Part 3. Taking a look at ourselves

As God describes human beings in the Bible, the picture that we get of ourselves is not very attractive. But do not let that put you off this part of the study because it's important that we recognise the truth about ourselves.

(a) Let us first consider briefly what God is like - because that will help us see ourselves in a true light.

• (i) God is holy - perfectly pure.
   
• Read Exodus 15: 11
   
• Leviticus 19: 1-2
   
• Isaiah 6: 1-5
   
• God is holy and He calls His people to be holy.
   
• (ii)God is perfectly righteous and just.
   
• Read Psalm 97: 2-6   "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of God's throne."  The Lord demands righteousness in our lives - He will judge the whole world in righteousness!
   
• (iii)God is totally opposed to sin - and will punish sin.
   
• Look at Psalm 1: 4-6
   
• Psalm 5: 4-6 "You hate all who do wrong...  You destroy all those who tell lies."
   
• Habakkuk 1: 13   "O Lord...  Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; You cannot tolerate wrong..."
   
• (iv)God is also loving towards the human race (as we shall see later).
   

(b) Look at what Jesus taught about human beings - and their sin.

• Read Mark 7: 18-23 "For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, etc etc..... All these evils come from within and make a man 'unclean'."
   
• John 8: 31-36   "I tell you the truth, anyone who sins is a slave to sin..."
   

(c) And look what God said, through the Apostles, about human beings.

• Romans 1: 18-32
   
• Romans 2: 1
   
• Romans 3: 9-12 and verse 23   "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."
   
• Romans 5: 12
   
• Romans 6:23   "The wages of sin is death...."
   
• Romans 8: 5-8
   
• 1 John 1: 8-10   "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us."
   
• 2 Thessalonians 1: 6-9 "God is just... He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of the Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord..."
   
• Revelation 20: 11-15

Where is the "Good News" in this message?  What hope do any of us have?  We have all fallen short. And no sin will ever enter heaven! But this is not the end of God's message - there is GOOD NEWS for all of us. The next study looks at God's answer to our awful dilemma.