DNA – We all have it. It’s what makes us what we are, physically. It defines us. Without DNA, we would have no physical presence at all.
If we jump onto our computers and get on the Internet, we can look up what DNA is. Here is what Wikipedia has to say about this thing called “DNA”:
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a molecule composed of two chains that coil around each other to form a double helix carrying genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of all known organisms and many viruses.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA) Used without permission.
This DNA is passed down to us from our parents. DNA is what determines the color of our hair, eyes, and skin. It is the foundation, if you will, of our physical selves.
I am going to use this DNA as an illustration of the human condition. I use it because it fits better than any other thing I can think of to show who we are in the eyes of our Creator, and what our standing is before Him[1].
Inherited Corruption
Now that we know what scientific DNA is, let’s have some fun and make up our own “DNA”. I’m going to use these same letters and have them stand for different words. Of course, the title already gave it away. It’s the Depraved Nature of Adam. Just so that we’re all on the same page, I’ll define what each of these is.
D = Depraved: Morally corrupt; wicked; evil; bad; having no goodness.
N = Nature: The basic or inherent features of something, or someone. The essence.
A = Adam: The first human being created by God. A representative of the entire human race.
In Christianity, there is a doctrine called the Depravity of Man. That is the same thing as what I am putting forth here. I’ll use Wayne Grudem’s definition of it, because it is the same as my own:
“Man’s total lack of spiritual good and inability to do good before God.”
(Grudem, Wayne A. (2009-05-18). Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Zondervan. Kindle Edition.)
Mr. Grudem also calls it “Inherited Corruption”. To inherit something is to get it from your parents (just like the scientific DNA). So the entire human race has inherited an essence of evil from the first man, Adam. Paul, the Apostle, put it this way:
When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.
(Romans 5:12, NLT)
So, a depraved nature is something that we all get from our parents – all the way back to the first person, Adam. And just as we have deoxyribonucleic acid in us in the womb, we also have a depraved nature from Adam (even before we are born).
This does not mean that God created sin, or even a sinful human race. Notice that it was through (or from) the first man that sin entered the world. When God created mankind, he created them “good”. They were created sinless, but with the capacity to turn from God. If we did not have the capacity to turn away from God, then our turning toward him would be meaningless.
The Stakes Are High
The implication of this is huge to the entire human race. But “Why”, you may ask, “does it matter”? Well, it only matters if you want to live forever in a state of happiness and contentment with your Creator. I don’t mean that you will live forever in your mortal body; I mean that your soul – the essence of who you are – will live forever, even after your physical, mortal body dies.
Death, which was introduced after the first evil deed of mankind, was both a curse and a blessing from God. It is a curse because we were not created for death, but for life. It is a blessing, because it is through death that we can find redemption from our evil nature. Just as death was introduced to our scientific DNA, so death is in our other DNA – the Depraved Nature of Adam. Both kinds of DNA carry our evil.
Paul put it this way:
And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature [or “flesh”]. I want to do what is right, but I can’t.
(Romans 7:18, NLT)
One of God’s early and great prophets, Isaiah, put it this way:
We are all infected and impure with sin.
(Isaiah 64:6, NLT)
When we display our righteous deeds,
they are nothing but filthy rags.
Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall,
and our sins sweep us away like the wind.
This entry in the Bible from Isaiah is one of the most significant statements on this issue. He is saying that when we try to show God how good (righteous) we are, we are really showing God how despicable we are. This is because God is absolutely perfect and good. He knows what true righteousness is. And we just don’t have it in us.
Religion is Useless To Save
So what does this do to literally every religious system in the world? What is religion, by the way? I define religion as mankind doing something to earn or gain something from a higher power. It is usually in the context of trying to please (or make us acceptable) to some higher power, or to improve ourselves to the point of reaching some higher plain of existence. I know of no religion that does not depend upon human effort to obtain some goal – except one. Judaism was instituted by the Creator in order to show mankind that we are unable to please Him by our own efforts.
Here’s a tidbit from Paul on this:
The Law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature.
(Romans 8:3, NLT)
This means that the only religion established by God is to show us that we are unable to attain a right standing with God.
“What about Christianity?” you may ask. The answer to that question is that Christianity is not (or should not be) a religion. Christianity is not based on human effort, but on God’s effort.
Okay, enough of the bad news. Are you ready for the good news?
The Creator’s Solution
This whole problem is something that God foresaw before He ever put His creative plan into action. I know that I didn’t ask to be created, did you? Is this whole world (and universe) an act of mankind? I don’t think so. Since we didn’t create it, are we responsible for the solution to this dilemma with God? I don’t think that we are. I believe that God had this whole problem figured out and solved long before He created us.
But before I give you the solution, I’ll quickly spell out the dilemma from God’s perspective. You see, God has many sides to His essence: He is Perfect; Immortal; Infinite; Just; Loving; Omnipotent (all-powerful); and Omniscient (all-knowing). He also has decided to hold mankind accountable for their sin nature (since He is not responsible for it, and no sin can exist in His presence – which makes it impossible for us to commune with Him as we were created to do). This means that each and every human ever created (whether born or not), owes God a debt of penalty.
“Not fair”, you may claim? Hold that thought for a minute. To complete this thought on God’s dilemma, we need to realize that He is both Just (a good and righteous Judge, who does no wrong and can accept no wrongdoing), and He is also a loving and kind God who wants to pardon everyone. So how does (did, really) God solve this problem? Here is where the Good News comes in. Because we are all polluted with this inherited sin, we cannot pay the penalty without it destroying us, so He became one of us (literally, a human) without losing His divine essence. Of course, this is the man we call “Jesus”, “Jeshua”, “Yeshua”, and a bunch of other names. He is the one and only “God-Man” – the Creator in Human Flesh.
In order to not violate His essence of righteousness, which demands justice, and to not violate His desire for forgiveness, He decided to pay our debt on our behalf. He took the punishment that is due us all upon Himself, as a substitute in our place. He literally punished Himself on our behalf. This way, He is able to be true to Himself and also provide a way for us to be saved from our due punishment.
“But if Jesus is human, doesn’t He have the sin nature too?” Good question. The answer is “no”, because His mortal body didn’t have this inherited corruption. The Holy Spirit put a fertilized egg that did not carry the Depraved Nature of Adam into the womb of a young lady (Mary). She was sinful, yes, but her womb did not transfer her sin into His perfect little body being formed within her. The egg could not have been hers, and it was not fertilized by a sinful man. It was implanted supernaturally – fully human, and fully perfect. No DNA from Mary, Joseph or Adam. And since He did not act sinfully, ever, He was truly without sin. He is the only human being that this can be said of.
Terms of the Agreement
The good news is very good, but it does not work for everyone. It is available to everyone, but many will reject it – sadly. Once again, God has allowed mankind to have free will. Just as we had the ability to sin against Him in the beginning, we also have the ability to reject His plan of redemption from our sinful nature. So, the solution is there, but it’s up to you to accept it on God’s terms.
Here are God’s terms.
- Accept that Jesus is God in human form and has never had the same evil that we do.
- Acknowledge that you are an imperfect person, who is evil in God’s eyes.
- Accept Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross to be the payment to God for your evil nature and deeds – that He died on your behalf.
- Give yourself (body, mind, and soul) back to God, namely Jesus, for Him to be your Master. Acknowledge that He owns you because:
- He made you
- He purchased you with His life (when He died on the cross)
- You freely give yourself to Him.
If you accept God’s terms of reconciliation with Him, then you may or may not feel any different. Your life may or may not improve in any way. There’s no guarantee that any of your problems will go away. But what you will be is Justified before your Creator. You will have satisfied His requirement for your evil nature and deeds to be paid for. You will be saved from your evil nature.
What’s Next?
Justification is just the beginning. The next thing in your new life with God will be what we call Sanctification. It’s a 50-cent word that is used for the doctrine of Cooperation with God in which you work with your Creator (the Holy Spirit) to do more good deeds and fewer evil deeds. You have a working, loving, caring relationship with God for the rest of your mortal days on earth. This relationship will grow and bring you knowledge, wisdom, and other good things as you cooperate with God. He’ll probably lead you to read His Bible, and give you the ability to understand it. He might help you to heal other relationships in your life as well. Who knows what things will change in your life?
The final thing to happen – which we call the goal of our faith– is what we call Purification. This is the most amazing transformation that will occur to humanity. I call it Humanity 2.0. When Jesus returns again to earth, He will transform His followers into a kind of super being. We will make superman look like a nobody; a regular guy. Our sinful, evil, mortal bodies will be exchanged for perfect, sinless, super bodies. We call this state “Glorification”. It means that we are perfect, just as Jesus is perfect. No one knows all that we will be able to do in this new state, but it will be much better than the way we are now. But if we refuse God’s offer of reconciliation on His terms, then we will miss out on this one opportunity to live an eternal, happy life. After all, He has only given us the one solution (His death on the cross) to our problem of inherited corruption (The Depraved Nature of Adam).
I hope that you will acknowledge your imperfect state and accept God’s solution to your DNA problem.
In His love,
Gary
[1]God (the Father) does not have a gender. Referring to God in the masculine does not make God a male; it just makes it easier to refer to God. This is the way that God is addressed in the Bible.
