No hope for humanity

Romans 3:23-24 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (NIV)

Is there still hope for humanity?  We live in a world filled with fear, hate and death.  We live among vile, self-destructive people.  We ourselves are capable of wicked, unthinkable actions, of which we are not yet aware.  These are harsh statements, but it is the truth.  We are natural born sinners.

Sure, we are capable of doing good. Many people have done good things in this world, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln are just a few of these iconic people.  But doing good is a choice one has to make, it does not come naturally.  

We can not save ourselves.  Every hero falls.  Shakespeare wrote about them; Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth, Lear, Brutus and Romeo.  I like to think of Hillbrow as a modern day Shakespearean hero.  In the heart of the city of Johannesburg, with so much promise, all that glory was too much to contain, it opened doors for crime which eventually led to its demise. These heroes all have good intentions, but those good intentions are never enough to keep them on the right track.  Look at modern examples like Anakin Skywalker; in an attempt to save his wife, a good deed, he turns to the dark side.  I am a huge fan of anime, my favorite is Death Note.  It is about a teenager named Light, who is disgusted at humanity.  He stumbles upon a book known as the Death Note. The book gives him authority to take lives by writing down the name of the person who must die in the book.  He decides to use the book to rid the world of evil people.  Eventually he becomes so consumed with this power that he starts killing innocent people who pose a threat to him.  He eventually becomes the evil he hates.  He started with good intentions, but his human nature destroyed him.  

I know it is important to watch the news, to know what is happening in the world, but sometimes, all that disaster becomes too much to bear.  I go through periods of not watching the news sometimes, just so that I can clear my head and detox from that misery.  I never want to get to the point where this kind of living becomes normal, because it is not.  We can not become numb to the injustices of the world, but when will it all end?  Never?

We are humans, the fate of the world rests in our incapable hands.  Our sinful, broken hands.  There is no hope for humanity because we will never change our ways.  You can not change your nature.  A lion may be raised in a tame environment, but his nature will come out eventually.

There will always be death, destruction and evil, wherever there are humans.  But there is a God and He is not human.  He is perfect, righteous, holy and completely blameless.  God knew we could never save ourselves and that is why He sent Jesus.  Only Jesus could save us.  He was the perfect sacrifice, He bore the sin of the world when He hung on the cross.  Jesus was enough.  Jesus is the hope of humanity.