Friday, November 15 2019; The Human Problem

THE HUMAN PROBLEM

(F)or all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:23-24 NIV)

I was just about 8. My brother was 21 months younger than me. My parents had stored some of our money that we received from the red packets of Chinese New Year in a type of piggy bank which looked like a small miniature bank safe for each of us. These containers were about 8 inches in length and 4 inches in width. Our parents wanted us to start learning how to save. However, when my parents were not home, my brother and I took some of the money from the piggy bank. We went to the shops to buy candy and small toys. I can’t remember how we broke open the lock on the door of the bank, but we did it. Then our parents found out that the piggy banks had been broken into. They asked how it happened. We lied. We said we did not know anything. We did not know how the piggy banks were opened or how the money went missing. My parents did not need to guess what happened. They were not impressed with our “theft” and lying. Only my brother and I knew what was in the piggy banks. 

Most of us who have been blessed to be parents know we do not need to teach our children to lie, but they do so naturally. The Bible says that there is something wrong with humanity. 

(F)or all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:23-24 NIV)

For us who live today, this statement of Romans 3:23 is difficult to read. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…Today, if someone were to bring up the subject of sin, we would dismiss them as a religious fanatic. The subject of sin is rarely talked about these days.

One evidence of the human problem is that we live in a world of lies. God does tell us in his 10 commandments that we should not lie to our neighbour (Exodus 20:16). We live in a human world that thinks that it can create truth for themselves. All we need to do is to look at the recent general elections. After the debate, each party has their spin office trying to influence public opinion. No political party wants to be left out without their spin doctors promoting their version of the “truth”. Vote for us for we are the party of truth. 

We can read about the fall of humanity in Genesis 3 (the Adam and Eve story) and in this statement in Romans 3:23. There is an explanation for our capacity to lie and do other things to exploit people. We do not live up to the moral life God has given to us. We hurt people and we hurt God. The Bible uses the word “sin” to describe it. I will also call it “our fallen tendency” or “our brokenness before God”.

In 2 weeks we will celebrate the First Advent Sunday (December 1, 2019). Yes it is true that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). However, that is not the end of the story…And all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus (Romans 3:24). Through Advent and Christmas, we celebrate the coming of Christ Jesus who brings the justification and grace of God for all. 

Pastor Pye