[This post is in a weekly devotional series called Everything New. Sign up here if you’re interested.]
Against the gray clouds and darkness across the human race stands one distinctive life-a brilliant, even blinding light. Jesus the Messiah, called many things, is also known uniquely as “him who had no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Because the glory of God shines directly from him, and because it is undiminished even by his true human nature, Jesus is the answer to the problem of sin. Darkness doesn’t stand a chance against the light. And considering he who was called “the light of the world” and “the light that shines in the darkness,” we have always before us a brilliantly illuminated life, the way human life was supposed to be.
But we also have to take the time to understand the seriousness of our plight without God.
This is how serious our plight is: the father who received back the prodigal son said, “He was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” It is one of Jesus’ most beloved stories, the story of a son who snatched his inheritance and squandered it in reckless living. When he found himself eating with the pigs, he wondered if maybe his father would hire him as a manual laborer, and trudged toward home. There he found a waiting father.
“Was dead, is alive.”
How else could we describe living life utterly separated from God? “You were dead in your transgressions and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). That makes the forgiveness and love that comes from God in Christ all the more remarkable. God “made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions” (Ephesians 2:5). Jesus himself said that those who believe in him have “crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24).
Christian faith holds that this brokenness of our humanity has affected every faculty we possess. The heart is easily given to deceit (Jeremiah 17:9). The mind is darkened (Ephesians 4:18). Even the conscience, that moral watchdog that is supposed to warn us when we stray, is corrupted (Titus 1:5). Does this mean that we are incapable of thinking good and doing good? No. Does it mean that these faculties we possess are as corrupt as they can possibly be? No. Does it mean that every person sins in every way that is possible to sin? Obviously not.
Not everyone commits murder. Or adultery. Or theft. But we would make a major spiritual mistake to take refuge in the fact that there’s always someone else we can point to who seems to have been guilty of graver moral errors than ourselves.
Hitler’s deeds make none of us angels by comparison.
There are two things true of every human being we share the planet with today: we all belong to a race created in the image of God, and we have all become broken, twisted, and corrupted. It is not that we are sinners because we commit sins. This brokenness is so universal and so constant that the only way of understanding it is that we sin because we are sinners.
Are all sins the same? Of course not. Murder is a distinctly worse offense than shoplifting. The commonality among us is not in the sameness of what we do wrong, but the fact that we all share the same status of belonging to a race of fallen, broken creatures. Jesus as easily forgives a criminal who seeks his mercy as he does someone who cheats on his taxes or cheats on his spouse, or who tends toward a bit of a gossip–if we have faith in him.
No wonder Jesus called himself “the light of the world.”
What do you think?
Excerpt from Putting the Pieces Back Together: How Real Life and Real Faith Connect. Free DVD available now.
All sins are the same in GOD’s eyes. We are the ones that put different degrees of severity on them.
Truly, I’m thankful for Jesus Christ, my savior and the light of my brokeness.
I’ve read with interest this message regarding Jesus as the light. I think we are all so imperfect and yet when we finally are able to develop a relationship with Christ strive hard to do what is right. No matter how hard we try as you’ve so some what stated we are fallen creatures of this world. Once you know the purpose you are created for Christ so patiently waits to lift us up if we come to him and ask for forgiviness . To think we are perfect is such a misfortune because each time you error guilt eats away at you. Learning to release all things to God is the peace I find and that is a daily struggle.Just to know that Jesus loves me unconditionally is one of the most awesome feelings I’ve ever known. We should strive constantly to stay in his presence(the light). Thank you for sharing this insight and God bless you.
As a newborn – saved/born again June 7, 2011 – it is comforting to know that even though I’m not perfect and fall, I will be lifted up to glory in the end.
Dear in the lord,
My faith,love ,and my live was updated when i read your sermon and, may the almighty GOD grant more power to teach us more in Jesus mighty name :amen
Thank you for this message. I enjoy reading the devotionals and absorbing the message into my daily life. I may be imperfect and that is why I need Jesus’s light to shine on the way to him and Jehovah’s forgiveness.
There was only darkness in me until Jesus saved me and forgave me. Thank you perfect Jesus for the unconditional love and grace you have for all humanity, no matter what sins they have committed. Jesus is Light because He is pure and holy and the only one who knew no sin. Now I am filled with the same Holy Spirit and He is the light that shines through me to reach others trapped in darkness. Hallelujah and Praise the Lord!!!
Well I think,, That,,,, We are all made in the image of Christ yet.. we are all different…God will not play games but the devil will.evil games and tell us evil lies in hopes that we believe him instead of God….In order for God to bring us to Him we need to be taught with our own individual lessons within our own life..So when a person falls it will be a fall that God has designed to grab the attention of that individual…God knows us before we know and He leads us so that we come to Him and realize that there is no life only death without Him…But we need to be taught by our individual falls..(The severity of the sin that is commited)… Some may murder and some may shop lift but its still sin… The shoplifter may feel just as remoresful as the murder ,,maybe even more so ..any way we cant see on the inside thats God”s job..We are here to use His light to help others and to be held in accoutablity from His body here on earth.. And all God’s People say….Amen p.s. I am sorry about the spelling errors…
I believe that this country is becoming MORE depraved. Every person has committed sin at one
time or another, some worse than other. If we do not repent we are doomed. It seems to me more
people are saying that God who is a loving god will not punish us. They go on sinning the. Unless
they REPENT, they are domed. It seems to me, that more people are in that group. I could list
many things that support this thought.
They have to live with the consequences of the sin committed. I believe that is Gods built in way of us dealing with the sin we have committed…
He loves us so much that He Disciplines and trains us up in His ways if we will drop everything and follow..”trust and Obey..theres no other way” God’s word is our GPS
Once we realize we all come with cracks and it was part of His plan, we can let His light shine through the cracks and provide the path that needs to be followed. It is so very important to spread the light amidst these times of trying darkness for there is no doubt that we do feel better. It does not mean that things will not happen in our lives, but He promises to never leave us. Any time we call on God we NEVER get a busy signal, He is there 24/7 the light in our times of darkness and challenges.
Mel,
You stated that ” Not everyone commits murder. Or adultery. Or theft. But we would make a major spiritual mistake to take refuge in the fact that there’s always someone else we can point to who seems to have been guilty of graver moral errors than ourselves.” I am not disagreeing with you at all about sin, but I wonder in light of your quote above, what Jesus meant when He said “if we hate our brother we are murderers and if we look to lust we have committed adultery”? In light of your quote above.
Thanks
Hi, Dean. I think Jesus was knocking down self-righteousness that says: I am glad I’m not a sinner because I’m not guilty of horrific crimes. Jesus was telling people that all we are sinners. That is not the same thing as saying that there is no difference between sins. In the Hebrew Old Testament and Greek New Testament there are many different words for sin, which points out the variations of how we are fallen creatures: sin, iniquity, transgression, wandering, blindness, trespass, etc. ALL are sinners in need of the same saving grace, but not all sins are the same.
AS I READ THIS ,I KNOW IMUST HAVE THIS BOOK BECAUSE IM A NEW PERSON IN CHRIST AND A WILLING FOLLOWER OF HIS WORDS!
I am going through some very difficult times and transitions in my life. Today, I fell into a very deep depression and having been struggling through it. It is part of my nightly meditations to read those insightful passages and verses that are sent to me from the numerous sources of Bible Gateway. It is my time to reflect on the day and my life. For the first time in a very long time, I had to force myself to open and read. Yours was the first. I struggled through it and am so glad that I did. It spoke to me, and I need to see my Lord and Savior’s Love and Light in front of me. He has blessed me ever so many times in the past. I know that He is there as as always.
Thank you for sharing your rich visions with others.
May our Lord always bless you with the visions of His Love to share,
Jennie
Jennie-
So sorry to hear about your difficult times. You are right, God is with us even in the toughest times. Here are a few thoughts I wrote recently:
When the Hebrew people were wandering in the desert wilderness for years–anxious about water, food, enemies, disease–God offered one thing: his presence. It was made tangible in the form of the tent called the tabernacle. “Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them” (Exodus 25:8). It is not that the Creator of the universe needed a tent to live in–the tent was the symbol and the touchpoint for the presence. The tabernacle says this: God is above our lives, but he chooses to live in and among our lives. The tabernacle is God saying: what you call home, I call home, even if it is no home. The wilderness, and the tabernacle with the wilderness, says: our lives are always on the move as we walk and search and battle and plod. Our one hope is that the God of heaven above is with us. Look at that tent over there. That was God’s idea, not ours.
I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth. (Psalm 121:1-2)
As far as being let into Heaven, “Be thou perfect as my Father in Heaven is perfect”–Those who are not acceptable into Heaven are usually guilty of not repenting for breaking the first commandment. All it takes to nay be allowed into Heaven is one broken commandment, one that has not been repented for. Ignorance of the sin is of nay excuse as there are so many churches and TV and internet choices to learn of Jesus and His ways of love.
Can anyone be absolutely perfect who has been born into sin? Of course not. However, one must continually strive for spiritual perfection, while not judging others or ourself, for such is the decision of Jesus: However, one should, on a regular basis have some sort of repentative system just to be on the safe side of Heaven, keeping our awareness level high in regard to our behavior and how it relates with spiritual perfection.
People are labeled as “sinners” because people can commit sinful acts by their own will (willful sin)
by habit (habitual sin) and by temptation (tempted sin). Anyone who comes down from above, not having been born into sin (Jesus) cannot be tempted successfully and will not commit willful sin or habitual sin.
It is refreshing to see a message of light especially lately that I’ve been feeling like I’m being judged everywhere I go, or maybe is my own conscience that keeps judging me, either way I know the lord has forgiving me, now all I gotta do is forgive myself and shine like he wants me to.
Jesus is indeed the “light of the world”. And that is a blessing we can rest on in this mixed up world today! Yes, sin is sin. When I was a younger believer, I tried to place sin in columns of severity but as I “grew”, I came to know that to Jesus, all sin is just sin. Taking our sin to Him and asking for his forgiveness and guidance, should release us of our guilt but it takes alot of scripture reading to learn that that is exactly what He wants us to do. When He forgives, He forgets and wants us to do the same so that His light may shine through us!