POR Page The Philosophy of Religion continued with THE SIN PROBLEM. |
Rich or poor, educated or otherwise, any class and any country, there is one problem that all humanity share in common. If you are looking for sharing with all humanity, here is a good place to start. The prevalent, common problem of all men, women, and youth and children everywhere is THE SIN PROBLEM. So much of what appears as an intellectual problem from aetheist, agnostics, doubters, and just plain unbelievers, with careful observation of their profiles comes down to a habitual sin problem. Yes, all men are under the authority of the LORD God their Creator, where they chose to admit it or not, and therein is also part of the sin problem, rebellion against God to be told what to do; then the rationalizations and human justifications start from some of the best and the worst human minds can produce, although those same minds have been weakened by sin itself which affects the mind, body, and soul of man. I. After the sin problem first entered the human race, God though disappointed with the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden could have turned His back on all humanity. Instead He had written through selective men like the prophet Isaiah to get men to sit down and reason with Him. "Come now, let us reason together, saith the LORD." And what does God want to talk about? THE SIN PROBLEM. "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it." (Isaiah 1:18-20) 1. The call from the LORD God Himself to join Him in reasoning. {That is reasonable when the invitation comes so clearly and forcefully from the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. It is a call to ISIS, to Popes and Presidents, to the average man sometimes mistakenly called the common man, but rather about the common SIN PROBLEM. 2. Hey, your sins, or offences against God to borrow from Romans, are running red right now in the sight of Almighty God, your Creator; however He wants to reason with you about a way to make them as white as snow. 3. IF...if...if. Yes, there is a big IF--"If you are willing and obedient..." God is dealing here with more than just the mind. There is a challenging calll to exercise the will. God respects that He created man in His own image with the freedom of choice as to how he will exercise his own will. 4. Yet the options of the two possible outcomes must be considered, for Israel and all subsequent nations and individuals, either (1) to prosper on the land, or (2) to be devoured with the sword. These options are loaded with many, and it really takes all of Isaiah and the rest of the Bible to explain; but briefly, it is a choice between the good life on earth then eternity with God the Father or a bad life of worldly pleasure with eternity absent from God and all that is good. II. The whole book of Isaiah might be considered as dealing with the SIN PROBLEM, of course with the addition of God's planned and carried out solution of the sacrifice of His suffering servant, the Lord Jesus Christ, to make atonement for the sins of the world. Isaiah 1 is a good introduction to all of Isaiah and the sin problem. Even as we learn by example, the historian Isaiah records what the sin problem and the failure at God's solution did to the nation of Israel, the message is the same for all men and nations. Isaiah 1. "The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers." |