Fallen! What is the Remedy?

Fallen! What is the Remedy?

Question: Both you and I know that nobody is good to the core and we can’t reach levels of perfection, no matter how we strive we find ourselves giving-in. Now, despite the fact that nobody can be really perfect, should we really just sin because there is repentance? Majority of today’s generation know who Jesus is but are lost in sin. What is the remedy?

My friend Dr. Raymond Hundrey, referring to the first chapter of Genesis and sin says that when God created the universe, he “saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). The word good is the backbone and foundation of all other beliefs in Judaism and Christianity.  It is the Hebrew word tov, and it applies to everything in God’s creation. Tov has a dual meaning: first it is something that is according to God’s will, and secondly, what is best for human beings.

To illustrate this point.  The distance God placed between the earth and the sun is exactly as He wanted it to be, and it is also best for human beings.  If the earth was closer to the sun - then we would be roasting. If it were further from the sun, we would be the chosen frozen. God has made the distance between earth and sun precisely according to His will and that distance is the very best for us human beings.

What is the point of all this? The idea that God’s will is best for us is the basis of placing our trust in Him.  If God’s will be the best, it would be foolish to violate it.  Since God wants the best for us, we trust him with our lives and everything.  However, Satan came to Eve and tried to pull the two meanings of tov apart[1].  He told her that if she wanted the best thing for her life, she should do the opposite of God’s will.  That is always Satan’s ploy: do what God has said not to do – and the deception is that it will be good for you[2]. Satan still uses this trick on us today to get us to go against God’s will.  Often that is all it takes!

Another illustration. A water resist wrist watches manual states that it should not be worn more than 200 feet below water.  The owner of the watch has the liberty to ignore that warning and dive down to 300 feet in the ocean.  In that depth the watch will explode as the pressure builds. Those who made the watch know how it functions best.  If you listen to them, the watch will serve you well, if you don’t it will be destroyed.

God is like that. He made us. He knows how best to function[3].  If we listen to Him and follow His will, we will see positive results in our lives and live in satisfaction, fulfilment and blessing[4].  If we choose to oppose God’s will, we will suffer the negative consequences of frustration and self-destruction.

A fundamental decision we make is this: Do we really believe that God’s will is the best for us and that disobeying his will is destructive for us? This one decision is the bedrock of your personal faith.  If we believe that His will is best, we will trust, seek, obey and believe Him. If we believe that violating His will is the best thing for our lives, we will distrust God, ignore, disobey, or doubt Him.  We are totally free to make that choice – but the consequences are set by God.  Trust leads to relationship and joy; distrust leads to separation and self-destruction.
It is that simple!

~excerpted from Answers to life’s toughest questions by Dr. Raymond C. Hundrey

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[1] Genesis 3:1 “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

[2] Genesis 3:4,5 “Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

[3] 1John 5:3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.”

[4] John 14:21 “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”