What then is the biblical view of sin? Sin is a distortion and dislocation of the heart from its true center in God (Romans 1:21-25). This is expressed in a basic motive for all human life—the heart desire of every person to be his or her own Savior and Lord.
This article was originally written for the Redeemer Report in 2003.
“The year that King Uzziah died,” things looked bleak from Isaiah’s point of view. Uzziah had died alienated from God. And just a few years before, in 745 B.C., the ruthless imperialist Tiglath-Pileser III had taken the throne of Assyria and begun a campaign of terror and conquest. Israel was in his path. The king was dead and the kingdom of Israel looked like it would be swept away.
The resurrection of Christ assures us that God will redeem not just souls but bodies, and will bring about a new heavens and new earth. As the risen Christ, he stands not just with us in our present time, but he waits at the end of history to heal and renew everything.
U.S. culture moved from a Positive view of Christianity to a Neutral view and now to a Negative view of it. Newbigin stressed that churches were declining because they continued to speak and minister as if this was a Christendom culture — and it is not.
Over the years Tim talked with many professing Christians who had very strong political views from many perspectives. They would often be very emotional and sometimes consumed by what they perceived to be unacceptable political affiliation by their Christian sisters and brothers within our church.
In the teaching of Jesus the ultimate condemnation from the mouth of God is “depart from me.” That is remarkable—to simply be away from God is the worst thing that can happen to us! Why? We were originally created to walk in God’s immediate presence (Genesis 2). All the life, joy, love, strength, and meaning we have looked for and longed for is found in his face (Psalm 16:11)—that is, in his favor, presence, fellowship, and pleasure. That is why, for Paul, the everlasting fire and destruction of hell is “exclusion from the presence of the Lord.”
There used to be social pressures to go to church and then there was a live and let live period. Now we’re moving into a period where there’s a social cost. And the more there’s a social cost, the fact is that more Christians are actually shutting up and being quiet about their faith with people around them.
These “small faults” mean that large swaths of the Christian population have little influence on others for Christ. This is true because, while our faults always seem small to us due to the natural self-justification of the heart, you can be sure they don’t look so small to others.
This Month's Featured Book
In Tim Keller’s book Counterfeit Gods you’ll read how the Bible reveals the truth about idols and how they can take the place of God in our hearts. The book ultimately shows us that only the one true God of the Bible can satisfy our longings and fulfill our hopes.
