You ever see madness on the news and just ask yourself, “why?”
If you have, you’re not alone.
Most people don’t understand why evil still happens in the civilized world we live in—I know those news anchors don’t.
Fortunately, however, the true reason is easy to find.
The answer to our “why?” is found in the Bible. But since no one holds the Bible as truth anymore, it’s understandable why people are lost.
In this post though, I’ll describe the Bible’s answer to what’s wrong with our world, and explain why the gospel—or the good news—is our only real hope.
Why Do We Need the Gospel? Explaining the Effects of the Fall
You’ve probably heard the story of Adam and Eve before, but in case you haven’t, I’ll make a long story short.
First, God made everything in the world (Gen. 1:1). Adam was created during this time and Eve was created later on. They were the first humans.
God made humanity in His image which means humans have many of His traits (Gen. 1:26-27). We have the ability to reason with freedom of thought and will. We have personalities and emotions. And at that point, humans were morally good and innocent.
Everything was right in the world then. Adam and Eve lived in harmony with God, with each other, and with animals. Work was a gift that didn’t involve harsh toil. And there was no sickness, disease, or violence (Gen. 1:31).
This all changed, however, when Eve accepted the lie that she could “be like God”. And after she believed that lie, both she and Adam chose to disobey Him (Gen. 3:4-6, Gen. 3:17-19).
This act of rebellion brought a new nature into the world: a sin nature.
How Sin Affects Us Today
So what does that story mean for us today?
It means everyone is born with a sin nature.
Sin is any form of rebellion against God and any action that falls short of His perfect character (1 John 3:4).
Since everyone is a descendant of Adam and Eve, we’ve all inherited their sin nature just like you inherit genetic traits from your parents (Rom. 5:12). And with this fact in mind, it becomes clear why bad things happen no matter how much “progress” our world makes:
Bad things happen because people are inherently sinful (Rom. 3:10-12, Rom. 7:18-21, 1 John 1:8).
You don’t have to look far to understand this truth. You can see evidence of it in young children.
Children don’t have to be told to lie, cheat, or be violent. Their parents have to teach them the importance of being honest, peaceful, and fair.
Bad influences like peer pressure are so strong because they encourage us to do what we’re already inclined to do. This is why laws exist in society. Our authorities have to encourage the will to do good and discourage the inherent will to do wrong (see Rom. 13:3). If we didn’t have a system that punished people for doing evil, even more craziness would go on.
There’s a problem with simply following laws though. For one, laws don’t cover the more personal forms of our flawed nature. They don’t cover our little white lies and the hurtful things we say behind people’s backs.
Another problem stems from the nature of our laws themselves—those laws were made by flawed people just like you and me.
While everyone has a general sense of right and wrong, our sinful nature taints our moral compass as well. Some of what we call good is actually bad. While some of what we call bad is actually good.
The absolute biggest problem with our laws, however, is their inability to change us. Laws can only influence behavior, but since they can’t change human nature, they leave us stuck in the same sinful condition as before.
It doesn’t matter how civilized our world gets or how many laws we institute, the point here is that all people will still be sinners—not just because we do bad things, but because of the very nature that inclines us to do them (Mark 7:21-23).
This means there’s technically no such thing as a good person (Ecc. 7:20). There are only people who haven’t given in to the more destructive parts of our nature (Gal. 5:19-21).
You can try your best to be a good person all you want, but your very nature will always be flawed. An elephant could act like a giraffe all day for example, but that elephant would always be an elephant.
You can’t change your nature simply by acting towards an ideal (see Jer. 13:23 NIV).
Explaining the Gospel: Why It’s The Only Real Solution
If we’re all just a bunch of bad people, then what’s the point, right? How can anything truly good happen if we’re powerless to change ourselves?
That’s where Jesus comes in (John 3:16-17).
Because Jesus was born of God through a virgin, he didn’t inherent the sin nature all of us have. This meant He was divine and fully human at the same time (John 1:14, Phil. 2:6-7 NIV).
He was sinless, perfect, and innocent.
When Jesus allowed Himself to die on the cross, He paid the penalty for the sins of the world (Rom. 8:3). Then He rose again 3 days later proving that He conquered death.
Anyone who believes on Him and His sacrifice is given new and eternal life. They’re also spared from the future punishment justly given to those with an evil nature.
This is the good news of the gospel. You don’t have to do anything else to receive new life because Jesus already did the work for you. All you have to do is believe (2 Cor. 5:21, Rom. 4:5).
The Practical Effects of the Gospel
Most people hear “eternal life” and only think about Heaven, but how does the gospel affect us today?
This is how.
Those who trust on Jesus aren’t just given a spot in Heaven. God works within them now and gives them a new nature. (2 Cor. 5:17).
There’s a bunch of big words that describe this process, but I typically refer to it as a heart change—it’s the process of being transformed from the inside out.
People who have had this heart change still have a sin nature, but they now have the means to control it (Gal. 5:24). They don’t do good because it’s what society expects of them or because they want others to view them as good people. They do good because they now have a genuine desire to do so. They’re no longer controlled by the part of themselves that’s naturally inclined to do wrong (Rom. 6:5-6).
When people believe on Jesus and trust in the work He did on the cross, they’ll display the traits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—all of which are actions that result from the change within (Gal. 5:22-23).
Then as believers keep maturing, they’ll reflect even more of the likeness of Christ Himself, similarly to how Adam and Eve initially reflected the goodness of God (Rom. 8:29).
Changing the World One Heart at a Time
While Scripture’s reasoning for the world’s condition isn’t pleasant, the gospel’s power to transform will forever be good news.
It’s important to remember that no pastor, no politician, and no amount of protesting can change hearts—only God can do that.
Sure, we can limit outward displays of our fallen nature, but only God can solve the root cause of our problem.
So as always, I encourage you to accept God’s solution if you haven’t already, but even if you don’t, at least you now know the message that will always be our only hope.
-Drew
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