There exists a profound phrase I often hear in conversation, which many people do not really understand the implications of.

The phrase is this: "Well, nobody's perfect."

This statement is so true – in fact, its is one of the most staggering revelations I have ever heard about our identity as human beings. Yet most people do not understand the immense spiritual truth behind this simple statement. Today I would like to talk about how this self-admitted imperfection can lead a person straight into the meaning of all life.

Last year I was reading the Bible and came across a startling verse in the book of Romans. Here the apostle Paul writes: "The purpose of God's law (religion) is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God" (Romans 3:19). This stunned me, for I had always thought of the Bible as a religious text, pointing us to religious issues, and into a religious lifestyle. Yet, for me, this verse has exposed something about the message of the Bible which the world has often tried to ignore.

The Bible is not trying to point us into a lifestyle of rules! But rather the Bible was written to guide us into a living relationship – with the perfect God who created us out of nothing. Religion, Paul writes, is not there to make us perfect, but rather to show us that it is impossible to be perfect – to force us to throw up our hands in exasperation and admit: "Well, I messed up – but nobody's perfect!"

Indeed, nobody is perfect. There is only One who is perfect. 

Now, people often associate sin with evil. But it is much easier to understand the machinery of our lives if we define sin simply as ‘rebellion against God'. This is why the perfect man-God Jesus Christ was so submissive to God. Before he was crucified on the cross, he said in prayer to God the Father: "Not my will, but may yours be done." He refused to rebel against God, and as a reward, he was raised up from death and seated at the right hand of Him Who Lives Forever.

So, is our imperfection a problem, then, if indeed, nobody is perfect but Jesus Christ? Yes it is, because God, our Creator, considers Himself perfect. And it only logical that something that is perfect cannot come into contact with an imperfection, lest it be tainted and become imperfect itself. This is why the Bible states: "For the Lord your God is a consuming fire" (Deuteronomy 4:24). God is fire of destruction and judgement for those who come near to Him without protection.

But thankfully, there is good news. For those who have protection, God's love "is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame" (Song of Songs 8:6).

And how can I gain this protection so I will not be burned on judgement day?

"If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved" (Romans 10:9-10).

Jesus Himself said: "For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God's free gift of life through His Son."

God did this for you because he loves you – you are his own creation, and he desires to spend eternity with you in paradise.

May God bless and protect you all most abundantly in Christ, believers and unbelievers alike.

Sincerely, 

Jeremy Hiebert