Human Nature

“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate.” ESV Genesis 3:6

Just the other day a preacher used a sports analogy unfamiliar to me, but it rang true in my mind. Think through it with me for a moment. When two football teams face off on the field and one player jumps into action prematurely and makes contact with an opposing player before the ball is snapped, what is the cry from the opposing team and the referee? ‘Off sides!’ of course. Then what happens next? Well, a penalty is assessed to the individual perpetrator right? I mean it wasn’t the whole team’s fault was it? Of course you know better, the entire team is penalized because of the infraction of one player. It hardly seems fair, but that’s the way it is.

In much the same way, mankind still bears penalty scars on its human nature resulting from the sins of Adam and Eve. Careful before you disagree—think for a minute. Is childbearing not still painful (Genesis 3:16)? Is work not still accomplished by the sweat of your brow (Genesis 3:19)? And who among us has been required to teach our children to do evil? Of course we don’t deliberately teach our kids to do evil. Instead we spend a great deal of time teaching them how to share, to be polite, to honor their elders and the like. To be ‘good’ takes effort. Evil, it seems, comes natural.

I was playing tennis the other day—should I say learning to play tennis—when a ball I hit managed to find itself outside the boundary line. Well, it was actually way outside the line; over the fence and bouncing down the road! Anyway, at that same moment a group of youngsters walked by who saw the ball, knew where it came from and heard and saw my instructor asking them to toss it back. But instead of tossing it back, a young girl picked it up, glanced our direction and continued on down the road. I guess the newfound ball was a “delight to her eyes” so she took it. But when I slipped out the side gate, walked in their direction and barked a couple of firm requests the ball was returned fairly quickly along with this comment as I turned away: “Hey! You owe me a quarter.” Human nature...

You owe me. How often have we taken this stance towards God? God, I’ve done what you asked; you owe me. God, I haven’t been as evil as my neighbor; you owe me. God, I’ve lived a good life; you owe me. God, I go to church; you owe me. Don’t believe it. God doesn’t ‘owe you’ or any other sinful person anything except perhaps his holy wrath.

However, God graciously welcomes, even adopts as family members, those who, through faith, repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. You are not welcomed into God’s fellowship on the basis of your human nature, of what you’ve done, or the misguided notion of God owing you something. No, only through the finished work of Christ; only through His nature are we reconciled to God.

Ken Askew