The Way of Salvation

(This is chapter 14 of the book The Way of Sonship: Anointed to Overcome)

In Matthew 1:21 an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him that Mary would bear a son conceived by the supernatural life’s breath or Holy Spirit of God. He was to be called Jesus or Yehoshua or “Yehovah Is Salvation” because he would save his people from their sins. God breathed Himself into the body of a man, fathering into Jesus everything that Adam and Eve lost at the Fall. In Luke 19, Jesus chose to stay in the home of Zacchaeus the chief tax collector. By an act of sovereign grace, Zacchaeus was saved from his sins when Jesus was welcomed both into his house, and the house of his heart. According to Proverbs 23:7, as a man thinks within his heart, so he is. Out of the abundance of his new heart, Zacchaeus gave half of his possessions to the poor and promised Jesus that he would restore fourfold anything that he had gained unjustly. Of course, the religious community were upset that Jesus chose the house of a sinner, but Jesus said in Luke 19:9-10 (KJV) “To-day salvation did come to this house, inasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost”. Different cultures and traditions have a different understanding of what it means to be saved. For both Zacchaeus and Jesus, salvation had nothing to do with hell because this was not part of their culture. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:2 “In an acceptable time I did hear thee, and in a day of salvation I did help thee, lo, now is a well-accepted time; lo, now, a day of salvation”. Salvation was being helped or saved in life, not in death because once people were dead, it was too late to help them. The gospel or good news of salvation was in life for the Hebrews. For those who were truly saved in life, death took care of itself. The Hebrew good news was actually announced by Zacharias when John the Baptist was born. In Luke 1:68 he said “Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, because He did look upon, and wrought redemption for His people, and did raise an horn of salvation to us, in the house of David His servant, as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, which have been from the age; salvation from our enemies, and out of the hand of all hating us, to do kindness with our fathers, and to be mindful of His holy covenant, an oath that He swore to Abraham our father, to give to us, without fear, out of the hand of our enemies having been delivered, to serve Him, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life”. The ultimate enemy is the devil. He is the father of lies and the author of death who by lying comes to kill, steal, and destroy people’s lives. That is why Peter said of Jesus in Acts 10:38 (KJV) “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him”.

Zacharias went on to say regarding John in Luke 1:76-79 (KJV) “And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord [Yehovah] to prepare his ways; To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission [forgiveness] of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high has visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace”. John the Baptist sent a message to Jesus asking if Jesus was “He Who Is [Yehovah] coming”. In Matthew 11:3-6 (KJV) Jesus replied “Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me”. This is the gospel or good news of salvation in life. In Hebrew, the word John is “Yehochanan”, which means “Yehovah Is Mercy”. John was the voice calling in the wilderness in the power and breath or Holy Spirit of Elijah that turned the hearts of the fathers to the sons and the sons to the fathers. The was to bring the sovereign blessing of Abraham which would prevent the land or “adamah” or living dust of people’s hearts being struck with a curse. It says in Isaiah 40:3 “A voice is crying—in a wilderness—Prepare ye the way of Yehovah, Make straight in a desert a highway to our God.”. The arrival of Yehochanan proclaimed the end of the “eye for an eye” Law of Moses which saved Israel from sinners but not sinners from sinning. It also proclaimed the beginning of the ministry of Jesus which would redeem Yehovah’s corporate Son from everything to do with sin, sinning, and the Fall. The gospel of salvation immediately followed John’s baptism into repentance for the forgiveness of sins. It is being saved out of the devil’s oppressive hand, being saved out of sinning, sickness, brokenness, fears and, as the Sons of God, being enabled to walk in the ways of “shalom” or peace and serve God in righteousness and holiness all the days of one’s life. In Hebrew, “shalom” means contented success and happiness in all things. Salvation is becoming the living personality of God’s ideal Son by having a heart filled with the life’s breath or Holy Spirit of God’s fatherhood and as such, bearing His name by behaving like Him in every circumstance of life.

Jesus himself declared the message of salvation to the Apostle Paul on the Damascus Road when he spoke in Hebrew from the throne of His father David in Heaven. He said in Acts 26:18 (KJV) that he was sending Paul to the nations to “… open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me”. Having the eyes of the heart opened by the unmerited grace of God to the amazing love of God’s fatherhood, being delivered from the lying powers of darkness, being forgiven, healed and then sanctified or set apart to receive the paradise of the light and love of God’s fatherhood or Holy Spirit eternally filling the heart: this is the original gospel of the election of sovereign grace announced to Abraham in Genesis 12. This is God’s blessing of Abraham, this is the redemption or revival of a Father-Son relationship, this is what was poured out on the Day of Pentecost. This is what it meant to be saved, and this is what the devil wants to prevent. He wants people to continue to bear his image by them being broken-hearted, captives to sickness and sin, and filled with his rebellious lying breaths. He does not care what religion of tradition people follow so long as they are not sovereignly inspired to become blameless Sons of God, shining out like stars in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. He does not want all the world to see just how wonderful the Father, who dwells within the loving hearts of the Sons of God, really is.

In Genesis 29, Jacob worked for seven years as a dowry to marry Rachel, Laban’s youngest daughter. Her elder sister, Leah was distraught because in darkness, her father forced her into Jacob’s bridal bedchamber to take Rachel’s place without Jacob’s knowledge or consent. Jacob found out too late that he had been tricked into marrying the wrong daughter. Leah would have felt broken-hearted, both for her sister whose husband she had been forced to steal, for herself having to pretend to be her sister on her wedding night and being married to a man who was in love with her sister but not her. However, in Genesis 29:33 Leah said “‘Because Yehovah has heard that I am the hated one, He also gives to me even this one’ and she called his name Simeon.” In his great love for Leah, Yehovah God heard her prayer and granted her a son whom she called him Simeon. The name Simeon comes from the Hebrew “shema”, and originally meant “to see the name, or hear”. In Psalm 22:23-24 (KJV) it says “Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither has he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.” In ancient Hebrew culture to hear meant to act or obey. To do nothing meant to not listen. There are many in the world who are like Leah. There are many whose cry of pain from the cross of their suffering has been heard by Yehovah God. God did something about the suffering of people like Leah, the humbled and downtrodden, those with broken bodies or hearts, the captives and those imprisoned by their beliefs in their pain and sickness. It says in Isaiah 59:16-17 (KJV) “And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him. For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing and was clad with zeal as a cloak”. A broken heart cannot understand the love of God because the truth of God’s love leaks away: it cannot be contained. God came in person, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth to bind the broken-hearted and reveal to their hearts the truth of the eternal and unmerited love and grace of God that sets the captives free.

There are many who receive a touch of Jesus within their hearts and for a season are freed from their torment caused by the father of lies. They are set free into a paradise of wonderment. However, so often this experience of paradise is short lived. It is short lived not because God suddenly flew off the handle and became enraged with the people that He loves, God is not like that and God’s love never fails. Rather, it is short lived because the father of lies appeals to people’s experience of pain and brokenness. Ever since the dawn of time, Satan has challenged the absolute truth of the living words, goodness, and love of God with his demonically active lies. The devil is the god of this world who has built a counterfeit kingdom based upon deception, trickery and, if he can get away with it, bare-faced lies. The devil’s purpose is for people to bear his image by being filled with the words of his lying breath, or evil spirits or demons. God’s purpose is that people become the image of the invisible God, just like Jesus, by being filled with the Holy Spirit or life’s breath of God’s fatherhood. The devil tells lies like “God’s unfailing love has just this moment failed for all time. God has kept a record of your many wrongs and He is furious with you. He will break a bruised reed; He will snuff out a smouldering wick, then He will come after you. He cannot be trusted; He is just like those that hurt you. Unless you run away, hide, and then prove that you are worth loving by winning some great victory, you can never be loved”. These, of course, are all lies but for someone like Leah with a broken heart, or someone who has never known love or has only been walking with God for a few short weeks, it all makes perfect sense. The devil is familiar with the brokenness within people’s lives because his lies ultimately caused it. Like a fiendish bartender, he personally snakes up a venomous cocktail of misunderstandings, half-truths and bare-faced lies that are clearly lies to those who can see, but appear to be familiar truth to those who have been blinded by trauma or abuse.

There is a difference between power and authority. Jesus said to his disciples in Luke 10:19 “I give to you the authority [“exousia” in Greek] to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and on all the power [“dunamis” or dynamite in Greek] of the enemy, and nothing by any means shall hurt you”. Power is power, authority is the right to exercise power. Jesus gave his disciples the divine right or authority to exercise divine power. They were given the right, but the power remained God’s. Within ancient Hebrew culture, the power of life was in life’s breath (or spirit). In the ancient world, the gods of the nations were demons (see 1 Corinthians 10:20), and demons had power. The devil has power, his power is in his words of lying breath, but he has no authority to release that power. God’s almighty breath or Holy Spirit is the original and ultimate source of all power. Everything that God created was originally good, and God gave authority upon the earth to Adam, the original Son of God who was filled with the breath of God’s life when he was created. The father of lies lives in rebellion against God and does not have the authority to harm anyone directly. In Luke 8:29, the Gadarene Demoniac was strengthened by demons to break chains because he had been deceived into agreeing with the devil. As a son of Adam he unwittingly gave the devil authority to release demonic power. The devil cannot violate free will. All he can do is lie, but his lies become powerful when people partner with him or unknowingly agree with him by being deceived into drinking from his venomous cup, believing and receiving the breath of the word of his lies within their hearts. He works ceaselessly in the darkness of fallen humanity, seeking sin-partners by promising fulfilment in things that are cursed and morally wrong. He appeals to the reality of the darkness of people’s pain and brokenness, lying about the true cause of heartache and misery, sowing doubts about the truth of God’s love and even blaming God for the awful predicament that fallen humanity finds itself in. His lies, if believed, become as truth that become incorporated into the fabric of people’s personalities. These lies create an open space within people’s hearts for his words of lying breaths or demons to enter in. Having access to people’s personalities through gateways opened by believing his lies, like a diabolical puppeteer, he manipulates, dominates, and controls them into following his ways and transgressing the commandments of God. Such transgression removes angelic protection and increases the strangle-hold that his lies have within people’s lives and brings them further under condemnation. By believing or establishing his lies as truth, his bad news further ensnares people, making them bear his image more and more and making their lives even more of a misery. His lies and deception are incorporated into people’s hearts forming the basis of how the kingdom in darkness is built.

The devil’s favourite and most powerful lie is the lie and fear of rejection. Rejection is the devil’s calling card, his signature, his defiling mark or stain. The father of lies says “Good things happen to good people; bad things happen to bad people; you must be bad; what happened is your fault; you are evil; others may be loved but you can never be loved; you can never be forgiven; you are an outcast; unloved, forsaken and rejected”. These lies seem like truth to broken-hearted people because this was their experience in life and that is how they were treated. Rejection is a lie. The truth is, God is love. Jesus came to testify to the truth of God’s love by binding the broken-hearted and setting the captives free. The devil’s kingdom is built within people’s hearts. The heart was originally created to be the house, dwelling or temple of the breath or Holy Spirit of God’s fatherhood. That is why Jesus said in Matthew 15:18-20 (KJV) “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashed hands defiles not a man”. These things are the names of the devil’s words of lying breath or evil spirits that lie, deceive and trade themselves into people’s hearts and personalities which then causes them to sin and become defiled. The Pharisees accused Jesus of casting demons out of people by the power of Beelzebub. Jesus replied in Luke 11:17-19 (KJV) “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falls. If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub. And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges”. Jesus cast the words of lying breath or demons out of people’s hearts so they could become Sons of God together with him, so that the Holy Spirit or living breath of God’s fatherhood could make His home within them. That is why Jesus said in John 14:23 (KJV) “If a man loves me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him”.

Jesus said in Matthew 12:43-45 (KJV) “When the unclean spirit [defiling lying breath] is gone out of a man, he walks through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he finds it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goes he and takes with himself seven other spirits [words of lying breath] more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation”. Evil spirits are the devil’s living lies, words of lying breath that enter into the house of people’s personalities. The word devil comes from the Greek “diabolos” and means to “throw across, trip up, or hinder”. The word Satan is Hebrew for adversary, opponent or hinderer. Evil spirits are the devil’s no-way-out roadblock on the pathway of life, his mark, signature or calling card. They enter through the broken-down walls caused by being sinned against or sin in all its forms. They make a home for themselves in trauma and abuse with the piercing griefs of lies because in the absence of the absolute truth of God’s unconditional love, these defiling lies are accepted because they seem like truth. These tormenting lies become incorporated into people’s personalities or hearts. Unless brokenness is healed, deliverance, whilst being wonderful, is only temporary because the broken-down walls of the living truth of God’s love remain in ruins. Indeed, Jesus warns that, unless people repent from believing lies and have their personalities filled with the breath of God’s fatherhood, like His is, their personalities being empty of God will be filled again by the devil and things will become seven times (or infinitely) worse than they were before.

Jesus said in Luke 11:21-22 “‘When the strong man armed may keep his hall, in peace are his goods, but when the stronger than he, having come upon him , may overcome him, his whole-armour he does take away in which he had trusted, and his spoils he distributes”. Satan is the strong man who lies and appeals to the pain of trauma. The trauma of brokenness is an armour in which Satan trusts. Like broken down city walls, brokenness gives leverage to Satan’s lies, lies which are agreed with because they appear to be true. This is the meaning of the word deception. The word deceive comes from the Latin “decipere” meaning to ensnare, take in or cheat.

Jesus said in Luke 11:34-36 “The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle does give thee light”. Brokenness is a darkness that seems to testify against the love and faithfulness of God. It distorts people’s perception of reality and blinds them to the love of God’s fatherhood. As people think within their hearts, so they are. People live out of the abundance of their hearts and not their heads. Someone with a broken heart will find the devil’s lies, lies like “trust no-one, not even Jesus” seem like a good way of protecting themselves from more pain.

It says in Hebrews 2:9-10 (KJV) “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, “I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee”. And again, “I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God has given me””. It is a divine law that what is sown must one day be reaped. In order to become a perfect saviour, Jesus had to become a perfect sufferer. He suffered the actual grief, heartache and excruciating brokenness that was keenly felt within the hearts of all of those he came to save. Before his crucifixion, whilst in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed in Mark 14:36 “Abba, Father; all things are possible to Thee; make this cup pass from me; but, not what I will, but what Thou”. Within the ancient world, crucifixion was absolutely the most abhorrent form of prolonged and excruciating death possible. Indeed, the word excruciate is from the Latin “ex” meaning from or out of, and “cruciare” meaning a cross. According to tradition, Paul the Apostle was condemned to death by beheading, as a Roman Citizen he was spared the appalling suffering of death by crucifixion. It was reserved for those who were not Citizens of Rome, for rebellious slaves and those from other nations who committed crimes such as treason, robbery, piracy and murder. The suffering of the cross was unimaginably intense, and usually lasted for days. The appalling curse of the cross was intended to send a very clear message from the Roman oppressor to the oppressed communities of those crucified – “if you refuse to bow down and serve the power of Rome, the same torturous death will happen to you”. God poured the sins, sicknesses and sufferings of the whole world into Jesus’ cup which on the cross, Jesus then drank down to the dregs. It says in Deuteronomy 21:22 (KJV) “And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is cursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance”. The crucifixion of Jesus was the most hideous act of cruelty possible against the purest, kindest, and most gentle-hearted loving person that ever lived. However, God used this hideous act to reveal not only the true nature of the self-worshipping pride-poisoned hearts of the whole of fallen humanity, but also the full extent of His love and forgiveness. God’s love was so great that Jesus interceded for the transgressors who crucified him and paid the price for his own murder. If God’s love was so great that He was willing to forgive even those who murdered Him, then there is no one, who is granted repentance by an act of sovereign grace, that God will not forgive. That is why Peter said in 1 Peter 2:24-25 “… who our sins himself did bear in his body, upon the tree, that to the sins having died, to the righteousness we may live; by whose stripes ye were healed, for ye were as sheep going astray, but ye turned back now to the shepherd and overseer of your souls”.

At the Fall, when Adam and Eve chose to reject the love and fatherhood of God, they cursed themselves out of God’s loving protection, provision and purpose for their lives. Instead, they exposed themselves to the lies and false promises of the devil who came to kill, steal, and destroy. In order to reverse the effects of this dreadful curse, on the cross, God in the person of Jesus personally and individually suffered everyone’s actual worst nightmare whatever that may be. He then laid down his life and died their death. There are many who have been so broken and abused that the first love of their heart of hearts has been mercilessly and repeatedly stabbed to death. On an individual basis Jesus took the piercing nails of people’s crucified hearts into his own so that their brokenness could become His. He died everyone’s personal death so that people would no longer be enslaved by sin and the brokenness, heartache, misery and sickness that naturally emanates from fallen human nature. Jesus became like fallen humanity in his death and in His great love, God made them one with Jesus so that both Jesus and they could share the same life when Jesus rose from the dead. (see Ephesians 2:1-9). Hebraically, Jesus’ crucifixion had nothing to do with appeasing the wrath of a furious God who is absolutely beside Himself with rage. What makes God angry is things like injustice, oppression, and abuse. The cross was not God the Father beating the living daylights out of God the Son on the cross to magically make God feel better about Himself and so that fallen humanity could keep on falling but then go to heaven instead of hell when they die. This religious belief belongs to a different people group, age, culture and tradition. Jesus died of a broken heart, but it was not his own broken heart. The nails of the cross were not Jesus’ nails. They belonged to the rebellious murderer Barabbas, whom Pilate set free, and those with fallen hearts whom Barabbas represented. The name Barabbas means, “Son of Abba, Father”. Jesus corporately died Barabbas’ death so that during their lifetime, the people who choose to die with Him could rise with Him by having hearts redeemed from the pride of the Fall, becoming the Sons of God, and sharing in exactly the same relationship with Abba, Father God that Jesus has. That is why Jesus said in John 20:17 “… I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God”.

It says in Isaiah 45:3 (KJV) “And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel”. Jesus said that where your treasure is, there your heart is also. In the ancient world, people often hid their treasure in their fields. People who are traumatised, abused, molested or broken in the circumstances of their lives, especially during infancy, often find ways of burying the unwanted treasure of their fragmented thoughts, feelings, fears and memories of brokenness in the fields of their personalities. They manage to get through life by hiding, disowning, dissociating or even denying that such brokenness ever occurred. Jesus needs to be given permission to inhabit the secret places of people’s hearts, the places where trauma, shame and brokenness have been stored up and hidden away. People can be so traumatised and abused that they lose touch with reality. They are locked by the father of lies in an asylum of torment and see their abusers in the faces of everyone that they meet. Often, people condemn themselves because it is far less painful to accept the lie that they were to blame than the reality of being betrayed, abused, and shamed by those whom they trusted. This heartfelt belief is a lying gateway that is open to more grief, heartache, and misery. The human body can act like a sponge, soaking up tears, trauma and unpleasant or unwanted feelings which become bitter body-memories of soaked-up pain. Such pain is real but remains hidden, manifesting itself as the sponge is inevitably squeezed later in life in things like shakings, retching, meltdowns, restlessness, confusion, fear of being touched, or a desire to self-harm. The hidden places of shame and brokenness can become so closely guarded that the severely traumatised are often unable to consciously remember what happened to them. The burden of what they consider to be the truth of what actually happened is just too heavy for them to bear. Their conscious mind is haunted by the memories of something nasty hidden in the vault of their hearts, a closely guarded secret, a hidden shadow of subconscious dread that ceaselessly trawls through the annals of their tormented childhood or personal past, sometimes near, sometimes far, and if anything reminds them of that memory, absolutely too close for comfort. So often they suffer from things like recurring nightmares or night terrors of which they may have no recollection, flashbacks or episodes of amnesia, feelings of guilt or shame, or illogical or inordinate fears of things, bright lights, sudden or loud noises, people, or places. Feeling somehow to blame for the dreadful things that happened to them, they are always on the alert, living in the constant fear that their untold secret will one day be shamefully exposed. But often they are unable to consciously remember what that secret actually was. For some, the opposite is true. They can remember in vivid detail exactly what happened to them, but their nightmare feelings of trauma which have been denied or hidden away by their inner child, unavoidably manifest themselves in things like panic attacks, stress-outs, or weeping behind double-locked doors. In darkness, the father of lies seems to help these people by assigning spiritual guardians to protect people from their own memories or feelings. People often make inner vows within their hearts, promising themselves that they will never love again, never trust, never hope, and never ever show their true feelings or give themselves away. However, this is false protection, by making inner vows and keeping secret memories or feelings hidden, even from Jesus, people are trapped inside a torturous prison of lying torment and cannot be saved. Instead, like a barbed fishhook, the devils enslaving lies of fears and hopeless despair seem like truth which keeps people bound, leaving them in a permanent state of heightened anxiety.

It says in Proverbs 13:12 (KJV) “Hope deferred makes the heart sick: but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life”. Broken-hearted people often pray, they often hope for help but so often it never reaches their hearts. The eyes of their hearts were blinded by abuse, neglect or injustice, often by father-figures or those in authority, and in that blindness, the true light of the love and faithfulness of God is snuffed out.

It says in Proverbs 26:2 (KJV) “As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come”. Brokenness and its associated lies, established as truth and hidden within people’s hearts, bring a curse which manifests itself with the fruit of wrong thoughts and feelings, wrong beliefs and wrong behaviour. Often, people quite naturally hate those who have hurt them, but this hatred becomes a snare. In Greek, the word “offended” is “skandalon” and meant a snare, stumbling stone, or death trap.

It says in Proverbs 18:19 “A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle”. Broken-hearted people often trip, stumble, and fall, hopelessly snared in a death-trap of offence. They find themselves bound by the lies of a three-stranded cord or bitter root of rejection, rebellion and resentment. So often it is not so much what actually happened to people that is the problem, but in the darkness or absence of God’s love, the heartfelt beliefs of the sword of lies of who, what and why of the absolute grief that pierced their hearts at the time of their trauma. Broken-hearted people often tolerate the devil’s lies because they seem like truth. They often harbour unkind thoughts and feelings and allow themselves to behave in ways that they would never have done had their hearts not been broken. The devil delights in this trauma of brokenness because his lies caused it and his diabolical kingdom feeds upon it. He is awfully familiar with the flashpoints, keys, triggers and buttons that he needs to press in order to open the gateways and gain diabolical access to hurt the people he hates. He enters through the open gateway of lies to torture broken-hearted people, causing them to relive the traumatic experiences of their past. He finds it easy to force his deceptively wicked ways upon broken-hearted people, those who believe that their heartfelt brokenness is both real and true.

It says in Isaiah 50:10 (KJV) “Who is among you that fears the LORD, that obeys the voice of his servant, that walks in darkness, and has no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God”. Darkness is the absence of light and brokenness brings a darkness into people’s hearts that seems like light. The devil speaks lies into brokenness by saying “Jesus loves others but he doesn’t love you, the cross of Jesus is all very well for others but not you, you must prove yourself worthy, only when you are worthy will Jesus love you”. True love never fails. Jesus loves, He always has, and He always will. However, broken-hearted people often imagine they were somehow responsible for their brokenness and try to make themselves more “loveable” or “acceptable”. They do this to avoid the pain of more brokenness and so that Jesus will love them. Jesus’ love is an unmerited gift of God’s grace, those that try to earn love can never receive it because if it is earned, it is no longer God’s free gift. It is no longer unconditional but based upon the condition of being “worthy of love” which, apart from Jesus, no-one ever can be.

It says in Isaiah 53 that Jesus was despised and rejected, a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief but the grief of this suffering was not his own. To a casual onlooker, it seemed as if Jesus suffered for his own sins. He was pierced by the transgressions of others and bruised for their iniquities. He bore in his own body the sickness of those he came to save. Like sheep, everyone had gone astray, each had gone to their own way but in order to reveal His great love and give people a new start in life, Yehovah God laid upon Jesus the iniquity or sin of all. Within ancient Hebrew culture, iniquity was seen in totality: it was not just sin but included the grievous effect of sin upon those who were dreadfully wronged. It says in Isaiah 53:10-12 (KJV) “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed [Sons], he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he has poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors”. The cross of Calvary was a travesty of justice for Jesus, but it was not His cross. Pilate knew without a shadow of a doubt that Jesus was innocent. Pilate publicly washed his hands of Jesus and then unjustly sent him to his death. However, the cross of Calvary was an amazing and unmerited display of sovereign mercy and grace for Barabbas. Barabbas stood condemned for murder, but in His great love, Jesus exchanged places with both Barabbas and the “Sons of Abba, Father” whom Barabbas represented. Indeed, the love of God was so great that Jesus interceded for the transgressors who crucified him. The very cross that He carried and died upon was the very means of their own forgiveness. Even though Barabbas had been justly condemned for what he had done, Jesus saved him from an excruciating death by suffering in his place. How much more will the heart of Jesus reach out to carry and die upon the cross of sorrow to reap the grievous curse of trauma that was sown into people’s hearts by the wickedness and abuse inflicted upon them by others.

Jesus did not die on the cross for an amorphous mass of faceless nobodies to appease the great wrath of a vengeful God in the hope that one day someone may just pray the sinner’s prayer so that they could be saved from hell after they were dead. This was not part of ancient Hebrew culture. On an individual basis Jesus revealed the truth of the incredible and everlasting love of God by personally suffering away the living hell of the actual injustice, trauma, misery, sins, suffering and brokenness of the “Sons of Abba, Father” whom he came to save. This suffering reaped the dreadful consequences of the Fall within Jesus own body so that fallen hearts could be changed by the inflow of the living waters of divine life to be just like His. That is why Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:21 (KJV) “For he has made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him”. In English, the word “righteous” originally meant “rightwise”, the wisdom of doing what was right from the heart. Within ancient Hebrew culture, righteousness meant the same thing. That is why John said in 1 John 2:28-29 (KJV) “And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that does righteousness is born of him.”. Paul said in Romans 10:10 (KJV) “For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation”. Hebraically, words are spoken by breath. As people believe within their hearts the words of truth spoken by Jesus, their hearts are redeemed or changed by believing or establishing the life’s breath or Holy Spirit of the truth of those words within their hearts. As the broken-hearted, like Abraham, come out from under the authority of their own natural born father and any father-figures that have dominated or overshadowed their lives, they are enabled to experience the fatherhood of God. Through the blood of Jesus the authority and power of natural born curse is broken. Jesus, as the firstborn of many brothers, is then enabled to embrace them with His love and share His loving Father with them. They abide within Jesus by sharing in His identity as the Sons of God, and Jesus imparts to people His resurrection life by binding their broken hearts with the truth of His love and setting their captive hearts free with His freedom. Almighty God then becomes their provider, protector, purpose and as their own true Father, fills their hearts with His presence. Sharing in Jesus’ identity as a Son of God, having hearts filled with the life’s breath or Holy Spirit of God’s fatherhood is the truth that sets people free.

It says in Isaiah 58:6-9 (KJV) “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou sees the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward. Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I AM”. So often broken-hearted people understandably react to their trauma or abuse in ways that are judgemental or unforgiving which brings more torment into their disassociated, and broken hearts. However, for those who allow Jesus to suffer their pain away to enable them to willingly forgive, the joy of this promise of irrevocable salvation from Isaiah 58 gradually becomes true within their experience. A heart that is broken breaks up into fragments. Each fragment is a traumatic incident which has thoughts and feelings of its own, locked in time and which never changes or grows old. Each of these can feel like they are pierced by the nails of the cross. The nails are very real, and they testify against the love of God, but they are ultimately not true. Each fragment must be allowed to be individually saved: to be touched by Jesus, believe in the truth of His love, and to forgive. As Jesus touches these fragments, weeps and draws the living lies of these nails out into his own heart, it can sometimes feel like the fragments of the heart are being pierced again, but actually they are being healed. Those that are fully willing to allow Jesus to unearth these fragments and the treasures of darkness hidden in the secret places of their hearts and allow Jesus suffer away their traumatic memories of secret pain, will be set free from their own personal living death. By being humble enough to embrace the sorrow for the wrong or even tragic circumstances of their lives and by renouncing and rebuking the lies wrongly believed or judgements made, God’s unmerited mercy can fill their once-broken hearts with love. Loving with the love that Jesus freely gives rebuilds the broken-down walls of their now loving hearts, it frees them from the torment of defiling lies, and allows Jesus to lift that dead-weight and immeasurably intense pain out of their hearts and into himself in order for them to be set free. As they do this, God Himself says to them “Here I Am”, Jesus’ light breaks forth into their hearts like the dawn, and their long-awaited healing quickly comes.

During Jesus earthly ministry, no one who actually encountered Jesus personally was ever sent away empty handed. As such, if he is given the opportunity, there is no problem that Jesus cannot solve. There is no nightmare so scary or darkness so black that Jesus cannot dis-spell. There is no burden too heavy for Jesus to carry. There is no-one too ugly for Jesus to love. There is no fear that Jesus’ perfect love cannot expel. There is no sin so great that God cannot forgive by Jesus’ blood washing it away. There is no heart-piercing memory so sharp that Jesus’ loving hands would not receive it. There is no brokenness or sickness that Jesus cannot heal. There is no injustice, betrayal, or trauma that Jesus did not take upon himself upon the cross. There is no-one that Jesus cannot save. Being inspired by the love of God to share in Jesus’ identity as the Son of God, and as such His relationship with God as His Father, is the truth that sets people free. God has put himself within arm’s reach of the people that He loves, but in people’s hearts their tears of brokenness must be brought within Jesus’ tangible and heartfelt reach so that He can personally weep them away. In the unseen realms, Jesus is just as accessible, just as visible to the eyes of the heart, just as tangible, just as willing to bring sight to the blind, heal the sick, bind the broken-hearted and set the captives free as he was when he was physically present upon planet Earth. This is what it originally meant to be saved. However, the devil’s hateful lies associated with such broken-heartedness need to be renounced and rebuked, and the loving truth that only Jesus can speak by the living breath or Holy Spirit of God’s fatherhood needs to be received so that people can become truly free. It is only those who are willing to sow in tears that will one day reap with songs of joy. Those who repeatedly receive the truth of Jesus’ love and faithfulness into their traumatic memories, despite being sick of heart or body, will one day find that their hearts are freed of doubts and unbelief, their bodies healed, and the satisfied delight of their hearts become to them a tree of life. Jesus bound the strong man and removed the armour in which he trusted, by drinking down to the bitter dregs the cup of the suffering and sins of broken-hearted people no matter who or what actually caused it. They can now live in the presence of power where victory is assured. The dynamite of the living word of God demolishes the strongholds of trauma and every pretension of Satan’s hypocritically-demonic lies that set themselves up against the knowledge of God’s fatherhood. Their traumatic past no longer determines their future. Their future is what they are today, not what they had hoped yesterday that they were going to be tomorrow. When God gets Himself through into their hearts today, the undeniable triumphs of tomorrow are already won. This is the way of salvation.

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