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Skin
Deep
By Jerri
Phillips
The human body is a
fascinating thing. I am
always in awe of how it works and the
intrinsic design of Elohim, God the
Creator. While expecting
Anna, I tried to wrap my mind around the
reality that prior to the miraculous
union of two little cells that were
complete, and yet only halfway complete,
Anna wasn't. I tried to
fathom the reality of two complete
half-cells that functioned on their own
joining together to make one whole cell
that would eventually become every cell
needed to form a complete human
body. And I must say that
Anna was born, and since then we have
enjoyed the pregnancy and birth of
another baby, and I am still awed by such
incredible happenings.
But you know I don't
need the beginnings of life to make my
jaw drop with awe. I can look
at the basic workings of the human body
and be completely entranced.
For instance, blood, while making some
people queasy, is incredible.
It is efficient. Each part
knows its job and endeavors to do it to
the best of its abilities.
On a less nauseating
note, I find basic cells fascinating,
too. Cells are the body's
building blocks. Each little
cell carries life within it.
Now, I am not being New Age
here. I am being
truthful. Each cell carries
the DNA to recreate itself over and over
again. its nucleus splits,
and then each nucleus takes part of the
cell, except that the cell doesn't
shrink. It stays the same size and just
keeps having "baby" cells.
While cells are tiny
little things, their importance should
never be underestimated.
After all, they determine whether you
grow healthy and strong or
not. Do you know that if your
cells are damaged, bad things
happen? Granted, I am not up
on the latest research, but last I heard,
cancer and other diseases result from
damaged or mutated cells that have
malfunctioning babies. If
your cells are healthy, you'll tend to
have healthy growth throughout your body.
Cells are our growth
machines. As they produce new
cells, the new cells replace old, dying,
or dead cells. If we produce
a lot of healthy cells, then we have a
better chance of keeping harmful or sick
cells from affecting us.
For instance, Anna and
I were watching one of my infamous
"blood shows" when they
demonstrated how skin is
made. The cells in the dermis
(lower skin) form new cells.
Then new cells "rise" or move
up to replace the dead cells at the
epidermis layer. The skin is
then rejuvenated because dry or damaged
cells are removed, and new healthy cells
take their place. What you
see on your face actually started way
down in your skin quite a while
back. Pretty neat, huh?
Why is this a big deal
to me? A couple of
reasons. First, simple
vanity. I grew up on a farm, and that
meant a lot of outside work.
The sun, cold, and wind can wreak havoc
on skin. The elements cause
premature aging, and personally, I don't
want to look sixty when I am
forty. I would much prefer to
know how to encourage my body to make
nice, healthy, young-looking cells.
Second, I have learned to be proactive
with my health. I cannot undo
the damage already done, but I would like
to know how to possibly prevent mutated
skin cell babies from causing me to
develop skin cancer.
Another reason I am
fascinated by how cells are made and how
they function is that they serve to
remind me of the connection between
salvation and how I behave.
Sometimes I get confused on the
two. Actually, I think most
people are confused by that
connection. Sadly, I have
found that this one misunderstanding
causes more problems for Christians and
non-Christians alike than any other
aspect of religion.
For the most part, no
one has problems with why it is wrong to
lie or commit adultery.
Granted, it may not prevent people from
doing those things, but most people,
churchgoers and church avoiders alike,
think telling the truth and being
faithful are right. In fact,
if you notice, a lot of people have
nothing against Christian
morals. One
"church" I heard of actually
ditched the whole Christ salvation aspect
of Christianity and began teaching
morality, and it is scary how quickly
Christians are abandoning the Christian
churches to embrace the new teaching.
So, what is the big
deal? What is the turn off
that frustrates and depresses Christians
and keeps seekers at bay? I
would argue that it is because they do
not understand the life and times of a
skin cell. Let me explain.
When I went to an altar
to pray for forgiveness for my sins and
ask Jesus into my heart, I was eight
years old. For the next
fifteen years or so, I tried to be good
but failed. Maybe you know
what that is like. I really
tried, and every time that I asked
forgiveness, I promised I would never do
whatever it was I was repenting of
again. "Never"
never seemed to last very long, though,
no matter how hard I tried.
Finally, I gave up. I decided
I could never be good enough.
I would never get it right.
Again, maybe you know what I
mean. It is a very defeating
place to be, isn't it?
Somewhere around the
time I was twenty-three, I threw in the
towel. I was depressed for a
variety of reasons, primarily because I
felt that I could never gain God's
approval. I was never going
to be good enough to gain His attention,
and certainly not His love. I
even told Him that. "I
quit. I can't do this, and I
am tired. I am sorry I am so
lousy. I am sorry that I
can't give you a reason to love
me. I am sorry that I am such
a failure, and I am sorry that the very
sight of me must be appalling to
you. I am just really
sorry." Do you have any
idea what that is like?
Sadly, I have found an untold number of
people who do.
Personally, I had hit
the bottom. There is
something about being at the bottom and
acknowledging it that opens us up to
receiving the power and love of Almighty
God like we never imagined.
It isn't that His power and love weren't
there prior to our
desperation. It wasn't that
He wasn't trying to give them to us
already. We just have to
reach a point where we will receive
it. I had finally reached
that point.
I tossed out everything
I had ever been taught about
Christianity. No
kidding. The only things I
kept were the beliefs in the reality of
Father, Son, Holy Spirit, heaven, hell,
and tithing. I prayed simply,
"I don't know what is true or
right. I only know that I
cannot live this way. Surely,
you do not wish for your children to be
so utterly miserable all the time.
Father, you said the truth would set me
free. Show me your truth, and
set me free. I am tired of
church dogma, and I am tired of the
legalism. I want you."
I began to pray
differently. I quit praying
for cars and houses and stuff. I quit
reiterating every sin I had committed
that day. I began to simplify
my prayers. "Lord, I
sinned today. I wAsn't
perfect. Please forgive me.
Please show me you." Too
simple? Not where I
was. I only knew two things
at that point. I knew I
wanted forgiveness, and I knew I wanted
God. The rest, He was going
to have to show me, and boy, did He.
The first huge wall
that the Lord had to demolish was the
perception that my actions do not make me
righteous. I had said that
very phrase countless times, but He had
to drive it into my spirit.
Works will never make me
righteous. It is
impossible. Too often, we are
trying to follow laws and rules trying to
act and be righteous.
According to the Luke, the law will never
make us righteous (Acts 13:39). The law
brings wrath (Romans 4:15). It is
impossible to get it all right, and James
says that if we break one part of the
law, we trounce it all (James 2:10).
Now, I was raised in a
church that talked about righteousness by
faith and grace, and while it was never
overtly stated that grace is attained by
works, it was drilled into my head and
heart in a myriad of subtle
ways. I found my asking,
"Then where is
salvation? If it is not our
works, then how do works play into it
all?"
Methodically, in ways
that I could clearly understand, the Lord
began to show me that salvation is a gift
provided for by Jesus. Christ
came to earth to take on the form of a
man. While on this earth, He
lived a perfect life to demonstrate true
godliness. At the appointed
time, He was sacrificed on the cross by
means of crucifixion so that the sins of
the world would be atoned for by the
shedding of His blood. For
three days, the Bible says, He was in the
belly of the earth preaching to souls (1
Peter 3:18-20), and on the third day, He
rose from the dead. He came
forth from the tomb, and appeared to
various people for forty
days. At the end of that
time, He was transformed in front of
witnesses and entered into heaven where
He is now seated at the right hand of
Almighty God (Acts 2:33) and is making
intercession for the saints (Romans
8:34). The life, death, and
resurrection of Jesus atone for all our
sins making salvation available for
everyone who desires it.
Notice there is nothing
that we can do to make it more real or
less real. It is fact.
Period. Salvation is offered
as a gift through faith in Jesus Christ.
Okay, so, Lord, what do
works have to do with anything?
I have heard people
quote, and I have quoted it myself, the
book of James where it is written that
faith without works is dead.
"We are justified not only by our
faith but by our works (James
2:20)." Now, that sounds
like salvation by works, but stick with
me on this.
James never says that
our faith saves us. If you
look at the second chapter of the book of
James, James asks if faith without
evidence will do any good. He answers by
saying that the demons have
faith. Will that save them?
Obviously not. He states
clearly that faith, if not accompanied by
proof of action, is dead. In
other words, if we have faith, we will
act accordingly. "[Abraham's] faith
was made complete by what he did (James
2:22)." Then comes the
controversial verse 24, "You see
that a person is justified by what he
does and not by faith
alone." Too often we
interpret this verse to mean that works
help save us. That is not
true. The word
"justified" here means "to
demonstrate or show to be just or
righteous; to exercise righteousness
(Hebrew-Greek Keyword Study
Bible)." Our behavior or
works demonstrate what has gone on
internally. Instead of our
works or actions leading to our
salvation, our new heart, our new
identity, our new faith is affecting our
behavior.
We have not earned
salvation. Instead, we have
come into life with Christ, and our
commitment to Him is changing us from the
inside out. Not the other way
around.
Let's go back to our
skin cell for a minute. What
do you think would happen if the skin
cells on top of your skin began to work
back down toward your bones?
At best, some healthy cell would come to
its senses and kill the renegade
cell. At worst, as the
damaged cell worked toward your bone, it
would create more damaged cells to
replace it. So, now your skin
looks worse, and those already damaged
cells become more damaged from the
elements, and then they create cells that
are as damaged as they are.
With each cell generation, the cells are
increasingly damaged. How
long do you think it will take before the
skin no longer has its original
elasticity or structure? How
long will it take before what we have
known as functioning useful skin becomes
a diseased, malfunctioning source of
death?
Well, that is the exact
situation caused when we try to use the
law to justify ourselves. An
atmosphere of condemnation and judgment
is created by virtue of the law's ability
to condemn with no means of
atonement. However, when we
have truly committed to Christ (and I am
not talking about just some good lip
service), He will rejuvenate us from the
inside out. Instead of having
to focus on being perfect, we can focus
on the Perfect One. Instead
of trying to get it all right, we can
praise Him for His mercy and forgiveness
when we get it wrong, and we do not have
to fear His judgment or
rejection. We will never buy
our way into His presence by becoming a
better person. However, we
will become more like Jesus as we spend
time in His presence.
Too often people who
truly desire to be good Christians try to
make themselves good Christians and end
up depressed and burned out from their
inability to do so, and sadly, a lot of
non-Christians watch us as we struggle in
our misery to get it right and decide
they are miserable enough and don't need
the condemnation of rules and regulations
to make it worse. It doesn't have to be
that way, and Christ doesn't want it that
way. The truth is that the Lord wants us
to walk in freedom, and He desires for us
to be joyful and peaceful, but that will
never happen as long as we continue to
attempt to transform the outside chaos so
that it magically becomes inner peace. It
simply does not work that way. If we want
to exude faith, peace, love, joy, and the
other characteristics of Christ, then we
have to start with the right Source, and
when we do, we can watch the damaged and
mutated stuff fall away as we watch the
beautiful new growth surface. And it will
surface, not because of what we lavish on
ourselves, but because of Who's on the
inside.
Zodhiates, Spiros, Ed. Hebrew-Greek
Keyword Study Bible: New International
Version. Chattanooga: AMG Publishers,
1996.
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