Tag Archives: Depravity

On Humanity

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Continuing along the “Brief Statements of Faith,” I turn now to a statement on Humanity.

The Bible teaches that human beings were created in the image of God, not that they emerged through the millennia by process of natural selection and evolution.  Instead, humanity was created in the image of God, as the crown jewel of creation, given blessing and charge by God to be fruitful and multiply, to have dominion over all the earth.  As the Psalmist says, “What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor” (Psalm 8:4–5(ESV).  Created and blessed by God, our first parents enjoyed communion with God and lived for God’s glory as they obeyed His Word.

Still, when tempted by the questioning of God’s Word, Adam and Eve defied God’s commandment and chose to be gods for themselves, placing themselves in the center of creation.  Because of their willful disobedience, sin and death entered into the human heart, and yet we reenact that original sin every time we disobey God.  The corruption of sin is so complete and pervasive that humanity is now broken, no longer living for the glory of God and the joy of His presence.  We choose darkness over light, the momentary pleasures of sin over the eternal blessing of righteousness – “none is righteous, no not one… for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:10, 23).

There exists now a great divide between God and all of humanity.  Our sinfulness prevents us from entering into and joyfully celebrating the glory of God.  Our most righteous efforts to atone for our sins are still laced with sin, the price for our redemption is more than we could ever pay, it is beyond our ability to save ourselves.  Sin’s stain touches everything we do, it is destructive, contagious, polluting, and deadly.  We are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners.

As such, we stand before our God, who is holy and just, condemned in our sin.  We owe to God a debt we cannot pay.  Humanity needs a savior.

SDG

My Treed House

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“For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”
(Matthew 5:45)

So… Last week I wrote about my kids getting their tonsils removed.  That night, having stayed up till midnight to give them their dose of pain medication, I finally made it to bed around 12:30.  At 1:15, the power went out, and we were awakened by the loudest crashing sound I’ve ever heard.  We quickly went to the window to find that one of the Linden trees laying on the roof of our front porch.

You’ll notice the van parked next to the downed tree.  It is my father-in-law’s and fortunately it was untouched.  The tree didn’t go through the roof, break any windows, or cause any major damage.  Truth is, I wanted that tree gone anyway.

There was a lot of damage from the storm that blew through last week.  Just to the west and north of us, the streets looked like a war zone with all the damaged trees.  Some trees were completely uprooted, some were twisted and snapped in half.  Some had fallen on houses causing major damage, some cars were completely totaled.  All things considered, we were very blessed.

My insurance adjuster referred to this event as an “Act of God.”  Later that day, the weather man came on saying that “mother nature” was brining cool weather and a beautiful week ahead.  Why is it that we attributed the good weather and favorable conditions to some unknown personification of weather called “Mother Nature,” but every time the winds blow or the rivers rise it is called an “Act of God?”  Why do we give praise to “Mother Nature” for the good weather then blame God for the bad?  Is not all weather an act of God?  Does not God bring the rain, the sun, the harvest, and all good gifts (Psalm 147:7-8)?  That the forces of nature can be destructive is only evidence of the brokenness of all creation through the fall of man.  Romans 8 teaches us, “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”  Shouldn’t we then call the gracious gift of a beautiful day an “Act of God” and the devastating power of the weather the “Evidence of our Depravity?” (I know, it doesn’t roll off the tongue that well).

Let me tell you how I saw the hand of God on Thursday.  The hand of God prevented the tree from crashing through my house and injuring my family.  The hand of God led good friends (Tim Peterson, Tom Kellen, Logan Patterson, and my father-in-law Don Crow) to help me clear up the mess.  The hand of God kept the entire community from injury in the midst of the storm. 

Job lost everything, not by the hand of God, but by the touch of Satan – a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of his house, and it fell, killing Job’s children.  When Job heard the news, he tore his robe and shaved his head (traditional symbols of mourning), then fell to the ground and worshiped God (a very non-traditional reaction to tragedy).  Job’s simple worship was this, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return.  The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” 

Amen to that!

SDG