The Blue Stain That Won't Come Out

"Among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others." - Ephesians 2:3 (NKJV)

In our very nature, we were children of wrath, or we deserved wrath in our nature. Not just because of what we have done, but because of what we are. We are born in a state of sin and alienation from God. Though God made us in His own image (Genesis 1:26), because of mankind's sin in the Garden of Eden, we are also now born in the image of Adam (Genesis 5:3). This is an image of alienation from God; a lifeless state, spiritually speaking.

The Reformers rightly noted that we are totally separated from God, and we live in a state of total depravity. Charles Swindoll explained that if we could put sin in a color like blue, total depravity would look like we're just blue all over. We'd bleed blue, think blue thoughts, and have no possibility of a single fragment of a second when our heart, soul, and mind weren't flooded in blue. You could be as colorful a personality as you wish, but every tint of the rainbow would be overwhelmed by blue. Everything is painted blue because of the sin nature that came down from Adam and Eve, who sinned in the Garden of Eden.  

Ivan Turgenev, the nineteenth-century Russian novelist and playwright, said, "I don't know what the heart of a bad man is like, but I do know what the heart of a good man is like and it is terrible." [1] We have twisted affections. We love those things that God hates. We hate those things that God loves. We entertain ourselves with the same sin that breaks the heart of God. We have a twisted affection for unholy attractions.

Sin occurs when we miss the mark of God's highest glory and holiness. Romans 3:23 declares, "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Sin occurs when we are not in right relationship with God. Sin occurs when we rebel against God's standards, choosing rather to remain on the throne of our lives.

An oft-told story will help illustrate our spiritual condition without Christ. On one occasion, George Whitefield was preaching to a small gathering of British nobility. Lord Chesterfield loved Whitefield’s preaching and was in attendance that day. Whitefield had said that a man without Christ resembled a blind [old] beggar with a stick, using his little dog as guide. They are walking on a grassy downland slope not knowing they are at the top of a cliff. The string breaks and the dog wanders off. The beggar desperately puts both hands on the stick and pokes his way forward as best he can. He draws nearer, nearer the cliff. He pokes the stick out once again and its point goes over the edge and the unexpected motion makes him drop it. (Whitefield’s hearers were now taut with excitement.) The chasm is too high for an echo so the beggar thinks the stick has fallen into a soft shallow ditch. He leans over to feel. He loses his balance, his foot slips… “He’s gone!” Lord Chesterfield yelled, leaping to his feet. [2]

This is the awful fate of the whole human race without God – They’re gone! This is the diagnosis of the Bible, and if we choose to believe something other than this about our condition without God, we no longer need a crucifixion, a cross, or a resurrection.

Yet, if we acknowledge our biblical condition separated from God, we would know that there is no other way but the cross to answer humanity’s great need. That's why Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except by Me." I can't say it loud enough, it's the bad news of our lostness without Christ that makes the good news of salvation so wonderful! Your gratitude for your salvation will stay fresh if you reflect on how doomed you were without Christ. Thank You, Lord, for Your salvation!

Reflection Question: How does recognizing your sinful nature help you appreciate God's grace more deeply?

Dear Heavenly Father, I acknowledge that I was born with a sinful nature, but thank You for not leaving me in that condition. You provided a way for me to be Your child through faith in Christ. Help me never forget the depth of depravity You saved me from, in Jesus' Name, amen.

This is adapted from The Vanishing of the Gospel: https://a.co/d/09DKujRi

[1] as quoted in David Jeremiah, Captured by Grace (Franklin, TN: Integrity Publishers, 2006), 32.]

 [2] As quoted in Michael Brown, How Saved Are We (Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image Publishers, 1990), 21-22.