What's the Root Problem In Our World Today?

Genesis 3:4: "'You will not surely die,' the serpent said to the woman. 'For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.' When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it."

Want to know the foundational problem of our world today? It all started at the beginning of time with the first people who walked this earth. God created the first couple, Adam and Eve, as the pinnacle of His creation and charged them with the responsibility of ruling over the rest of creation (Genesis 1:28). Yet instead of yielding to the Lord as their Master, Adam and Eve seized the opportunity to "dethrone" God for their own supremacy. God had instructed Adam that he was permitted to eat of any tree in the Garden of Eden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The consequence of eating of the one forbidden fruit was physical and spiritual death (Genesis 2:17).

As Eve later walked through the garden, she was approached by the crafty serpent, Satan. This serpent was able to convince Eve that God did not want Adam and her to partake of the forbidden fruit, for it would make them like God, knowing good and evil.

As Eve and Adam gazed upon the fruit, they noticed that the fruit was pleasing to the eye and would provide them with the wisdom that would assert their quest for divinity. They were willing to defy the command of the Lord for their own pursuit of lordship; they did not care that their cravings for power and inappropriate physical gratification were counter to God's prescription for their lives. Tragically, their rebellion would bring God's judgment of pain, toilsome labor on the earth, eventual physical death, and spiritual separation from the Lord. Although they thought that their disobedience would elevate them to godhood, in reality it led them to a far worse place than they had ever been before.

In today's society, we see the fruit of this abject rebellion: adultery, fornication, lust, pride, control, power, abuses, addictions, etc. People today do not care that God expects submission to His Lordship; they want to live their own lives and satisfy their own cravings and don't give a flip as to what God demands. Their own wants take priority over all people and things; it's all about their quest to be God themselves. They do not realize that God is the Sovereign Lord who created all of creation and is due complete allegiance and submission.

Until mankind understands that its self-centered quest for lordship is rebellion against the One, Holy, Sovereign God, it will continue to spiral down the path of destruction. What is needed is a world surrendered to the Lord of Hosts and following His commands as indicated in Scripture. When we submit to God, we find that His purposes are accomplished through us; if all of humanity were to surrender, our world would be changed radically for the better.