Too Broken to be Fixed! But God...!

Read: Genesis 3; Ephesians 2:1-9; Romans 5:6-11

Some things can be repaired. A stitch here. A bit of electrical tape. A little gravy or a little frosting to cover over the imperfections in a dish or a cake. However, this morning I was thinking about something that was absolutely beyond fixing.

It happened more than three decades ago. I had made some pies for a bake sale. One more was in the oven, and I hadn't decided whether it would be the last one. That is until it happened. I was pulling the pie out of the oven and somehow it bumped when it shouldn't have bumped. Down went the pie on its face on to the oven door. That settled it. That was the last pie of the day. Picture the oven door with pieces of broken crust and filling lying every which way with nothing that could be done except to clean it up and toss it into the trash. Broken beyond repair!! Even Martha Stewart could not have created anything out of that mess. The old expression about ‘if at first we don't succeed, try, try again’ held no truth for me on that day.

In today's scripture from Genesis 3, we are reminded of a day infinitely worse for mankind than a kitchen conundrum could ever begin to be. It is here that we watch as the first time that innocence and beauty was assaulted by wickedness and evil. Perfection became tainted, and the consequences of that day are still being played out in our world. We're so far from Eden and all the loveliness that God intended for us to experience when He gave to Adam and Eve trees that were beautiful to look at and good for food. Imagine this beautiful place with its four rivers and nothing to mar the beauty that was everywhere. Imagine the fun he had in naming the animals. God even gave Adam a perfect companion. A woman created especially to be his helper, Genesis 2:8-20. There was only one command. Only one tree from which the first couple was not to eat. Surely, they would obey that one command, wouldn't they? Sadly, we know they did not, and of course, we know that the events of Genesis three brought destruction where there had been only bliss. Shame replaced the sweet trust that Adam and Eve had enjoyed. Death and all that went along with it struck not only Adam and Eve's lives but also effected the earth, the animals and even the plants and trees. Everything was broken beyond repair. But God...!

Oh, those are sweet words because though man could merely cover his guilt with fig leaves, God was not without a plan. It is here in Genesis 3 where the worst happened that God also gave us the promise of the best that could ever happen, Genesis 3:15. It is in the words of this promise that we learn that even though all people would experience the suffering and defilement of sin, God had a perfect plan that would allow men to become new, 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Of course, God didn't reveal all the details of His plan right away, but what joy there surely was in knowing that God hadn't given up on man. Though man's brokenness had no possible way to be altered or changed by man, God had a rock-solid remedy. All glory to the Redeemer Who would come and destroy the evil one and his plan.

Okay, let's look at two sweet "but God" verses that remind us that God did what was impossible for man. How He turned right side up what man had turned upside down.

Ephesians 2:1-9, especially verse 4. What a picture Paul paints of us. It is the portrait of each of us before we belong to Jesus. The apostle doesn't mince any words. He says that we are dead in our sins and following the way of the world. We all enter the world with our hearts turned away from God, having no way to turn toward Him. Imagine it. We have the worst problem with no possible way within ourselves to solve it. Then verses 4-5 jump out and we learn the sweet truth about God that shines into our darkness. It is because of His great love and mercy that He makes us alive. Yes, though we have nothing to give Him, God makes us who were dead, alive and seats us with Him in the heavenly places. We are all like people trapped in quick sand, and we are falling fast. Then we discover that there is a strong hand to lift us out. That is what the "but God" tells us. There is a Savior!

To reiterate that, let's look at one more wonderful "but God" verse. Romans 5:6-11, especially verse 8. Here Paul paints another picture of us before Jesus rescued us and made us new. We were ungodly sinners who, whether or not we knew it, were enemies of God. What a true but hopeless assessment of us. But God. Verse 8 holds out those sweet words again. Words that remind us that it was for sinners that Jesus died. For all those who will see our helplessness and weakness and see that there is only one remedy and only one way of redemption. Jesus, John 14:6.

Let's go back to the word enemy. If anyone had asked me before Jesus made Himself known to me, if I were God's enemy, I would have said no. That's because I didn't know what was true. I didn't know the truths that Paul so boldly speaks about in Both Ephesians 2 and Romans 5. I didn't know that everyone was born without a desire to please God because of Adam's disobedience, and I didn't know the sweet truth that the "but God" scriptures hold out. The truth about God's love and mercy.

Let's end with a verse that reminds us of God's heart toward those who come humbly to Him. Those who know that He can make them new, in spite of their brokenness. Luke 15:20: And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.