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About Jesus - Steve (Stephen) Sweetman All
In The Family No matter how you view
the Genesis creation account, and my view is not what it once was, there
are basic theological truths we can learn from it.
In scientific terms, one truth we can learn from Genesis 3 is
called "entropy." That's
the "third law of thermal dynamics" that states all things are
in the process of decay and will eventually die.
In traditional theological terms, it has been called "the
fall," which plunged humanity into a life of sinfulness and the rest
of creation into a world of entropy. Yes,
sin is basic to us all. It's
all in the family.
In Romans 7 Paul wrote
about humanity's sinful nature. He
actually called himself a "wretched man" (Romans 7:24).
That's amazing knowing what we know about that godly man.
He also wrote about Adam in relation to our present entropic
reality (Romans 5:14 - 15).
There are various views
concerning who the Adam of Genesis was.
Some view Adam as a literal Adam, while others view him as a
theological Adam, a metamorphic Adam, or an archetypal Adam.
However you view Adam, his actions, as seen in Romans 5:14 and 15,
plunged us all into a world of entropic sinfulness which we manoeuvre our
way through. It's our reality
until the new heaven and new earth become our new reality.
So why am I being so negative and depressing?
Biblically speaking,
besides being originally created in God's likeness and image (Genesis
1:26) our present sinful nature is the most basic thing we need to know
about ourselves. From this
basic truth we build our theology of man and salvation.
Knowing, admitting, and repenting of our sinfulness is the
prerequisite to faith in Jesus that saves us.
Here is what Jesus said about failing to repent.
Luke 13:3 and 5 read: "I
tell you, no! But unless you repent,
you too will all perish."
(Luke 13:3 and 5) Yes, sin is common to us
all. It's all in the family.
We cannot exclude this Biblical truth and our need to repent from
the presentation of the gospel, as many are doing these days. Post
Script We must know that
repentance is a gift we receive from the Lord, as stated in texts such as
2 Timothy 2:25 and Acts 11:18. As
with faith, we are unable to repent without His help. Read
Acts 11:18. "When they heard
this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, 'So then,
even to Gentiles God has granted [given] repentance
that leads to life.'"
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