Our world has been shaken by numerous problems this year. It seems like everywhere I turn, another crisis is being tackled, and more division is being created. For the first time in my lifetime, people everywhere are being separated by fear and hatred. The coronavirus pandemic and racism will surely go down in history as the major cultural events of 2020, and we’re only halfway through the year.
As bad as these problems have been, they are simply symptoms of a greater problem. Every problem humanity has faced throughout history, be it social injustice, greed, slavery, etc., has stemmed from this one underlying problem.
Sin and Death
The Bible does not mince words. The greatest problem facing humanity is not racism, human-trafficking, gay rights, greed, or even the coronavirus. The biggest problem facing humanity is sin and death (Romans 5:12).
When God created the world, death, disease, and decay did not exist. People lived in harmony with one another and God. Racism had no place, and deadly viruses were unfathomable. These problems entered the cosmos when humanity, by their own choice, disobeyed their Creator (Genesis 2:17). The book of Genesis records this disruption well (Genesis 3).
You need to know God never intended His Creation to distance themselves socially or be disrespectful to one another in any way. All of our current issues are a result of humanity’s rebellion against God, as recorded in the third chapter of the first book of the Bible.
Sin cannot be resolved by positive thinking, legislating morality, or pretending it doesn’t exist. Death will not be conquered by dietary choices, exercise programs, or medical advances. Are we brave enough to admit that we desperately need help from outside ourselves, our world systems, and our cultural perspectives?
Denial and Biblical Precedent
The Bible says that to deny sin is to live without truth and under deception (1 John 1:8). Sadly, we often work around the clock to ignore our greatest problem because it’s difficult for us to accept the fact that we are the problem. We don’t want to own responsibility for the havoc the human race has created, because it’s far easier to point the finger at others, play the blame game, and make excuses. Yet, the Bible says that “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 53:6).
Furthermore, in the book of Jeremiah, the prophet claims that the human heart is “deceitful above all things, and desperately sick” (Jeremiah 17:9). Paul, in his letter to the church at Rome, said, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Also, David was keenly aware that he was conceived in sin and sinful at birth (Psalms 51:5). The same is true of you and me. Indeed, the Bible is full of verses that talk about the sin of humanity — that no one does good, not even one (Romans 3:12).
If we can’t fix sin or avoid death, where should we turn for help?
The Remedy
Many people believe that the remedy to our problem will be found when the government is reformed or morality is legislated; however, as history has shown, our problems run deeper than any law, ideology, or political system.
If the human heart is desperately sick and deceitful above all things, any human effort to resolve humanity’s problems is doomed to fail. We cannot fix what has been broken. We need to be rescued from ourselves.
Thankfully, the Creator of the universe has not left His creation to figure things out on their own. He knows how incapable we are of doing anything about our sin and death apart from His grace.
Our only remedy is the person and work of Jesus Christ, God’s only Son who came into the world to rescue us and offer eternal life (John 3:16). Jesus is our rescuer. The sooner we abandon our own notions of heroism and embrace Jesus as the all-sufficient rescuer, the sooner we will begin to see true and lasting reconciliation in our relationship with God and others.
Jesus died so that we could be reconciled to God. Jesus died so that the curse of the fall could be reversed. Jesus died so that the wrath of God could be satisfied.
Jesus lived the life we couldn’t live and died the death we should’ve died because He loves us and wants a relationship with us. By his wounds, we are healed (Isaiah 53:5). His death means the forgiveness of our sins, and His resurrection means the assurance of our hope.
Place your hope in Jesus. He is the remedy for humanity’s greatest problem.
