Strongholds

Mankind was born with what some early writer called a "bright nature", and as such their vision was through "bright eyes" (The First  Book of Adam and Eve). To have bright eyes is to see the Kingdom of God clearly without having the view clouded by the things of the world. Truth is clearly seen in this Bright Light because those with that nature clearly see Truth. Knowing truth, and obedience to it, out of reverence to the Provider of Light is a bright nature.

Because of original sin, mankind no longer has a bright nature. All men walk in darkness, and will do dark things. Because of that, men can't see the truth for the darkness in which they walk.

John 1:5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

This "light" is the knowledge of God. It is abundant, desirable, safe, hopeful, and truthful. Although the Light always shined, sinners with clouded eyes do not comprehend it. Jesus was clear on this when he commented about his accusers:

Luke 23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.

The ignorance of truth is "darkness". The Word of God sheds light on this darkness. It's purpose is for mankind to again have bright eyes and a bright nature!

2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

With the new birth - born-again to the Designer's Intent, we again have bright eyes to discern truth.  Before we are born again, scripture says that "every man hateth the light" (John 3:20). Why so? "Lest his deeds be reproved." (ibid).

Sinners intentionally closed their eyes to the Bright Light because they fear conviction. Because conviction leads to guilt, sinners prefer to walk in darkness. Guilt is stressful, and can make one sick! That's why sinners hate reproof. For instance, just let a preacher preach on a person's sin of choice, and see the response. There are three: disregard, repent or get angry. Most people disregard the Light shining in their face. It's just too bright for their cloudy eyes. They prefer the darkness of their spiritual caves!

God calls sinners from their cave (John 6:44). God is Light. God calls sinners to step out of the darkness, and let His Light shine upon them.  Walking in the Light is called enlightenment. When one is born-again, that person walks out of his or her dark cave into the Bright Light of God:

John 3:21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought (formed) in God. 

Thus, as Jesus explained to Nicodemus, being "born-again" is one who does truth. The new birth is walking out of the cave from the darkness into the knowledge of God. That is being enlightened. I believe that since men do their own will, then in practice, they are their own gods. The Light given to them is: you are not gods, you can't save yourself, and only Jesus can. That realization and admission is walking from the darkness of the spiritual cave into the Light of God. Suddenly, out of the darkness, the sinner trusts God instead of himself. Presto, change: a new creature is Created! This is the second birth, and a brighter nature is regained, and with eyes wide open to truth, clearer eyes ensue. Of course, bright eyes and a bright nature are fully regained at glorification -  the full presence of God!

Across the front of that dark spiritual cave are strongholds. Satan didn't put them there for you, but built them back in Adam's time. Just as God puts a hedge of safety around those born gain, Satan built walls thousands of years ago. We each have our own wall. They are lusts of some sort: power, greed, envy, lasciviousness, and as we can see, all types of sexual sins. (I bet Al Franken and others are trapped in darkness in their spiritual caves by this type of stronghold. Ironically, the accusers of popular figures have their strongholds too. Many are now being revealed).

Even those who walk out of darkness into the Light, still have vestiges of sin remaining in their lives. Mankind will always have to deal with temptation. As a Christian, truth shines in the face of those of us with brighter eyes, but the spiritual strongholds we have are clouded vision. We take God's grace for granted, and continue to do our own will with specific sins rather than God's will. We know what we do, and do them anyhow! Being a Christian is bearing the cross. That burden is light but we still must bear it. Strongholds make the cross heavy when it could be light!

The cross we bear can be made lighter  if we depend on God:

2 Corinthians 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

I believe as "the Angel of God" Jesus rolled back the stone from his own dark cave. If He can roll back his own stone, he can tear down our walls for us as well. In this age, it seems that one specific stronghold which Satan built years ago is sexual sin. I believe that the "shame" of mankind was covered with the shed blood of innocent animals for a reason. Somehow, sexual sins are mankind's strongholds. Satan built that wall high and sturdy around the dark cave to keep mankind's eyes clouded.  As Reagan asked of Gorbechev, we can ask: "Mr. Jesus, tear down those walls which make us weak Christians!"  With that trust, God will take care of removing those strongholds.

The key to removing those strongholds is trusting that God can do it. He says that he can and will:

1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

There is no shame toward men for being a sinner - that shame is reserved for God. All men have sinned, and live in their spiritual caves until God gives them a brighter nature. The nature is not a full return to original man but only partial. We can only seek Christian perfection. It is not to be obtained because we are not God! When we truly become like God at glorification, then we will be fully out of the dark, and have bright eyes and a bright nature as God intended in the beginning.

Even Christians - diligent ones, often have strongholds. Some are lesser than other but they are not of our own making. Christians are willing to climb over that wall, but the flesh is weak. It is possible to scale that wall but not on our own. God will make a way to escape that stronghold because He is faithful to Christians.

Self-righteous people fail to recognize their own strongholds. Their eyes are not bright at all because their dark nature has a cloud still lingering over them. Some choose to keep the cloud because they prefer darkness to light, and enjoy their spiritual cave. They care little that there is a wall before the only gate out of the darkness. If only they can cloud the issue in a futile attempt to fool others! They do that by blamig, judging others more harshly than themselves, and gossiping. False gods elevate themselves by tearing down the worshipers of the One True God. That behavior is the stronghold of many Christians. Tear down that wall, and God can help with that!