God, us and the human condition

Several decades ago my family lived in a small western Colorado town where I pastored a church. The area was known for producing great fruit.

At least three fruit growers attended our church including one of the larger orchard owners in the area. One Sunday this man’s wife told me that the cherry harvest was in full swing. She said that if I would stop by the packing shed her husband would supply me with some freshly picked cherries. A day or two later I stopped by their place and went to the packing shed where I told the farmer what his wife had told me.

Apparently she had not told her husband to expect me and he wasn’t pleased. After a moment’s hesitation he pointed to a nearby pile of cherries and told me to help myself to the best of them. They were culls not fit for retail sale. Sorting through them, I took a few and left.

That incident illustrates something about all of us. The third chapter of Genesis contains the account of the fall of Adam and Eve from their original state of perfection and innocence into sin. Romans 5 teaches that ever since that event the whole human race has been marred by sin. In essence, we are all culls, or, as defective products are sometimes called, we are seconds. We all fall short of what God meant for us to be.

But God didn’t throw us away. He sent his Son to die for our sins and offer us a new birth. In this life we never quite regain our original perfection. But at the resurrection, all who trusted in Christ will experience perfection beyond what Adam and Eve had.

Pastor Dan York ministers at Dover Community Church.