The number one need of the human condition, part 2
This week’s column is the second installment in a two-part series titled “The Number One Need of the Human Condition.” Part one published on Aug. 30.
Back step into this thought, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?
Your soul is eternal. You will exist forever as you, but you can lose yourself. In other words; you can lose control of where you are at or going to.
Remember that death means separation. So what happens after it happens? Scripture says it is appointed unto man once to die and then the judgment, according to Heb 9:27. In a nutshell, this means, all human beings will die. Their physical bodies will wind down, quit, get killed, whatever the cause we will die.
At that point, our soul is released or separated from the body. This is when the judgment comes into play, but judgment about what?
Judgment about where you go into eternity, Heaven or Hell.
What is this judgment based on? Who, what or how is this decision made or come about? How do I get to heaven or how do I avoid Hell? If I don’t want to lose my soul to Hell, how do I save my soul to Heaven?
I can’t figure this out on my own and since God already “owns the place.” I can’t give, bribe, barter or buy my way into Heaven. What separates my soul from God? It is sin. Then how do I reconcile, remove or get my sin removed or forgiven so I can get past that separation?
We are in crisis mode. With that, the number one need of the human condition is to be forgiven or to get salvation from God.
God saves us from Hell: to which souls could be lost and shows us the way to Heaven, to which souls may be saved. But God has a plan and He needs no plan B.
God’s plan is John 3:16: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
The number one problem with mankind is that we have a sinful nature. We are dysfunctional and broken in the eyes of God. We are naturally unacceptable to him and we don’t just need forgiven of the things we have done and said, but we need forgiven of what we are. We need to be accepted by God, and the only way to be accepted is to believe on his one and only son, Jesus Christ. He was and is Plan A.
Jesus wasn’t just the only one sent; he was the only one who could be sent and get the job done. By going to the cross and dying for our sins, plan A made a way for us to be forgiven of our unacceptable sinful nature when we accept him as our Lord and Savior.
This is salvation, the forgiveness of our sins in Jesus Christ. This is what it means to not lose our soul. This is what it means that we should not perish.
Remember, it is appointed to man once to die and then be judged. More literally what happens is that the judgment you are already under is carried out at the moment of your death.
If you believe in Jesus Christ, then you are no longer under the judgment of condemnation, damnation, read that Hell, but have everlasting life, which means Heaven.
This is really important, because you are an eternal being. Yes, you had a starting point, a beginning, but you will exist forever…
There are only two classes of humans, those who believe and those who don’t, those off to everlasting life and those perishing. And when a person dies, then that sentence is carried out. Both options are irrevocable, and for both, there is no point of return.
Who again benefits from this arrangement? We do. So consequently, our number one problem is we have a sinful nature, and the number one thing God wants from us is a relationship, which meets our number one need, forgiveness/salvation.
Part one of this series printed on Aug. 30. Find it at www.heraldstandard.com/gcm.