Authenticity- Seperating the real from the fake

Authentic means of undisputed origin, not a copy, genuine.

An inauthentic or fake product will contain elements of the real product, slightly adjusted from the original. For example, you may have able to identify fake versions of a certain product because you recognised the name, but the logo was incorrect, or the logo was correct, but the name was spelt incorrectly.

All good fakes have this in common, they do not change the truth completely, but only deviate slightly from it, so that it is difficult to tell the real from the fake.

We find the origins of this tendency, to twist the truth ever so slightly in the Word of God, and when you find out whose turf this is, you’ll never want to be associated with inauthenticity again.

Genesis 2:16-17 “And the Lord commanded the man, You are free to eat from any tree in the Garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

By Genesis 3:1, the story had been twisted slightly, “He (the serpent) said to the woman, “Did God really say, “You must not eat from any tree in the garden” and from that one slight diversion from the truth, in Genesis 3:3, Eve managed to divert from the truth even more, by not only twisting God’s Words, but also adding on “But God did say, You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you MUST NOT TOUCH IT, or you will die….”

Eve’s downfall was a result of her not having been present to receive the truth for herself when God gave this instruction. Likewise, in our lives, if we do not allow the Word of God to penetrate our hearts so that we receive the truth for ourselves, we will end up chasing man-made theories of how we are related to God and inevitably engage in ritualistic, religious activities to keep that relationship. We end up imitating those we believe to be God’s elite in an attempt to appease a God we don’t even know. And this, is the issue we need to address...

Imitating others means that we become inauthentic, fake. And just like a fake watch will not inspire anyone to follow your fashion trend, being a fake Christian is counterproductive in the Kingdom of God. It does not only hinder our spiritual growth, but also makes the Gospel unattractive to those we are attempting to preach to.

Ephesians 1 states that we were chosen by Christ before the Creation of the world, to be Holy and Blameless in His sight (note – not in other people’s sight, we should only strive to be pleasing to God). It further states that He made known to us the mystery, (which according to Col 1:27 is Christ in YOU, the hope of Glory) so that we would bring all things in heaven and on earth together under the headship of Christ.

So the truth is, our spiritual origin is found in the fact that He CHOSE us, and sent His Son, Jesus, to die for our redemption. That is the source of our confidence when we come before the throne of God in prayer, it is by that authority that we are able to bring heaven and earth together. It cannot change because we’ve committed a sin, or omitted to pay our tithe, worn pants to church or have a tattoo. Any such belief is a diversion from the truth, designed to affect your confidence before God.

Accept that truth, that you love Him because He first loved you, Accept that you are an agent for change, full of solutions, enlisted to God’s army to do greater things than worrying about what the next person will think of you. Do you, be real, be a solution for the big issues in the world, that is what bringing heaven and earth together is about, that is why you are here.