Living in a Broken World
by Rick Warren
“All creation groans with pain ….” (Romans 8:22 GNT)
Because death entered the world with sin, everything is decaying and will ultimately die. Solomon, the wisest man in the world, summed it up this way: 'No one can control the wind or stop his own death"
(Ecclesiastes 8:8 NCV).
Nothing works perfectly, because sin has damaged everything. We only need to look at the physical world around us to see this. Natural disasters and deformities are everywhere. We live on a broken planet; it’s not perfect anymore.
Before sin entered the world, there were no earthquakes, tidal waves, hurricanes, blizzards or extreme weather phenomena. The environment was in perfect balance.
But when Adam and Eve sinned, “creation was condemned to lose its purpose …” (Romans 8:20 GNT). Or as the Contemporary English Version says, “Creation is confused … .” There is confusion all around us in the environment, in animals, and in human beings.
God never intended for animals and humans to have defects and deformities, breakdowns in DNA. Yet we all experience genetic issues to one degree or another. Nobody’s body works perfectly.
And we see the effects of original sin in another way — physical decay and death. Because death entered the world with sin, everything is decaying and will ultimately die. Solomon, the wisest man in the world, summed it up this way: ‘No one can control the wind or stop his own death” (Ecclesiastes 8:8 NCV).
But that doesn’t stop us from trying! People go to great lengths to postpone the decay with creams, lotions, Botox, surgery — you name it. No matter what we try, “our physical body is becoming older and weaker …” (2 Corinthians 4:16 NCV). It’s inevitable. It’s even a scientific law. The second law of thermodynamics says that everything is in a state of decay or decline.
Now I know this is not the most uplifting message you could read. No one needs to remind you about aging and decay. But there is hope. We can thank God, because he will not leave us in this imperfect world forever.
While we deal with sadness, sorrow, suffering, difficulties, dead ends, and discouragement, keep this in mind: God is preparing a better place for us. He wants us to live forever with him in a perfect heaven where there will be no more sorrow or tears.
The Bible tells us, “Our earthly bodies which die and decay are different from the bodies we shall have when we come back to life again, for they will never die. The bodies we have now embarrass us for they become sick and die; but they will be full of glory when we come back to life again. Yes, they are weak, dying bodies now, but when we live again they will be full of strength” (1 Corinthians 15:42-43 LB).
And that’s good news!
