SALVATION, NEED FOR

A little boy came running into the house after playing outside. His mother stopped him and asked what was on his right hand. He replied, “Oh, just a little mud.” His mother then asked if he was planning on getting it off his hand. He thought for a moment and said, “Sure, Mom. I’ll just wipe it off with my other hand.” There was only one problem with the plan, one dirty hand plus one clean hand equals two dirty hands.

Many people are like that little boy, they see the evil and wrongs in their life and think they can make themselves clean by bringing the good in their life to bear on the problem. But it doesn’t work that way. We all need a way to be made morally and spiritually clean, and we will never succeed in doing it ourselves. The only solution is to be found in the blood of Jesus Christ, which cleanses us from all of our sins.1171

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;

All the king’s horses

And all the king’s men

Couldn’t put Humpty together again.

It is claimed that “Humpty Dumpty” was a story about a certain political situation in England, but it is also a parable about man. Man has had a great fall. The evidence is the havoc in all our lives. And we all are helpless to put ourselves back together again. But there is someone who can: it is Jesus, the One who made everyone Humpty Dumpty to begin with. He is the One who can take the shattered, scattered fragments of your life and put them back together again. If you are not yet a Christian, it is Jesus who can forgive your sins and create you anew. If you are a Christian, but your life is in disarray, he will restore things to order.1172

Before going to a dentist we usually brush our teeth with extra care to ensure their spotlessness under examination. But later the dentist can swish a red liquid around our mouth, which reveals (to our horror) a tremendous amount of plaque and other undesirable material that we could not remove in spite of all our brushing. The dentist alone has the equipment to adequately remove it.

Likewise, we may try on our own to be clean before God and may even do a good job of convincing ourselves that we are in good shape. But God’s Spirit has a way of exposing both our sinfulness and the need for a divine “dentist” to make us clean.1173