depravity of man and the smile of a baby
July 22, 2011
Smiling Baby
One look at this little smiling baby, and our brains are instantly filled with words such as “cute” and “aww” and the like. However, we cannot be fooled! No matter the cuteness of the smile, it is nonetheless the smile of a sinner. Having a 8 week old baby in the house, I am constantly surrounded by humanity’s depravity and our utter dependance on Another.
Depravity. The word simply means “to be lacking” or in biblical speak, “the sinful and helpless state of man apart from Christ”. Now how does an eight week old display depravity? Simple – they are contently self-obsessed. Babies are not born with natural instinct or desire for generosity or sympathetic ideas. No. Babies are born with natural instinct to satisfy their needs and desires only. Babies are all about “me, myself, and I” all the time, anywhere. They don’t care how tired mom and dad are, if they’re hungry, they’ll let the neighborhood know.
Tangent. This is also a good reason why Christian parents should pray for and read Bibles with their kids. They are dirty rotten sinners in need of a Savior. It pays to start early (Prov 22:6)!
Dependance. As much as we think we’re all big boys and girls, with no need for anyone to tell us what to do – the simple truth is that we are all nonetheless like a little baby. We all need things from someone/thing outside of ourselves to live. For example, we are not born with an infinite amount of oxygen, therefore we need to breathe it in. Babies, especially human babies, are quite helpless. They cannot talk, crawl, see clearly, or do anything other than eat, poop/pee, sleep, and cry. Before we think we ever get beyond that, physical growth and accumulation of years do not put us too far past these things. In other words, we never outgrow our need and therefore our dependance upon another for our survival – God.
Tangent #2. I’m sorry, but if you believe in no God (atheism) or “I don’t care” (agnostic), then you really have no reason for caring about babies or sick animals or even pet dogs. Without a God who gives to man purpose and dignity (as the Bible says), there is no reason to really care too much about selfish little people (babies) on the planet other than our glorious DNA getting passed down to the next generation. That’s stupid. If there is no God and the only value of babies is our DNA, then logic follows that Love & marriage is unnecessary and you should just actually go impregnante as many women as possible before dying.
Conclusion. God has implanted Himself in our everyday surroundings – even babies. Babies show that humanity is depraved and fallen in sin, unable to correct that situation. Praise God, there is a Savior who is able. Babies show that humanity is dependent on a Provider. Praise God, there is a God who does that. So final conclusion: babies tell us we love sin and we really need Jesus.
