out. We are all, as Paul puts it, ‘prisoners of sin’.41 We are all destined for eternal death. Paul says elsewhere, ‘for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.’42 Our state of separation is ultimately eternal if it is not remedied. The New Testament makes clear from the mouths of Jesus, Paul, Peter, Jude and John that all evil will ultimately be dealt with when Jesus returns (more about that later).43 The problem is that in the meantime we are destined for destruction, because evil is fused into the core of our being.
Is It Hopeless?
All this can seem terribly depressing. It seems on the surface that God’s intention has failed. He wants an eternal relationship with each of us and he wants the world to be a glorious place of human creativity and harmony, yet not one of us can live with God forever because of his purity and our sin. Were he to let us live eternally in our flawed state, we would continue to corrupt the world we live in. If we, as impure people, were allowed into eternity then heavenly existence would be worse than earth. Imagine our human corruption combined with eternal life and eternal resources. Eternity would quickly become a scene of unimaginable eternal conflict and devastation!
In a sense then, it is hopeless. We are not capable of saving ourselves. Evil has taken hold of humanity, the world and relationships and there is no way out. The outlook is bleak unless God moves to save us.
In the Meantime
Perhaps you are a bit offended by this description of the state of the world and humanity. Perhaps you consider yourself a good person. In many ways I’m sure you are. Certainly, when we compare ourselves with a despotic megalomaniac like Adolf Hitler we can all appear very good. However, when we line ourselves up beside the standards of God and are truly honest about ourselves, we find that we are all flawed. Christians are no different here. If you have heard Christians claim moral superiority for themselves, I believe they are misguided. They too, like you and me, struggle with their brokenness and wrongdoing. We are not totally evil but we are marred. We are still capable of making good choices, but not with complete consistency. We are people of mixed motives, mixed intentions, and a mixture of good and bad. Hence, even though on the surface many of us are ‘good people’, in fact we all need salvation. Remember, God is totally pure and no evil can stand in his presence. Thus, we all stand outside this ideal relationship with him.
That being the case, I am sorry to say that it is inevitable that the world will continue to be a place in which we see terrible atrocities, natural disasters, war, poverty, oppression, sexism, racism, greed, immorality, hatred and other evils that have blighted human history since the Fall. When you look at the world and wonder why it is so fallen, it is because of the rupture that has corrupted us so that our best efforts still leave us in a perilous state. The Bible predicts an escalation in human evil as history moves towards its climax.44 The last century had more wars and death than any before it. There were world wars, nuclear threats, natural disasters and now the threat of extremists who violate the stability of society.
Self-Realisation
I remember before my conversion to Christianity, when I was searching for God and bemoaning the state of the world – its greed, oppression, pride and spiritual futility – the truth progressively dawned on me that I was part of the problem. I became aware that if the world was to change, it had to start with me, with my attitudes, my actions and words. I realised I was corrupted and needed to be transformed. I recognised that there was only one person in the world I had the power to change, and that was me. This was the beginning of my path to restoration.
This is not to say that we are worthless and unloved. On the contrary, the principles of the first chapter still stand – God loves us absolutely and unconditionally, despite our flawed lives.45 We are made in his image – despite the image being broken and flawed – and he cares for us so deeply that it hurts. He doesn’t enjoy our sinfulness, our bad attitudes, deeds and words, but his love for us is relentless and he is prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to spend eternity with us.
Why Did God Allow Such a Tragedy?
Another question you might have is, ‘Why would God create such a world if it would fall?’ The answer is found in the principles outlined in chapter one. The first thing to say is that God created so that he would have a love-based volitional relationship with every person, and although we have fallen, that is not the end of the story. He is not a God who gives up easily. He will pursue the relationship and find a way out (see the next chapter). The second thing to realise is that God, who is all-knowing and has all knowledge across time (omniscient), knew that this fall would occur but still went ahead with his creation.46 He did so because true awareness of freedom requires choice. In a sense, God allowed the possibility of the Fall so that freedom would be real and revealed.
We can go further. God in his omniscience actually knew that some would fall but still went ahead. Why? He did so because of his love and yearning for relationship. God, because of this love and desire to create and give freedom, considered it worthwhile to create for those who would ultimately accept his offer of relationship. God considered it better to create and risk losing some than not to create at all. We can understand this from human relationships – to risk loving is to risk rejection. The alternative is to resist relationships and die lonely. As the saying goes, ‘It is better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all.’ This is the risk that every parent takes when having a child. One never knows whether the child will choose obedience, love and goodness. Yet humanity continues to have children because it is worth the risk. In the same way, God chose to create us.
Conclusion
The tragedy of human history is that while God longs to have an eternal relationship of love with every human, he will not do this because of his character of purity and our hearts of sin. The answer to the question ‘What is wrong with the world?’ is sin – or, even more accurately, evil. So is there a way out? Is there a way in which the original relationship can be restored? Is there a way to save people and leave them with volition, with their ability to say yes or no to God? Thankfully there is, and to this we now turn.
Questions for Reflection
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