Jesus is the solution to a problem. In our permissive age, people no longer recognise that there is actually a problem; at least, they deny that man is inherently evil. The starting point for logical inferences usually assumes that man is inherently good - and therefore that any evil in the world must be enacted by man's counterpart, i.e. God (see post on 'Problem of Evil or Mystery of Love').
CS Lewis said that regrettably, before we can teach the 'Good News', we must first teach the 'Bad News'. During the summer, I passed by several churches, with advertisements (yes, advertisements), with slogans such as 'Power Church: adding value to your life'. Adding value? As an economist (aspiring), added value usually implies that there is already something 'good', to which value is being added. This implies that man is inherently good, and could be happy without God, but that he brings 'something extra' to your life, along with many other conveniencies that you may find in life, most likely through the exchange of money.
Should it not be 'creating value'? Is there really anything OTHER than Jesus worth living for (or dying for?) Of course not! Jesus is THE ANSWER, not AN ANSWER. I will demonstrate this in a somewhat formal manner.
Growing up in a Christian home, I was taught the solution first. This was great - it allowed me to have a very rich childhood. However, you often forget (or assume away) the problem. It is for this reason, I would argue, that many people are perturbed by the Old Testament, full of massacres, death, punishment, and war. I think I know why we have the Old Testament - in fact, I'm sure of it. Paul says that we have the law to show us our sins. If we did not have it, we would not understand that we need help, quite desperately.
The reason is that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. The two clauses of this verse represent the Old and New Testaments respectively. I will treat them as two sides to an equation.
Firstly, the old Testament.
Creation: man is created in God's image, that is, with eternal life.
Man = Life
Man sins. Subtract sin from both sides of the equation.
Fall: Man – Sin = Life – Sin
and because the wages of Sin = Death,
Man – Sin = Life – Death
Not only is life non-eternal (the right side of the above equation), but life is bound by sin. Rearrange to get
Man + Death = Life + Sin
New Testament:
Jesus adds a new variable and a new equation:
Jesus - Sin (takes on our sin) = – Death (takes away death) + Life (gives life)
The left side is the crucifixion. -Death represents Mercy, whereas + Life represents Grace.
solving simultaneous equations,
Jesus = Sin – Death + Life --> Sin + Life = Jesus + Death
Man = Sin + Life – Death --> Man = (Jesus + Death) – Death
--> Man = Jesus,
and we know that Jesus = Sin – Death + Life, and that Sin = Death (so that Sin – Death = 0)
--> Man = Life, and Life = Jesus
We are left with eternal life. How? Only if we accept the process above, particularly the solution of simultaneous equations. If we refuse to let Jesus 'substitute' Himself for our Sinful Life, we remain not only with that Sinful Life, but always with Death.
People often wonder whether they could live with having to serve God. I think the question is, can you live without him?
