All right, team.
Well, shall we?
It looks...
Well, in our last time together,
!
Eternal election unfolds in history by seeking out and saving those elect beloved.
As Good Arrow Smith observed,
election having once pitched upon a man in whatever dunghill God's elector hid,
election will find them out and bring them home.
This morning, it is ours to consider our condition in which electing grace finds us.
And as Arrow Smith's descriptive dunghill alerts us,
what we will discover about our condition is neither flattering nor fortuitous.
As unflattering as our condition is,
it is something that we must soberly assess.
For a right diagnosis of the ailment is critical for an appreciation of the required cure.
We will not grasp the glories of our salvation if we have not plumbed the depths of our plight.
If grace is to move us from the misery and wreckage of our fallen condition
to the majesty and wonder of fellowship with God,
we must take sober stock of the severity of our state.
The sinfulness from which grace rescues us is the dark backdrop
of the gleaming splendors of grace,
like the black velvet upon which the sparkling gem is placed.
It affords a perfect display and illuminating measure of the surpassing marvels of grace.
And so some measure of the depths of our devastation is rightly comprehended
in a consideration of grace and the doctrines of grace.
To this end, we'll offer both a portrait and a story.
For our journey this morning will take us to the pathology lab.
What is this malady we have contracted?
What is its nature?
And it will take us to the forensics lab.
How did we contract this deadly disease?
What was its origin?
So we first turn to the portrait.
Our fatal pathology, a scriptural portrait.
One important caveat, our portrait of humanity aims to concentrate, not be complete.
And the scriptures say many things about the grandeur of humanity.
Uniquely fashioned in the image of God,
endowed with many sparkling communicable divine attributes,
the psalmist exalts in marvel that humanity was made but a little lower than the angels
and crowned with glory and honor.
Psalm 8.5.
So be aware that while our portrait takes up the darker hues,
these are not the only colors suited to a complete picture,
simply those most pertinent to our study,
which asks,
in what condition and with what natural prospects does the rescuing grace of God encounter us?
What, on this question, is the testimony of Scripture?
Ah, from the very doorstep of humanity,
in the initial generation of the offspring of our first progenitors,
fratricide opens the lurid drama, Genesis 4.
The first recorded boast is that of deadly revenge against a boy,
again, Genesis 4.
And swift is the descent of the generations,
plunging to the moral nadir,
eliciting the damning epitome,
quote,
The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth,
and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually,
Genesis 6.5.
Quite a lot of superlatives in that moral resume.
Notice the intensity and extent.
Not merely wickedness, but great wickedness, it says.
Well, surely only in isolated cases.
No, great wickedness was in all the earth.
Oh, but surely such great wickedness was only episodic or intermittent.
No, it says it was continual.
Oh, but surely there were some moments of goodness,
at least in intention.
No, every intention was only evil.
So, the deepest, most inward recesses,
in the deepest and most inward recesses of the heart,
there was no good to be found,
even in the tiniest germ,
even a grain of mustard seed sized good.
No, every intention,
quote,
every intention of the thoughts of the heart
was only evil continually.
Like those philosophers' turtles,
it was evil all the way down.
A near all humanity consuming deluge,
weeded out the worst of the wickedness,
but not the root of the wickedness.
For the poison shoot instantly sprang up
in the single extended family spared.
We step backward with covering veil
upon the recrudescence of the shameless shamefulness.
To catalog the horrors of human hypostasy from God's holiness expressed in his laws
is too dismal a tale to tell of wickedness and its attendant woe.
The totality of the turpitude.
Let us instead record and reflect upon some of Scripture's assessments.
Says the preacher,
The hearts of men are full of evil
and madness is in their hearts while they live.
Ecclesiastes 9.3
The prophet Jeremiah echoes this verdict.
The heart is deceitful above all things
and desperately corrupt.
Who can fathom it?
Such melancholy judgment scattered across the sacred page
are as numerous as pebbles on a beach.
But rather than catalog them,
perhaps more fruitful to our errand
is to pick up one or two
and examine them more closely.
Take Psalm 36.
It opens,
Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart.
There is no fear of God before his eyes.
For he flatters himself in his own eyes
that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
Now this is not a description of the superlatively wicked,
the particularly flagitious outliers,
This is simply mankind apart from the grace of God.
Quote,
Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart.
It is as if transgression itself,
violation of God's law,
whether written in his conscience or on tablets,
are the very oracle or guiding voice
in the depths of his heart.
Terrifying.
If the fundamental orientation for humanity
is to be fear of God,
to recognize and respond to his great worth,
that is not even on the sinner's screen.
There is no fear of God before his eyes.
What then is before his eyes?
Man flatters himself and his self-flattery.
Quote,
For he flatters himself in his own eyes.
And what does he flatter himself with?
His wickedness.
Quote,
That his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
That is,
Man flatters himself
That his sin is not detectable.
I will not be held accountable for this.
And that his sin is not detestable.
My transgression is really not so bad.
This self-flattery is really,
of course,
delusional.
And this theme reverberates through the scriptures
that our sin makes us delusional.
The apostle forcefully expounds the theme in Romans.
When we fail to acknowledge God
and honor him,
that is,
ascribe to him supreme worth,
that is,
worship,
we yield his rightful place in our worship
to created things.
And as the apostle explains,
we quote,
Exchange the truth of God for a lie.
125.
Literally,
in the Greek,
the lie.
The lie.
The lie of our misplaced worship
has a spreading,
distorting effect.
We are caught in the grip
of a delusional field.
Self-deception
becomes our whole ecosystem.
Delusion.
The great habitat for humanity.
And not only does,
sin make us delusional.
It makes us manic addicts.
Let's take up another pebble from the beach.
The graphic image of the calamity of our corruption
given by Jeremiah.
Jeremiah.
He likens our running after our idols
to a camel or wild donkey
in heat.
In heat.
Quote,
Who can restrain her lust?
2.
3.
Hopeless, for I have loved foreigners, and after them I will go.
Verse 25.
In poetic irony, we imagine our idols serve us,
but in our insatiable lust, we serve them.
Our cravings are inexorable.
They have us in their grip.
We are enslaved.
The case is, quote, hopeless.
It is a fatal attraction.
The apostle echoes this chilling dynamic.
When we fail to rightly direct our worship to God
and turn instead to created things,
we are soon given over to them.
Romans 2, pass him.
Our desire for them becomes inordinate and uncontrollable.
They ensorcel and beguile our hearts,
and we're swept away.
They have us.
We are enslaved.
We are under their dominion, their tyranny.
Romans 6.
As Jesus expresses it,
he who sins is a slave to sin.
John 8.34.
Yes, what is Jesus' testimony in this matter of the heart of man?
For, as John 2.25 tells us,
he himself knew what was in man.
Here is his sober assessment.
For from within, out of the heart of man,
come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness,
deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.
All these evil things come from within,
and they defile a person.
Mark 7.21-23.
And Jesus' whole ministry was based upon this knowledge
that people were captive to their sin,
and that they needed to be set free from sin's tyranny over them.
The apostle sums up the matter thus.
None is righteous.
No, not one.
No one understands.
No one seeks after God.
All have turned aside.
Together, they have become worthless.
No one does good.
Not even one.
Their throat is an open grave.
They use their tongues to deceive.
The venom of asps is under their lips.
Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.
Their feet are swift to shed blood.
In their paths are ruin and misery.
And the way of peace they have not known.
There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Romans 3.9-18.
Well, we certainly have enough material here
to shape some theological reflection.
What are the conclusions from the pathology lab?
Well, one thing to note with alarm
is the pervasiveness of sin's contaminating taint.
Sin's sway is utterly comprehensive,
reaching every aspect of our being
with its corrupting contagion.
Not one faculty is left unaffected
by its blasting, withering mildew.
Let's take swift inventory of our fallen faculties.
Consider the sin-stricken deployment of our minds.
How we perversely use our intellect
to doubt, distort, deny, and defy God and His Word.
How our cunning serves to weave alibis and evasions.
Contributes the awful artifice of re-narration,
calling good evil and evil good.
Where the light of God's illumination
graciously shines into the windows of our understanding.
We pull the shades and scurry for cover,
lest our lies and crimes be exposed.
Consider our sin-wounded will.
How we steal it against intrusion of God into our lives.
Our will bars the doors against God's summons.
We are like the auditors of Stephen, the first martyr,
who, quote, stopped their ears and rushed together against him
and stoned him.
Acts 7, 57.
The damning description of the sacred page is
stiff-necked.
An adamant determination not to budge with respect to God.
Consider our sin-altering affections.
How devastatingly disordered they are.
Our hearts are the arena of a panoply of disordering replacements.
A chaotic jumble of perverse preferences and distorted desires.
A violent vandalism has befallen the shalom
that should harmoniously reign within.
And it is not just a distortion,
but an inversion.
We hate what we should love
and love what we should hate.
The flesh will ever flock to its fatal fancies.
The pearl of great price will be trampled underfoot
as we run to the mires that we would wallow in.
We have an unalterable taste for sin.
Consider our sin-infected imaginations.
Our flesh-animated imaginations furnish us
with a dress rehearsal for our sins.
Here, our unborn iniquities spawn
like orcs out of the slime.
Germs of sin that yet lie slumbering in the soiled soul.
In our imaginations,
swelling with pride like Lucifer,
we would ascend to the place of the Most High,
usurping His throne and offices.
In twisted mockery of Christ's prophetic office,
we spread lies instead of embracing His true revelation.
In unholy parody of His priesthood,
we ceaselessly forge idols,
defiling the altars of our hearts.
In pathetic parody of His kingly office,
we proclaim our puny selves as sovereign
over against the Almighty God.
Consider, finally,
our sin-corrupted conscience.
How out of tune with God's holiness and will it has become.
It's no longer reliable.
It is a trumpet that gives an uncertain sound.
Conscience is not dead, but distorted.
Its power is impaired.
It does not prevail as it should over man's soul.
Its voice is faint and fading.
Its eye unclear and ever-clouding.
Thus, luridly and lamentably,
is the comprehensive corruption suffered by sin.
I've sought to avoid theological jargon,
but suffer me one, I hope, helpful clarification.
The term total depravity
is an infelicitous moniker for this reality,
but this is what the term aims to affirm.
Sin's damage of us is total
in the sense that no part of us
has been shielded off from its taint and corruption.
Like a drop of poison,
it pervades the entire cup of water.
Mind, will, affections, imagination,
conscience, instincts, intuitions,
every aspect of our being.
This melancholy conclusion
brings us to the theological consequences
of this reality
for our prospects of salvation.
Three, in particular,
are worth emphasizing.
The first is rather obvious,
but worth stating.
The sheer folly
of the hope of salvation
by our own righteousness.
The lawyer who questioned Jesus,
what must I do to inherit eternal life?
Jesus lets him answer
as to Scripture's testimony.
Oh, you shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength,
and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
You have answered correctly,
says Jesus.
Do this and live.
Luke 10, 25 through 28.
I've often wondered
if Jesus ever encountered him again.
I fancy Jesus might have asked him,
Oh, remember me?
Remember that conversation?
How's that perfect obedience from the heart
on the two great commandments going for you?
You know,
with this,
the standard for salvation,
sobriety dictates human hopelessness.
Any locomotive to heaven
isn't running on human steam.
No.
I mean,
can't you hear the apostles' voice
echoing from Romans 3?
No one.
No, not one.
And not only will we never deserve salvation
through our obedience,
we will never even desire it.
And this is the second theological consequence
of our sin pathology.
We will never,
by our own initiative,
cooperate with God's saving work.
We will oppose it.
Our inveterate rebellion
arrays us in battle formation
against God as enemy,
sworn enemy.
Far from seeking to restore
lost communion with God,
our maker,
we seek to kill him
if only we could get our hands on him,
which is precisely what we did
when he came down
from heaven
for us
and our salvation.
As the apostle insists,
to be in the flesh,
that is,
our sinful humanity,
is to be,
quote,
hostile to God,
Romans 8, 7.
Quote,
for the desires of the flesh
are against the spirit of God
and the desires of the spirit
are against the flesh
for these are opposed
to each other.
Galatians 5, 17.
Jesus channels this hostile spirit
against God
into the voice
of the vineyard tenants
in his parable
representing all of us.
This is the heir.
Come,
let us kill him
and then the inheritance
will be ours.
Mark 12, 7.
Okay,
yes,
you acknowledge
there is hostility,
but surely humanity
can repent
or at least
some can repent
and simply believe
the gospel.
We can get out of things
like that.
Well,
yes
and no.
Let's formulate
our answer
as our third
theological consequence
of our sinful pathology.
We can come to Christ
exercising repentance
and faith
in the sense
that we are capable of it
and indeed
the gospel invites
and commands us
to do so.
But
we just can't
bring ourselves
to do it.
As the apostle
told the Athenians,
God commands
all people everywhere
to repent.
Acts 17, 30.
To come to Christ
in repentance
and faith
is not only
an invitation
but an obligation.
And yet,
Jesus tells us,
no one
can come to me
unless the Father
who sent me
draws him.
John 6, 44.
It is
an utter
impossibility
for anyone
to come to Christ
apart from
God's drawing.
Now,
to clarify
this inability,
it does not
consist
in any
physical
defect.
When we speak
of our will
being bound,
it is not
that our
freedom of
choice
is taken
away from
us.
The sinner
is exercising
their free
choices
again and
again.
It is just
that their
choices
are invariably
and monotonously
for the,
to them,
delectable
doings
of darkness.
forgiveness.
It is a
moral bondage
of their
own
unrelieved
preference.
It's not
that their
will cannot
turn to
Christ
as if
their will
were somehow
like a
soldered
wind vane.
Can't turn
at all.
There is no
malfunction in
the mechanism.
No,
it freely
turns
whichever way
the wind
blows.
But in
the case
of the
unregenerate,
that wind
from the
heart
always
and
unrelievedly
blows
in the
same
monotonous
and
unrelieved
direction
toward the
delights
of the
flesh
and away
from the
delights
of the
spirit.
This
is the
plight
of the
sinner.
They will
always
prefer
their
sin
to
the
Savior.
The
sinner
will
never
repent
on their
own.
And so
also
with
belief.
There is
no
deficiency
in the
faculty
of the
mind.
It
can
entertain
the
thought
of
Christ
as
Savior.
But
that
thought
has
no
appeal.
It
is
threatening.
It
convicts
them
as a
sinner
in need
of a
Savior
as
possessed
of a
deadly
malady
and in
need
of the
great
physician.
It
challenges
their
self-perceived
sovereignty
over their
own life.
Christ
would
strip
them
of their
scepter
to which
they so
fondly
cling.
As the
birth of
the true
king
threatened
King
Herod's
pretensions,
sins,
so the
sinner
will
reject
any
rival
to
their
throne.
And
notice
again,
this is
a
moral
bondage,
not
really
intellectual.
Our
stakes
and
prejudices
jaundice
our
judgment.
Imagine
with me,
if a
judge
was to
rule
in a
case
in which
she
owned
the
majority
stock,
in the
arraigned
company,
she
would be
required
to
recuse
herself
as her
stakes
and
interests
would
sabotage
any
just
judgment
in the
case.
This is
intuitive
to us
all.
But
this is
the
case
of
every
son
of
Adam
and
daughter
of
Eve
in
their
natural
state.
The
issue
is one
of
nature,
fallen
versus
regenerate.
The
nature
of
a
sheep
has
an
invariable
preference
to
feed
on
herbage.
It
desires
not
to
consume
carrion
like
the
lion.
To
do
so
would
require
a
change
in
its
nature.
As
Jeremiah
vividly
puts
the
matter,
can
the
leopard
change
his
spots?
Then
also
can
you
do
good
who
are
accustomed
to
doing
evil?
Jeremiah
13
23.
If
there
is
hope
for
salvation,
nothing
less
than a
new
nature
is
required.
Once
we
understand
the
severity
of
our
fallen
condition
and
recognize
that
it
was
with
us
from
birth,
David
confesses
we were
brought
forth in
iniquity
and
conceived
in
sin.
Psalm
51.5
Grasping
that,
we
naturally
ask,
if
sin's
been
with
us
from
birth,
where
did
it
come
from?
Here
we
move
from
pathology
lab
to
that
of
forensics.
How
did
we
contract
this
malady?
so
too,
a
forensic
plot
line,
the
biblical
story.
Well,
might we
say with
Thomas Adams,
iniquity
can
plead
antiquity.
The
story
begins
with
Adam
and
the
birth
of
that
ruinous
rebellion
against
God,
which
has
come
to
characterize
so
universally
the
human
race.
There
is a
worm
at the
root
of the
whole
human
family
tree
that
spoils
every
piece
of
fruit
that
it
bears,
every
leaf
extended
from
its
branch.
What
was
this
all
spoiling
ruinous
root?
Through
what
portal
did
it
make
its
entrance?
the
apostle
answers
Romans
5
12
quote
sin
came
into
the
world
through
one
man
and
death
through
sin
so
that
death
spread
to
all
humankind.
But
how
we might
naturally
ask
could
the
sin
of
one
man
be
so
faithfully
consequential
for
all
humanity.
This
was
due
to
Adam's
pivotal
role
as
covenant
head.
God
did
not
enter
into
covenant
with
Adam
simply
as a
private
individual
with
only
his
own
interests
at
stake
but
rather
as
the
representative
of
all
humanity.
Adam
created
in the
image
of
God
was
made
in
an
original
state
of
righteousness
from
which
he
might
advance
to a
state
of
confirmed
righteousness
by means
of a
perfect
obedience
to the
stipulations
of the
covenant
of
works
do
this
and
live
highlighted
in the
prohibition
concerning
the
tree
of the
knowledge
of
good
and
evil
by
this
means
Adam
and
all
his
posterity
could
advance
into
the
state
of
blessedness
and reward
in
perfect
union
and
communion
with
God
but
as
with
his
prospective
success
so
also
would
his
failure
be
imputed
to
his
posterity
did
you get
that
George
Swinnick
wonderful
Puritan
takes
up
the
metaphor
of
a
voyage
of
our
race
piloted
by
Adam
always
helpful
to
unpack
these
truths
with
metaphor
Swinnick
writes
God
formed
man
to
be
his
viceroy
and
equipped
him
with
all
the
abilities
needed
for
such
a
voyage
this
is
Adam
he's
speaking
of
Adam
God
formed
Adam
to
be
his
viceroy
and
equipped
him
with
all
the
abilities
needed
for
such
a
voyage
as
the
grounds
for
the
covenant
of
works
Adam
set
forth
fully
furnished
with
skill
and
richly
laden
with
all
the
fortunes
hopes
and
happiness
of
mankind
Satan
raised
a storm
before
Adam
had
scarce
launched
out of
sight
the
vessel
through
the
unfaithfulness
of
Adam
the
pilot
ran
upon
a rock
and
miscarried
what
what a
depressing
sight
to
Adam
to
behold
himself
and
all
his
posterity
sinking
into
the
bottomless
ocean
of
destruction
and
misery
through
his
unfaithfulness
and
treachery
God
to
be the
first
of
should
our
fates
pivot
on
Adam's
piloting
was
Adam
just
constitutionally
clumsy
a pilot
of the
ship
of
humanity
did
we
simply
get a
raw
deal
in
terms
of
our
representative
no
doubt
God
chose
the
best
of
the
best
to
be
the
federal
head
of
our
race
and
would
any
of
us
have
the
hubris
to
imagine
that
we
would
have
done
a
better
job
in
Adam's
place
and
we
must
remember
that
Adam
was
singular
not
simply
in
his
role
as
covenant
head
but
also
in
his
capacities
for
they
were
pristine
and
unfallen
there
was
nothing
in
Adam's
God
given
nature
that
made
his
fall
inevitable
no
inherent
design
flaw
no
hairline
fracture
let
alone
any
fatalistic
divine
determination
in his
nature
that
would
make
his
fall
physically
necessary
or
unpreventable
and thereby
somehow
excusable
Adam's
sin
was at
once
entirely
possible
yet
at the
same
time
an
utterly
inexplicable
inversion
of the
orientation
in which
he was
set
much
conjecture
has gone
into
explaining
how it
could be
that Adam
would have
sinned
Aquinas
thinks
the
fountain
head
was
pride
which
led
to
a
covetousness
for
God
likeness
that
was
expressly
forbidden
Luther
thought
the cause
was
unbelief
even
to
entertain
the
serpent's
temptation
required
illegitimate
equivocation
!
over the
truthfulness
of God
and his
word
in any
event
Adams
was a
self
determined
rebellion
against
his
creator
and
lawgiver
and a
displacement
of the
covenant
intimacy
a commitment
to an
untruth
a dissonance
that distorted
his natural
orientation
of dependence
on God
as creator
and so
inexplicably
a
perfidy
was
perpetrated
in
paradise
by our
covenant
head
and all
humanity
was
with him
plunged
into
judgment
his
condemnation
was
imputed
to us
his
kin
and the
corruption
that
ensued
in his
nature
was
transmitted
to us
his
posterity
this we
must think
to be
calamitous
news
indeed
that
Adam's
condemnation
and corruption
is ours
by
solidarity
with him
but
this
divine
principle
of
solidarity
and
imputation
not
only
made
for
extended
condemnation
and
corruption
by the
unfathomable
glorious
purpose
of God
it also
makes
for
acquittal
and
redemption
for a
number
that no
one
can
count
for
there
is
for
there
is
a
second
Adam
Christ
the
righteous
who
also
stands
as
representative
of his
people
for
whom
he
acts
and
whose
victory
like
Adam's
failure
is
imputed
to
his
own
the
dismal
extended
impact
by
solidarity
of
Adam's
headship
to
all
his
own
makes
for
the
glorious
extended
impact
by
solidarity
of
Christ's
headship
to
all
his
own
as
the
apostle
brings
out
the
parallel
for
as
by
a
man
came
death
by
a
man
has
come
also
the
resurrection
of the
dead
for
as
an
Adam
all
die
so
also
in
Christ
shall
all
be
made
alive
1st
Corinthians
15
21
and
22
the
covenant
framework
of
God's
dealing
with
humanity
which
makes
for
the
bad
news
of
the
first
Adam
also
makes
for
the
good
news
the
gospel
of
the
last
Adam
but
the
apostle
forbids
us
to see
this
parallel
as
one
of
symmetry
the
grace
of the
second
Adam
is
out
of
all
proportion
to
the
curse
of
the
first
Adam
Paul
in
the
process
of
comparing
the
two
pointing
out
their
similarities
he
cannot
but
fall
into
contrasting
them
quote
but
the
free
gift
is
not
like
the
trespass
for
if
many
died
through
one
man's
trespass
much
more
has
have
the
grace
of
God
and the
free
gift
by
that
grace
of
that
one
man
Jesus
Christ
abounded
for the
many
and the
free
gift
is not
like
the result
of one
man's
sin
for
the
judgment
following
one
trespass
brought
condemnation
but the
free
gift
following
many
trespasses
brought
justification
for
if
because
of
one
man's
trespass
death
reigned
through
that
one
man
much
more
for
those
who
receive
the
abundance
of
grace
and
the
free
gift
of
righteousness
they
themselves
reign
in
life
through
the
one
man
Jesus
Christ
Romans
5
15
through
17
much
more
indeed
amen
and
amen
with
this
account
of the
turpitude
of the
condition
which
God's
electing
love
finds
us
we
take
up
Lord
willing
in our
next
study
how
the
grace
of
God
meets
and
masters
this
woeful
state
with
an
all
overcoming
rescue
so
hopefully
see you
next
week
we
have
time
friends
I've
tried
to
leave
a
good
bit
for
this
challenging
subject
in case
anyone
has a
comment
a
praise
or a
question
or a
query
or a
cavil
whatever
yeah
Tyler
praise
do
Yes, yes, and we're going to get into that particularly next week, yes, where he calls
to all everywhere.
Look unto me, all the ends of the earth, and be saved.
The call goes out to all.
Whoever is weary, let him come.
Whoever is thirsty, let him come.
Oh, well, I have no money.
No, come without money and buy.
So, yes, there is a universal call that goes out.
And we will hear next week, Lord willing, we'll take that up in more careful expositional
detail, how God's grace and electing love affects this great rescue.
Sure, Richard.
It seems to me that once you understand the hopelessness, the desperateness of our condition,
of our sinful state, that depends on the prior answer to the question, how did we come to
be in this state?
And the answer to that question, as you've rightly told us, is through the sin of Adam.
Anyway.
But that's precisely the story that's dissipated, evaporated, when we accept the naturalistic
explanation that Charles Darwin gave us.
The two are simply not compatible.
All theistic evolution aside.
Okay.
That's a comment.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, thank you.
Yes.
Yeah.
So one of the things I thought about recently is how in our culture there's, well, not really
recently, but before, there was an understanding that on the one hand, man was depraved because
of the original sin.
But on the other hand, man is created in the image of God, and he still, in a sense, retains
many wonderful abilities and distinction among creation.
And I don't know, I wonder, I guess in the political realm, right, how this country was
founded on the idea that man has this capacity, because of the image of his creator with which
he's endowed, to like flourish on the one hand.
But on the other hand, because he is so, you know, spiritually dead and he's prone to wander,
we can't have that kind of like, like optimism about what we can do, even though we do have
the image of God.
So I'm wondering, like, how to properly negotiate in human affairs between what to be optimistic
about and what to be pessimistic about.
Yeah.
Does that make sense?
Sure it does.
Oh, that's a really easy question.
No.
Yes, you're absolutely right, and I tried to gesture toward it, that this is not the whole
story, because you rightly bring up that man is a noble wreckage.
He has a crown, though it is tarnished.
And in the image of God, there are these wonderful communicable attributes that God has given to
us, and they hold wonderful prospects.
But they have been diminished.
But we also want to affirm that sin has made a wreckage of these things.
Now, our sinfulness does not eliminate the image of God.
There are some theologians who might suggest that, and we need to be careful about how they
use the word differently.
But I think that we would rightly say that the image of God cannot be erased.
It can only be defaced, and it has been defaced, but not effaced, not erased.
It is still present.
So there is always going to be an amalgam.
So yes, a lot of discernment is to hold these two things together, and that's very important.
How does it allow us to be optimistic or pessimistic?
I think as Christians, again, we ought always to try to keep these things together.
So because man is in the image of God, it will never be right for us to have a complete
condemnation or a complete dismissal, a complete pessimism.
There will always be something good to affirm of any and every human being in the image of
God, and probably of the cultural artifacts of those human beings, because there will always
be something of the image of God reflected in that.
But neither should we, so we ought not to demonize anyone or anything, but neither should we so
valorize them, that we almost deify these things, as if it were only the image of God and not
fallen.
So we ought not to have any sort of worshipful hope in any sort of Messiah figure or any sort
of cultural artifact, because everything has fallen.
So Christians, knowing that, ought to be the most nuanced in our judgment, always combining
both of those things.
In terms of how positive we should be in the political realm and this, I think Christians
would want to distinguish between optimism and pessimism and hope.
Hope, then, is grounded something outside of ourselves.
Our hope is in God and his revealed good purposes that are redemptive.
So we put our hope in him.
So we will not be able to create the kingdom of God through dint of our efforts, apart from
the king returning himself to establish the kingdom.
So we will not have this vaulted optimism like some sort of enlightenment figures have.
We will acknowledge that while we might be able to make some sort of progress, we will never
be able to achieve the kingdom of God here.
But maybe we can move the dial, because we do have a down payment of that future instantiation
of the returning king in his spirit.
So we, as the church, should be a sneak preview, an anticipation of some of these things.
So we ought to be a place of hopefulness, or a revelation, or at least a pointer to that
solid hope that we have that will come.
So that tries to hold some of those things together.
We're children of light, that even while it's still darkness, we get up and we live in light
of that day that's dawning and live that way.
So, yeah.
I think we probably better break now, because we have five minutes.
But hopefully, see you next week.
Thanks so much, team.
Thank you.
Nice to see you.
How was your trip?
It was well.
A lot of fun coming out.
Good to see you.
Thank you.
I appreciate you.
Thank you.