Why is the world the way it is?

It doesn't take a genius to realize that this world sucks more often than not. Why is this the case?

Many people probably argue that it's just because there's "bad apples" in the world, and that if everyone followed the same values of love and inclusivity, and practiced self-improvement, that the world would be a better place.

Is this really true though? I don't believe so.

First off, the Bible says in Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Now, I’m not just going to beat you over the head with Bible verses. I’ll explain the logical implications behind each one. Christians believe God is absolutely good, and the perfect moral standard. Therefore, if you hold this assumption to be true, one cannot possibly say that Romans 3:23 is false. Everyone has sinned, that is, done SOMETHING bad at some point in their life.

As an aside, this obviously also includes Christians. Any Christian that claims to be morally superior to non-Christians is not saying this in accordance to the worldview espoused by the Bible. More on this later.

So why is this important? One might argue that sure, everyone has sinned, but that doesn’t mean everyone has sinned to the same degree. Surely that person who has committed sexual assault is worse than me who just told a little white lie, right?

Romans 13:2 says “Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God.” This means everyone who has sinned (so, everyone) is in rebellion against God, the source of morality in the world, and is no longer living up to His flawless moral standard. As a result of this, even if we do do good things, none of these can help bring us back to reconciliation with God.

Isaiah 64:6 - “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”

What’s the point of me saying all of this, then? So far it’s been all doom and gloom. Essentially my point is that no amount of good can outweigh the amount of bad and sin in the world, because that is just the way we are. You may have heard of the Biblical concept of the fall of man, which basically says that everyone is born sinful. I don’t know about you, but that seems pretty obviously true to me. Psalm 51:5 - “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”

So then what hope is there for this world? You probably know what’s coming next. Christians believe Jesus was the Son of God, as well as God himself, and by His sacrifice on the cross he paid the price of sin for all those who would believe in Him. As a result of this, Christians are now counted righteous by God, and able to resist sin and try to live in accord with God’s moral standard. Through the process of sanctification, the Holy Spirit starts working in us to make us better people, more like Jesus, over time.

“For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin - because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.” - Romans 6:6-7

Obviously though, Christians aren’t sinless, and we never will be perfect while we still live in a sinful world. The point of Christianity is not that salvation in Jesus gives us moral superiority over all other people. In fact, it’s somewhat of the opposite: by accepting the freely given gift of salvation in Jesus, Christians, who were just as sinful and rebellious as anyone else, if not more, are freed from sin and can have a right relationship with God.

If anyone just happens to stumble upon this, feel free to DM me if you want to discuss anything or have questions.