A man walked into a doctor’s office and asked for an examination. “Doctor,” he said, “I feel terrible but I do not know where to begin. I just know I am sick.”
The physician, competent, thoroughly-trained and equipped, took a case history, conducted a thorough physical examination and had his laboratory carry through a series of general and selective tests.
After a few days he diagnosed the cause of the patient’s sickness, prescribed the medicines to be taken and the other measures to be carried out, and within a short time the man was well.
The secret of modern medicine is correct diagnosis and appropriate treatment. Symptoms are considered and measures for relief are taken, but no physician is worthy of the name who does not try to find the cause of symptoms and eliminate that cause.
In the realm of the Church the necessity of proper procedures is infinitely more important, for here man’s eternal welfare is at stake. To treat symptoms and ignore man’s basic problem is both foolish and reprehensible. And yet it is obvious that only too often we are more concerned over the results of sin than with sin itself; with reformation than with regeneration; with human measures than the divine remedy; with temporary ease rather than with the eternal cure; and with the body of man rather than with his soul.
First of all man needs to be made aware of his condition. This may come to him as an overwhelming experience whereby he realizes that he is spiritually sick, even unto death. Or, it may be the result of hearing a faithful witness to Christian truth which for the first time explains his condition and its cure.
To catalogue man’s needs in chronological order can be misleading for they exist concurrently. Nevertheless there are basic things with which all of us need to be confronted.
Man needs forgiveness.
We were created for fellowship with God but that fellowship has been broken by sin—sinfulness by inheritance, by practice, and by choice. To minimize or to explain away the fact of sin is folly at its worst, and it does not help to excuse its presence or its effect.
Somewhere along the line man must be confronted with the enormity of sin and with the fact that its wages are death, eternal separation from God.
Nothing is more calculated to impress us with the enormity of sin than a frank realization that its offense against a holy God, and its effect on mankind, is so great that nothing less than the death of the Son of God could make atonement.
If sin is a universal condition of man, and its effect a universal and continuing separation from God, then man desperately needs forgiveness—forgiveness by the One who alone has power to forgive.
Man needs cleansing.
Whether man needs first to be forgiven or cleansed is an academic question from the human standpoint, for in God’s economy the various facets of his redeeming love and grace are operative at one and the same time.
That we need cleansing becomes increasingly obvious as we search our own hearts and minds and realize how filthy we are in the sight of a holy God.
Cleansing means a removal of evil in all of its aspects and a replacement with that which is pure and holy. It means a change of the content of our thoughts and actions. It means a spiritual change and renewal.
God has provided the cleansing agent: “… and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from sin.… If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Sad indeed is the one who belittles the blood of Christ as the divine alchemy, for, mysterious as it may seem, the fact remains that man is cleansed by faith in Christ and his blood, shed on Calvary.
Furthermore, the Word of God has a cleansing effect on those who profit there by. The New English Bible translates John 15:3: “You have already been cleansed by the Word which I have spoken unto you.”
But as long as we remain in the flesh the cleansing must be accompanied by filling. The unclean spirits may depart only to return, unless the Holy Spirit takes up residence.
Man needs empowering.
No matter how high and holy one’s aspirations the fact remains that the spirit may be willing but the flesh weak. There must come upon us a power which we do not already possess, a supernatural Presence who imparts and maintains within us supernatural power.
Too often we neglect the fact that power belongs to God, and that he alone imparts it to men. Man’s efforts at self-reformation have always ended in miserable failure. Weakness is a characteristic of unregenerate human nature. It must look to divine empowering before there can be a change.
Christ made clear to his disciples the source and their need of the power by which alone they could become effective witnesses for him: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you.” Why do we ignore this imperative today? Can it be that the god of this world has so blinded our eyes that we regard ourselves sufficient without the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in our lives?
Man needs a new nature.
He needs to be born again, of the Spirit. He needs to become a new creature in Christ. He needs to be changed by the renewing presence of the living Christ. He needs something that neither he nor any man can do for him, a divine transformation which comes solely as described by an old-fashioned but exceedingly-descriptive word—conversion.
As a result of this work of regeneration, a number of things take place.
First, there is a change of direction, not only of life itself but also of eternal destiny.
Second, there is a change of perspective, old things pass away and all things become new. We now look beyond the things which are seen, and which are temporary, to the things which are not seen and which are eternal.
Next, there is a change in the objects of our love. Where once we loved ourselves we now loved God and our fellow men. Where once we loved the world and the things of the world we discard them in favor of the things which can never perish with the using. Where once selfish desire dominated us an outgoing love for others becomes dominant.
Lastly, there is a new definition of wisdom, for a reverential trust in God enables us to distinguish between the wisdom of this world and that which comes down from above; we realize that true wisdom centers in and comes from God alone.
Yes, man needs so much and all of that need is met in Jesus Christ.
L. NELSON BELL
