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Father's Footsteps

by Phil Maxwell November 1998

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. [John 8:44]

The above was a part of an exchange between Yahshua and the Jews which so enraged them that they took up stones to kill Him, though He hid Himself from them and escaped, for His time had not yet come. While it is easily understandable why they took such offense at being told they were children of the devil, there was more to these words than just a heated exchange between the Messiah and the Jewish leaders.

First of all, Yahshua told them that their spiritual father was the devil. Ultimately, there are only two possibilities for spiritual fatherhood: the Father, Yahweh, Creator of all things, or Satan, the devil. When Adam sinned, he brought himself and all of his descendants into servitude to sin through the flesh to the god of this world, the devil. Essentially, he underwent a spiritual birth, and Satan was the father of that birth. Of course, the down side was that it was a birth wrought in sin and destined to death. Thus, all of Adam’s descendants have come forth also as the children of sin and death, both works of the devil, with the only escape being in faith in Yahweh through the resurrection, or rebirth.

As the god of this world, the spiritual father over all flesh, Satan has been given power over all flesh up to and including the power of death. Yahweh, however, has the power of life, which he has promised to the faithful in the resurrection. Like Nebuchadnezzar had power to cast the faithful into a fiery furnace, Satan has power to destroy the flesh (unless temporarily prohibited by Yahweh). That, however, is the limit to Satan’s power, as it was Nebuchadnezzar’s, and Yahweh’s power of life is greater than the power of death.

In reality, Yahshua’s statement that his opponents were the children of the devil didn’t indicate some unique status reserved for the wicked. All who have been drawn away by temptation and conceived sin, are the children of the devil, and that includes all of us. Of course, that is not the end of the story, for by faith we can enter into the covenant sealed by Yahshua’s blood where there is life in Him through the resurrection. Naturally, those in the covenant with Yahweh, the Almighty Creator, are His spiritual children.

What Yahshua was really showing in these words to these religious hypocrites was the inevitable conclusion of their ways. He told them that because they were the children of the devil, they would fulfill his desires, even to the point of lying and murdering. Their basic problem wasn’t their rejection of Yahshua, it was their blindness to their own sin, or pride.

Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth. [John 9:41]

As long as they were able to maintain their religious facade of righteousness, they couldn’t see their utter depravity. Yahshua simply brought to them the same message that John and many others had delivered before: Repent. They held the reins over the covenant people, had the honor of men, and had no reason to believe they were lacking in anything. By all appearances, they were righteous servants of Yahweh. What had they to fear? Who was this man who claimed to be the Messiah to call them sinners? They and those that followed them were under the strongest of Satanic delusions: They thought they were walking in the center of Yahweh’s will and had no need for humble repentance such as Yahshua pleaded with them to render.

This was just like Jeremiah’s day, as he stood alone amongst many false prophets pronouncing the impending judgment of Yahweh against Israel for their sins. By and large, he was rejected, despised, and deemed a false prophet, while the false prophets who predicted peace and prosperity were embraced. Time proved Jeremiah’s warnings to be true, but the people could have known who truly spoke Yahweh’s words before they were utterly devastated by Nebuchadnezzar. How? Had they seen their own sin.

Jeremiah really just told them that the warnings given them by Moses and Joshua long before were at the door. These warnings were no secret, but were contingent upon their forsaking Yahweh and their covenant with Him, which they didn’t think they’d done. The false prophets ear tickling predictions of Yahweh’s blessings and provision only stood in the minds of the people upon their own self-righteous delusions, which was the same reason Jeremiah’s warnings were rejected.

This is the story of mankind’s continual failure to receive the grace of Yahweh. It was true in Noah’s day, Jeremiah’s, Yahshua’s, and remains so to this day in our generation. In general, people just can’t or won’t see their own sin, and acknowledging one’s sin is the absolutely essential first step to obtaining salvation and receiving the righteousness of Yahweh. We naturally incline to seek the Father’s blessing, and often fail to remember the fact that only by His grace do we bear the hope of glory in the resurrection we have in Christ.

Yahshua wasn’t just spewing railing for railing by calling these people children of the devil. He was warning them, just like Jeremiah tried warning the Israelites of generations prior. They didn’t believe Jeremiah for exactly the same reason they didn’t believe Yahshua, and, I dare say, exactly the same reason that most of this generation won’t hear the voice of Yahweh, also. They didn’t think they needed to repent. Jeremiah warned that they would be given into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, completely losing their place in the promised land, if they didn’t repent. Yahshua warned that they would speak the devil’s lies and even fall into the ultimate outward sin, murder.

...and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

What a bold statement! These people who meticulously kept every tenet of the law of Moses and then some would ultimately commit the most atrocious crime against the law that existed! As the record shows, this is exactly what they did, too. They put on a mock trial, bribed false witnesses, incited the people to support them, and coerced the Roman authorities to kill a perfectly innocent man.

Understand that the Lord was not just pronouncing their demise. The point was that even to the point of allowing them to commit their atrocious act of murdering the sinless Son of God, there was nothing Yahweh would hold back in trying to reach them. The obstruction was their prideful blindness to their own sin, and this represented the ultimate sin. It spoke to them on terms they could understand, if they would. As the book of Acts shows, however, only a remnant did. These, when they realized they had murdered the innocent Son of God, were pricked in their hearts and repented.

Sin has never been a problem for Yahweh, though pride has. With the free gift of grace paid for by Yahshua’s own blood, there now remains no reason for anyone to deny their own sin.

Under the law of Moses, there may have been reason to deny committing murder or other sins, because the penalties were substantial, but not any longer. Now, all we need do is confess and repent, as forgiveness is given freely to all who do. Yet, still, there are many even amongst those who name Christ who do not bear humble hearts before the Father. Why? They value their outward appearance as respected by others more than Yahweh’s regard for their heart, just like the Pharisees.

While the Pharisees sat in Moses’ seat, they were given Divine grace. They were afforded the ability to walk with outward righteousness. Upon the advent of Yahshua and their rejection of Yahweh’s warnings rendered through His ministry, however, their house was left desolate. The hedge of protection was lifted, and they were given over to Satan, their spiritual father, to fulfill his desire to kill the perfect Son of God. Flesh is no match for the spiritual god of this world, and they did exactly as Yahshua had foretold, becoming murderers by the very law they so staunchly upheld.

This story did not end with the Pharisees. This generation will see a repeat of very similar things. The harlot religion has a very beautiful appearance, causing even the beloved apostle John to marvel at his vision of her until he was shown the true nature of her spirit. She, like the Pharisees, is guilty of the blood of the righteous, the mark of which upon the head or hand of her members is what brings Yahweh’s wrath upon her. She is guilty of coercing the kings of the earth to act out her wrath against the saints, just like the Jewish leaders 2,000 years ago. Her spirit is self-righteous and proud, she is blind to her own sin, just as they were. She is eventually given over to the power of demons, also, just as the Jews were, and for similar reasons: So the righteous remnant within her can see her sin and come out of her, just as the remnant of the Jews who heard the apostles’ message did and repented.

The moral of the story is that nothing has changed since Cain slew Abel out of his envy for Abel’s acceptance by God. Cain was not condemned over the lacking of his offering, but condemned himself by rejecting and killing his righteous brother. By the grace of Yahweh, the harlot maintains a righteous appearance until she is given over to Satan for the purpose of manifesting her shame. She is not rejected for her righteous appearance, but neither is her spiritual offering acceptable to the Father. She will despise those who are accepted by God, and ultimately will fulfill the lust of her father, the devil, by killing the sons of God under the delusion that they are serving Him in the process.

Lest the point be lost, let me conclude by emphasizing that the Jews weren’t spiritually blind because they rejected and killed the Son of God, but rather they did so because they were spiritually blind. The murder of Yahshua was allowed for the purpose of drawing all men to the Father through Christ, including those of the Jews who consented to His death. Even the most righteous of flesh still falls short of being able to stand in the glory of the Almighty Creator, as man was intended to do from the beginning. Cain’s offering of the fruit of the ground represents the flesh, which is nothing but dust. It wasn’t evil, it just wasn’t acceptable. It fell short. If our offerings to the Father are of the righteousness of the flesh, they too will be unacceptable. Those who persist in offering such sacrifices will find themselves caught up in delusions of outward righteousness, acceptable to men, but rejected by God. Ultimately such will be given over to Satan to fulfill his lusts, even to the point of murdering their brethren and thereby filling up the vials of God’s wrath.

The kingdom of heaven does not belong to the righteous, but to those who hunger and thirst for the righteousness of God promised to the meek and humble.

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