Romans 5:6-11 (NASB) 6 For
while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For
one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man
someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own
love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much
more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the
wrath of God through Him. 10 For
if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His
Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And
not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through
whom we have now received the reconciliation.
Are
we basically good people who just need a little help from our friends and maybe
from God, or are we desperately corrupt people who need much more? Are we
basically good or basically bad? Where shall we look for answers? Often we will hear we are basically good people who
need to be liberated from the bad advice or abusive treatment received in our
past. If we turn to Scripture, we find positive statements about the nature of
our humanity … that in the beginning God created us in the image of God.
But, the dominant message of Scripture is about our
corruption. While we were helpless,
Paul says, and then underscores the statement twice, while we were sinners … while
we were still enemies. The words of Jesus, the words of the prophets, the
wisdom of the Psalms all echo similar messages and seem to say that we are
basically a corrupt people who need saving. We may want to weasel around it,
but can we deny what is taught in scriputre? Even some of the critics of
Scripture say it teaches a very dismal truth about human nature, and they
dismiss it as too negative.
Evidence may be mixed, but there is one more bit of
evidence we need to see, and it is the evidence of Jesus. In Him we see all of
the evidence in a new way. If all we needed was a little help from our friends
and from God, Jesus could have confined His ministry to teaching and healing. He
would have taught us the way to be good, and He would have helped us and shown
us. He could have lived out His days helping people achieve their innate
goodness. But He believed we needed more.
Questions about our basic goodness and badness are
more accurately answered when we wonder not simply about ourselves, but about
Jesus. Was He right? Did He know something about us that was hidden from us?
Did we need, do we need His dying for us? This is the paradox of Good News. We
see our corruption only after we discover ourselves cherished by God and loved
enough by Jesus for Him to die for us.
From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope June 20,
1993
© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell
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