God created us perfectly, in His own image. He created us to be godly, and 1 Tim 6:6 says godliness with contentment is great gain. God created us to be like Him, but the enemy came and messed us up.
Jesus described Satan as a liar and chief of liars (a great deceiver), John 8:44
This murderer and liar was the one who planted the inner nature in human beings through the fruit he gave to Eve. As soon as she ate it, her inner nature took over, and she immediately dragged Adam into the trouble too. As soon as both ate the fruit, they became people who were running away from God.
Inner nature is not God's friend; that is why you should wage war against it.
Our inner nature shows up in the form of pride, disobedience, greed, etc. Any character that is different from God's will is what we call the inner man.
The Bible says, "The heart of man is desperately wicked, who can know it?"- Jer. 17:9
Gen. 6:5 states that God felt bad that the thought of man is evil all the time. “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.”
God examined His creations of each day and found that they were good, but unfortunately, Satan came to mess it up, turning human beings into evil thinkers.
The behavior, which you consider natural, is what we call inner nature.
Gen 6:12 says that God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. “Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.”
Note that it is each person who damaged his or her own character. It is not your spouse, child, or friend that corrupted you, but your own desires have done it. It is within you. This is why it is called your inner nature. Mine did not spoil yours, nor did yours spoil mine.
Many couples end up divorcing because of their individual inner nature.
Some men have spoiled the lives of so many women, and vice versa, such that staying married has become a difficult thing. It is your inner nature.
Many kings get to the throne and refuse to enthrone God. Many well-to-do people arrive and forget the God who placed them.
Nebuchadnezzar was a well-known, powerful, and exalted king over many provinces of his time, but his inner nature (pride) corrupted him. God then cast him out of the throne to dwell in the bush with animals - Daniel 5:20-28
There is no one whose inner nature cannot bring down. In this story, the father ate grass; the son's kingdom was taken from him. Their kingdoms were destroyed while they were still alive.
Be mindful of what's inside you so it doesn't bring you down. Watch your character.
What concerns God about your inner man? He measures our actions.
God sees your heart and thoughts; it is from Him that your character is measured. “Boast no more so very proudly, do not let arrogance come out of your mouth; For the Lord is a God of knowledge, and with Him actions are weighed.” - 1 Samuel 2:3
All of you leaders at work, what are you thinking? God wants you to honor him, but when you reject him, your business runs down.
Think through how your inner man has affected you.
There was a man who always blamed Adam for all his misfortunes. Why are you sick and poor? He would say, ‘It's due to Adam's sin. Okay, let's see.’
One day, this man had a dream where he was instructed to go into the bush with his cutlass and gun at daybreak. He was told, “You'll find an animal on the tree, but as you point your gun to kill it, the animal will speak and give you an instruction. Follow whatever it tells you.”
Behold, he took steps when he woke up. As he pointed his gun towards the animal in the bush, the animal said to him, "Put down your gun, I have something to tell you." In a few minutes, I'll leave this tree. You should climb this tree, then throw your cutlass and gun forward, and follow whatever happens thereafter.”
He did as the animal said, and as he threw his cutlass and gun down, he started to fall into a dip hole, which landed him in a big town.
This town needed a king who was a foreigner because their previous kings were dying prematurely.
As soon as this man appeared in that town, people took him to the palace and quickly made him a decorated king. This poor man's life has now changed for the better. He marveled at himself how he had now become a wealthy and honorable man. He then said to himself, Yeah, I know, that I was poor before because of Adam's sin. Yeah.
Six months later, he had received twelve wives and was well taken care of.
At the seventh month, one of the town elders came to give the king a detailed tour of the palace, knowing that the king was a stranger who didn’t really know the details of the place. He was told that he had control over all 201 rooms in the palace except one. He was warned not to enter that one room. ‘Alright,’ he said.
At the end of three years, his inner man rose against him.
The inner nature of many people has risen against them. We, however, blame the government for everything, not looking into ourselves to see our atrocities and our sinful characters.
This man's inner nature pushed him one day, and he said to himself, 'How can I be the king over this whole town, and someone would tell me not to enter a particular room?' I will show them in this town that I can do whatever I want, not knowing that the last room was the place they kept their idols and practiced evil rituals.
One day, he proceeded to room number 201, but as soon as he stepped in, he found himself back on the tree in his old place where he used to live. He went back to his poverty state, with no one to blame.
This was how God proved to him that his inner nature, Mr. Disobedience, Mr. Discontentment, and Mr. Pride were present inside of him - his inner nature and chief enemy. His initial poverty was not to be blamed on Adam, but on himself.
What is in you that has the potential to bring you down? What caused the replacement of Queen Vashti? Was it not her inner nature, Mr. Pride and Mr. Disobedience?
Watch out for your inner man, don't let it destroy you.
This is an excerpt from a classic sermon by my father, Apostle T. O. Obadare
