The Greatest Problem, The Greatest Solution, and The Greatest News

Yesterday there were hundreds marching against gun violence. Every revolution has happened because young people did something. You can pass gun laws that nobody has any weapon; however, the truth of the matter is the heart. Before there were guns, there were murders. Cain killed his brother Abel.

Romans 1:16-17, 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,[a] for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

The Greatest Problem is Sin

The issue is not the gun, but the heart. The problem is you, everywhere you go, you are there. You bring the fullness of who you are. We inherited this thing call sin from Adam. You and I were born with a sin nature. Nobody had to show us how to disobey God. Sin, although pleasurable for a season, has consequences. The wages of sin is death. We have gotten to a place where we are separated from God. The scripture says, “all have sinned”. If the payment for sin is death and all have sinned, there is nothing that we can do to get right with God on our own.  Only Jesus could fulfill the requirements of the law.

The Greatest Solution is a Savior

Israel had the law.  God would tell them what to do and they still sinned. God sent a Savior and His name was Jesus. (1John 4:14) God knew that you and I would not do right. (Matthew 1:21) Not only was He sent to save, He was born to save. We have lost the value, and all that Jesus has done for us. (Hebrews 7:25) God is able to save. God has the ability to save. It does not matter what they have done or gone through, He is able to save them. He did not look for people who had it together to save, He looked for sinners.

The Greatest News is Salvation

(Romans 1:16) He was not ashamed of the gospel (good news). The question is are we ashamed? Some of us have so devalued the good news that we don’t think it is worth telling. If we really understood what transpired, there would be something within us that would tell it! When Jesus was in the garden He prayed “Father if it is possible to let this cup pass…”—He is literally looking at the fact that He is getting ready to pay the wages of sin that you and I committed—not just my sin, but the sin of the whole world.

The wages of sin is death. Jesus has a robe of righteousness. We need to take the robe of sin and give it to Jesus. He who knew no sin was made sin for us. Every time you did anything wrong, Jesus took on your sin to save you. He had to die a physical death. Jesus will allow you to put on the robe of righteousness, so you stand before God “not guilty”. Not a righteousness that has been earned, but a righteousness that has been given.