In this message, we will deal with the question, "Isn’t There Some Good In Everyone?"
Is it really true that there is a little good in everyone? I mean, let’s think about it. Do you really think that there was a little good in Joseph Stalin, or Adolph Hitler, or Charles Manson? I mean, we could think of different people of whom we would have to admit that we would be hard pressed to find any good in whatsoever.
This brings us to something we have to admit about the human race. There’s much about us that is not good at all. It doesn’t take a Ph.D. in ethics to realize that our world has become a dangerous and messed up place in which to live. In his 1999 book, The Index of Leading Cultural Indicators: America at the end of the Twentieth Century, William Bennett tells us that in America, in the last forty years of the 20th century, violent crime increased 280%; and that every year, 20,000 people in our nation were murdered, half by people they knew.
And it’s not just violence that’s tearing our culture apart. Families are falling apart all around us. Out of wedlock births have increased by 511% since 1960, with one out of four children born today being born out of wedlock. While the marriage rate continues to drop, couples who live together with no marriage commitment continues to rise. One out of every six children has a step-parent, which makes for incredibly complicated family relations. And these problems are by no means unique to us. When you look at places like the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Mexico, you find the same type of statistics. The twentieth century went down as one of the most violent centuries in human history, with two world wars, detonation of a nuclear bomb, and entire races of people almost obliterated through genocide. More Christians were martyred in the 20th century than all the previous 19 centuries of Christian history combined.
Yes, as the old saying goes, "It doesn’t take a rocket scientist" to figure out that something is desperately wrong with the human race. Recognizing this to be true, various solutions have been offered through-out mankind’s history.
There are various solutions offered by man to solve our problem:
1. The Communist’s Solution - State
All we have to do is look around to see how many communist states are still surviving to conclude that mankind has rejected this as a solution to its ills.
2. The Humanist’s Solution - Science
Despite the advances of science and technology, mankind still remains essentially as corrupt as ever.
3. The Religionist’s Solution - Self
The message of religion can be summed up in this phrase: "Man through his efforts must reach up to God." Whether the religion sees God as being above us, around us, or within us; whether it be Islam, Buddhism, Mormonism, or Wicca, the message is essentially the same. Some insist on self-improvement, while others insist on self-abasement. Either way, the emphasis and focus is on one’s self.
More and more people are embracing "religion" and turning to "spirituality." But has this religious frenzy done anything to improve our society? The statistics I shared at the beginning of this lesson prove otherwise.
Now the religionist is partly right in that they recognize that mankind needs to connect with God. But because the religionist will not come to Him in the way He has prescribed, they are still separated from God, despite their efforts to connect with Him.
Paul spoke of these kind of folks when he said, "For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness," (Romans 10:2-3).
4. The Realist’s Solution - Savior
Unlike the other solutions mentioned, the solution of the realist takes into account the diagnosis of the problem. You see, you cannot prescribe a solution if you have not diagnosed the problem!
The Apostle Paul was a realist. He plainly declared what is truly obvious to anyone who will be honest about humanity. The problem, Paul said, was that mankind has sought to live life going their own way rather than God’s way. Mankind is sinful.
The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
- Romans 6:23
A. The reality of sin -
The Bible teaches us that we are all guilty of sin in two ways:
1) We are guilty inherently -
The Bible teaches that, as the posterity of Adam, every child is born with a sinful nature inherited from his parents. Many passages of Scripture refer to this principle. According to Ephesians 2:1-3, all are dead in sin and are "by nature the children of wrath." Psalm 51:5 says, "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me."
Have you every noticed that you do not have to teach babies to be selfish? What are among the first words that babies usually learn? "No" and "mine!" The point is, people do not sin to become sinners, rather they sin because they are sinners.
2) We are guilty individually -
This refers to the products of the sinful nature of inherited sin, the actual deeds or acts of sin that all men do because they are sinful.
"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." - Romans 3:23
We are all sinners, because we have all done at least one thing in our lives that is wrong. That’s all it takes - one wrong thing done or one right thing left undone. Just like all it takes is telling one lie to make me a liar and stealing one things to make me a thief and murdering one person to make me a murderer. All I need to do to be a sinner is to commit one sin.
Now granted, some people are better than others. But that still doesn’t change the fact that we all "fall short." Suppose you were standing on a mountaintop while I was standing in a valley. You would be closer to the moon than I would be, but neither one of us would be able to go to the moon without some help beyond ourselves. Likewise, there are people who are "better" than others, but we all need help beyond ourselves if we are going to be able to connect with a holy God.
B. The results of sin -
When Paul speaks of the "wages" of sin, he is referring to what we deserve - to pay the consequences of sin.
One day, a mother explained to her five-year-old daughter that if she chose to disobey her, she would have to live with the consequences. "Oh Mommy," she said with a terrified look on her face, "Please don’t make me live with the consequences. I want to live here with you and Daddy!"
Actually, being separated from our heavenly Father is the consequence that Paul tells us we have to live with because we are guilty of sin. "Death" is the absence of life. What Paul is referring to here is that because of our inherent and individual sin, we are cut off from the life of God. If we continue in this state, we will eventually pass from this life to the next, where we will be eternally separated from God.
"They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of His power." - 2 Thessalonians 1:9
C. Our rescue from sin -
If our greatest need had been information,
God would have provided us with an educator.
If our greatest need had been technology,
God would have provided us with a scientist.
If our greatest need had been money,
God would have provided us with an economist.
If our greatest need had been pleasure,
God would have provided us with an entertainer.
But our greatest need was for forgiveness,
So God provided us with a Savior!
Through Jesus Christ, we can be rescued from the death of sin and know the life of God. Through His sacrifice on Calvary, Jesus paid the penalty for our sin so that we wouldn’t have to. He has forever conquered the sin problem so that we might be connected with God and experience the life that God intended for us to know.
"You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ. He forgave all our sins. He canceled the record that contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross." - Colossians 2:13-14 (NLT)
Our rescue from sin through Christ is three-fold:
1) We can be rescued from the penalty of sin today!
Christ took our punishment in our place at the cross.
2) We can be rescued from the power of sin day by day!
Through the power of the living Christ within us we can be enabled to overcome the power of sin in our lives.
3) We will be rescued from the presence of sin one day!
One day, when we are forever in His presence, we will be removed from the presence of sin and in eternity, when He creates a new heaven and a new earth, sin will be forevermore removed from all creation!
"Living He loved me, dying he saved me, buried he carried my sins far away;
Rising he justified, freely forever, one day he’s coming, 0 glorious day!
