Problems, Problems, Problems!
Often it seems that life in this world is nothing but one problem after another. We have different kinds of problems—family problems, money problems, health problems, job problems—but we all have problems.
And we all try to solve these problems. We see a counselor about our family problems; we look for another job if we are in financial trouble; we go to the doctor about our health; we do everything we can to improve our condition.
There is one problem, however, which is far greater than any other. And failing to solve it is more tragic than sickness or poverty or hardship. Yet most of mankind has never done anything about it.
This is the twofold problem of a bad record and a bad heart. God has declared that every man, woman, boy, and girl has this problem.
Your efforts to overcome problems with your family, money, and health are important, but finding the way to clear your terrible record in God’s court and to change the depravity of your heart is all important and even fundamental to overcoming your other problems. Ultimately, if you do not face the problem of your bad record and bad heart and find its solution, it would be better for you that you had never been born.
This is the twofold problem of a bad record and a bad heart. God has declared that every man, woman, boy, and girl has this problem.
Your efforts to overcome problems with your family, money, and health are important, but finding the way to clear your terrible record in God’s court and to change the depravity of your heart is all important and even fundamental to overcoming your other problems. Ultimately, if you do not face the problem of your bad record and bad heart and find its solution, it would be better for you that you had never been born.
Out of concern for your present and eternal welfare, consider the nature of your greatest problem in order that you may find its only solution.
A Bad Record
Every human being in this world has a bad record in heaven, unless, of course, it has been graciously cleared by God himself. God has said that “all are under sin” and “there is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:9-10).
As creatures made by God, we are accountable to God. We are not only subject to his laws which govern the physical universe, such as the law of gravity, but we are also subject to his moral laws. We did not choose to be his subjects, but that does not change our accountability to him. He is God, and we are his creatures.
Our accountability to God is similar to our accountability to our nation. When you are born, you immediately become subject to the laws of your homeland. Thus, if you refuse to pay taxes, or if you steal somebody’s property, or if you assault someone, and you get caught, you will be held responsible for your criminal activity. The civil authorities will see that you are tried, sentenced, and punished accordingly. You will not be able to get away with your crime by complaining that you never agreed to the laws. The bottom line is not your agreement to or feelings about the laws of the land but your accountability to the authority under which you live.
Now you must face not only the reality that you are a creature made by God and accountable to God, but also the fact that you have sinned against God and that God has judged you to be worthy of eternal punishment for your sins. This is the first part of your greatest problem, you have a bad record before God, a record for which God will damn you on the day of judgment unless it is lawfully cleared.
The God who made you and to whom you are accountable knows you through and through. The Bible teaches us that “there is no created thing that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13). God sees everything you do, whether in public or in secret. “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch upon the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3).
Furthermore, this same God keeps a careful record of every deviation you make from his moral law. He takes note of every moral deviation in thought, in word, in attitude, and in deed. And the Scripture tells us that in the day of judgment the books which contain such records will be opened and you shall be judged by what is written in them. “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, even the lake of fire. And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:11-15). Now, does not God’s knowledge of your sins and God’s determination to judge you for your sins cause you to tremble?
Consider the breadth and depth of your sin against God and his law. In the Ten Commandments he has commanded you to love him with your whole being, to have no other gods before him, to worship and serve him according to his revealed will and not according to human imaginations, to hallow his name and his word, to set apart and keep his appointed day of worship and rest from your work, to honor his appointed government (father, mother or anyone else that God has put in authority over you), not to murder nor hate, not to commit adultery nor lust, not to steal, not to lie, and not even to desire in your heart what God forbids (Exodus 20:1-17). When someone asked Jesus what was the great commandment in the law, he replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second like unto it is this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39). According to the Scripture, do you not stand condemned by God for breaking his commandments? You may have a clean police record on earth, but you have a criminal record in heaven.
Moreover, what makes this problem so bad is that you cannot do anything to change your record; only God can deal with your bad record. You cannot sneak into the court of heaven and tamper with the records. You cannot fool God into thinking that he made a mistake in judging you to be a hell-deserving sinner by pleading your external morality or religious activity. The court of heaven cannot be bribed. God requires that sin be paid for in full: “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). God’s holy law must be satisfied or else God would not be just.
If you ever truly face the seriousness of this problem, it will make all other problems in life appear small. You will cry out to God and plead for mercy. Indeed, there is mercy with God in the gospel. In the gospel God sovereignly and graciously clears sinners of their guilty records and satisfies the demand of his justice by punishing a substitute who bears their sins.
But before considering the gospel solution to your dilemma, we need to consider the other side of this problem also. You not only have a bad record in heaven, but you also have a bad heart on earth.