• Home
  • About This Blog
  • Contact Me
  • Subscribe
  • Comment Policy

Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

  • Westminster Shorter Catechism Series
  • Sermon on the Mount Series
Home Church Leadership Discipleship What is the misery of man’s fallen condition?

What is the misery of man’s fallen condition?

Posted on March 25, 2017 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment


Question 19 - The misery of man's fallen conditionQuestion 19 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “What is the misery of man’s fallen condition?”

The answer given is, “By their fall all mankind lost fellowship with God and brought His anger and curse on themselves. They are therefore subject to all the miseries of this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell forever.”

As I read this question, I am reminded that there are parts of Christian teaching that make us uncomfortable. No true believer relishes the idea that there is a real judgment and real people will spend an eternity in torment. This statement is not negated by the existence of some groups  like Westboro Baptist Church who do appear to revel in the pending judgment of others. These groups clearly misunderstand and misrepresent the grace of God and display attitudes that are contrary to the savior they claim to worship.

Jesus, himself, lamented over the unrepentance and hard heartedness of the people of Israel when he said,

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”(Matthew 23:37-39, ESV)

We see all around us the effect of man’s fallen condition. Just watch the evening news where there are stories of death, war, terrorism, abuse, estrangement, exploitation and every other form of evil, in every country on the planet. No governmental system has been successful in eradicating injustice and poverty.

Why is this the case? The catechism teaches us that it is because we have lost fellowship with God as a result of our sin.

Jesus lamented over Jerusalem because they would not understand that Jesus came to fix the breach we made in our relationship with God. In their stubbornness, they could not see that Jesus was the Messiah who came to die for the sins of the world. Please note that I am not singling out the Jews in this. The crucifixion of Jesus came about as a result of the collusion of Jews and Gentiles. The correct answer to the question of “who killed Jesus?” is “we did.” We are all guilty.

But those of us who are in Christ and have accepted his provision for us have had that guilt removed. We are no longer under condemnation (see Romans 8:1). We can begin to rise above the misery of this life and experience joy in our relationship with God.

And we have the opportunity to share that joy with others.


Filed Under: Discipleship

About Mark McIntyre

A follower of Jesus Christ who shares observations about how Scripture should impact the church and the world. Mark is the original author and editor of Attempts at Honesty.

Follow Attempts at Honesty

Honesty in your Inbox

Question 15

By what sin?

Question 15 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “By what sin did our first parents fall from their original condition?”

Why I switched from Bufferapp to Timely for Tweet buffering

I recently made the switch from using Bufferapp as my primary mechanism for Tweet buffering. I now use Timely for reasons discuss here.

What Authentic Christian Community Looks Like

Years ago, when I first started attending church, I thought I had to “look good and be good”. I believed that I needed to appear as if I had my act together and never messed up… and if I did, no one need ever find out about it. The good news is that I was dead wrong.

Gutenberg, Google and the Church

Gutenberg could not have imagined the speed of communication today. The church has the opportunity to use this speed to proclaim the Gospel.

Ambassador of Light

Life as an ambassador

It is the role of the ambassador to represent a government or king while traveling in a foreign country. Sometimes the ambassador has to represent his king in an environment that is difficult or hostile.

Post Series

  • Westminster Shorter Catechism Series
  • Sermon on the Mount Series

Categories

Archives

Blogger Grid
Follow me on Blogarama

Copyright © 2022 · Focus Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in