GREAT PROBLEM, GREATER HELP,1

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21 ESV)

For then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Hebrews 9:26 ESV)

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. (1 Peter 2:24 ESV)

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:1-2 ESV)

            Years ago a man by the name of Jeffrey Dahmer was arrested in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Upon searching his apartment the police discovered a freezer with human heads, limbs and various internal organs. The investigation revealed he met in the span of a couple years eighteen young men (mostly in Chicago homosexual bars), had sexual relations with them, drugged them, attempted to preserve them in a comatose state and, when this failed, cannibalized them. He selected his victims for their physique although most of them were African American. The apartment building later received the title House of Horrors. Local residence bought the complex and had it demolished.

            His trial was initially a sanity hearing. Many went to the tiny courtroom in hopes of getting one of the few seats available to the general public. They wanted a closer look at the villain. Some were surprised to discover he looked just like anyone. A person could get the same effect looking in a mirror. Although his actions were clearly abnormal, he was declared legally sane. Neighbors described him as a nice guy, polite, kept to himself, and seemed normal, qualities considered the ideal tenet.

            The issue of evil is not just urban. When overseeing a rural church in Minnesota a father and son, pretending to be prospective buyers, called and lured a bank president and loan officer to a repossessed farm. When the bank officers arrived, the two men came out of hiding, ambushed, and murdered them. They were the previous owners.

            The two fled to Oklahoma where a shoot-out occurred with local law authorities, killing the father. The 18-year-old son was extradited to Minnesota to stand trial and voluntarily attended a Bible study I held weekly in the county jail. He was a just plain-looking ordinary young man.

            In everyone is a common problem, best described by Paul: “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

            “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

            “For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

            “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

            “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?” (Romans 1:19-2:3 ESV)

            Paul starts by declaring God’s attributes are clearly perceived and ends by stating people are without excuse for failing to recognize Him. The outcome? Total depravity – intellectual, emotional, and volitional corruption! The end product is lustful hearts (Vs. 24-25), dishonorable passions (Vs. 26-27), and debased minds (V. 28), qualities modeled in part by Jeffrey Dahmer and an 18-year-old farm boy.

            No one can afford to become smug. Debased-mind actions described by Paul include greed, deception, gossip, slander, pride, arrogance, and unreliability, as well as a lack of love and sympathy – things often seen in people attending church. The problem, seen in killers, is resident in everyone. Believers are slapped in the face with reality by the simple phrase “you have no excuse.” (V. 2:1)

            Additional words indicate unrighteous conduct. Something not right is wrong.  Deviate deeds means turning aside from prescribed standards. The age-old word sin is all-inclusive for every form of disgusting and sickening behavior.

            Sin means missing the mark of righteousness, both intentionally and unintentionally. Sin involves blunders and willful acts. The longer the world exist, sin takes on more complex looks. The human race is showing greater creativity in corruption, stemming from one divine truth, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

            The divine story is about people having a great problem but God having a greater answer. Jesus came to save people from their sins and put away sin. He bore your sins in His body, dying on account of your pride and rebellious nature. Sin is your greatest problem and is the reason Jesus came.

            Consider some thoughts about the human dilemma:

People prefer escaping consequences

            Sin is pleasurable and the human nature likes the enjoyment connected to indulging in transgressions. Do not be fooled, that is why everyone hesitates gaining freedom from sin.

            Most people attempt to separate harmful acts from their logical conclusion. They look for freedom from getting caught. They look for emancipation from punishment. People want to rewrite the rules of sowing and reaping.

            One newspaper reported high school and college students are replacing the three R’s with the three D’s: dishonesty, deceit and duplicity. A two-year nationwide study on ethics found widespread admittance to lying, theft and cheating among 15-30 year olds. They lied, cheated and stole at work, at school and in their personal relationships. Many young people have abandoned ethical values in favor of self-absorbed, win-at-any-cost attitudes. Possible causes of the decline include the breakdown of the family, schools’ failure to enforce appropriate discipline, parents not backing educators, and students deeply involved in drug usage.

            Fantasy adventures are often produced by a successful lie. The classic and highly successful movies, “The Sting” and “Ferris Bruler’s Day Off” are testimonies of an inward desire to get away with deception.

            Pleasure is also the emphasis of various addictions. What makes drug abusers take chances with shared needles? What makes alcoholics, with deteriorating hearts, take risks with another drink? The sensations various concoctions bring!

            The Bible confirms many delights are associated with sin, yet not without giving clear warning about term limits. What follows is death and separation from God.

            If people were perfectly and honestly candid you would hear, “Lord, don’t free me from sin, just from my conscience. Give me the ‘luck of the Irish’ and keep me from getting caught.” This is not the Good News declared by God.

            Most desire freedom from consequences more than from sin, giving testimony of the extreme depth of the fallen nature.

Savior from sin

            Jesus did not come to save from probable consequences. The Lord came to save from sin.

            Scripture describes salvation as people set free from enslavement and incarceration. The Good News is liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners. (Isaiah 61:1, Luke 4:18). Everyone has a great problem beyond their ability to resolve. Jesus possesses the key and wants to release them from their imprisonment.

            Salvation is portrayed as a rescuing. Yet if someone not knowing the Bible is asked, “Are you saved?” one never knows what response will be given.

            The saving is sometimes illustrated as people set free from floating aimlessly on the sea of despair, or, as deliverance from a fatal attraction to swimming in the cesspool of corruption.        

            While visiting Marshall Fields in downtown Chicago I noticed a fragrance at a perfume counter called “Obsession.” People have a genuine obsession for the wrong kind of fragrance. The sense of smell is damaged in which death smells sweet while life smells odious.

            A study revealed that a small percentage of people find the grotesque aroma of a skunk actually appealing. Yet every person on the face of the earth considers the foul smell of sin very alluring. People’s natural sense of right and wrong is defective, and very much like sinning.

            Are you thinking, “That’s not true about me!”? What about gossip and the sense of power it gives, making others look bad so you will appear better, the kind of sins commonly practiced by followers of Jesus?

            Everyone is without excuse. Yet the Good News is, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved….” (Acts 16:31 ESV)

Putting away sin

            Only one kind of faith in God exists, one having a definite right and wrong, where people responsibly shun evil and choose good. Scripture calls it dying to sin and living in righteousness.

            Jesus came to put away sin. His mission is to seek and save sinners as well as bind and destroy sin. No one is able to free themselves from sin but in Christ there is an overcoming power that can take it away. Your responsibility is to enter into a meaningful relationship with God through Jesus so He can address and clean up the filth.

            If you will submerge yourself in a relationship with God, Jesus is able to solve your problem. The focus is not in rescuing yourselves from sin but building a stronger relationship with the Savior.

            Jesus is throwing out a lifeline but some are saying, “No thank you, I can handle swimming in my cesspool” They do not realize they are slowly running out of strength to stay afloat. Grab His lifeline and draw closer to the Savior. He will lift you out of the sea of hopelessness and gloom as you hold on to the line bringing you closer to Him.

            Let Jesus put away your sin.

You have a great problem

            A little girl asked her mother, “Mommy, why do flowers grow?” While the mother was thinking of an answer, the little girl answered her own question, “I think it is to get way from the dirt.”

            Why do people draw closer to Jesus? A major reason is to get away from the slime of sin. Jesus has come to save people from their sins and to put away sin in their life.

            The struggle with sin is not about subscribing to a list of do’s and don’ts. The skirmish with sin centers round building your relationship with the Lord Jesus, the Rescuer.

            Hollywood films often make famous certain sayings. The motion picture A Few Good Men brought life to the phrase, “You can’t handle the truth.” I hope you can!

            The phrase “Houston, we have a problem,” made famous by the movie Apollo 13, helps bring clarity to the struggle with sin. The malfunction with the space flight also describe the troubles with sin. The crisis with the spaceship was not the flipping of a switch. The difficulty was faulty materials used years earlier when building the network of critical components and interconnecting systems. Secondly, the glitch did not surface until the circumstances were just right. Thirdly, the predicament could have easily cost them their lives.

            Your dilemma goes back to a willful decision made by the first created man shortly after creation. Circumstances will surface the defect. And the flaw can cost you eternal life if you do not come to God for His remedy.