{"id":29667,"date":"2023-04-07T00:00:45","date_gmt":"2023-04-07T06:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/?p=29667"},"modified":"2023-08-29T11:36:12","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T17:36:12","slug":"the-heart-of-the-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/the-heart-of-the-matter\/","title":{"rendered":"The Heart of \u202fthe Matter"},"content":{"rendered":"

The sign beneath the broken clock reads: Don\u2019t blame the hand \u2014 the problem is much deeper.<\/em><\/p>\n

Likewise, the brokenness we lament in today\u2019s world is symptomatic of a much deeper problem, captured succinctly in this statement: \u201cAt the heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true, for we live from the heart, from which flows all of life\u2019s issues (Proverbs 4:23). The goal of Christian discipleship is to eventually live fully from the new heart Jesus gives us.<\/p>\n

Degenerative condition<\/h2>\n

But the problem goes all the way back to the Fall in Genesis 3. Sin not only caused separation between the creature and the Creator but also set in motion a degenerating condition in the human heart.<\/p>\n

Thus, as early as Genesis 4, a homicide results from conflict between brothers. By Genesis 6, the situation is far worse: \u201cThen the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually\u201d (v. 5).<\/p>\n

This so grieves God\u2019s heart that He decides to destroy humankind and start over (vv. 6, 7). This He does through a worldwide flood (chapters 6-10) and gives Noah the same assignment He gave to Adam in the garden: \u201cBe fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth\u201d (9:1).<\/p>\n

But though Noah \u201cfound grace in the eyes of the Lord\u201d (6:8), sin\u2019s root remains in him, which is passed down to his descendants \u2014 and, by extension, to all of us. So by Genesis 11, sin is so great in the earth that God must again take action. The people are trying to make a name for themselves by building a great city and a tower tall enough to reach the heavens (v. 4).<\/p>\n

God stops the building project by confusing their language, but that doesn\u2019t resolve the deeper problem. So He decides to start again, not by a cataclysmic flood but by calling one man to Himself whose heart he would reshape.<\/p>\n

Enter Abram (later renamed Abraham) into the redemptive drama (Genesis 12). In our fondness for Father Abraham, we sometimes forget that he wasn\u2019t a Jew when God called him. He was a pagan man from ancient Mesopotamia, where they worshipped the moon god, chief among other idols.<\/p>\n

The stark reality is that with the whole human civilization now given to the worship of idols, Abram is the best God can find. He\u2019ll eventually end up in Canaan, where pagan idolatry is far worse.<\/p>\n

Antidote<\/h2>\n

How did the human condition get this way so early in human history?<\/p>\n

Paul helps us understand in his lengthy exposition in Romans 1, concluding with \u201cthey did not glorify [God] as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened\u201d (v. 21).<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t miss the weight of Paul\u2019s statement. Apart from the light of the gospel, the human heart remains in deep darkness. Hate, violence, frequent mass shootings, senseless wars, a new threat of nuclear conflict, and much more emanate from the darkness of the human heart.<\/p>\n

The heart therefore needs to be radically reshaped, which is what God proceeds to do with Abraham and his descendants, Moses, and even the nation of Israel.<\/p>\n

God\u2019s explanation for leading the people the long route through the wilderness is instructive: \u201cAnd you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart\u201d (Deuteronomy 8:2).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not that God didn\u2019t know what was in the people\u2019s hearts; He wanted them to know. The evil the heart is capable of often escapes us: \u201cThe heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?\u201d (Jeremiah 17:9).<\/p>\n

It is helpful to read this as a description of the natural inclinations of the unregenerate heart, but we must be ever mindful, as Robert Murray M\u2019Cheyne says: \u201cThe seed of every sin known to man is in my heart.\u201d In other words, without the sanctifying work of the Spirit, the heart remains fertile soil for sin and evil.<\/p>\n

This is Paul\u2019s point in the mid-section of Romans. In chapter 6 he tells us how to reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to Christ. In chapter 7 he helps us face the reality of the ongoing struggle between our old and new natures. In chapter 8 he explains how we gain victory over the flesh through the indwelling Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n

This is rightly regarded as the most important chapter in the New Testament, if not the entire Bible, for it offers the antidote for the degenerating condition. And because this condition affects not just our bodies but the creative order, Paul offers hope that creation itself will one day be redeemed from its \u201cbondage of corruption\u201d (8:21).<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses (v. 26) and transforms us into the image of Jesus (v. 29) so we can live fully and vibrantly from the reshaped heart Jesus gives us.<\/p>\n

Darkness to light<\/h2>\n

Our hearts are formed, deformed, and must be transformed. The good news is that God has made a way to solve the problem of the human heart, a way for its darkness to give way to glorious light, the light that shines in our hearts from the face of Jesus:<\/p>\n

For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6).<\/p>\n

Sin runs deep, but God\u2019s grace runs deeper still \u2014 deep enough to reach the problem at the heart of the human problem. So we exclaim with Paul, \u201cO wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God \u2014 through Jesus Christ our Lord!\u201d (Romans 7:24, 25).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The sign beneath the broken clock reads: Don\u2019t blame the hand \u2014 the problem is much deeper. Likewise, the brokenness we lament in today\u2019s world is symptomatic of a much deeper problem, captured succinctly in this statement: \u201cAt the heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart.\u201d It\u2019s true, for we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":641,"featured_media":29668,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37,2431],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Heart of \u202fthe Matter - Bible Advocate<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/the-heart-of-the-matter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Heart of \u202fthe Matter - Bible Advocate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The sign beneath the broken clock reads: Don\u2019t blame the hand \u2014 the problem is much deeper. 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