In Bad Shape

The Bible begins on a positive note: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). Later the Creator surveyed everything he had made and pronounced it "very good" (1:31).

Today's world, though, is filled with evidence of another biblical truth: Sin wrecks lives. The daily news is not "very good." Something bad has happened to the perfect world God designed, and things are in bad shape. The word sin is seldom printed in the newspaper or spoken by government leaders and news commentators, but it's the core of our human dilemma. Sin ruins nations, destroys families, and corrupts the environment. It pushes neighbors apart and severs our relationship with God. It turns inner cities into places of fear and danger, pleasant suburbs and small towns into places of loneliness and isolation.

Sin takes different shapes. The Old Testament describes it with words like "uncleanness," "transgression," "iniquity," "going astray," and "turning to one's own way" (Isaiah 53:5, 6). The New Testament pictures sin with the Greek word hamartia, which means to miss the mark, like an archer whose arrow misses the target. Another term, parabasis, means to overstep. God has set certain boundaries for life, but like a basketball player who steps out of bounds, we break the rules. Adikia means wrongdoing or unrighteousness. Opheilema means debt, implying we have not fulfilled our obligations to God. That's why Jesus said to pray, "Forgive us our debts" (Matthew 6:12).

Outwardly, "Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness" (1 John 3:4). Inwardly, sin takes the shape of selfishness, rebellion, and pride. "Haughty eyes and a proud heart . . . are sin!" (Proverbs 21:4). Number one on the all-time sin list? "People will be lovers of themselves" (2 Timothy 3:2).

Sin is a personal insult to the Father in Heaven. Lying offends God because he is always truthful. Killing dishonors God because he is the author of life. Unless it's corrected and forgiven, sin destroys the one who commits it. "Sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death" (James 1:15). Professor Lewis Foster pointed out, "To split a log for a fireplace, you strike it where there's already a crack. And that's exactly what Satan does. He attacks at our point of weakness."

All of us are in the same boat, and it's sinking. God is just, so he must punish sin (to satisfy the demands of his righteous law); yet because God is merciful, he wants to forgive sin (thus expressing his love). How could God avoid punishing us without cheapening sin? How could he pardon wrong while also vindicating what is right? How could he restore the guilty and teach the offender to hate his offense?

"To be just and the one who justifies" (Romans 3:26), God's Son personally paid the penalty for our sin, though he had never done anything wrong himself. The Lord of love took upon himself all the misery caused by our rebellion. What we could never do for ourselves, the Lord did for us. He bridged the unbridgeable gap, wiped away our unbearable guilt, and rescued us from spiritual death. "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

There's only one answer to the problem of sin, and it took the shape of a cross.