I John 5:18-21 (NIV) 1 John 5:18-21 18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them. 19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. 20 We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 21 Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
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? Are our problems rooted in a lack of affirmation and love or in a deep and stubborn selfishness? Where shall we look for answers?
If we turn to the Scriptures, we find positive statements about the nature of our humanity, created in the beginning in the image of God. But the dominant message of Scripture is about our corruption. Even critics of scripture say it teaches a very dismal truth about human nature. 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 shown us the way to be good and could have lived out His days helping people achieve their innate goodness.
But He believed we needed more. He believed we needed dying for. While we were helpless, while we were sinners, while we were enemies Christ died for us. Therefore we are justified, therefore we are saved, therefore we are reconciled.
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 is hidden from us? Did we need, do we need His dying for us?
This is the paradox of the Good News. We see our sickness only as the healing begins. We know our corruption only when we discover ourselves cherished by God. And it all seems to hinge and turn on the questions of do we need dying for?
From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope August 20, 2000
© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell
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