God's Attributes Reflected in Us预览

The unrighteousness of us humans

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth” (Romans 1:18)

God's nature is characterized by righteousness. You would expect His creatures to have that characteristic as well. But no, God sees in us humans “ungodliness and unrighteousness.” And that's a big problem. Because God's righteousness means that He will punish anything that goes against His good standards, in a fair way.

In Ezekiel 18:20 we read, “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.”

The sad reality is that every human being sins. None of us is righteous. This is also stated in Romans 5:12. Since the very first humans rebelled against God, all humans have sinned, and therefore death has come upon all humans. According to God's universal, righteous rules, every human being is condemned to death. That is the consequence of God's perfect righteousness.

God's righteousness is good and beautiful. But its effect on sinful people is horrible. God's high standard has crushing consequences for anyone who does not meet that standard.

All people are sinful from birth. Do you think it is justified for them to be punished for that? How does Christ change that for a Christian?