God saw all that he had madeāand it was very good! There was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day. Genesis 1:31
New English Translation
Have you ever wondered whether we are good or sinful creatures? It’s a valid question to ask; after all, it does reveal a lot about our behavior or tendencies. However, the answer to that question isn’t so simple. See, we already know from Birthmarks: Part 1 – Known By Love that our birthmark reveals who our father is: God or the devil. Yet, we also know that only God is our true Father; we are only ever deceived into believing the devil is our father, though that deception makes a world of difference in how we interact with the world around us. It’s kind of like how Rapunzel in Tangled is afraid of everything because of who she thought was her mother. Yet, did you see the boldness and confidence in herself that appeared when she realized that her Mother Gothel was not her real mother? Food for thought right there.
However, with that understanding as our starting point, we still want to know who we are from birth: good or sinful? In a sense, both. You read that right. Both. Let’s break this down so we don’t leave anyone confused.
In Genesis 1:31, we find out that God had declared His creation of water, sky, etc. good, but humans were very good. Feels like a moment for a bit of a flex, doesn’t it? But, really, it’s not. We were made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), meaning we weren’t the flex worthy factor; rather, He was the very good we were reflecting. So, we were made very good, but not in our own right.
Now, fast forward, man has sinned. That was a real let down. At the beginning, God created us without sin, meaning sin-nature was not a part of our beings. But, in our pride and desire to be like God, we invited the devil to the table and sinned. From that point on, humanity has been born with this disease called sin. Why do babies cry all the time? Because we are born with a selfish desire to make sure we alone are taken care of. That continues to reveal itself as children grow to the age where they attempt to get their way through temper tantrums and manipulative behavior. This sinful nature can only be overcome by the antidote: Jesus Christ.
See, this is the cycle: Born good, Sin diseased, Jesus saved.
Everyone lives in this cycle, and everyone wrestles with whether they’ll be stuck in the middle or not. Since sin has already invaded everyone (a.k.a. birthmark of the devil), we can’t just sit back and assume we’re fine because we were created good. Think of it this way, you have a good apple, it’s lovely, but it’s got a brown spot on it. You have two choices: either cut out the brown spot and eat the apple, or let the brown spot be and the apple rots.
Jesus can cut out the brown spots in your life, but you have to let Him do it.
Now, just because you cut out the one brown spot of an apple doesn’t mean it won’t keep browning. Say you took that initial step of trying to get rid of the sin…boom, brown spot gone. Yet, you just let it sit on the counter with a chunk taken out of it. What’s it going to do? Brown. A LOT.
I’m not telling you that you’ll never sin again, but I am telling you, that if you’re living with Jesus, letting Him take care of sin in your life, you’re not going to be defined by the nasty sin. You won’t have the birthmark of the devil on your life.
We love because he loved us first. 1 John 4:19
New English Translation
That single act of love, Jesus’ redemptive removal of sin, is the very reason that we are now able to live with a birthmark of love. We don’t love because the person next to us is the greatest or kindest. We love because we are reflecting God once again. We love because the very good is a part of our lives once more. That is the birthmark I choose. What do you choose?