God did not create man merely to see him destroy himself

The answer of God to the human dilemma

The words of the poet William Cowper will find a sure echo in the hearts of all right-thinking people when reflecting on what is going on around us. The barrage of news coverage twenty-four hours a day can be more than overwhelming.

Oh for a lodge in some vast wilderness,

Some boundless contiguity of shade,

Where rumour of oppression and deceit,

Of unsuccessful or successful war,

Might never reach me more! My ear is pain’d,

My soul is sick with every day’s report

Of wrong and outrage with which earth is fill’d.

The Task, Book II

As Britain winds down, it almost seems along with what remains of western civilisation, our rulers run about like crazed physicians. They flap about in a panic, they blather the same nonsense, not really knowing what to do because things are not working out as they are supposed to. So they dispense yet more of the medicine that is in truth itself the poison in the system that makes the patient sick. Seeing the disastrous consequences of this monstrous insanity, those with even a modicum of sense left in their heads ask an obvious and sensible question, “How on earth did we get into this mess in the first place?”

Let us begin at the beginning. It is always convenient to place the blame for everything that goes wrong a step or two away from us. We constantly depersonalise the world and all that goes on in it. We abstract ourselves from it as though what goes on out there has little to do with us. All the problems lie with the state, with youngsters out of control, with the abuse of drugs and alcohol, lack of moral teaching, schools, parents, immigration, you name it, the list goes on and on. But who makes up this nation of ours? People do, we do. Our nation is us and what goes on in our land today is a clear reflection of the kind of people we have become. If those who sit in government are in any sense sleazy or corrupt, this can only be an indication of what is going on in the rest of the nation. If there are more bad apples in the police, in parliament, in the judiciary, then this reflects on us all and we ought to be somewhat careful. If there is more divorce, then there are more of our marriages breaking down, and presumably more of us committing adultery. If there is more violence and murder, then there must be more of us taking to violence as an outlet for our frustration and hatred. If there is an increase in such misdeeds, this can only mean that a greater portion of our people is now engaging in these evils. Who is responsible for the current state of affairs? The answer to that question is easy. We are. These are the depths to which we as a nation, of which we each make up an individual part for better or worse, have sunk.

Not only do we depersonalise what goes on around us, we also externalise it. The fault, we say, lies not within us but without, but they are at best excuses. Teenagers turn to drink, we say, because there is nothing for them to do. Children do not do well at school because they come from disadvantaged homes, so the claim goes. Thieves steal too because they are poor. Change the environment, change the man. New houses make new people. Given enough education great behavioural improvements are thought possible. Taught by his Creator, placed into the perfect environment of paradise, Adam still sinned. We insist there is nothing wrong with us. We insist, the problems lie with what someone else does or they lie outside us and around us. Our difficulties come upon us from without. No they do not, they begin within us.

Our problems, in fact, always begin within us. The Lord Jesus Himself made this very point.

“And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”

(Mark 7:18-23)

Evil comes not from our environment, not from our external circumstances, not from anything outside coming in. Evil begins within our own hearts and spreads outwards. This is the great curse of our race. Whoever has the answer to this internal malady has to hand the remedy we all need. This being so, we will change little by changing our outward circumstances. We may move from rags to riches, sure it is nice not to have to worry about the bills dropping onto the mat, but all wealth does do is make us wealthy sinners. It does not change us inside, but provides yet another avenue through which all within us can find expression. We may get ourselves an education; as is so often said, this just makes us clever sinners. External changes can do nothing to alter fundamentally what we are on the inside. 

This sad truth was graphically highlighted recently when a Suffolk man was found guilty of murdering five prostitutes. The parents of one of the murdered girls were clearly grief-stricken, continually asking themselves what they had done wrong that their beloved daughter should have met such a tragic end. Humanly speaking, there was probably little that they could have done to dissuade her from her wayward life. The girl herself was determined to take that route whatever they could have said to persuade her to change her ways. Their distress was intensified because they had done all they felt they could do. She came from a loving home where two married parents cared for her. Yet, she preferred a seedy drug-strewn flat to the roomy family home. The distress of these parents is heart-rending. She had no ‘hard time’, her parents had not split up, her environment was the best this world could offer, but she ended up selling herself on the streets to feed a heroin addiction. In the end, she was found by a predator and murdered.

If neither riches nor poverty, neither helpful nor harmful circumstances play any determinative role, then the problem and the solution is to be found elsewhere. This is not to say that individuals, including children, may not be led into bad ways, but even this presumes something within them that responds to temptation. The Bible explains very clearly how this works.

“But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” (James 1:14-15)

 In other words, there is something within us that follows through with enticements to do evil or responds perversely to adverse circumstances. Were that not there, temptation would have no meaning, no hold over us. It is this something within that needs to be dealt a fatal blow for things to change.

We have each played our part in what our nation has become to greater or lesser degree. We each one bear some responsibility, and we each carry our own guilt.

“The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.” (Ezekiel 18:20)

It is all a matter of degree. We do not all sin in the same way, nor to the same amount. Nevertheless, it is the case that if we individually fail on one point, be it something small, be it something great, we then fail on all points. “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). If a motorcar fails its annual MOT check because of a faulty light bulb, the effect is the same as if the floor were falling out. It has failed and cannot be driven until the fault is rectified whatever it is. We cannot be just a little bit guilty any more than a young woman can be just a little bit pregnant. We are guilty, or we are not guilty. Quantity, although a reality, is not something that enters into the final equation. We have all made some contribution to the malaise that now besets our country however small. Consequently, none of us is in any real position to point the finger at others. The words of the apostle Paul make this clear:

“Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.” (Romans 2:1)

The seed of evil in our hearts may not have grown into some large tree. It is nevertheless there, and has the potential to cause us to do much that is wrong and harmful. We may not like this, but it is a fact. So often the most unassuming people commit the most horrendous deeds to the disbelief and horror of all that know them. The truth is they have more than likely harboured evil thoughts for years before they found any outward expression. They are honest who say, there but for the grace of God go I. Given the occasion, who knows what we might do ­– how that within might burst forth, causing us to do something we will much regret? Most of us tend to imagine ourselves in the best light possible, naturally enough, and we are inclined to believe our own estimate of ourselves, but we should never underestimate the potential within us for wrongdoing. That is foolish.

Indeed, the Lord Jesus said, the desire alone is enough, not just the deed. Human courts can only pronounce on what we actually do, they cannot discern motives because, unlike God, they have no way of reading our hearts.

“Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.”

(Matthew 5:21-22)

“Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” (Matthew 5:27-28)

This is where everything begins, with the motive of our hearts. We mull over evil, meditate on it, nurse and nurture it, so it builds up, and before we know where we are, we are angry and then unless checked, the anger leads to violence. We let our eyes wander, we allow this to develop in our heart and mind, admiration turns to lust, and before long the inevitable happens. We like something, we want it, we take it, that is the progression. We are all guilty in one way or another. We are all infected at heart with the same disease. None of us is by nature what we ought to be.

“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10-12)

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)

We are all responsible for what we do. It is not drink, it is the drinker. The easy access to drink certainly aggravates the problem, but no one pours alcohol down any drunkard’s throat – not unless he is himself the worse for wear! No need, this much the drinker can do for himself. Those are culpable who encourage loutish behaviour and drunkenness by selling cheap booze, extending opening hours by law of parliament. But, liquor supermarkets and corner shops would not sell the amount alcohol at the price they do, if the demand were not there. That would not make good business sense, and certainly they want to sell as much booze as they can. The buyer is king. The easy availability of alcohol simply provides an escape for those who are perhaps unable to deal with personal difficulties, or excitement for others whose lives are so pathetic the highest they aspire to is to drink themselves paralytic at regular intervals. This problem is not confined to youngsters on the streets but reaches to the highest in the land. A speaker of the House of Commons is known to have drunk so much that he fell out of the speaker’s chair during a parliamentary session. In the end, the alcoholic drinks the liquid himself. He is responsible for what passes his lips. The same goes for those taking drugs. Those supplying drugs are engaged in an evil trade that has spawned a new level of crime around the world, but then those buying these substances can blame no one but themselves for their eventual habit. Each one knowingly and willingly takes the first step on the slippery slope. Not everyone from a broken home ends up with a drug habit. The impetus may be a response to an adverse situation, but it is a sinful response. Better by far, rather than talk oneself into denial, that we should admit with the apostle Paul: “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing” (Romans 7:18). This will remain so for as long as we live on this earth.

Is there then no answer, no hope for any of us in the here and now? Thankfully, there is, but few find this way.

“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

The road leading to destruction is broad. It needs to be, for there are many on it. No mistaking your way here, everyone is moving in the same direction. The gate at the start of this road is wide. It has to be, or some would be trampled underfoot in the rush to get through. The road to life, on the other hand, is narrow. There is hardly room on it for two to walk side by side. We need to stick to this slender pathway as it is easy enough to stray off it. The way ahead may not always be clear and of companions there are but few. The gate at the beginning of this road is ‘strait’, extremely narrow. We must search out this entrance and we can squeeze through only one at a time. The more of our people who find the way that leads to life, the better place will be the country we live in.

Surely there is little point in changing our laws then, if few want them changed and none of us can live up to them? This is a false conclusion to draw. Shall we encourage governments to institute unrighteous, godless laws? This cannot be right. As well as curbing evildoers, godly laws underline or correct the intuitive consciousness within us of what is right and wrong put there by God. Sadly, more often than not this inward knowledge, conscience, can be perverted, ill-informed or stifled. Our conscience can never be an infallible guide. We need outward instruction. This is available to us in the Scriptures, the written Word of God. There being but one true God, there can also only be one true law, one true definition of right and wrong for all men, one true Word of God. We have no excuse; the revealed will of God is freely available in our land in the pages of Scripture.

Many issues now arise and we need to look at them briefly one by one. First, we are all disinclined to accept the absolute authority of a thrice-holy, almighty God, and with good reason. Second, even those willing to put themselves under God’s authority, then find it is quite impossible to live up to that which he expects of us. Writing again to the Romans, Paul admits

“For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.” (Romans 7:19-20)

There are, then, two basic issues: a natural disinclination to have anything to do with God, common to us all, “…there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God” (Romans 3:11); but also a natural inability not only to achieve that which God expects of us, but an inborn tendency to do the opposite, “…for the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do” (Romans 7:19).

Our first parents in the Garden of Eden hid from the presence of God. They did so because they had sinned and felt guilty. Children hide from their parents when they have done something they know they ought not to have done. We are the same, often we deny that what have done is wrong, deceiving ourselves. This too is a form of hiding. What God said to ancient Israel, He says to us.

“Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:1-2)

It is not that God is not able to save us, nor that He is unable to hear us should we cry out. Our sins have come between us and His face and for as long as this remains so, He will not hear us. This separation will continue until something is done to remove our sin and guilt. We cannot simply approach God and expect Him to listen to our complaints without sin being taken away. The block causing the problem, our personal sin with its guilt, must first be removed.

God has made provision for this.

“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

(Romans 5:6 & 8)

The Lord Jesus Christ, God’s own Son, took upon Himself our sin when He had none of His own for which He must die. He shed His blood for us. The wrath of God against our sin fell upon Him as He hung and suffered on the cross. He changed places with us. The wrath of God against our personal sin fell on Christ so that we can be declared to be without offence before God as though we were in a court of law, but not only guiltless also righteous. Our guilt is gone, but also when God looks upon us He sees now only the righteousness of His Son. He has made it possible for us to approach God.

“ For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

“Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.”

(Hebrews 10:19-20)

Jesus is the “Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). He it is who removes the obstacle between us and God. He takes upon Himself what we are, that what He is may be reckoned to us. Now we can approach God.

However, we must not run ahead of ourselves. The benefit of what the Lord Jesus has done on our behalf must be reckoned to us individually. All that God has done for us in Christ comes to us through faith. What Christ has done does not come to us simply by an acceptance of Christ and His work as a general truth. We do not believe in Christ in the same way that we accept as given the law of gravity. Nor can we ‘work up’ this faith. We cannot convince ourselves or make ourselves believe in some way by weighing up all the facts and deciding it must be true, thus accepting it. When we read what the Bible says, we need to avoid reading things into what is before us and simply look at the words on the page and nothing else. The words mean what they say they mean. The Bible says quite plainly that faith is a gift of God and that it does not come from within ourselves. Faith comes to us from without. The Bible says “when we were dead in sins” God acts on our behalf, “when we were yet without strength”, unable to do anything for ourselves.  Dead men cannot do much for themselves.  This is not to say that God exercises faith for us, but we will not believe unless God acts first. That is what the word ‘grace’ means. We need first to be what the Bible calls ‘quickened’, to come to life. Up to this point we are dead, devoid of any spiritual life.

“Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

… For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:5; 8-10)

Our only hope of being reconciled to God lies in Christ, not in ourselves, not in any innate ability to believe in or to receive Him.

Yet the promise of God’s Word remains true:

“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (John 3:36)

If we believe, we have life. Faith is the evidence of being ‘quickened’ and at the same time it is the channel through which we receive the salvation Christ has wrought. If we choose to remain as we are by not believing, this much remains open to us, then God’s wrath remains upon us and we shall perish.  

If we find anything desirable about Christ and trusting ourselves to Him, then we can be sure that such inclinations have come from God, there is no other place they can have come from. They cannot have come from within ourselves, for it is our natural tendency to reject Christ outright. Jesus Himself said, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him” (John 6:44). At the same time, He also said, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). All those that are so drawn can be sure that Christ will receive them.  If we will, we may come. God invites us. Such desires within us for Christ come only from God and are evidence enough of God at work. No one reaching out for Christ in this way does so illegitimately, for those doing so in faith will be received. If you will take hold of Christ, if you will trust Him wholly to save you, to take away sin and guilt, you will not be turned away. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The command of God to you is: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). Jesus Himself said:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” (John 3:16-20)

May our prayer be:

Jesus, Jesus, full of all compassion,
Hear Thy humble suppliant’s cry;
Let me know Thy great salvation,
See, I languish, faint and die.

Guilty, but with heart relenting,
Overwhelmed with helpless grief,
Prostrate at Thy feet repining,
Send, O send me quick relief.

Whither should a wretch be flying,
But to Him Who comfort gives?
Whither, from the dread of dying,
But to Him Who ever lives?

While I view Thee, wounded, grieving,
Breathless, on the cursèd tree,
Fain, I’d feel my heart believing,
That Thou sufferedst thus for me.

With Thy righteousness and Spirit,
I am more than angels blest;
Heir with Thee, all things inherit,
Peace, and joy, and endless rest.

Daniel Turner (1710-98)

We now need to address the second consideration: how is it possible to live up to the standard God expects of us? The answer is that we cannot and never will be able to do this. It simply is not possible in our present state. This is no reason for us to throw up our hands in despair. Nor does it give us any excuse to continue as we were. “How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” asks the apostle Paul (Romans 6:2). God has made provision for us to live lives right now that are pleasing to Him.

Our own natural constitution, which remains with us until it perishes in the grave, is that which brings forth from us the most undesirable forms of behaviour imaginable. Paul outlines these for us in the following passage.

“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,   Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

(Galatians 5:19-21)

 These are works, things that we do quite naturally of ourselves without really thinking about them. There are other such lists found in the New Testament, for example in Romans 1:24-32, where there is a description of the behaviour of those who having rejected Him have been given over by God to follow the dictates of their own reprobate minds. This is the kind of behaviour of which we are all capable.

Jesus summarised the law, all that God requires of us as follows:

“Master, which is the great commandment in the law?  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:36-40)

Whilst human love may seem at times to know no limits, we cannot truly love our fellow human beings without first loving God. This would indicate a change of heart already, a changed disposition towards God that does not come naturally to us. The apostle Paul takes up the second of these two great commandments, that which deals with our behaviour towards others.

“For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.” (Galatians 5:14-18)

What happens at that point when we first trust Christ is that God sends His Spirit to dwell within us. He it is who alone can reproduce in us those characteristics that do not come naturally to us. We are to live ‘in the Spirit’ and not ‘in the flesh’. In this way, what we formerly did we increasingly do less and less.

“But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” (Romans 8:9)

We cannot keep the law of God no matter how hard we try. The law itself shows us this; this is part of its purpose. If we break one part, we are guilty of all. We cannot approach God because the law shows us to be condemned and guilty. We can approach God only through Christ. In the same way after we have come to faith in Christ, we still cannot live lives that match the law, even the law of love. This is not the way things work. “If ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law” (Galatians 5:18). The railway timetable has no power to make the trains run on time, but merely shows how late they are! In the same way, the law has no power to help us keep the law, but only shows us how far short we fall. A new way of living has been introduced. Within us dwells God’s Spirit. He produces what we cannot. We look again at Galatians.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:22-25)

Having the Holy Spirit dwelling within us must have an effect. He will produce what we cannot. These effects are fruit rather than works. Fruit is produced by the kind of life within the tree, apples on apple trees, plums on plums trees. So it is that the very life of the Holy Spirit that brings about change. Sure, we still need the law to tell us when we fall short. As a way of being made righteous before God, or as something we should strive to live by in our own strength, here the law cannot help us, we are not under it. We are under the law if we refuse Christ, or if by our own effort we attempt to keep it. It always condemns us.

We are to ‘walk’ in the Spirit. When Christ took our sins to the cross not only did He deal with our guilt, but He also broke the power sin had over us, so that there is no need for us to be any longer under its rule. By faith, trusting God’s Spirit within us, we are to reckon ourselves dead to the flesh, dead to all that we are by nature, to sin, but alive unto God. We are to live according to the facts that are now true about us.

“Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” (Romans 6:11-14)

The world outside us is a macrocosm of what is present in the human heart. There is really little point is seeking change in the wider world, if we are not prepared to countenance change in our own lives. All men are required to keep the law of God, including our rulers and we need to remind them of this. Above all God calls upon all men everywhere to repent, turn from their former ways and seek Christ. “ God … commandeth all men every where to repent” (Acts 17:30).

“Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.”

            (Psalm 2:10-12)