God created humankind whole, not broken. Brokenness is the wounding and damage to the soul. It is the result of living in a fallen world. The human heart knows intuitively that it is created by God to live a life of purpose and meaning, but owing to the fallenness of the human condition, does not realise how to live such a life, leading to emptiness in the soul, unnecessary pain caused by one’s own foolishness and disobedience towards God, and ultimately, a purposeless, meaningless, wasted life, where everything one pursues is, ultimately vain.
Loss of Communion with God is the Cause of Brokenness
The brokenness of the human condition is caused by humankind losing its communion with God. To have no communion with God is to no longer be in union with God, resulting in humankind’s alienation from God. Each human being has lost communion with God through Adam as a result of the Fall:
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
(Romans 5:12-14)
What exactly is the Fall? It is the first instance of humankind’s disobedience towards God, the first act of sin which is to violate the Law of God. Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, in violation of the Law which was given to them:
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
(Genesis 3:1-6)
This raises the theological question as to what made it sinful to eat the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The answer is profoundly simple – what made it sinful was not that eating food or fruit is sinful, or that seeking knowledge of good and evil is sinful but that doing so was an act of disobedience against God. God had told them not to do so, but they did, in succumbing to temptation by the serpent.
Three inferences are to be made. Firstly, humankind as represented by Adam, has free will, or human agency. The first act of sin by humankind was an act of free will. Without free will on part of humankind, it cannot sin because sin is necessarily an act of the will. The will has to be free to act, not denuded of its volition, to be deemed as its own act. Otherwise, there is no will. The will is by nature, a faculty defined in essence by its own agency. Where a person’s will is overborne by external pressure or circumstances leading him to commit a certain act, there is no free will, and therefore no will on his own part.
Secondly, by its free will, humankind sinned. Sin is wilful disobedience against God, not against other human beings. God is the one whom sin is against. Sin is an offence against God. As King David, the psalmist wrote after committing adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah, ‘Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment’ (Psalm 51:4).
Since God is the Lawgiver who determines what sin is and is not, it is only and ultimately God who King David offended by these heinous sins – not Uriah, nor Bathsheba. The sins he committed are not against Uriah, but God and God alone. To claim that these sins are committed against Uriah is to argue that humankind, rather than God, determines what is sin or not sin, and therefore to usurp the Sovereign lordship and authority of God over humankind as the moral Lawgiver.
Thirdly, just one act of sin was enough to break humankind’s communion with God. Humankind’s communion with God is union with God, by which God and humankind are united by love. Indeed, the story of the Gospel is the story of God’s pursuit of humankind, to reconcile it back to Him and restore this communion with Him that God made humankind for. So why did just one act of sin break this communion?
It is not because it was a failure to follow a rule, but rather that it was the rejection of God Himself and His love. Disobedience towards God is the rejection of God Himself, whereby humankind rejected God, not God who rejected humankind. It was humankind in Adam who broke its communion with God, thereby alienating itself from God and His love.
Humankind’s loss of communion with God leading to its alienation from God and His love is the primary cause of brokenness. Therefore, being in communion with God is absolutely fundamental to not only overcoming brokenness, but being restored to wholeness, as to be able to live out the fullness of one’s personality and purpose God has created one for, for His glory. Without being in such communion with God, one will never be able to fully overcome one’s brokenness.
The Brokenness of the Human Condition is Part of the Curse of Sin
Brokenness is not the way God created humankind to be. God did not create us to live empty, purposeless, and meaningless lives, pursuing vain things that have no eternal value. Neither did God create us to be ridden by anxiety, sorrow or lacking in joy. Nor did He create us to be weak, weary, and heavy laden. Yet, this dangerous teaching that brokenness is a gift from God is so prevalent among certain Christian circles. This is an error and an extremely dangerous half-truth, that contains a subtle truth, mixed with error that has caused so much pain to people, and even caused some to lose faith because of it.
Some teach that brokenness is a ‘gift’ from God, citing verses that God is with the broken hearted and will heal such people. While God does allow people to endure such experiences, such pain, and such suffering, brokenness was not the way God created humankind. God created a Perfect World. Suffering and death entered because of sin (Romans 5:12).
Being unable to live out the fullness of one’s personality and purpose for the glory of God, and living in misery, sorrow, and pain, is not how God designed humankind to live. Rather, it is a manifestation of the Fall and the effects of the Fall on the human condition.
To claim it is a ‘gift’ implies that it is the perfect will of God, as part of how God created and designed us. But if that is the case, then there would be no need for healing of the broken, which ultimately comes from God, nor the desire or will of God to heal the brokenness of humankind. It is healing that is a gift from God, not brokenness. God only permits brokenness in people, but it is not His perfect will. His perfect will is that people are healed and are completely free from the effects of sin.
Others teach that brokenness is a ‘gift’ as it enables people to see their need for God. While it can and does drive some closer to God, it is nonetheless erroneous to see brokenness as a ‘gift’. Not only should brokenness not be what drives people to God, but that the brokenness of the human condition is itself part of the curse of sin, for it is the immediate effect of loss of communion with God, resulting from sin, in rejecting God Himself.
Furthermore, not all must endure the effects of brokenness to see their need for God, such as emptiness and worldly sorrow, for there are some to whom God grants the gift of faith without first having gone through such experiences. Such people, however, are very few. These people are often those who grew up in the faith from a young age, and were very virtuous as children, for whom the only reason they did not know Christ earlier than they did, is that God had not yet drawn them near to Christ in His timing.
There are also some who despite being broken, will still not see their need for God, owing to their hardened rebellion and decided resolve to never repent, which God also allows. These people are those who are too proud to repent before God and would rather spend eternity in Hell than in Heaven with God and seek worldly counsel to help them cope with their brokenness but will never overcome.
These are the people for whom God will not hear the prayers of intercession for their repentance, such as the Israelites who Jeremiah wanted to intercede for, but whom God told that He will not hear prayers on their behalf (Jeremiah 7:16-34; 11:14). God grants them their wish to do so for God does not force or overbear any person’s will, including their wilful rebellion and refusal to repent. God grants each person the liberty to decide whether they want to humble themselves before God and repent, or remain proud of heart, and not repent. When people refuse to repent, it is purely an act of their will.
Some others who endure suffering, pain, and brokenness do, however, come to repentance and know God. These are often those who have heard of the Gospel, and even grew up in church or have been involved in church previously, but either did not understand the Gospel at that point in time, until years later, or were allured by the temptations of worldly treasures and pleasures, only to realise how empty it all is, and eventually run back to Christ.
They may or may not attend church regularly, but their hearts are spiritually dry, and have no interest in any spiritual, but if asked whether they profess Christ, they will claim sincerely that they do believe in Christ. Indeed, many, if not most true converts who have indeed already come to believe in Christ, drift away from the Faith for a period of time, owing to the distractions of the world and this earthly life, only return to the Faith after enduring immense suffering, pain, and brokenness.
Brokenness is the Inability to Live Out the Fullness of One’s Personality and Purpose to Glorify God
Since each human being is created to walk in communion with God, and that all things were created by God for His glory, any created being that is out of communion with God and not living to glorify God, is broken: ‘For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him’ (Colossians 1:16).
To be broken means to be unable to live out the fullness of one’s personality and purpose ordered towards the glory of God, one’s Creator, who one was made for. Each person has a unique personality and purpose, which God has designed as ordered towards His glory, and to be lived out by the person to glorify Him.
Just as a toymaker has designed each toy uniquely with a certain set of characteristics, representing its ‘personality’, as well as purpose, likewise God has designed each person with his own unique personality and purpose. A toy will not be able to function properly if not used in accordance with the instruction manual. If misused, it will end up broken. Likewise, the failure to live out one’s personality and purpose in accordance with the plans and purposes of God for one’s life leads to brokenness.
We all seek meaning and purpose in life, for that is what the human heart desires. We were made for a life of meaning and purpose. So, how can one live out a life of true meaning and purpose? It is a question that so vexes the human heart, one for which much ink has been spilled.
Poets lament the lack of meaning and purpose in life through their melancholy poetry. Singers sing, often despairing lyrics, about the loss of meaning and purpose in life and the unbearable pain it brings. Novelists express what they believe it means through their whimsical stories, while philosophers muse about what does it even mean to live at all and argue with others about what life is and is not.
True meaning and purpose in life is found in living out one’s personality and purpose in accordance with the plans and purpose of God for one’s life, for one is created by God and for God. Since humankind has lost communion with God owing its rebellion against God, it is unable to do so, owing to the sinfulness of the human nature which does not seek God, and thereby cannot seek to glorify Him.
Yet, since humankind is created in the image of God, it has a desire for living out a life of meaning and purpose, which was not lost as a result of its rejection of God – in fact, it remains at the very core of the human personality to seek out and live with meaning and purpose. This is where the dilemma of wanting to live a purposeful, meaningful life which can only be found in glorifying God, but yet being unable to because of the sinfulness of human nature, lies.
Desiring to glorify God does not come naturally to people because of the fallen human nature. Instead, one needs to be taught by God that one was created for this very purpose, and how one is to do so. He must reveal these truths to people to and give them the faith to believe He is the one who revealed it to them, and to trust that His plans and purpose, not only can be fulfilled, but will be fulfilled. Indeed, God not only can fulfill all his plans, promises and purpose for one’s life, but He absolutely will, as long as one is continually in the will of God.
One will continually be in the will of God, as long as one always seeks to do the will of God. As long as one does the will of God, one will not miss any plan or promise of God for one’s life in any way, whatsoever. One can be absolutely certain of this because not only does one allow God to be the Perfect author of one’s life, but that God in His Perfect foreknowledge has already written one’s life; it is merely yet to unfold like the pages of a book which is one’s life, as a Creation of God, created for His unique plans and purpose.
Living in accordance with the plans and purposes that one was created for by God, is the key to living a fulfilling life with true joy and peace. There is no other way to find true joy or peace. To find true fulfillment, one must first come to know Christ, who came to reconcile humankind with God and restore our communion with Him (John 3:16).
Christ Jesus who is the Giver of Peace, said, ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid’ (John 14:27). Without Christ, there is no peace, for Christ gives a peace that is beyond all human understanding, dependent on the everlasting, eternal God, whereas worldly peace is dependent on everchanging circumstances, and our attachment to worldly security.
Secondly, one must know and trust that God’s plans for one are the best: ‘For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope’ (Jeremiah 29:11). This step is itself an act of faith, in assenting to God’s promise by the act of our will, that His plans for us are for our good, not to harm us, and to give us a future and a hope.
This must be learned over time through trials and testing, as trusting in God’s plans for our lives and depending on Him goes against human nature itself. God must test our faith to strengthen it so that we learn to trust and depend on Him. Such faith empowers us to not only know that the plans and promises of God in can be fulfilled but will be fulfilled in every single way in accordance with His will.
Thirdly, we must fully surrender our will to God. This is impossible to do in our own strength and power, owing to our Adamic human nature which is dominated by the self-will. The fallen human nature is so dominated by the self-will that it cannot even comprehend why it must worship God, or trust and depend on God, let alone live a life that is fully surrendered to God, to glorify God alone, which repulses the self-will.
The self-will asks, “Why should I live to glorify God?” and can neither comprehend nor accept why it should. The surrendered will asks, “What is the will of God for my life?” and humbly trusts and depends on God and His plans. The self-will thinks, “I will live for myself and myself alone, for my own glory, and know what is best for my life.” In seeking its own glory, it rejects God and His will for one’s life. The surrendered will thinks, “I will live for God, for His glory, as He is worthy, no matter what it costs me.”
Both want to live out the fullness of his personality and purpose as is natural, but as the person dominated by his self-will strives to do so, he will not be able to do so with true joy and peace, owing to the innate brokenness of the human condition common to all of humankind caused by the Fall. This is because he is driven by all kinds of passions of the flesh, such as pride, vainglory, rage, envy, and jealousy, the pursuit of which ultimately leads to only to worldly sorrow, which ‘produces death’ (2 Corinthians 7:10).
The person fully surrendered to God and liberated from his own self-will, will be able to do so, as he fully relies on God for all things. In humbly surrendering to God, he mortifies the passions of the flesh, which though painful – and often excruciatingly so – purifies a person and leads to Salvation.
Surrendering oneself to God does not, in any way, mean that one will have an easy, pleasant life without afflictions, or even that one will have no pain or sorrow. In fact, it means a life of enduring godly sorrow for such ‘produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret’ (2 Corinthians 7:10).
Godly sorrow does not only refer to sorrow over one’s sins for having grieved the Holy Spirit, though such sorrows are certainly a form of godly sorrow. Instead, it includes all sorrows that result from exercising virtue, such as charity, goodness, and kindness, and consequently suffering pain because of it. Feeling sorrow about the suffering of the needy out of compassion for them is one example. Another example is feeling sorrowful towards others who mistreat one, in spite of one’s charity towards them, not for one’s own sake, but their sake.
Contrary to what people often believe that becoming a Christian means that life will always be filled with pleasant experiences leading to joy and peace, godly sorrow is one of the key signs that a person has reached a certain level of virtue. In the midst of godly sorrow, however, one can and will, as long as focused heavenwards, find true joy and peace in Christ that is heavenly and cannot be comprehended by the natural human mind. Godly sorrow is not only a sign of virtue, but is virtue, and virtue draws one close to God, only in whom there is true joy and peace. Such is the profound paradox of godly sorrow.
God Must Break the Self-Will of the Human Heart
Sorrow is the primary way that God uses to purify and cleanse people and is often a sign of God’s favour on the person that he is on the road to eternal Salvation. Some fear that sorrow can destroy a person leading them to self-harm and other serious sins, which can and does happen, but sorrow can also draw a person to God, leading him or her to eternal joy and peace.
This is why God allows many, if not most, people to experience sorrow as part of His prevenient grace to draw them to Him so that they may see their need for Salvation in Christ, through experiencing sorrow. Otherwise, without such sorrow, one will not be able to see one’s need for Salvation in Christ.
Owing to the innate self-will of the human condition in its brokenness, God must first break, mould, carve, and put one through the furnace, as a potter to the clay to create beautiful pottery that he desires to create, for anyone to be fully restored to the perfect way God created one. Such serves to break a person’s self-will which strives to be independent of God. Herein lies the paradox of brokenness, that God must break a person to restore and make him whole, in destroying the brokenness in him, which is the effect of the curse of sin.
The rebellious, independent, self-will of the human heart is a manifestation of such brokenness resulting from the sinful nature of humankind. Such brokenness innate to the human condition only causes more pain and sorrow as one lives in the state of sin and wilfully pursues sin; it is a cycle that adds only more pain and sorrow.
Since humankind rejected God and His love, the human heart has become rebellious, independent of God, and dominated by self-will, unwilling to be dependent on God, and to surrender itself fully and completely to the will of God. This is a painful but necessary and purifying process that cleanses the soul of its lusts and impurities and breaks its independence to transform it into dependence on God.
God will Restore those who Desire to be in Communion with Him
The entire story of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is God’s pursuit of humankind to be reconciled to Him despite its rejection of Him, and being in enmity with Him, out of His love for us. This is itself God’s act of breaking our brokenness so that we can be free from sin and the effect of sin, through the blood of Christ.
We are the ones who first rejected God, but despite that He pursues us, sending His Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins so that we may be redeemed to live a life of eternal joy and peace in God – the greatest act of love in history, and the greatest act of love there ever will be. But the spiritual life does not end there.
God created us to be intimately in communion with Him, in a union of love. Receiving the gift of eternal Salvation is the first prerequisite to be restored to the way God created one to be, but it is not enough. We must actively strive to glorify God, living out the fullness of one’s personality and purpose, in accordance with His plans and purpose for our life.
We must always seek the will of God for our lives and do the will of God. God created us for greatness, to use the gifts that He has given us to glorify Him. He created us to be rich in good works and to live a purposeful and meaningful life. That is what it means to truly live.
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