Every unregenerate man has one basic, foundational problem: Sin. It may manifest in different ways and with symptoms that vary from man to man, but it is the same problem at the root of it all.
Sin kills because it corrupts the life in us. Eternal life is accurate knowledge of the Father. Sin makes it impossible to know the Father, and no man can ever rise above his knowledge of The Divine Majesty. Sin corrupts the perceptions of the heart about who God is, and makes it such that the God the sinner comes to know is not God as He seeks to be known. It is a gross aberration. Sin…
- The promiscuous man has one problem: Sin has corrupted his relationship with the Father
- The proud man has one problem: Sin has corrupted his relationship with the Father.
And it goes on and on.
Sometimes as Christians, we tend to forget this, and we focus on the symptoms. The natural man is following his nature when he lies and steals and cheats. He is doing as he should when he fornicates and lusts. When we stand and tell him that he should not, we are asking him to go against his nature. But… the cross is the answer. At the cross, sin, the nature of sin was defeated, and through the resurrection of Christ, we have received the nature of righteousness. A sinner’s problem isn’t that he steals; it is that he is a sinner, and is separated from God. The stealing is just incidental.
The cross cuts to the root of the matter, and destroys the nature of Sin at its root. We are no longer rebels against God, but now Sons. Then, we can go on and do those acts of good and service because we are following our nature, responding to a spiritual reality revealed by the Holy Spirit in us. WE CAN NOW KNOW GOD AS HE IS. This is our pearl of great price, our exceeding glory. This is what we are born (again) for.
Jesus_Freak 