Our Flaws are Our Own

So, this week has been an interesting one.  I’ve been dealing with understanding why we have flaws, because so many people attempt to justify the things they do saying God made them one way or another.  This morning while I was studying my bible, I had an epiphany.  God did not make us with flaws and imperfections.  God doesn’t make anything that isn’t perfect (Deut 32:4).  He is incapable of it.

Let’s be clear – God made Adam and Eve perfect.  They were given everything in the garden except one tree and because of temptation, they couldn’t see everything else God had given them and be satisfied.  God held one tree back to Himself and they couldn’t stand the thought of not having that too.  Yes, the serpent was manipulative and he lied with some clever reasoning, but none of those reasons mattered (Gen 3).  The fact is that God gave them a directive and no amount of extenuating circumstances gave them the right to disobey.  They could have simply told the serpent, “God told us not to touch the tree and we will not disobey.” (Gen 1: 15-17)  If they had resisted the devil, he would have fled like he did from Jesus after He fasted in the wilderness.    

If you think about it, had they never sinned, they would likely still be in the garden.  So, why do we sin?  Why do we have addictions?  Why are people broken?  Why are we flawed? It’s not because we’re human. It’s because Adam and Eve sinned in the garden.  Everything that happened after they sinned, introduced sin and death into all of us (Romans 6:23).  They are the original culprits and we have continued in their tradition.  It’s because of their sin that pain, illness and death entered the Earth.  

So, let’s look at a current example of this phenomena – Coronavirus.  It’s been a year since the first lockdown of the country and this virus is still taking lives, never having been significantly impacted because of the actions of people.  Coronavirus started as one strain and because we didn’t do what was needed at the beginning, it continued to live and mutate into multiple strains over time.  While we now have a vaccine for it, there are still strains that may not respond to it.  This is similar to the flu virus.  It’s what viruses do. When they are allowed to live long enough to mutate into other strains, they cause more symptoms (some more or less intense than others).  

Sin is the same way.  It has been around since practically the beginning of man’s creation and it has mutated over the millennia into looking like many sinful symptoms – lying, murdering, gossiping, sexual sin, pride, selfishness, etc (Gal 5:19-21).  But all of these come back to the heart.  Thankfully, we have an answer who addresses the root illness no matter what the symptoms look like – Jesus.  He died on the cross to give us an antidote to sin – a changed heart….a saved heart.  God loved us so much that He sent His son to die for us to give us a way back to Him and His righteousness.  

We, who are saved, are no longer bound by sin (Romans 6:13-15).  We may still sin, because our soul/spirit lives inside a sinful, earthly body, but the Holy Spirit empowers us to live right if we submit to Him (John 16:5-15).  We choose every day to obey or not.  Those who don’t have a relationship with Jesus, and don’t have the Holy Spirit living on the inside of them, don’t have the power to fight sin.  That’s why we have to be obedient examples and show them the same love Jesus showed to us – so our lives point to Him.  

As we celebrate Jesus’s triumphant entry in Jerusalem, just one week before he was crucified, let us be the light and salt Jesus has called us to be.  We never know who is watching.