Jesus is the key that unlocks the broken human soul: Life Experience Therapy

We must start with the basic proposition that man is made in the image of God and has a spirit that is a miniature replica of Him. Except that each person’s spirit is marred by sin, resulting in it being damaged irreparably. Because of this, we bear true moral guilt before a holy God. When the Bible talks about conviction of sin, this is not just feeling guilty because of childhood conditioning. True moral guilt is the experience of the human spirit responding to God’s Holy Spirit.  

The result of this human condition is brokenness on a human psychological and psychiatric level. Jesus’ blood is the key that unlocks this brokenness. We lock ourselves in with our own spiritual pain. The 1851-53 painting by William Holman Hunt depicts Jesus knocking on a door with no knob on the outside. Who is inside? Why is Jesus outside?

Keys these days have very fine serrations that are customized to the specific lock that they are designed to open. Properly designed, no other key than that specifically designed for it will open the lock. Each person’s soul is unique, and only Jesus can unlock it. The key is uniquely tailored to that person’s wound due to sin, and the pattern of redemption uniquely glorifies God. Question for contemplation: How does the beauty of redeemed brokenness compare to the beauty of unfallen holiness?

This process displays an attribute of Jesus that was/would otherwise be hidden, unique to each person’s redemption and healing. It is intrinsic to God’s nature and character that He chose this method of self-revelation. [The last book of the New Testament is titled the Revelation of Jesus Christ. In it, Jesus’ glory is revealed to those who rejected Him.] To those who believe in Him, the essence of Jesus is demonstrated in the love that shed the Lamb’s innocent blood on the cross of Calvary; it is revealed to us individually and personally as He works in our lives to deliver us from the power and penalty of sin. 

The amazing thing is that Jesus’ unlocking of the human soul is not just the healing of our core brokenness, but opens the door to enormous spiritual blessings. Perhaps Joseph’s slavery in Potiphar’s household and imprisonment on false charges, Moses’ forty years hiding from Pharoah, David’s years on the run from King Saul, Israel’s Babylonian captivity, and so on, do not seem like blessings. That is because we do not have the whole picture. God chooses the best for His children. Unlocking the door to blessings in His kingdom may require difficult schooling. The blood of Jesus is not a magical incantation. To partake of His blessings, we must participate in His suffering on the cross, not simply verbally or symbolically, but in a real and experiential way; call it life experience therapy. Jesus is the key that unlocks this door. Perhaps that is why we hide from Him.

The Subtle Sin of Context Dropping

Classical thought sees virtue and sin as paired opposites. For example, contrast  the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) with the deeds of the flesh (verses 19-21). I propose a slightly different structure, in which there is a middle stage that is a one-way passageway between the two. Virtues risk becoming vices and sins by first removing context from the virtue. From the resulting free-floating attribute, it is but a short trip to sin. A few examples:

 God created food for humans to consume and gave Adam and Eve minimal instructions. (Genesis 1:29-30; 2:9,16-17) Food was fuel for their bodies, and undoubtedly healthy, as they were subject to death only after eating the forbidden fruit (and we can infer food was healthy from the known benefits of a vegetarian diet). He also gave them appetites so that eating would be natural and they would remember to do so periodically, and taste and smell so that eating would be enjoyable.

 Subsequently, hunger was recognized as a natural human appetite, without reference to it being a gift from God. It is a legitimate human need, since life does not continue without it. But - watch closely - once out of the context of a gift of God (how many people say grace before meals these days?) we have only human expertise to determine what is healthy. And if a person rejects the sage advice of nutritionists, and simply indulges their appetite, we arrive at gluttony. Few dispute that gluttony is self-destructive.

 Lucifer was created as the light bringer, the anointed Cherub who covers, with the seal of perfection, full of wisdom, perfect in beauty.  (Ezekiel 28:12-14) His admirable qualities led to pride (Ezekiel 28:17). Dropping reference to God’s calling and gifting him for a purpose, and focusing on his beauty and wisdom, he said in his heart, “I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods.” (Ezekiel 28:1) Ultimately, he sought to exalt himself above God and rebelled, becoming Satan the accuser, and the rest of the sad story followed. Satan lost the context that God had created and endowed him with glorious qualities to perform a specific role in God’s kingdom, apparently dissatisfied with the divine accolade ‘well done, good and faithful servant.’ Losing the context of his divinely ordained calling, his beauty and wisdom led him to pride.

 What was the original sin? Adam and Eve disobeyed a direct command. What were their excuses? “The serpent deceived me....”  “The woman You gave me gave it to me....”   (Genesis 3:12-13) God had given them food from almost every fruit-bearing tree. (Genesis 1:29) Neither seemed to be concerned about consulting The Lord, or recalling that they had walked with Him in the cool of the morning, after Eve’s initial misquoting of God’s direction (Genesis 2:17 vs. 3:3). Perhaps this is the core risk of context dropping that we all face; that in the midst of the press of life in the world, the alluring lies the tempter tells, we forget that we walk with Him and allow ourselves to be talked out of His honoring His words. To close the passageway from virtue to sin, we need to attend to His still, small voice.