THE SITUATION.
“Do you want the good news or the bad news first?”, the physician asked me as he entered the room, pointing at the cast on my right leg. “Bad news”, I said. “Well, the bad news is your leg is broken. The good news is that we are hopeful that with surgery you will make a full recovery.”
As the doctor left the room, I sat there, reflecting on what had happened to me. There was something in my body that was once whole, that was now broken. There was something in my body that no matter how hard I tried, could not be healed on my own. There was something in my body that was not the way it was created to be.
Just as a broken bone stems from an action, the Bible tells us that the brokenness within us stems from an action as well. The Bible calls this sin. That is, any action, thought, or desire that is contrary to the will of God. Sin, like the breaking of a bone, taints what is good, weakens what is strong, and fractures what is whole.
The reality for all of us today is this, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23 (ESV).
Maybe as you read this today, you reflect on your own life and wonder: what happened? There is something in your life that was once whole, that is now broken. There is something in you that no matter how hard you try, cannot be healed on your own. There is something in you, your soul, that is not the way it was created to be.
HOW DO WE KNOW?
I certainly could feel the pain of the broken fibula and torn ligaments in my leg, but it was an X-ray that truly revealed the extent of my injury. As the X-ray machine scanned my body, it made known what was broken within my body.
In the same way, we certainly can feel the pain, the heaviness, the darkness, and the brokenness of sin in our lives. But, like an X-ray, the Law1 truly reveals the extent of our condition. Like an X-ray, the Law scans our soul and makes known the sin and brokenness within us.
“… Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin…”
Romans 7:7 (ESV)
“For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”
Romans 3:20 (ESV)
However, after coming to the realization of my situation, I had a choice to make. See, the X-ray could reveal what was broken in me, but it could not heal what was broken in me. No matter how many times I would have put my leg into the X-ray machine, it never would have healed my leg. It simply would have revealed that it was still broken. To be healed, I had to choose to trust in the work of another person, a physician.
Similarly, as we recognize the sin and brokenness in our lives, we have a choice to make. The Law can reveal, can make known, what is broken within us, but it cannot heal what is broken within us. To be healed, we must choose to trust in the work of another person, a physician. We must choose to trust Jesus, our soul’s Great Physician.
“And Jesus answered them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.’”
Luke 5:31-32 (ESV)
WHAT NOW?
I ask you the same question the doctor asked me years ago. Do you want the good news or the bad news first? Research2 tells us that four out of five people prefer bad news first, then good news. In fact, the apostle Paul takes that same approach in his letter to the believers in Rome.
First, the bad news, “For the wages of sin is death…” Romans 6:23a (ESV). The Bible tells us that all have sinned and that the wages, the payment, the consequence, of our sin is death. This is the worst news that anyone could receive in the medical field – that your illness, your ailment, your diagnosis is a terminal one – one that will lead to death. How much more devastating is the news when it comes to the state of our soul – that apart from God our condition, our illness, our diagnosis is a terminal one – one that will lead to death? That is certainly bad news.
However, Paul follows it up with good news. The best news ever is, “… but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” Romans 6:23b (ESV). The good news is that in trusting and receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior of our lives, we can be healed, made whole, and receive abundant life, both now and for all eternity (John 10:10).
Just as the physician came into my hospital room to call me to surgery for the healing of my leg, Jesus, the Great Physician, stepped down from heaven to call us to repentance; to call us to faith in Him. That in His name, we might find forgiveness for our sins, healing in our lives, and salvation for our souls
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:9 (ESV)
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”
James 5:16 (ESV)
“For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.”
2 Corinthians 7:10 (ESV)
Thanks be to God, that today, we can choose to trust, place our faith in Jesus, and receive God’s free gift of eternal life.
1 The Mosaic Law consists of the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. It is also often referred to as the Torah, or the Pentateuch. The Law consists of hundreds of commands (some scholars count 613) given by God, through Moses, to the people of Israel. The main reason for God giving the Law, amongst many other reasons, is to point us to Jesus. The Law was given for humans to obey as they lived in relationship with the God of the Universe. The Law was intended to be followed, and if it was, for human life to flourish. However, no one can perfectly obey all the commandments, let alone the 10 Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17). Jesus is the only one who has perfectly obeyed the Law. Through His life, death, and resurrection He fulfilled all of God’s commands. The Law itself cannot save us, Paul reasserts this in the New Testament. He looks back on the Law to show that the Law makes us aware of our sin, and in turn, our great need of a Savior. (Romans 7:7, Romans 3:20, Galatians 3:19, Galatians 3:24, Romans 10:4)
2 Marshall, L., & Kidd, R. (1981). Good news or bad news first?. Social Behavior and Personality: An international journal, 9(2), 223-226.
