The problems in our world are easy to find. A quick glance at the headlines will prove that point at any time, any day. The more challenging search is for solutions that actually work, although there are always plenty of proposals. Every politician has a proven plan. Every organisation has a confident vision. Every government and charitable society invests its energy and resources into problem-solving—and yet, for all that, the problems persist, unsolved.
Most of the time, we focus our energy and thought on the problems that look the biggest. Those massive, devastating wars and upheavals, the ingrained injustice, the housing crisis, the cost of living crisis, the drugs that are killing people, or whatever else is capturing our attention by the obvious trouble it makes for us. If you look back over history, these crises are not as unique as they feel. When Jesus came to earth and split our timeline into BC and AD he came to a world struggling with the same kinds of problems that still plague us today—corrupt politicians, oppressive powers, wars, poverty, and all the rest. When he worked miracles and showed that he was the long-awaited Messiah, people naturally thought that he would be the solution to the problems they prioritised: big problems, like the heavy-handed Roman occupation of Israel, corrupt religious leaders, and grinding poverty.
Is Jesus the solution to these problems? Yes—but not the way anyone expected him to be. He didn’t begin his plan of salvation by addressing the problems everyone else focused on. He started by addressing a different problem that got much less attention: the problem in our hearts. He knew that all of our big, scandalous disasters are the symptoms, not the cause. So instead of starting with the massive structural issues, he went straight to the root underneath them all—the root with its tendrils sprouting constantly out of each and every one of our own personal little rebellious hearts. He knew that he could cut off the big, disastrous effects of pride and selfishness and greed in our cultures and institutions over and over again forever and those awful realities would always find new ways to sprout fresh all over again—because they don’t start in our institutions. They start in the hidden, overlooked spaces of our own selfish, proud, greedy hearts. He went straight to the source.
He had to change the our hearts (Ezekiel 36:26). It was the only way. He had to deal with our sin once and for all—at the source, not the symptoms—and plant his own life in its place (Romans 6:8). And that’s exactly what he did, even though he knew it would require his own death and resurrection to pay the price for our sin and overcome its consequences. Today his life is planted and growing, slowly but surely, in the new hearts of everyone who puts their trust in him. One day, it will fill the whole world and all the massive, horrible, intractable problems that have plagued humanity throughout history will become a distant memory (Revelation 21:3-4). He will establish his kingdom above all nations and put a final end to oppression, injustice, and poverty (Ezekiel 34).
These things will happen. But they will happen last. First, he deals with the source of the problem. First, he deals with our hearts. Then, he deals with the other problems, like our politics. We love to pretend that we can work things out the other way around, but this strategy has never succeeded, and never will. As vitally important as it is for us to work continually for the good of our neighbours, our cultures, and our institutions, our labours in these areas can only mitigate the effects of the deeper problem that caused them. The solution we need most is not another new leader or plan or victory—we need a Saviour. We need Him to give us new hearts that stop resisting and replacing God and learn instead to receive from him and follow his ways, displaying his character and goodness as his resurrection life flows through our veins. Nothing else has the power to bring real, lasting change to the problems we face.
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