Why did our nation’s forefathers not choose a king or queen for our government? No one had ever had a “president” before. Their decision came on the heals of a confrontation stimulated by a king across the sea with unchecked power over his people. They came to know all to intimately what the Bible had always taught: All humanity has a sinful tendency and when one person or group of people acquire too much power corruption is nearly inevitable. So, they set up a government that was for the people and stated, “No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States.”
Theologians call this tendency toward the misuse of power, among other undesirable qualities in the human condition, total depravity. It is the greatest threat to society, culture, and every person who has ever lived. The only people who were free of it were our first parents, Adam and Eve. Similar to a genetic mutation passed down to future generations, their disobedient act was like a virus infecting the spiritual DNA of the human race.
The Bible presents a cure for this malady. Christ is the universally accessible remedy.
Christ came as one who was both fully human and fully God (Colossians 2:9). Since we were unable to cure ourselves of this condition, we needed someone who was more than human to rescue us. Because Christ is God, he was the more-than-human human who was able rescue us. By uniting himself to our humanity, Christ made it possible for his death to sin and resurrection to new life to be passed on to us (Colossians 2:9-10). The Apostle Paul said, “Your whole self-ruled by the sinful nature was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead (Colossians 2:11-12).” Our sinful nature died with Christ. We were made alive with Christ in his resurrection.
The greatest threat to humanity was cured in Christ’s death and resurrection. For those who receive Christ, their sinful nature is being stripped off as they, with the help of the Holy Spirit, strengthen their bond with their crucified and risen Savior.
Someone once asked, “With all this brokenness around us, do you think there is any hope of things getting better?” Can we find any better answer than Christ crucified and arisen to new life?