Author: Natalie Hardt

Sinful Creatures in Need of a Good God


April 2025

One of the greatest Christians, perhaps the greatest, is the Apostle Paul, who said, “I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing” (Romans 7:19).

Without the Holy Spirit, people cannot truly know God or have a relationship with Him. In John 14, Jesus tells the Apostles that after He returns to the Father, the Holy Spirit will be their constant companion, dwelling in and with them. Through God’s Spirit, believers begin to change, showing qualities like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, in contrast to the sinful traits of sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, divisions, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and similar behaviors (Galatians 5:19-21).

The world often says that following your heart and living your truth will make you happy. You’re told you’re fine just as you are, and if not, you can read self-help books because you control your own life. But a follower of Christ knows this isn’t true, because real joy comes from examining the motives and desires in your heart and aligning them with God’s Word. Time and again, we see that when believers or non-believers live without God, they end up unhappy and wondering why. As Jeremiah puts it, the heart is deceitful above all things—who can understand it? True transformation comes through the lifelong process of sanctification, made possible only when a believer’s spirit works together with the Holy Spirit.

One of the loudest messages in today’s world is the idea that we can be good and powerful without God, a belief that plays right into Satan’s plan to deceive humanity and echoes back to the Garden of Eden. Jesus described the devil as a “deceiver,” “enemy” (Matt 13:39), “liar” (John 8:44), “murderer” (John 8:44), “evil one” (Matt 13:38), and “prince of this world” (John 12:31; 14:30). When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and brought sin into the world, humanity lost the grace that only the Father can restore. Theologian Thomas Aquinas noted that in the Garden, they possessed “original justice,” a perfect state taken from them the moment they ate from the tree of knowledge. Believing they could gain wisdom by eating the fruit, they instead lost the grace that had been theirs (Stillwaggon).

God’s Covenants
In Exodus, God gave the Law to the Israelites and told them to cleanse themselves from sin each year through animal sacrifice. This foreshadowed a future time when the Messiah would be the ultimate sacrifice, breaking the curse for all who believe. Jesus is called the New Covenant, which requires faith, as He is the only way back into harmony with the Father: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). The Old Testament speaks of God’s promises to Israel through the Abrahamic, Noahic, Mosaic, and Davidic covenants. The Mosaic Covenant brought the Ten Commandments to the Israelites on Mt. Sinai. The Law was never meant to save but to reveal humanity’s sin and need for a Savior. Animal sacrifices were commanded as part of cleansing from sin, pointing to the coming Messiah whose blood would cleanse the world’s sins once and for all.

Spiritual Disciplines
Jesus often withdrew into nature to pray to the Father, showing how believers can find meditation and solitude more meaningful when away from the noise and distractions of the world. Through quiet contemplation and self-evaluation, a believer can reflect on true motives and desires, allowing the Holy Spirit to shape their character and inspire them to live out spiritual disciplines (Strobel). These disciplines include prayer, meditating on the Word, reading and studying Scripture, memorizing Scripture, fasting, and serving others, all of which draw a person closer to becoming more like Christ. Immersing oneself in Scripture, prayer, meditation, and reflection opens the heart and mind for the Spirit to work, leading to repentance, obedience, and self-awareness—not as acts of good works, but in faith. As Dallas Willard notes, “prayer has a ‘spiritually strengthening effect’ on every aspect of our personality. It builds our faith and confidence in God. To be done well, prayer will almost certainly be linked with other disciplines…” (Vos).

The closer believers draw to Jesus, the more they face attacks and temptations to disobey God. In Matthew 4:1-11, we see Jesus confronted by Satan’s attempts and teaching us to fight back with Scripture when Satan manipulates its meaning to deceive Him. Apostle Paul describes the inner struggle between a believer’s sinful nature and God’s holy nature, emphasizing the need for a transformed mind and heart, free from the “pattern of this world” (Romans 12:2). He also urges believers to put on “the full armor of God” to stand firm against the devil’s schemes (Ephesians 6:10). Prayer, for instance, is a key discipline in resisting the enemy. As Chapell notes, our desire to resist is often weak and we can want to rid ourselves of sin while still craving it. By “praying in the Spirit,” we ask Him to stir a greater zeal for God within us, enabling us to face and overcome the enemy’s attacks (Chapell).

Character Formation in Daily Life
A believer’s journey is filled with both struggles and blessings, moments of sadness and joy, as the human and spiritual natures often clash. Through faith and hope, character is shaped by consistently practicing spiritual disciplines, living out the call to “…go and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:19). As Christ’s ambassadors, the mission is to share the Gospel and make more disciples. This kind of spiritual growth means moving beyond simple understanding to truly experiencing life as someone whose heart longs for God’s Kingdom over the ways of the world.

Staying grounded in the Word through study and application becomes clear in my life when I approach it with proper context and understanding. Instead of living in isolation or hiding one’s faith, there’s freedom in living it openly, just as Matthew says, “Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl; instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house” (Matthew 5:15). Being unafraid and driven by a genuine desire to live out faith in a broken world leads to experiencing real joy.



References:
Chapell, B. (2011). Holiness by grace: Delighting in the joy that is our strength. Wheaton, IL: Crossway. ISBN-13: 978-1433524424
Strobel, K. (2013). Formed for the glory of God: Learning from the spiritual practices of Jonathan Edwards. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books. ISBN-13: 978-0830856534
Vos, B. (2012). The Spiritual Disciplines and Christian Ministry. Evangelical Review of Theology, 36(2), 100–114. Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rlh&AN=75190759&site=eds-live&scope=site

Trinity, God Triune

The Bible tells an overarching story of creation, the fall, redemption, and restoration. It is God’s word, offering guidance on how to live while looking forward to the return of Jesus and the coming Kingdom.

Creation

God’s existence is revealed to humanity through both general and special revelation. In terms of general revelation, Thomas Aquinas explains general revelation refers to the beauty of the earth and universe, miracles, scripture, and the supernatural—everything we experience through our senses: sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste. Genesis describes God as Creator: “God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep…” (Gen 1:1-2).

At some point, everyone has wondered why we are here and who our creator is. The Bible is seen as the source of truth for these questions. In Genesis 1, we meet the Trinity: “Let us make mankind in our image…” (Genesis 1:26). This doesn’t mean there are three gods; rather, God is Triune—three persons in one: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Genesis repeats “God said” ten times, showing how He spoke creation into being. In the Old Testament, God communicated through His prophets, as in “He sent out his word and healed them…” (Psalm 107:20) and “…my word…will accomplish what I desire…” (Isaiah 55:11). In the New Testament, God still speaks through His Word, now embodied in His Son, the ‘logos’—reason and divine order. In His humanity, Jesus relates to creation; in His divinity, He is sinless and conquers death. The Apostle John highlights this by calling Jesus the Word: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” linking back to Genesis 1. Jesus’ mission was to restore humanity to God, so He took on flesh, was born a Jew—His chosen people—and was called Immanuel, meaning “God with us.” Before His death, in John 17, Jesus prayed, “…Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you…I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me…glorify me…with the glory I had with you before the world began.” Jesus is the living personification of God’s spoken word.

The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit’s role in creation first appears in Genesis 1:2, where “the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” Throughout the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit is active, and in the New Testament, He miraculously causes the virgin Mary to conceive, anoints Jesus at His baptism, and descends on the apostles at Pentecost. The Bible records two occasions when all three persons of the Trinity are present together: creation and the baptism of Jesus. At His baptism, “Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove” (Mark 1:10), and the Father declared, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11). Jesus was divine from birth and didn’t need the Spirit to enter Him; His baptism fulfilled prophecy, such as Isaiah 42:1, which foretold the public bestowal of the Spirit before His ministry began. Baptism symbolizes rebirth—dying to self and being born again. Jesus explained to Nicodemus, “…unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” During His ministry, Jesus stressed the importance of the Holy Spirit, saying, “Every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven” (Matthew 12:31). He told His disciples that after He returned to the Father, the Spirit would come to be with them forever: “…I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth…” (John 14:16-17).

Sin

Divine intellect in the mind, body, and soul would have remained in humanity if not for the fall that corrupted human nature (Stillwaggon). The serpent cunningly deceived Adam and Eve into disobeying God, bringing evil and death into the world (Genesis 3). The world will not be free from this until the return of Jesus. John Calvin taught that all creation is under God’s authority and, according to His justice, has been cursed (Lamoureux). As Paul writes in Romans, “For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (Romans 8:20-22). Through God’s grace, mercy, love, patience, and forgiveness, humanity has been given a path to redemption. The Law was given to so people could understand what sin is—referred to as works—which is impossible to uphold. Only with the coming of the Messiah can humanity place faith in Jesus Christ instead of works, so that no one may boast (Romans).

Israelites

God’s existence is revealed to humanity through both general and special revelation. In terms of special revelation, Thomas Aquinas explains that while reason can grasp God’s existence and certain attributes, other truths—like the Trinity—are known only through it. In Exodus, God reveals Himself to the Hebrews, making Israel a unique theocracy. Historian Josephus Flavius and theologians such as Aquinas and Barth affirm the biblical accounts of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph as real historical events. Joseph’s story describes the Jewish people moving from Canaan to Egypt, living in slavery for 400 years until God delivers them from Pharaoh through Moses. God teaches them to love and worship Him, the one true God, instead of the pagan gods of Egypt. Still, Israel often fell into idolatry under the influence of surrounding nations, leading to judgment and eventual captivity by the Assyrians in 722 BC and the Babylonians in 586 BC. In the end, Jesus accomplishes what Israel could not.

Israel deserves the world’s respect because it is through the Jewish people that the Messiah came. Jesus came from this ethnic group for the sake of the whole world. We don’t know why God chose them, as they’ve been called “stiff-necked” and “hard-hearted.” Eventually, Israel will come to believe in Jesus Christ when the fullness of the Gentiles arrives (Romans 11). In Genesis 12, God promises to bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse it. He made a promise to Abraham to create a nation through his bloodline, and God always keeps His promises. If He didn’t, how could we trust Him to keep His promises to us? The Church is the bride of Christ, and Israel is His people—He’s not done with them yet.

References
Lamoureux, D. O. (2016). Beyond the Cosmic Fall and Natural Evil. Perspectives On Science &
Christian Faith, 68(1), 44-59. Retrieved by: https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=113835293&site=eds-live&scope=site
Stillwaggon, J. (2014). The Problem of Propagation: Original Sin as Inherited Discourse. Studies In
Philosophy & Education, 33(1), 61-73. doi:10.1007/s11217-013-9362-7. Retrieved by: https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=93447361&site=eds-live&scope=site

Heavenly vs. Utopia

Differing Worldviews

Are you more heavenly-minded, utopian-minded, or somewhere in between? For Christians, the heavenly perspective is the only answer, as James warns against being doubleminded (James 1:8). A heavenly mindset focuses on the supernatural, views life through an eternal lens, trusts in Jesus, and anticipates His return. In contrast, the utopia-minded hold a secular worldview, approach life naturally, rely on human effort, follow your heart, and aim to create an ideal world. Evolutionists believe creation happened by chance and often dismiss faith in the supernatural, claiming that if something can’t be physically seen, it doesn’t exist. For believers, it’s harder to deny the presence of an all-powerful, ever-present, and all-knowing God who reveals His power daily through creation. The rising and setting of the sun are seen as signs of the Creator’s unmatched wisdom, sovereignty, and control. From a heavenly perspective, the utopian view reflects John Lennon’s “Imagine,” longing for no heaven, no hell, no religion, and no borders are considered fantasy, illusion, and ultimately un-Godly. Some might wonder, if people are naturally flawed, what about an atheist who helps the poor? Both believers and nonbelievers can show kindness and generosity, since everyone is made in the image of God. From a heavenly view, any goodness in a person comes from God, not themselves. Those focused on the heavenly see it as a blessing to acknowledge their sinful nature while facing daily struggles of the flesh. Only God truly knows the heart’s deepest motives, as Jeremiah 17;9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”

Utopia focus on the things below the firmament while the Heavenly focus on things above

Photo: letterstocreationists.wordpress.com








letterstocreationists.wordpress.com/2012

Globalization Since the Beginning

Throughout history, mankind has sought to dominate the world, from Babylon (605–539 BC) and Medo-Persia (539–332 BC) to Greece (332–168 BC), Rome (168 BC–476 AD), and the divided Rome/Catholic Church Papacy. Evil seems to come naturally to humanity, and when it becomes unified, its influence can grow beyond imagination (Jeremiah 19:5). This is why achieving a utopia is impossible. As one commentary notes, “men continue to band themselves together against God. They feel two or more men united against God have a better chance than one man set against God” (D. Guzik). Figures and groups like Hitler, the League of Nations after WWI, the United Nations after WWII, and more recently globally driven billionaires, serve as examples of attempts to unify the world under one government or order. The books of Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation speak of a day when God will allow a one-world order to take shape, after which the end will come. Revelation 13 describes all nations worshiping the beast through the Antichrist: “…And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain”.

The earliest hints of globalization trace back to Noah’s descendants who settled in the Mesopotamian region later known as Babel and gradually fell deeper into sin. Genesis 11:1 says, “the whole world had one language and a common speech”, and like Adam and Eve, these post-flood people were told to spread out and fill the earth (Gen 1:28; 9:7). Instead, they defied God, stayed in one place, and sank further into idolatry worshiping the sun, moon, and stars. As with Babel and many civilizations after, God turned away giving them over to “the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator…” (Romans 1:24-25). The Tower of Babel story concludes with God scattering the people by confusing their language, explaining how the world came to have so many different tongues.

Suffering for the Heavenly Worldview

Hardships and suffering come in many forms—some from the enemy but still under God’s sovereignty, as in the Book of Job; and others as tests from God to strengthen faith or reveal false believers. That doesn’t mean believers can’t have joy; it’s important to distinguish between joy and happiness. Joy is something you can experience in any circumstance, while happiness comes from external factors and tends to come and go. As James teaches, joy comes from being filled with the Holy Spirit, not from worldly possessions. Owning nice things isn’t wrong, but they should never take priority over our desire for God. False teachers like Joel Osteen often push a self-help, feel-good message focused on boosting self-esteem and improving life now, but that’s not the Gospel. Jesus warned that following Him means facing hatred because this world belongs to Satan: “…In this world you will have trouble…” (John 16:33). Christians are called to find joy, but seeking it through prosperity preaching is misleading and unbiblical. True spiritual growth happens not when life is easy, but through trials and challenges that pull us away from worldly attachments. Paul even asked God to remove his suffering, describing it as “a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me”, God’s response, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

In Conclusion

Recognizing one’s depravity is what sets the heavenly mindset apart from the utopian one. As Ezekiel says, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26). The utopian view focuses on self-esteem, sees humanity as inherently good, and trusts in human wisdom and reason. From a heavenly perspective, this is seen as arrogant and misguided, leading to God’s promise to “…destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart” (1 Corinthians 1:19). All people have a natural longing to connect with their Creator, being made in His image. As Spurgeon put it, “To a graceless neck the yoke of Christ is intolerable, but to the saved sinner it is easy and light … We may judge ourselves by this: do we love that yoke, or do we wish to cast it from us?” Recognizing our shortcomings and need for a Savior makes all the difference.

References:
Firmament Google Image. (2012). https://letterstocreationists.wordpress.com/2012/09/03/was-the-expanse-overhead-in-genesis-1-a-solid-dome/. Retrieved from: https://www.google.com/search?
Guzik, D. (2017). BlueLetterBible. Retrieved from: https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/guzik_david/StudyGuide2017-Psa/Psa-2.cfm
Spurgeon, C. (2017). BlueLetterBible. Retrieved from: https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/guzik_david/StudyGuide2017-Psa/Psa-2.cfm