The unrest, dissatisfaction, and cultural angst that plagues our society (and every society) is merely a symptom of a much deeper problem…a problem as old as mankind himself. At the heart of every earthly frustration is the deep longing for paradise restored. No matter who is in charge, someone on the other side hates it because their “way of life” is violated. So we protest, we whine, we complain, we march. We hold up our signs with the anticipation that someone will see us and pay attention to our disgust. We do this with every passing cycle, every vote, every transition of leadership. We want change, and when we finally get it, we want change again. What brings about such animosity and rage is the varying interpretations of justice and freedom.

Fallenness

The pursuit, no matter where you land politically, socially, religiously, or economically, is not just validation. We want to be right, and we want the world to be at peace with our rightness. Here is the problem though…fallen man is looking for the manifestation of an unfallen world, and he seeks such a utopia without confronting what brought about the fall…sin.

Humanity is looking for hope and change. We long for a nation, a land, a country, a region, a season, a millennial where war claims no victim, poverty starves no child, equality has no opposition, and spirituality has no absolutes. The world longs for a savior…not one who delivers from sin; but one who delivers from the idea that we need to be saved. If we can only escape the guilt of our nakedness. If we can only sow enough fig leaves together. If we can, with humanistic philosophy, explain to God why we took of the fruit, then everything, theoretically, should be fine…perfect even.

But sin, when digested, changes the world, primarily because it changes us. When righteousness is lost, man thinks he must remanufacture it through the resources of self-will, human betterment, and progressive thinking. So, we march to the mantra of change; and anyone who stands in the way of our march (including God) is simply unenlightened. We want justice, but true justice is death in a cursed-ridden, sin-stained garden where the hallowed presence of glory no longer abides. No matter how hard man tries, cries, rebels, protests, or dismantles the status quo, he cannot create glory, and this is ultimately his greatest loss, and his greatest longing.

Pardon, not Paradise

Yet in the shadows of eternity, God promises perfect peace, not through political revolution, social equality, religious mysticism, or intellectual enlightenment. He, instead, takes the life of a Lamb. He sheds its blood, sheers its wool, and covers mankind’s depravity with love and grace. He simultaneously invites us to Himself and promises a future restoration, one free from the self-righteousness and revolts of man. You see, all that man longs for will one day be a reality…God will restore the cursed cosmos, He will make all things new; righteously new. But not before He deals universally with sin. The heartfelt longing for global reconciliation is promised, but it is only promised through a pardon. If mankind wants true peace, lasting equality, and reformation of the soul, he will only find it through the death, burial, and resurrection of the second Adam, Jesus Christ. Only in Him will our global unrest be calmed, only in Him will our spiritual unrest be at ease.