Our Only Hope
Man was created perfect.
His thoughts and desires were pure and holy. Howevr, when man sinned, his holy nature was blemished. By his own strength, man was not able to withstand Satan's temtations. When man chose to disobey God, he sanctioned Satan as his master. Man would have been Satan's captive forever had not God specially intervened. It was the tempter's plan to wreak misery on this earth, and then to point the cause of this evil to God's work in creating man.
Before sin, man held joyful communion with God
"in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Imagine the perfect parent. You can tell this parent any secret or fear without a single doubt that he will tell others. This parent will never get angry, mean, or condescending. He will, always love you unconditionally. This was the relationship between Adam and God. But after sin, Adam could find no joy in God's holiness. His heart was no longer in harmony with God.
If the sinner were allowed to enter heaven,
he would find no joy there. Surrounded by the spirit of unselfish love where the sole object is to glorify God, the sinner would feel like an outsider. He would be a dicordant note in the harmonious melody of heaven. Heaven would be to him a place of dread. He would long to be hidden from Him who is heaven's light and the center of its joy. Thus, out of love, God only allows access to heaven to those who would find happiness there.
We are not able to escape from sin by ourselves.
Our hearts are evil, and we cannot change them for "who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one!" Education,culture, and will power cannot remove sin. The sinner might appear changed, but only God's grace can renew and transform the sinner's heart.
The Savior said, "unless one is born again,"
or unless he shall receive a new heart and lead a new life in Christ, "he cannot see the kingdom of God." Jesus urges us, "You must be born again." Let us not simply strive to develop only the good that exists in man, but open our eyes to the immearurable and vast goodness of Christ Jesus. Of Christ it is written, "In Him was life, and the life was the light was the light of men."
We must exclaim as Paul did,
"I agree with the law that it is good....and I am carnal, sold under sin." Paul longed for the purity of Christ, which he was powerless to attain by his own efforts. He cries out, "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death?" To all, there is but one answer, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"
Many feel guilty for their sin.
One example is Jacob, who felt so after deceiving his brother, Esau. Lonely and dejected, he feared above all that his sin had separated him from God. In sadness, he laid down to rest on the bare cold ground. In his dream, from the very ground on which he was sleeping on, Hesaw vast and shadowy stairs, which lead upward to the very gates of heaven. Upon these stairs, angels of God were passing up and down, while the divine voice of God shared a message of comfort and hope: There is a Savior, who can fill the need and longing of the sinner's soul! God had provided a way by which Jacob, a sinner, could be restored to communion with God. The mystic ladder represented Jesus, the only channel between God and man.
Through Christ, earth was again linked to heaven.
With His own merits, He bridged the gulf which sin had made, so that angels could help the sinner. Christ connects fallen man in his helplessness with the Source of infinite power. All men's dreams of progress are in vain if they neglect the one Source of hope and help. There is no true excellence of character apart from Him, and the only way to God is through Christ. Christ declares to us,
"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."
God looks upon His earthly children with a love stronger than death.
In giving up His Son, He poured out to man all heaven in one gift. The enjoyment of heaven, the society of angels, the rewards of eternity, the love of God and His Son, and the promised continual uplifting of man's intellect throughout all eternity-are these not strong enough reasons to give our Creator and Redeemer? Will we ignore and reject the mercy of God? What more can He do?