Is There Hope For My Brokenness?
As shared in the first blog in this series, moral failure isn’t just a problem confined to 24-hour news bulletins, it effects every one of us. Russian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn puts it like this:
“The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either -- but right through every human heart -- and through all human hearts…And even in the best of all hearts, there remains…an unuprooted small corner of evil.” [10]
The Bible calls this problem sin; that while people do good things every day, we also seem to have an inescapable pre-disposition to screw up morally. And so, sin creates a problem for our ability to know God…
If we long for God to be holy, righteous, pure, then how is he meant to relate to a people of divided hearts…people through whom good, and evil run together?
If we hunger for God to fix all bad news stories, and wish for him to remove all that is wrong with our world, then what about our own personal bad news stories? How are imperfect people like us allowed to exist in a perfect world, when we contribute to the mess every day?
And so, we can’t know God. We can’t know God now. We can’t know God “in heaven.”
This is why there is so much (seemingly irrelevant) animal sacrifice in the Old Testament – it points to the scary reality that sin doesn’t just lead to brokenness, ultimately sin leads to death.
But there is good news…
God loves you.
I wish I had time to summarize here how God feels about you. He’s crazy about you. He desperately longs to know you, despite the brokenness which comes with being human. And so, God does something unthinkable, scandalous. He steps into our broken world. In the person of Jesus Christ, the glory of God was condensed down into flesh and blood. The hands that created the heavens, reaching out and embracing weak, sinful people like you, and like me. And while he was tempted in every way, he never screwed up – Jesus really was the perfect representative for mankind.
Then on the cross, something even more unthinkable happened. Jesus freely chose to suffer the consequence of sin – he took on our mess, experienced separation from God, died in our place. Each member of the Trinity experienced pain, so that we can enjoy knowing God now, and forever.
Here’s a modern paraphrase, of one early church leader’s description of what happened over that first Easter weekend:
“Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life! What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection. We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word.” – Romans 6:6-9 (The Message) [11]
You see, the best part of the good news is that Jesus didn’t stay dead, instead he triumphed over sin and death. This can give Christians incredible confidence, even in the face of extreme challenges.
Nabeel Quareshi grew up in a loving Muslim family, but made the decision to become a follower of Jesus while at University. He went on to speak around the world about his journey of faith. I’d strongly recommend his book “Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus.” Then, at the age of only 33, something happened which no-one expect – he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. Despite the prayers of many around the world, and the efforts of medical staff, he died aged 34.
Though it was incredibly sad for the world to lose Quareshi at such an early age, and a horribly painful time for his young family, (like many) I was deeply inspired by the faith and courage Quareshi found in his relationship with Jesus. Despite all that he was going through, Quareshi chose to release various video blogs during his final months, as well as keeping a number of key speaking engagements. I was particularly stuck by this statement, which he released shortly after his diagnosis:
"In the past few days my spirits have soared and sank as I… consider what the future might look like, but never once have I doubted this: that Jesus is Lord, His blood has paid my ransom, and by His wounds I am healed. I have firm faith that my soul is saved by the grace and mercy of…God, and not by any accomplishment or merit of my own…in the midst of the storm, I do not have to worry about my salvation” – Nabeel Quareshi [12]
Whatever your view on Quareshi’s journey, or on Christianity in general, his shift in focus and his assurance are nothing short of remarkable. And so, the reflection of Paul in Romans 6, and the lived experience of Nabeel Quareshi both bring into focus the hope that Jesus brings to our brokenness:
If you know Jesus, whatever challenges you face in life, however spectacularly you fail: sin and death do not have the last word - Jesus does. Through brokenness and suffering, the end has already been written: Hope wins, love wins, Jesus wins.
See the next blog, ‘Is There Hope For My Doubts?’ where we’ll be exploring how Jesus’s resurrection brings hope to our doubts.
References
[10]
A. Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago, 1973.
[11]
E. Peterson, The Message, Tyndale House, 2002.
[12]
J. Taylor, "Nabeel Qureshi (1983-2017)," The Gospel Coalition, 16th September 2017. [Online]. Available: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/nabeel-qureshi-1983-2017/. [Accessed 29th August 2022].
Matt Brydon
Matt is an Aerospace Engineer based in Bristol. He's passionate about building a church which is authentic and seeker friendly. He's also a fan of distance running and hiking.