The Great Fall (Part 3)

There is a war that rages within the heart of every individual between the flesh and the spirit. Paul makes it very clear in Romans 7 that there is a constant battle between wanting to do right and yet still being drawn to the things that are sinful. Paul was struggling with a desire to do the right things and yet he would continue to fall into the very things he was trying to stay away from.
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Paul was trying to get us to understand that he really and truly wanted to do right. And yet he still found himself falling back into the same sin and into the same temptation and back into the very things that he hated. Paul lifted up his voice and said;
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Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
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Paul however, did not leave us in that place of self despair. But he went on to say;
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Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Rom 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
Rom 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
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Paul realized that if it was up to him he would still be fighting against the things he tried to leave behind. But he let us in a little secret that Adam and Eve didn’t have. Even Satan in his uplifted pride and arrogance went to visit Jesus in the wilderness. And knowing that Jesus had been fasting for 40 days he came to him at his weakest point. And the old serpent began to tempt Jesus the same way he tempted Eve. And yet Jesus response to each one of those temptations was “It is written.” The devil tried the lust of the flesh and he tried the lust of the eyes and he tried the pride of life and he found out that it didn’t work.
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Adam and Eve were tempted and they failed. And Because of the offence of one, sin entered the world to condemn all men. Yet when God looked down upon his creation it was his desire to bring mankind out of the bondage of sin and back into fellowship with himself. He came down in the form of a man and walked this earth and bore in his own body the sins of humanity. And he did this because he wanted us to be able to live in total victory and not be bound by the sins that haunt our lives. It is the good will and pleasure of our Lord to give his children freedom from the failures and mistakes of the past and to not live in that fallen state.
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1Jn 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
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We have victory and receive strength through fellowship with Christ. As long as we try to accomplish victory in the flesh and by ourselves we will continuously echo the words of Paul in Rom 7. But when we step aside and allow the spirit of Christ to govern our minds and direct our hearts we will not have to spend another day in what has been so often referred to as the The Great Fall.
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2Co 12:8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
2Co 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2Co 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.