"Am I A Bad Person?"

Isaiah 6:1-6

By Drew Zuverink

"I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: with two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling out to one another: 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.' At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 'Woe to me!' I cried. 'I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.'"

The Bible clearly teaches that human beings deserve God's wrath and are destined for an eternity in hell. But how can this be? Most of us haven't done anything that would justify a minimal prison sentence let alone an eternity in hell. So how can we make sense of this? How should we view ourselves and our standing before God?

In previous generations it wasn't uncommon for people to understand themselves as terrible sinners who deserve to be punished. Knowing this, pastors would preach convicting sermons about how sinful and wicked we are. They'd explain that people deserve hell because they've done so many bad things. A lot of people came to Christ this way because they had no problem viewing themselves like that. However, it seems as though times have changed. Many of us don't feel like we're bad enough to deserve hell. Are we?

God's Holiness

It's really easy to view something as pretty clean until it's compared to something absolutely clean. Consider how a freshly washed car looks spotless until you park it next to a brand new, showroom condition car that's never been driven. Or how about a clean kitchen that looks spotless until you compare it to a professional chef's pristine kitchen where everything is immaculately arranged and sanitized. In the same way, it wasn't until Isaiah was in the presence of God that he realized how sinful he really was. We might not seem that wicked but in comparison to God all of our sins are exposed. God is so holy that he cannot be with sin. Like oil and water, God and sin do not mix. That's why sinful human beings cannot enter heaven unless they've been covered in the perfect holiness of Christ.

The Sinful Human Heart

Most of us haven't done truly terrible things, but that's because we haven't been in the right situations. If we had more opportunities where we knew we could sin and nobody else would ever find out - we'd do a lot worse things. The human heart is wicked (Mark 7:21)(Jer. 17:9), which is why Jesus said that lusting is adultery and hate is murder. It all comes from the same place. Adultery and murder are just fuller expressions of the same sin that is in every human heart. This means the reason people don't cheat on their spouses, abandon their kids, or commit murder isn't just because they're good people who would never do such things. Often times it's because we haven't been in situations where those sins might manifest. Even if someone hasn't done a whole bunch of evil, their wicked heart cannot enter heaven unless Christ cleanses it. We need a cure.

The Word of God

The first two answers might make sense to you or they might not. If they don't, the Bible still says that people are sinful creatures who deserve God's wrath. You might not understand that but it's still what the word of God teaches. It's important that we get our views from the word of God and not our own reason or understanding.

Jesus

"God demonstrates his love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners" (Romans 5:8). God created every human being in his own image with infinite dignity, worth, and value. We are sinners but we are also God's image bearers. He loves us deeply and even though we have wicked hearts and do wicked things, he doesn't want to pour out his wrath on people. He made a way for us to be saved. He sent his son to die in our place so that Jesus could take our sin and cover us with his holiness. So yes my friend, you do deserve hell because of your own sinful heart and actions. You cannot enter the presence of a holy God and neither can I. But there is great news for us! Jesus offers you his grace if you will trust and follow him. Will you accept his offer?