Our #1 Problem

I thought this was a super helpful description of humanity's #1 problem: sin. From T.D. Alexander's book From Eden to the New Jerusalem:

To appreciate the necessity of atonement, we must grasp clearly that God is not indifferent to our moral thoughts and behaviour. On the contrary, his holy nature is deeply offended by such things. As a perfect God, he cannot ignore anything evil. The smallest lie is offensive to the One who is truth. The tiniest feeling of animosity towards another person is repulsive to the One who is love. Due to his holy and perfect nature God cannot turn a blind eye to perverse human behaviour as if it does not matter.

We also need to appreciate that due to our own perversity, we do not realize fully how objectionable our imperfections are to God. If we contemplate our shortcomings and failures at all, we merely dismiss them as something natural; this is part of our human nature--we are all like this.

Yet, in truth, our imperfections are anything but natural.

I realize that this is anything but "pleasant Saturday morning reading," but the truth isn't always smooth and sweet. But even as I say that, the gospel is sweet because in it we hear of the solution to our #1 problem: the atoning death of Jesus. Praise God for the good news that tells me I can be perfectly forgiven, and made perfectly clean because "Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed" (1 Cor. 5:7).