Is There a Remedy?

Suffering, trouble and anguish have always been in the world and man has for ever been trying to find out the causes of the trouble. But instead of solving this problem, events of the past few years have demonstrated the fact that the condition is becoming worse at an alarming rate of speed, and people are acutely conscious of a need to identify the causes and find a remedy.

Some say that these causes are principally political. Others maintain that the real causes are economic. Others declare them to be due to lack of culture and education. Still others believe that these evils lie in the moral realm. As the different ideas of the causes of the trouble vary, so the remedies which are suggested vary. For many, political action - of course, the action of their own party - is the one radical cure. For others social revolution - of course, along the lines of their own ideology - is the way to put things right. Others propose economic programs which are to cure all our evils. Some insist that the way is to educate the masses and to raise the intellectual standard.

Although all of these ideas contain an element of truth, and the suggested cures may be of some value, we have to acknowledge that we are far from solving our problems, and must seek a better, more complete answer.

What does God say? He is the One Who created us. What is His remedy? God repeatedly tells us through the words of the Bible that the first and real cause of this state of suffering and trouble in the human race, lies in the broken relationship between man and God. Since God has made him, creating him in His own image and likeness, man cannot live his life aright if he cuts himself off from God. If he does not respect his own nature as a creation of God, and if he does not conform to those laws which God has, as we might say, implanted in his soul and in his body, then man, is, in effect, opposing himself. He is his own enemy! One might say that man is suffering with a split personality! But not only is he opposing his own nature, or frustrating his own basic needs - he is also opposing God and His plans and purposes for man. It is not surprising then that man is in trouble and that the world is in its miserable state.

But it is not enough to state the problem. We are all well aware of unsolved problems - greed, oppression, hatred, racial strife, materialism, poverty, war, breakdown of morals and family life, teenage crime, fear, depression, suicide, mental breakdowns. Is there an answer - a remedy?

Yes, there is. First we must face the facts. Let us face the fact that man has failed, and is failing. Man is not adequate. His wisdom which he has been proud of - his scientific attainments which he has lauded himself for - have actually been the means of increasing the very problems which he had thought would be eliminated. The Bible says, "Know you that the Lord, He is God: it is He that has made us, and not we ourselves." "He that trusts in his own heart is a fool." The remedy is first of all to recognize that the One Who created us is the One Who has not only the answer but also the power to do something about it.

The Bible says "Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer...I am the Lord your God who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way that you should go. O that you had hearkened unto My commandments! Then had your peace been as a river..." "There is no peace, says the Lord, unto the wicked." "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." "If my people, which are called by My Name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

Man was designed by God for a purpose - a "precision-made" personality and nature destined for fellowship and communion with the Creator. When sin entered the world, distortion and corruption entered, deluding and ruining the human race - and making an unbridgeable chasm of separation between God and man. The word "distortion" describes the problems we face today: the pure aims of science are distorted into giants of terror and destruction; the freedom which education should bring has turned liberty into license, and our knowledge has fashioned the tools of powerful oppression; prosperity has nurtured greed for material things and increased lust for power. Distortion - sin - a cancerous growth leading to death!

God says: "The soul that sins, it shall die." "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." The Bible very clearly tells us that Christ is the One, and the Only One, Who can bridge the gap and bring us back to God, and free us from the distortion of sin. Man is at war with himself, and in rebellion against God - a course which is a one-way street leading to destruction. The Bible says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Do you have tensions? Jesus says, "Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ... Learn of Me...and you shall find rest unto your souls."

Worry? "Casting all your care upon Him; for He cares for you." Loneliness? Jesus says, "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you."

Fear? Confusion? Depression? "God is not the author of confusion, but of peace." "God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

Sadness and uncertainty? Jesus says, "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world."

God says, "Repent and turn yourself from all your transgression; so iniquity shall not be your ruin...why will you die?" Put your trust in the One Who created you - "The great, the mighty God, the Lord of Hosts is His name - great in counsel, and mighty in work."



REFERENCES: Psalm 100:3 - Prov. 28:26; - Isa. 55:6,7 - II Chron. 7:14; Ezek. 18:20; Rom. 3:23 - Rom. 6:23; I John 1:9; Matt. 11:28, 29; I Peter 5:7; John 14:18; I Chron. 14:33; II Tim. 1:7; Matt. 28:29; Ezek. 18:30, 3l; Jer. 32:18. 19.