain andsuffering, without sadness and
tears.
We will be fully reconciled tothe Lord, not just in spirit and
(41:53):
truth, but finally in perfectglory, as we are in his presence
full time once we get to thatplace.
Until then, we must be adamantabout leading our lives and our
relationships towardsrestoration and reconciliation,
and I hope, when you see thatserpent, the devil and the enemy
of our souls creep into yourrelationships, that you remember
Jesus stepped on him, crushedhis head, and we now have power
(42:15):
and authority over hisstrategies as well, and we have
an ability to demonstrate hisglory through our story when we
restore and rebuild that whichthe enemy has broken.
First, though, we have to bereconciled to Christ ourselves.
That is the truth that I havesearched far and wide and landed
(42:36):
on in response to my ownsuffering for years.
For those of you who arelistening and you either feel
compelled to respond by seekingforgiveness, restoration, or
maybe even reconciling thatrelationship you have been
neglected to, or if you are withus and you have never prayed to
be forgiven for the sins thatseparate you from relationship
with the Lord, and you'redesiring that reconciliation
(42:59):
today, then I want to pray foryou right now.
Then, I want to pray for youright now, lord Jesus.
I repent of my sins and Isurrender my life.
Wash me clean.
I believe that you are the Sonof God, that you died on the
cross for the forgiveness of mysins and you rose again on the
third day for my victory.
I believe that in my heart andmake confession with my mouth
(43:21):
that you, Jesus, are my Lord andmy Savior.
I want to live my lifeaccording to your terms and I
want you to change my beliefsystems from the inside out,
even those that have protectedme or were founded at a time I
was severely wounded mentally,emotionally or spiritually.
I trust your plan and I ask foryou to put the people and the
(43:41):
process by which I need topursue restoration into my life.
I ask for you to reveal to methe relationships that I have
neglected to reconcile due tothe pain they have caused me,
the pride in my own heart orwhatever dynamics the enemy has
utilized to keep us apart.
If I am unable to reconcile forlegitimate reasons, like maybe,
(44:02):
ongoing abuse that they couldproject upon me, or maybe they
have passed away, then I ask foryour sovereign hand and for
your peace to fill me.
If I have been restored on myside of the street.
Thank you, god, for being a Godof mercy, a God of healing and
a God of reconciliation.
May I seek to be a reconcilerin the relationships of my life.
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It's in your name, jesus, thatI pray Amen.
If you have today agreed withthis prayer from the depths of
your heart, I welcome you to theeternal family of God.
I encourage you to find thisorthodox, biblically-based faith
family who worships the Lordpassionately.
(44:45):
Also, devote yourself to thereading of the scriptures, like
we have done today.
As you can tell, there is somuch to gain from living this
new life, and his guidance isfound in these love letters, or
the Bible to us.
Next time on the HopefulPerspective podcast, we will
examine this crazy politicalclimate we live in and see where
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it is that we can find hopeamongst the chaos.
Are we, as a country, moredivided than we ever have been?
What do the scriptures actuallytell us about our role as
believers in politics, and do wesee believers around us
actually living out what theBible says?
Are we to look to thegovernment or a governing
(45:31):
official as the hope of theworld, and how do we show Jesus
and bridge the divide politicscreates in our relationships?
These are only but a few of thequestions and principles that I
will address on the next fewepisodes on the Hopeful
Perspective.
Until then, I want to thank youfor joining me along this
(45:52):
journey and, if you would be sokind to follow, subscribe and,
most importantly, to rate andwrite a review for others who
may need the Hopeful Perspective.
I would appreciate that Now youcan contribute monetarily by
pressing our support the showlink that is embedded on your
platform in the episodedescriptions.
All of your contributions areutilized to grow the podcast, to
(46:16):
multiply our equipment, tobroaden our reach and to share
this hope of Christ.
I want to shout out mygratitude to the multiple new
donors who already have madethis commitment to support this
podcast financially.
Without you, it would not bepossible to reach as many people
with the messages that we do oranyone who needs to be reminded
(46:40):
that hope is real.
So thank you so much in advanceand until next time.
Remember you are loved.
Welcome to the Hopeful Perspective Podcast.
I am your host, jason Hopkins.
I cannot believe that, as webegin episode 11, that we have
been able to be together eachweek without an obstacle nor a
single omission.
I feel like I have been coveredand protected through the worst
(00:20):
of spiritual warfare during thesix weeks I shared my story, as
well as I have been guardedeven during painful central pain
syndrome, flare-ups and otherroutine issues I battle on a
recurring basis.
I appreciate all of you whohave been along for the journey
to this point and I cherish allof your prayers for me as I seek
to do what I have been calledto in this season.
(00:42):
To this point, we have beenlearning how my own life story
illustrates God's glory throughmy own destructive life
experiences and divineredemption, moving from survivor
to thriver.
My heart is to share my storyfor His glory, as I have also
been called to follow Christ inmy redemption, to which he gets
(01:02):
all the glory.
Some of you have said youwouldn't know by the podcast so
far, but I do struggle withcommunication at times and
basically brain stamina due tomy TBI from the brain injuries.
I just trust the Lord with allof this and know, regardless of
where he takes us.
He is ahead of us, his son iswith us and His Spirit is within
(01:25):
us.
Together we have talked throughthe basic yet foundational
principles of suffering,redemption, forgiveness and
restoration, or, as we exploredlast week, the otherwise known
as renewing of the mind.
Today we are going to talkthrough biblical reconciliation,
more specifically, the rolethat our relationships with God
(01:46):
and our other people play on ourjourney.
So I encourage you to grab yourfavorite snack, hot or cold
beverage, get comfortable andcome on this journey with me
today as we explore the powerand the freedom found in
transformation into a new childof God.
Before we jump into today'stopic, I told you last week I
(02:08):
have exciting news about ourpodcast.
I have been invited by my goodfriend, jeff Tharp, to
collaborate with him on thepodcast he hosts to share my
story for God's glory.
If you have been following fromthe beginning of our short
history, you know that themission and vision of the
podcast is to share the hopefulperspective with as many people
as possible, to extend our reachand influence as we grow.
(02:31):
I have stated that, whether wereach five people or five
million people, that the Lordwill be glorified through the
podcast.
I am thrilled to, already, soearly in the podcasting journey,
to be invited by my good friendand his sweet podcast ministry
to share my story for Christ'sglory.
I want to encourage all of youlistening to me that if you are
(02:54):
looking for an uplifting,spirit-filled and edifying
experience, check out the ElijahFire podcast.
Elijah Fire one word.
They have around 15,000 subsand over a half a million in
total traffic per month whotheir online ministry is
reaching.
Let's just say that at thispoint in our podcasting journeys
(03:18):
, they are just a little furtherahead on the path than we are.
Again, I am excited to jointhem as we record the podcast
tomorrow and we get to share thehope of Christ found in my
story.
I will let you know when theepisode is being released and I
appreciate all your support andespecially your prayers for this
divine appointment.
(03:38):
Now let's jump into today'sepisode topic.
I want to begin our timetogether in a reflective mindset
.
So whether you are driving,sitting on the porch, washing
your dishes, mowing the lawn orwherever you are, keep your eyes
on the road, of course, butjoin me in this exercise.
I want to begin ourconversation on reconciliation
(04:01):
by reflecting on the incrediblescene that we read in Genesis
regarding the Garden of Eden.
Can you imagine what it musthave been like for Adam and Eve
living in their own?
Hawaii, bahamas, jamaica,whatever your dream destination
is?
But now imagine all of theselocations rolled up in one in
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Adam and Eve's own full-time,extravagant vacation.
Except at this point, the onlyso-called job Adam had to
vacation from, or just simplylive as it would have been for
them, is found in Genesis 2, 15and 16.
Here it says that Adam was towork and take care of the garden
.
Here it says that Adam was towork and take care of the garden
(04:46):
.
We do know that what we thinkof as difficult labor was not
involved.
We must account for the ideathat Adam nor Eve wouldn't even
know the concept of difficultyyet.
I imagine he and Eve pickingtheir favorite flowers, having
fun, frolicking in one of thefour rivers they had access to,
splashing and swimming in thewater, basking in the sun,
(05:08):
sipping on whatever heavenlycocktail or concoction they
desired.
At any time they were inclined.
Scripture says that they hadfull authority over creation and
they were to take care of it.
I can hear Eve laughing at someof the animal names Adam had
just created to call the variouswildlife around them before her
(05:29):
arrival, as we read in Genesis2, 19 and 20, that it was his
assignment of naming the animals, not just her appropriate
laughter, perhaps and this isjust my conjecture, and possibly
even my imagination applyingreal world ideas to the story,
because we are not told thespecifics.
(05:50):
But I can just see adamresponding to eve's laughter
with go ahead, my helper, mywife, you can rename a few of
them for yourself.
I figure eve named the seahawksand the Ducks and the Beavers
and the Huskies and the Cougarsall amazing animals, can you see
(06:11):
?
I live in the Pacific Northwestand you are saying what is a
Seahawk?
Well, they must have been inEden and since become native to
Washington, oregon, my homestate, home of the mighty ducks,
the beavers and our belovedtrailblazers.
Not an animal, as far as I cantell.
But we have digressed.
We can figure that, while whatEve said was logical and
(06:34):
organized, that Adam was the oneprobably responsible for
designating the names of theblobfish, the pleasing fungus
beetle look it up.
And of course he was the onetrying to figure out the
duck-billed platypus and thenthe screaming hare armadillo.
Yet in our reflection, try toimagine them running amongst
lions and tigers, grizzly bearsand tarantulas Okay, we've gone
(06:59):
far enough, but imagine they'reexperiencing a level of safety
and security in this paradise,amongst all his creation.
They didn't know the concept ofdanger, yet.
They didn't know sin, sicknessnor sadness.
They didn't know what a powerstruggle or an argument on the
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way to church was Okay, we knowthat.
They didn't even, maybe, knowwhat a church was, or did they?
I ask this because we read inthe New Testament that Jesus
says again truly, I tell youthat if two of you on earth
agree about anything they askfor it, it will be done for them
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by my Father in heaven, forwhere two or three gather in my
name, there I am with them.
We see all of this in Matthew 18, 20, and then read in proper
context, with the appropriatehermeneutics or biblical
interpretation being applied.
We see that this is given atthe tail end of Jesus'
addressing broken relationshipsand sin in the church.
(08:02):
We know that, though Adam andEve knew and walked intimately
with God, thus fulfilling thedefinition of church that they
didn't yet know brokenrelationship or sin.
Yet Applying appropriatehermeneutics is so important to
gleaning and mining the nuancesfound in scripture Believers for
generations have found inscripture.
Believers for generations havegenuinely, yet mistakenly, used
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this passage speaking about twoto three believers gathered
therefore, god is with them asmerely applying to answering and
agreeing with our prayers, orto sound as though, because we
are gathered as two to three ormore, in his name he is
therefore present.
Is that thought consistent withwhat we know about God, though?
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You see, we are instructed thatwhen Jesus ascended, he was
leaving a comforter, a helper inthe Holy Spirit, who we now had
direct access to.
Once we have made Jesus theLord of our life, having
repented and turned to our lifewith him, we have a helper in
the Holy Spirit on that walk.
(09:10):
We pray and have access to theLord when alone, so why would we
have to gather in two to threeto access his presence?
In this verse, that must not bereferring to what we think it
does, which means we have toread scripture within its
(09:30):
context, and we will dive moreinto what that means in terms of
today's topic.
But we have strayed away fromEden and we have to get back to
our pondering of Adam and Eve.
See, they didn't have to worryabout hermeneutics or homiletics
or eschatology, or even theirown biology.
Yet Am I right?
We have to understand that thefirst couple didn't just have
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paradise due to the environmentlacking, sin and stress,
sickness and sadness.
As we have said, we read inGenesis that they talked with
God directly.
We hear that he would walk andtalk in the garden with them
direct Genesis, chapter 3, andthis was normal for them.
Imagine having direct access tothe Lord in a physical sense
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and it being a normal thing.
Yet even in their paradise therewas designated boundaries.
We all know do not eat thatfruit or they would surely die.
They didn't know death yet,because its sting had never
entered their prolific existenceto this point.
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Yet the Lord imposed thissignificant boundary and we know
, because they did everythingtogether, that they would both
participate by giving in totemptation, not due to their
lacking of anything, because weknow they had everything they
could ever need, but becausethey were tempted by the
half-truths and questioning ofthe enemy who we know eventually
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accessed the garden within hisown caricature.
We know him as the serpent.
You do not lack.
The serpent quipped God isproviding, but what if you could
have more?
Did God really say you coulddie?
How many times have Iquestioned or crossed a boundary
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, because even though my grasswas pretty green, I am tempted
with the notion of getting evengreener grass on the other side.
Then Eve, having only known fullprovision, sufficient
protection and everlasting peaceto this point in her life, and
Adam, who had never worried,never worked, as again God had
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provided, nor ever walked a dayin his life without God.
Neither of them, to this point,had known what death or
destruction may have looked like.
But the both of them would givein to the deception and the
Bible says their eyes wereopened to their being naked.
Something that was so natural,so normal, so biologically and
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psychologically inconsequential,as God had intended, was now a
source of shame to them.
Yet the deepest division andmost significant consequence of
their allowing sin, sorrow andseparation in through their,
their disobedience was thatrelationship, for the first time
in history, had been broken.
(12:28):
Their relationship with God hadbeen fractured for the first
time, and we read by the fingerpointing with one another in
Genesis 12 and 13 that theyexperienced friction in their
relationship.
If you are a believer in Jesusand or you are familiar with the
rhetoric of the Christian faith, you may have heard that one of
the consequences of sin is howit separates us from God or
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others.
We see its introduction in thefirst marriage and the first
people.
In their place of bliss andparadise, satan was now in their
home and tempting them to gooutside the safety and boundary
of their relationships.
And now, because they crossedthe boundaries, they now were
going to experience the physicaland spiritual consequences of
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their choices.
They would be forced out of theplace they knew was home.
Both of them would nowexperience what would eventually
be called hardship.
Work would no longer be ajoyful experience to Adam.
We see in Genesis 3, 17, and 19.
And God declared in verses 22and 23 that now, because they
were like one of us, knowinggood and now evil, another
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boundary had to be formed.
Some scholars believe this usrefers to the Godhead, the
Father, son and the Holy Spirit,while others believe it to be
the angels or the cherubim,because God places them as
guardians of the garden a fewverses later, when establishing
the boundary of Adam and Eveleaving the garden and having to
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be kept out.
In any case, we now know that aone-time pure and perfect
creation in the world we hadcome to know would now be
punctuated by good and evil,comfort and conflict, beauty and
brokenness.
Moreover, we know that alltheir offspring, birthed
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painfully, mind you, as anadditional effect on all women
and their female offspring, alltheir offspring birthed
painfully, mind you, as anadditional effect on all women
and their female offspring, thattheir offspring would forever
experience their consequences ofthe sin.
They would be both temptedtoward it and be separated
spiritually from it, and allrelationships were subjected to
this curse of division for therest of time.
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As we know it, as Satan seeksto come between God's creation
and forever question God'scommands to us.
I imagine you know firsthandwhether your marriage, your
family, friendships, co-workers,ministry relationships you too
have experienced this curse andthis division.
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We have taken this time toexperience more fully the
relational bliss and then therelational brokenness that
resulted from the first marriage, the first human relationship
in history that Satan camebetween.
We will come back to this storybriefly in a moment.
Yet I want to move forward onwhy the brokenness and division
that resulted in theintroductory relationship
(15:26):
matters to us today and what weare to do about it.
A couple few millennia or solater, jesus was asked by an
expert of Jewish law, one of thePharisees that were attempting
to entrap him.
In Matthew 22, 37 through 40,we read Teacher, which is the
(15:47):
greatest commandment in the law?
Jesus replied Love the Lord,your God, with all your heart
and with all your soul and withall your mind.
This is the first and greatestcommandment.
And the second is, like it,love your neighbor as yourself.
All the law and the prophetshang on these two commandments.
(16:07):
Wait what, how profound is thisresponse the Lord gives his
adversary?
The greatest commandment ofJewish law is that of love, and
Jesus said nothing aboutposition, possessions nor
protection or any other subjectthat the Jewish law covered in
(16:28):
those days, laws that, if yourecall, were given to Moses to
re-establish the communion andthe worship that was affected by
rebellion and sin that wereintroduced from the Adamic.
Curse upon them.
First, let me say the law wasnot insignificant, as it
provided the necessaryguidelines and the boundaries
(16:48):
for the people to live fruitfuland fulfilled lives as they
abided by the law and thetheocracy.
Here now is this Jewish man, atraveling rabbi, who some were
calling the Messiah, declaringthat the greatest law is to love
God and to love others, thatall the rest of the law was
fulfilled once we mastered, orlet's just say, moved faithfully
(17:12):
in living out thesecommandments, and this makes
sense Now.
If you were to ever have timeto read the Torah, the Old
Testament, you will be able tocome up with 613 laws that were
given to the Jewish people.
The Jewish people called thisthe mitzvah, the Hebrew for the
laws or commandments.
(17:33):
Jesus was basically declaringthat, out of the 10 commandments
and of the 613 totalcommandments, a Jewish convert
would have to know and followthat they all point to the two
most significant commands, thesame two relationships that were
essentially broken by sin inthe fall of Adam and Eve the
(17:53):
broken relationship with God andthe broken relationships they
had with one another.
They were separated by theirsin from God, who banished them
from the garden, and they wereemotionally separated from one
another, and every relationshipwithin their offspring and those
who would populate and beproduced throughout history
would bear the relationaleffects of sin in these same two
(18:13):
vital relationships.
Yet isn't it so, god, that inhis own sovereignty and
omnipotence, he didn't justleave us in the consequences of
our sin.
He also provided a way out?
This is what it means toreconcile, to restore that which
has been broken in arelationship, to rebuild what
(18:34):
has been destroyed, and that oneof the ministries to one
another we are to be about isthe ministry of reconciliation.
Now let us return, as promised,to the story of the Garden of
Eden, with our main characters,adam and Eve.
Remember, god didn't just leavethem in their place of shame
and sin.
God addressed their currentposition of shame by creating a
(18:57):
covering for their now exposedbodies with his own hands, hands
that had once created themwithout shame within their
nakedness, but now had to guardand protect them from themselves
as they experienced the neweffects of their sin in the
future the coldness, thenakedness, the pain, the
exposure, not only physically,but spiritually, mentally,
(19:21):
emotionally and even nowsexually.
Spiritually, mentally,emotionally and even now
sexually.
So he didn't just address theircurrent position of shame.
He addressed their currentposition by providing a covering
.
And then he addressed theireternal position by evicting
them from the garden andpreventing them from not only
eating illegal produce, but alsopreventing what would result in
(19:43):
an eternal spiritual separationfrom him.
He cared about them now and hecared about their eternity.
We can see, even in the firstrelationship, the truth of 1
Corinthians 10.13.
And God is faithful.
He will not let you be temptedbeyond what you can bear, but
when you are tempted, he willalso provide a way out so that
(20:05):
you can stand up under it.
I want you to see howconsistent themes are within the
scriptures.
I want you to see that the Lordis capable of meeting us in our
current circumstance and willcover all of our shame and sin
if we turn to him.
The rest of scripture from thatfirst relationship in the garden
of Genesis is the story,through the Adamic, the Noahic
(20:29):
and the Mosaic covenants, of himproviding a way out of bondage
that we often create ourselvesby reconciling our eternal
position through the sacrificesthat we were called to make.
And then he saw that there wasonly one who could make such a
sacrifice, the one who wouldtake on the bondage of sin and
(20:52):
the sting of death forever.
That is the story of the newcovenant and the propitiation of
Christ, the only one who couldmake up for the sin of Adam and
Eve, cain and Abel, abraham andMoses, peter and Paul, all of
Israel, all of the Middle East,past and modern, the United
(21:13):
States of America, past andmodern, every tribe, every
tongue, every nation, all ofhuman history and their sins
could and would be forgiven uponthe altar of Christ Through his
sacrifice.
This is the new covenant.
Your first sin to your mostrecent sin, your latest anger
(21:36):
outburst with your spouse orchild, your secrecy, utilizing
the internet for porn and ordating sites as a married man or
woman, all those secret tripsto the liquor store or maybe
it's to the Taco Bell drive-thruto utilize a substance that
will make it all go away?
Perhaps you are skimming alittle money off the top at work
and you figure it's not hurtinganybody.
(21:56):
You have your sobriety chip,but you are telling people you
are a few years clean, while allthe while you've changed your
drug of choice completely with aconsistent dealer and routine.
Maybe it's your last time thatyou pass judgments about that
person who annoys you orthreatens you by their position.
(22:16):
You think they are not as goodas you are, as spiritual or
smart or as successful as youare, or you think they are
better than you.
And you now are entrenched inthe envy and your bitterness and
your resentment.
So you are tempted to shamethem, even if just in your mind,
or you are tempted to shun anddistance them in your jealousy.
(22:40):
Whatever past or current orfuture sins you have, no matter
their size nor their quantity.
They are all forgiven.
It was done.
This was the ultimatereconciliation between God and
us so that we could walktogether again, not just now,
but for eternity.
(23:01):
That, friends, but for eternitythat friends, is good news,
full of hope and redemption, andthat is the gospel message.
Yet we know that, even thoughour sins are forgiven, that we
will still experience both sinand the consequences of our sins
that affect us.
This side of heaven we stillsee the enemy serpent head at
(23:24):
times creeping in ourrelationships, trying to create
separation.
I will demonstrate later how myown sins separated me and how I
pursued reconciliation.
Let's look at what the Biblesays of relationships that are
broken.
We read all throughout Genesisthe effects of sin and how it
(23:45):
destroys relationships Murder,idolatry.
Recall last episode weaddressed how addiction and
idolatry are often synonymousHeroin, meth, pills, alcohol,
sex, food, relationships andcodependency, gambling power,
money position, anger, anxietySome people get high on being
(24:09):
angry or anxious Pornography.
All of these can become our Godand any God put before the Lord
of heaven and earth is idolatry.
But continue on in the book ofGenesis.
We finish off with witnessingin the book acts of deception,
betrayal, sexual immorality.
(24:30):
I mean the bases are covered inthe manner and amount of ways
that separated people from theircreator and those he created
for us to be in relationshipswith.
You ought to read throughGenesis and then take note of
how each sin you come acrosswhat the relational impact of a
particular action was.
I mean, it's an intriguing study, and it isn't until Exodus and
(24:57):
some 400 years after the floodthat the Lord utilized to
cleanse all the evil and sin,that we read of the crucial
character of Moses, who wouldnow be the designated, anointed
figure, that the Lord wouldestablish first our 10
commandments and what wouldeventually be known as those 613
halakha, or Jewish laws.
He provided a way out theMosaic law, specifically the
ceremonial law that governssacrifices.
(25:19):
This ritual system revealed notonly the need for a sacrifice
to be made for sins, but wouldpoint to the messianic hope
found in Christ as our perfectsacrifice.
The people of their day couldrely on the law and the prophets
to add credibility to whomeverwas to move forward and fulfill
all the prophecies projectedabout a Messiah and someone who
(25:41):
could save them.
Just like today, anyone canlook backward and see how Jesus
fulfilled the prophecies allthroughout the Law and the
Prophets, making them credibleregardless how strict the
measuring stick was.
The Jewish perception andexpectations of the Messiah
differed in part, as we commonlyknow.
Yet Jesus fulfilled theprophecies that defied the
(26:03):
expectations and desires of thereligious leaders of the day
when you read the New Testament.
And all of this was sovereignlywoven into his redemptive plan.
Jesus would ultimately becomethe sacrifice, as we said before
, and the price of purchase issteep and is to be redeemed for
all of us today.
(26:23):
You see, when he told us tolove God and love others, these
were the greatest of the halakha.
He said this with the fullwisdom of what the law was
intended to provide for worshipand for relationship, if lived
out in fullness.
He told the religious leadersto love God and love others,
with the full perspective thatthis would be difficult and at
(26:43):
times feel downright impossiblefor his followers.
He also had the divineperspective of providing the new
covenant and the new kingdom ofa new church, of new
relationships and of new hope.
With God, it is possible tofulfill the spirit of the law.
Many of these, the disciples,wouldn't even understand until
(27:06):
much later, let alone thePharisees and those who were his
adversaries.
Fortunately, we have hismessages and we also have the
apostles who helped usunderstand the ministry of
loving God and loving others.
We are given an understandingof what reconciliation truly is
and how to practically live alife reconciled to God and
reconciled to people when we arecalled to be.
(27:30):
I want to share with you from mylife a particular story that
may be difficult to hear 15years after its plot would begin
in my life.
If you are listening today andyou have heard my story, shared
within six episodes, you know Ishared in brief that, while
having dissociative identitydisorder that my own Christian
(27:50):
host that is, the one part of methat was the one that God
created during seasons of greatdifficulty, before I was healed
of the disorder and surgery andbefore I even found healthy
balance, that I had a full-onaffair with one of my wife's
good friends, one of my own goodfriends, who had been called
(28:13):
for a season to walk along withus.
You see, so much shame andstigma does get applied to
adulterers because of the greatpain the sin causes, those that
they hurt and also the greatseparation from God and one
another due to the idolatry thatadultery represents.
I hope you can see thesynonymous nature of these words
(28:36):
the pain of adultery,destroying relationships and
marriages and as a result, wesee why the scarlet letter.
You know for you literary buffs, why it's so powerful for those
who have committed thisgrievous act.
But I have to say something inspecific regarding adultery that
comes from this story.
You see, the woman that I hadan affair with within my
(28:58):
personality disorder, she wasthe last woman who was in your
Sunday school dressed in theirSunday best, coming from a
Christian family that you wouldever consider to breaking her
marriage vows.
She and her husband hadn't evenas so much as kissed before
their wedding day.
(29:18):
Due to their significantdiscipline and strong conviction
, they were going to bemissionaries and they were
building up support andpreparing for their eventual
journey.
While that time, they were inour small group and she was one
of the strongest and mostsensitive of prayer warriors
that we knew.
Again, no one wants to be in alineup of people that you think
(29:41):
would commit adultery, but ifshe was in that line, she'd be
the first person you'd say noway to and you would deduce from
the equation.
Yet we know who Satan is In hisdeceptive and demonic strategy.
He was able to creep his headinto our relationship as she was
part of our support team as Iwalked with mental illness and
(30:02):
instability, just as we were apart of theirs.
She and her husband walkedthrough the highs and the lows
of my disorder and she gotcaught up within this tornado of
spiritual warfare, demonicoppression and soul ties that
were formed between the two ofus as some necessary boundaries
were crossed in the relationshipand, before you knew it, as
(30:25):
some necessary boundaries werecrossed in the relationship and
before you knew it, we werehaving a full-on physical affair
.
I was switched into protectivepersonalities throughout the
course of the affair, which forpractical purposes, means that
my Christian host or my coreidentity was hijacked.
I was not yet able to walk withthe Lord in my disorder, who
enabled me to remain present.
Due to the satanic ritual abuseI endured in my childhood, many
(30:47):
demonic vows were made whichspiritually impacted these
personality parts.
I had and would affect me intomy adulthood, sabotaging any
relationship that mypersonalities perceived could
possibly hurt me.
Satan had his heyday sabotagingthis once completely pure
relationship with our friendsthat at the beginning held
(31:10):
beautiful boundaries and abeautiful, profound reciprocity
of edification that existedbetween the two couples as we
walked together shoulder toshoulder, bearing one another's
burdens and the after effects ofour sinful affair were that two
marital relationships and fourgodly friendships were violated
(31:32):
and they were broken.
We have spent the last fewepisodes talking through the
biblical perspective ofsuffering, as well as the
scriptural imperatives to laydown our lives and pick up our
cross, to forgive others as weare forgiven, and also we have
examined what it means to betransformed by the renewing of
(31:53):
our minds.
We are not just called to walkwith Christ by laying down our
selfish will and submitting tohis will as if that is easy.
Nor are we called just toforgive others as we are
forgiven and that's just the endof it.
We are called to undergorenewal by allowing him to
replace all the survival andprojected lies of the enemy on
our life with the truth that isfound in true restoration.
And then we are called to liveout reconciliation or to pursue
(32:16):
the rebuilding andreconstructing that in our life
which is broken.
My last point is that this wholeparadigm isn't as simple as a
one, two-three, step-by-stepplan done over a few days, nor
is it as complicated as analternative theology that adds
additional works to thesalvation message that's found
in Christ.
(32:36):
If you have received eithermessage, then?
Do not hear me wrong.
Rather, it is a process bywhich I have found in my own
life where God has revealed howhis son himself was betrayed and
broken and, by the power of thesacrifice he made on our behalf
, gave us the power andauthority to forgive sins of our
perpetrators and of ourselves.
(32:57):
And he has modeled.
He has modeled the message andthe process by which our earthly
and fleshly lives will have todie away to our new identities
that are found in him.
We have this power andauthority to not only undergo a
transformative process thatreveals his work, but also, when
we reconcile that which theworld sees as broken, we reveal
(33:21):
his power.
You see, this whole processwould play out the next few
years.
After our affair.
My wife and I had to undergo arestoration process where we
laid down our lives to oneanother.
My wife showed me the power offorgiveness by forgiving me and
then forgiving her friend.
I experienced the power ofChrist's forgiveness through my
(33:44):
wife as well as my friend, thehusband whom I had harmed.
He fully and genuinely forgaveme, and then the two of them
entered a few years of their ownpersonal restoration, and the
story is that both of us arestill married to those spouses
today, but the story does notstop there.
(34:05):
Still married to those spousestoday, but the story does not
stop there.
The Holy Spirit revealed to usthat we were to reconcile as
couples.
Now there were some, even keyleaders and pastors in our
churches that were telling usthat such relationships weren't
appropriate to reconcile.
And in truth, we do not seeexamples of many of these
relationships reconciled in ourculture.
We do not see examples of manyof these relationships
(34:25):
reconciled in our culture,unless you consider a divorced
spouse, now amicable or evenfriendly, as being reconciled.
Yet we all have to listen tothe scriptures better than that
than to arrive at a conclusionthat it is inappropriate to
reconcile any relationship.
In the Lord if he wills it, andthen he provides the way.
(34:48):
You see, the four of us felt thesame pull of the Holy Spirit to
come together.
Where I asked the wife for herforgiveness, she did the same of
me, and then we establishedwhatever the new, restored and
reconciled relationship wouldlook like, going forward within
the four of us.
Mind you, this is many years ofa comprehensive process boiled
(35:11):
down into what it seems like afew sentences, but what came of
this was absolutely glorious,though our relationship looked
different and, don't get mewrong, it needed to be different
now, for obvious reasons.
Different, and, don't get mewrong, it needed to be different
now for obvious reasons.
We would now get together asfamilies again for dinner, like
we once had.
(35:32):
I renewed my relationship withmy good friend, the husband, and
my wife did so with hers, andthen, years later, as they were
visiting home from one of theirmissionary trips, yes, they went
on to fulfill God's plan fortheir lives.
Following their reconciliation,the husband and I stood on the
(35:57):
stage together at my church andsharing our rare story of
reconciliation on a Sunday thatI was preaching.
My wife and I have also spokentogether often about our
experiences with this process ofuncommon reconciliation that
took place after restoration tomany people in the audience and,
as a result, people often askus the important questions and
I'm sure some of them you as alistener have yourself Like how
(36:21):
could you forgive one another?
How could you trust yourhusband again, especially if the
four of you were socializinglater?
How could my wife be friendswith the best friend who
betrayed her Again, let alonewith me and the other wife?
I will answer some of that now.
(36:41):
Yet I know we are running out alittle bit longer today and I
see that, but I will try to keepthat now.
Yet I know we are running out alittle bit longer today, and I
see that, but I will try to keepmy answers succinct.
We had new boundaries that wereboth imposed and necessary to
provide the variousrelationships amongst us with
protection, as well as trueglory and worship to the Lord.
Our suffering and our wounds,our sacrifices and our work to
(37:03):
restore all of it was given overto God as our spiritual acts of
worship.
We now had the full perspectiveand understanding of our sin,
the root of it, the plan ofsabotage, as well as the
brokenness in each of us thatresulted in the carnage.
Yet we also had the full planof Jesus and his redemption and
the fact that, when we repentedfor our sins and arrived at a
(37:25):
healthy place, building trust inour marriages where we wouldn't
re-offend each other again, andwe were able to demonstrate to
the world the powerful messageof what loving one another truly
looked like, we are loving Godand loving others, and it looks
this messy and this difficult attimes.
And it looks this messy andthis difficult at times.
(37:45):
But isn't God amazing?
And wait a second.
Doesn't my wife sound like awonder woman?
She truly is one of the mostsacrificial and saintliest
people I have ever met.
She is beautiful inside and outand, for the record, we are
(38:11):
better today than we have everbeen as we face new challenges,
post-surgery andpost-personality changes.
I have always loved this versefrom the scriptures that
eloquently speaks truth to ourunique situation and, through
him, to reconcile to himself allthings, whether things on earth
or things in heaven, by makingpeace through his blood shed on
the cross.
Colossians 1, 20-22,.
(38:34):
Once you were alienated fromGod and were enemies in your
minds because of your evilbehavior, but now he has
reconciled you by Christ'sphysical body through death to
present, to present you holy inhis sight, without blemish and
free from accusation.
We are made holy in his sightnow, without blemish and now
(38:57):
free from any accusations.
Where are the scarlet S's?
It's like what Jesus told thewoman caught in adultery in his
day.
When Jesus straightened hisfigure up from scribbling
something in the dirt, he askedher woman where are they?
Has no one condemned you?
No one, sir.
She said Then neither do Icondemn you.
(39:19):
But then Jesus declared this gonow and leave your life of sin
or go and sin no more.
Jesus declared this go now andleave your life of sin or go and
sin no more.
I can picture Jesus asking usthe same question, in the same
way he did to the woman at thewell, your accusers are now gone
, so go and sin no more.
Translated properly and in theright tense, that we are to turn
(39:40):
180 degrees from ourdestructive behavior to repent,
to seek his transformation.
But what if you are in asituation where there is abuse?
You might be wondering.
Are you saying, jason, that Iam to forgive my abuser and then
reconcile with him?
Not only have I been asked thisquestion many times after
sharing our story, but manypastors have made both the
(40:03):
unbiblical and erroneous errorto say that women in specific,
ought to endure in theirmarriage as a survivor in abuse
in all forms.
This is offensive to my ownhard work in the restoration
process and it is to any othervictims to hear that one is
intended to endure the horrorsof abuse in the name of
(40:23):
forgiveness.
I downright condemn this asevil.
We are called to repent for oursin and our actions, and if we
are in a situation where one ofthe parties is unwilling to seek
repentance or restoration, thatis to walk the talk.
Then other steps got to betaken and boundaries got to be
(40:44):
drawn, and sometimesreconciliation just isn't
possible.
Forgiveness is always possibleand remember, it is also a
command.
Restoration is always possiblefor somebody and, the way I read
, we are to lay down our lives,hence submitting our will to his
.
I also hear this as a command.
(41:04):
Reconciliation is beautiful andit glorifies the Lord when
possible, but it is actually theone aspect which may or may not
be possible, nor evenappropriate in certain
situations, and I have listedonly a few of these here.
Friends, we will all havedifficult people in our lives,
(41:27):
most of which will not abuse us,but we will be frustrated with
them.
We will feel authentic andgenuine strong feelings, and we
will experience the brokennessof relationships going forward.
Only when we get to heaven willwe be full circle, complete, in
an arena absent of of pain andsuffering, without sadness and
tears.
We will be fully reconciled tothe Lord, not just in spirit and
(41:53):
truth, but finally in perfectglory, as we are in his presence
full time once we get to thatplace.
Until then, we must be adamantabout leading our lives and our
relationships towardsrestoration and reconciliation,
and I hope, when you see thatserpent, the devil and the enemy
of our souls creep into yourrelationships, that you remember
Jesus stepped on him, crushedhis head, and we now have power
(42:15):
and authority over hisstrategies as well, and we have
an ability to demonstrate hisglory through our story when we
restore and rebuild that whichthe enemy has broken.
First, though, we have to bereconciled to Christ ourselves.
That is the truth that I havesearched far and wide and landed
(42:36):
on in response to my ownsuffering for years.
For those of you who arelistening and you either feel
compelled to respond by seekingforgiveness, restoration, or
maybe even reconciling thatrelationship you have been
neglected to, or if you are withus and you have never prayed to
be forgiven for the sins thatseparate you from relationship
with the Lord, and you'redesiring that reconciliation
(42:59):
today, then I want to pray foryou right now.
Then, I want to pray for youright now, lord Jesus.
I repent of my sins and Isurrender my life.
Wash me clean.
I believe that you are the Sonof God, that you died on the
cross for the forgiveness of mysins and you rose again on the
third day for my victory.
I believe that in my heart andmake confession with my mouth
(43:21):
that you, Jesus, are my Lord andmy Savior.
I want to live my lifeaccording to your terms and I
want you to change my beliefsystems from the inside out,
even those that have protectedme or were founded at a time I
was severely wounded mentally,emotionally or spiritually.
I trust your plan and I ask foryou to put the people and the
(43:41):
process by which I need topursue restoration into my life.
I ask for you to reveal to methe relationships that I have
neglected to reconcile due tothe pain they have caused me,
the pride in my own heart orwhatever dynamics the enemy has
utilized to keep us apart.
If I am unable to reconcile forlegitimate reasons, like maybe,
(44:02):
ongoing abuse that they couldproject upon me, or maybe they
have passed away, then I ask foryour sovereign hand and for
your peace to fill me.
If I have been restored on myside of the street.
Thank you, god, for being a Godof mercy, a God of healing and
a God of reconciliation.
May I seek to be a reconcilerin the relationships of my life.
(44:25):
It's in your name, jesus, thatI pray Amen.
If you have today agreed withthis prayer from the depths of
your heart, I welcome you to theeternal family of God.
I encourage you to find thisorthodox, biblically-based faith
family who worships the Lordpassionately.
(44:45):
Also, devote yourself to thereading of the scriptures, like
we have done today.
As you can tell, there is somuch to gain from living this
new life, and his guidance isfound in these love letters, or
the Bible to us.
Next time on the HopefulPerspective podcast, we will
examine this crazy politicalclimate we live in and see where
(45:09):
it is that we can find hopeamongst the chaos.
Are we, as a country, moredivided than we ever have been?
What do the scriptures actuallytell us about our role as
believers in politics, and do wesee believers around us
actually living out what theBible says?
Are we to look to thegovernment or a governing
(45:31):
official as the hope of theworld, and how do we show Jesus
and bridge the divide politicscreates in our relationships?
These are only but a few of thequestions and principles that I
will address on the next fewepisodes on the Hopeful
Perspective.
Until then, I want to thank youfor joining me along this
(45:52):
journey and, if you would be sokind to follow, subscribe and,
most importantly, to rate andwrite a review for others who
may need the Hopeful Perspective.
I would appreciate that Now youcan contribute monetarily by
pressing our support the showlink that is embedded on your
platform in the episodedescriptions.
All of your contributions areutilized to grow the podcast, to
(46:16):
multiply our equipment, tobroaden our reach and to share
this hope of Christ.
I want to shout out mygratitude to the multiple new
donors who already have madethis commitment to support this
podcast financially.
Without you, it would not bepossible to reach as many people
with the messages that we do oranyone who needs to be reminded
(46:40):
that hope is real.
So thank you so much in advanceand until next time.
Remember you are loved.
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On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!