Jesus is the solution to our deepest problem. Really?
Jesus is the solution to our deepest problem. I am convinced that is true, but I do understand that it sounds completely crazy to someone who has no experience of the Bible or church. After all, Jesus was a historical figure who lived on earth around 2000 years ago. I wouldn’t think that Julius Caesar or Socrates would be the solution to the world’s problems, so why a religious teacher from Israel?
The problems we see in our world, and in our own lives, are all large, with no easy solution in sight. How do you, after all, fix the inequality of wealth in the world? How do you fix poverty without corruption or our impact on the environment?
It is true that Jesus doesn’t seem like the correct answer. Especially when you consider that Christians think his death is the crucial thing to understand. In the end, however, Jesus is the solution, the way of dealing with the disease and not just the symptoms.
It is surprising, but God has a long history of working through things we would think surprising. God made people walk through a sea as if on dry land and brought plagues upon Egypt. He made old childless women give birth and brought about the fall of major kingdoms.
God can even fix the problem of sin that we cannot fix. We cannot even fix the symptoms of sin, let alone the disease. If you think about it, it makes sense that we cannot fix the world’s problems. We are all sinful people. We are all inclined to be selfish, and often we cannot understand the point of view of others, let alone God. We cause the problem and are part of it.
And when it comes to the curse on sin from Genesis 3, we cannot remove it. Every person since Adam and Eve continues to deserve the punishment God meted out that day. We have all offended and disobeyed God. For that problem to be fixed, we cannot simply ‘do better’, as we read so often in the media. We cannot simply try harder or be more religious; that won’t do it. No, if we have hurt someone, we need them to forgive us. We need God to fix the problem, for we cannot do it. And the good news of Christianity is that God has indeed done this!
The primary response to this good news is thanks and joy, not just an inspiration to do more. Our God cares enough for us to come to fix our deepest problem. How incredible!
(This blog post is an excerpt from a sermon on Genesis 3 that explained why Christmas is such a big celebration, preached at All Nations Presbyterian Church on 19 December 2021. You can find the audio of the sermon here if you want to explore this idea more deeply).