It has been said that the first step in solving any problem is acknowledging that there is one. You must then properly define the problem to be able to correctly solve it. There is no shortage of problems in our lives, but all of them can be traced back to one big problem. That big problem is sin.
What is sin? Sin is any failure to live up to God’s standard. Who is a sinner? Everyone is a sinner. That means that everyone has a big problem because sin ruins everything.
When God created the world, He declared that it was good, but then sin happened and all of creation was affected. We have sickness, pain, despair, death, and all other forms of unpleasant and undesirable suffering because of sin.
Until we see that our problems in life are ultimately sin problems in one way or another, we will never be able to solve them. But when we accept that sin is the root cause of all our problems, then we can solve it properly.
How do we solve our sin problem? The answer is, “With the gospel.” The gospel is the solution that God gave to the problem of sin. By grace through faith in Jesus’ death on the cross for our sin and resurrection, we are saved from sin. That means we are rescued from the punishment of sin which is eternal death in hell. It also means that after we are saved, we are released from the power of sin. Because of what Jesus did for us, we can live holy and righteous lives. Sin is the problem. The gospel is the solution.