God’s answer to the untrustworthy human nature …

People so desperately want to be able to “put their faith” in human nature, to believe there’s something good in everyone.

The folly of that hope was famously and light-heartedly illustrated by Charles Schulz through the Charlie Brown character in his “Peanuts” comic strip. Christian author Ben Patterson notes the following:

We are like the cartoon character Charlie Brown. Each year he tries to kick the football offered by Lucy. Each year she pulls it away just as he is about to kick it. Each year he swears he’ll not try again, and each year he is duped into just one more attempt. In one of these episodes, Charlie brown is taking the long run toward the ball. As always, he kicks into a blank space left by the ball she has jerked away. In the final frame, he is laying on his back, and Lucy looks down into his face and says, “Your faith in human nature is an inspiration to all young people.”

Budi Waseso has a completely different view about the trustworthiness of the human nature, as revealed in a story reported by the UK Guardian:

Indonesia’s anti-drug czar wants to build a prison on an island and staff it with crocodiles because, as he correctly explains, “You can’t bribe crocodiles.”

“You can’t convince crocodiles to let inmates escape,” Budi Waseso told local media.

The proposed prison was inspired by the croc-filled island in the James Bond film Live and Let Die.

“We will place as many crocodiles as we can there. I will search for the most ferocious type of crocodile,” Waseso said.

The prison will house death row drug convicts.

Unlike Charlie Brown, Jesus didn’t harbor a false view of human nature. He, among everyone, understood what humankind was really like:

“Because of the miraculous signs Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many began to trust in him. But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew all about people. No one needed to tell him about human nature, for he knew what was in each person’s heart,” John 2:23-25.

But unlike Waseso, Jesus’ response to our corrupt human nature wasn’t to throw us to the crocodiles! God’s response to our problem of a sinful nature was to provide a way for change …

“When you came to Christ, you were ‘circumcised,’ but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision — the cutting away of your sinful nature … You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins,” Colossians 2:11, 13.

Because of God’s love for us, He graciously provided a way for us to be transformed from people with a sinful nature to be new creations in Christ.

Has Christ performed a “spiritual circumcision” in your life?

Scotty