We are all aware of problems in this world. Everyone knows what it
is to be weary, to be disappointed, and to struggle. And we have a
feeling that we were not meant for this. We are all searching for
some solution to the problems of life. The question is, why are you
unhappy? Why do things go wrong? Why is there illness and sickness?
Why should there be death? Those are the questions with which the
Bible deals. The Bible talks to you about your unhappiness. Some
insist that the Bible, far from being practical, is really very
remote from life. But nothing in the world is as practical as the
teaching of the Bible. In order to answer questions about you, the
Bible starts in the most extraordinary way: "In the beginning
God..." It starts with God. Before I begin to ask any questions
about myself and my problems, I ought to ask questions like this:
Where did the world come from? Where have I come from? What is life
itself? You come to me and say, "I'm unhappy. I'm in a crisis.
What's the matter with me?" And the Bible says, "In the beginning
God . . ." as if it has forgotten all about you. But it has not!
The only way to understand yourself or your life is to start with
God. And right at the very beginning, the Bible takes us there. The
Bible also tells us that the world came into being because the
eternal God made it. It tells us that God is the Creator, that he
made everything out of nothing, by his own power, and he made it
perfect. What's more, according to the Bible, man is a special
creation of God. The Bible tells us, "God created man in his own
image" (Genesis 1:27). It does not say that about anything else,
only about human beings. Man was made by God, for God. He spoke to
God, walked with God, and enjoyed God. And his life was one of
perfect bliss. But into this perfect world made by God there
entered another power, another force. Something came that was
opposed to God and opposed to man, and it was bent upon one thing
only-- wrecking God's perfect work. The Bible tells us that the
Devil entered into this world, and by tempting the man and the
woman, whom God had made, brought to pass everything bad that you
and I know. Why are there jealousy and envy and misunderstanding?
Why lust and passion? Why are homes and marriages broken? Why do
little children suffer? Why all the agony and the pain of life? It
is because there is this other power in the world that has dragged
man down. That is the biblical explanation. You will find it in the
Bible from beginning to end. And if that is true, how hopelessly
and utterly inadequate are all the remedies that are being offered
apart from the Bible. What's more, the Bible tells us that as the
result of that original sin, all of us are in the grip of this evil
power. Man, as the result of all this, is quite helpless; he has
brought a curse upon himself and cannot escape it. He would like
to, but he cannot. Man has been trying to get back into Eden ever
since he went out of it. That is the whole history of civilization.
That is the whole meaning of philosophy and all political thought
and all the blueprints of utopias at all times and in all
places--man trying to get back into paradise. But it is worse than
merely not being in paradise. Man is under the judgment of God. He
thought that he could forget God and that there would be no risk
involved. He did not realize that the law of God is absolute. Both
man as an individual and the whole world, according to the Bible,
are under the judgment of God. You see, in the garden Adam and Eve
thought they could eat the forbidden fruit and all would be well.
Then they heard the voice of the Lord God, and they cowered and
were frightened. Judgment had come, and they were thrust out. But,
thank God, he intervenes! God, even at the moment of rebellion,
tells man that he has a way to rescue him and to redeem him: "It
[the seed of the woman] shall bruise thy [the serpent's] head"
(Genesis 3:15). The serpent can only be mastered by one, and he has
come--the seed of the woman, Jesus of Nazareth. "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."
JOHN 3:16 Christ, the Son of God, came into this world, took on our
human nature, entered into our very situation, and defeated our
enemy. He received judgment for us on the cross. God dealt with him
there and pardons us, and our enemy is conquered. So the way to
paradise is open, and it is open for you. All your problems, all
your needs, arise from the fact of sin. That is the cause of all
ill. And there is but one solution to the problem, the solution
that God himself has provided in the person of his Son. ". . . that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life." And that life begins here and now--a knowledge of God,
assurance that you are right with God, that he will take you
through death and announce in the judgment that you are already
pardoned and forgiven. My dear friend, that is your problem, and
that is the answer to your problem. Believe it. Accept it here and
now. Go to that great God. Acknowledge your sinning against him,
and thank him for his eternal love in sending his Son to rescue you
and to redeem you by dying for you, and ask him to give you new
life. And he will. I say that on the authority of Jesus who stated,
"Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" ( John 6:37).
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