There are essentially two kinds of woundedness; human woundedness, and Divine woundedness. “The Mark of Cain” was placed on the first of the wounding. Cain was an older brother displaced by a younger one. Beginning with Hagar and Ishmael, Islam was born in woundedness, (rejection). The perspective, understanding, and conversation of woundedness is easily detected by the discerning ear. Human wounding is the fruit of its own fallenness. Kingdoms born of human wounding make bad choices – choices that take us down rather than raise us up.
The Kingdom of God is born of Divine wounding. The difference is that The King was,
“… pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep,
have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way;
and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:5, 6
One more observation: All religion rooted in law rather than lovinglikegod is wounded and wounding. When Christianity “forgot the height from which it had fallen,” it too became wounded and wounding. Revelation 2:5
Loving Like God 
Jay,
This is a powerful insight. It is such a blessing to know that the answer for human wounding is the application of divine wounding, by faith.
The new creation is not–and cannot be–wounded. The new creation “is alive unto God in Jesus Christ.” The “other guy–the old guy” is dead, died with Christ at Calvary. The new creation is “dead indeed to sin” — mine, yours and others (Romans 6:11). Free indeed!
Nursing past human wounds is for the old creation, those who have not embraced the fulness of divine wounding.
Our choices are never anything but ruinous for both us and our neighbors. Even though we learn and mature, when pushed, we will always choose in our self-interest and contrary to holiness. Even our choice to love God and follow Jesus is imperfect. That is the nature of sin.
But Jesus stands as a shield between us and the ultimate consequence of our sin and woundedness – which is death. We are not shielded from pain and suffering and poverty because the world is still cursed. But we are told to, “be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 Because of Jesus, not of our own doing lest we boast, death has lost its sting.
Thank You Peyre! The only authentic healing is on the other side of the cross – the revelation of godlikelove. This is the healing that is only ours on the other side of spiritual resurrection. We may have to wait for the resurrection of our bodies, but spiritual resurrection is available to us already, Colossians 3:1-4. “This is the first resurrection.”
Right. And those who will not accept or live by the Divine wounding, will humanly wound others again. Many live as enemies of the Cross, especially in the so-called churches. Lord, forgive and purify us.
Now, “that’s what I’m blogging about!” :-) It is just not possible for us to love like God except on the other side of the cross. We should never leave home without it.
The truth is there is no way to stay home without it either. It is there that we receive the revelation of how to love like God. Thanks!
One more observation: All religion rooted in law rather than lovinglikegod is wounded and wounding. When Christianity “forgot the height from which it had fallen,” it too became wounded and wounding. Revelation 2:5
It seems to me that if we can acknowledge that “religion” can be fallen, then we have to acknowledge that man, even a born again man, can be fallen – religion is made up of men, even born again men. It is up to us, individually, as well as collectively – as His Church – to not “forget the height from which we have fallen”. When we, individually, forget, and revert to our fallen nature or “old man”, then it shows up in the Church.
I believe that our “old man” is alive and well, and in direct opposition to the seed of Christ growing in us. It is, and will continue to be, a choice for us to discern which spirit we are operating under, and “get clean” thru the Cross whenever we have reverted to the old man.
Love!
Lisa
Jay,
Thanks for the invitation to join in on your blog. Your post on woundedness is very good. It is written, “Because of offenses the love of many shall wax cold.” We are in that era. Everywhere we look people are reacting to offences. Some whole cultures and nations are built on former offences such as blood feuds. It reminds me of a song I heard in the sixties by The Kingston Trio and the words went like this:
They’re rioting in Africa. They’re starving in Spain. There’s hurricanes in Florida, and Texas needs rain.
The whole world is festering with unhappy souls. The French hate the Germans, the Germans hate the Poles.
Italians hate Yugoslavs, South Africans hate the Dutch. And I don’t like anybody very much!
Imagine the offenses that have gone on to fester since then with all the U. S. “intervention” on the world stage and the rise of militant Islam! This is the nature of fallen man and a fallen church (the great falling away or apostasy has already happened years ago). All that today’s visible church has been able to do is add fuel to the fire.
Jeremiah prophesied the cure, though, a New Covenant which has no resemblance to the Old one:
Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; my covenant which they broke, although I was a husband unto them, says the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, says the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, says the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
(Jeremiah 31:31-34 KJ2000)
Ezekiel also spoke of this New Covenant in which is found the enlivening power of God Himself saying,
For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments, and do them.
(Ezekiel 36:24-27 KJ2000)
As long as man lives under the “tit for tat” mentality of the old nature and the old law, there will be no peace. God’s only remedy which He provided through His Son is a new heart and a new spirit upon which is impressed His new law, “A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another” (John 13:34-35 KJ2000). Where we see this kind of love in practice is where we will find the true ecclesia “church” of God and where we do not find it in this world there is no salt nor spiritual light. Only by His stripes are we healed.
Michael
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