Dear Editor,
One of the most difficult truths for people, even those who claim Christianity, to understand is humanity’s fallen state.
According to Scripture humanity is condemned, separated from God, dead in their transgressions and sin, under the wrath of God, God’s anger is against them, they have no hope and are destined to live eternally in a place called hell.
When you come to understand that every single human born into this world is in this predicament, and on top of that, they have a sin nature which compels them to be sinful and disobedient to God, you can better see why the world looks like it does.
If humans were truly born “basically good” and could be educated to be better, our world would not look like it presently does.
But when you see the truth that man is sinful to the core and must be disciplined and controlled by outside agents, you begin to see why it’s so easy for all of the world’s sinfulness to exist.
The natural man, in his sinfulness, due to his inborn sin nature, is rebellious to authority. This is the nature of man. We have instituted governments, law enforcement, educational systems, rehabilitation systems and many religious orders to control humanity.
Many people, a large portion of these, reluctantly submit to the authorities instituted to keep the peace. There are those who refuse to submit to authority and we have places available to separate them from civil society.
Now, with this rebellious undertow looming in the background, it doesn’t take much to build enough pressure for humanity to lose their self-control and erupt into protests, riots, vandalism and gang violence.
So, with this all being said, what is the solution to this human problem?
Well, for the religious, who depend upon getting people to follow the standards, principles and laws of God via His Word in the Bible, this will be a stumbling block. For those who believe in education, law enforcement and rehabilitation this will be absolute foolishness. But, for those of us who know the truth, it is the very power of God to convert sinful humanity into recreated holy beings.
The answer to humanity’s sinful problem, according to God, who created humanity, is the Cross of Christ.
As stated earlier, this doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to those who have not been born again and received a new and Holy Spirit from the Lord. It is so hard to explain God’s spiritual work to those who are physically minded and are not opened up to receive God’s truth.
I’m not trying to insult, demean or set myself up as some higher authority. I am trying to get people to understand what is really available to them from God through Christ Jesus.
Since humanity is tainted, fallen, separated, spiritually dead, without hope and under God’s wrath, they need salvation from their current situation. God has made a way to make this possible and says that He will remake anyone who would come to Him into new Holy creatures separated from the world and joined to His good purpose for their life.
Some people think Christianity, like other religions, is just a way to control people and make them behave in a certain way. This is not true. True Christianity is the process by which God recreates the sin-natured human into a holy being via the impartation of the Holy Spirit.
If you are at all interested in God’s way, I’d suggest going to the Lord in prayer, giving yourself over to Him for this miraculous makeover that will resurrect you into a whole new being.
Thomas Swain
Great Bend