The darkness in your own mind filled you with fear. Because you thought I meant evil to you, you went as a beast goes against a beast of some other kind. -C.S. Lewis, Out of the Silent Planet

Oswald Chambers wrote that no human will ever do anything that we ourselves are not capable of. 

This is hard to hear. But I think if we can look past our defensive nature, we can than get an idea of what kind of darkness lies in the human heart – why Jesus was in fact necessary to die for sin and it is only through Him that we can truly find light. 

I think sometimes we forget that all of us, at one time or another, were babies. Born into sin, yes, but full of an innocence that most adults lack. What we put in our hearts and minds, forced sometimes, shapes what we become. I believe though, that when the Bible says we are born into sin, It is referring to the wickedness that became part of the human heart because of the fall. Genesis 6:5 The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. 

We coat this evil with lots of fancy words and justifications, but when Jesus is removed, when the light is removed, there is darkness… No matter the upbringing or circumstances. By nature, we have very selfish motives. We hide these motives under layers of reasoning and false securities. But! when we allow Him, Jesus reveals the depths of this darkness within ourselves. He shines His light into our hearts, removing the layers.

Matthew 7:1 “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged.”

When we condemn and judge others, we condemn ourselves. We only condemn because that darkness is in our own heart… Like C.S. Lewis wrote – it is your own darkness and mind that filled you with fear. Because you thought I meant evil… 

The same evil within us is what causes our fear. We attack each other like beasts because we are anticipating others reacting with the same awfulness we conjure up within our own darkened minds and hearts. 

When Jesus died for sin, He looked into the pit of this darkness, but would not be changed. Fear and death had no power over Him. He loved those that hated Him, with a true, pure, unconditional love… without any other agenda than to do His Father’s Will. And His Father’s Will was, is, and will always be to reveal and share His love and glory with us. Jesus would not displace the pure goodness of His Father with anything… He trusted and obeyed… He saved mankind. 

It’s so beautiful.