I am Wicked

One of my favorite quotes is by Tim Keller: “In the gospel we discover that we are far more wicked than we ever dared believe, yet more loved than we ever dared hope.”

I find this insight to be extremely helpful and on the mark. I feel that we often try to convince ourselves that we are not that bad, that our sin is not really that big of a deal. Understandably, we want to feel good about ourselves. Yet as we successfully convince ourselves that we are basically good, we also successfully make God's love for us and Jesus' death in our place not all that astounding or wonderful. As we diminish our sin, we diminish God's grace.

But the GOOD news of the Bible continually tells us that we are "wretched" and in need of nothing less than a Savior. We don't merely need a self-help strategy, a new morality, a worldview, a new diet, an ego-boost, etc. We need a Savior to rescue us from our own wickedness, the "cosmic treason" we've committed against our Creator.

And why this news is so GOOD is that we have such a Savior-Jesus.

When we try to diminish our sin and in so doing, diminish God's grace, the result is that we end up living with constant, low-lying guilt. This is because we can't completely shrug the sense that deep down there is more wretchedness than we are willing to admit. But when we are honest about our brokenness and sin, we can find complete freedom and peace knowing that every last part of it was paid for by Jesus' death and resurrection. We can accept the wickedness that dwells within us because we know that we are loved thoroughly and completely by God.

May we see more clearly the seriousness and wretchedness of our sin that we may rejoice more abundantly in the vastness of God's love and mercy.

 
 This song by Derek Webb paints a good picture-"Crooked Deep Down."