John Piper is bad

Ok, this is my 4th post on this blog and the 3rd one with something about John Piper. You get the picture - he's my favourite contemporary author and I have learnt a lot from his ministry. So you can imagine my shock when I saw the headline "John Piper is bad" for a little music video on Youtube. But the words you hear are from his own mouth: "John Piper is bad." Check out the extended video which includes a short interview with Piper about the song:



So, yes, John Piper is bad. But so are all of us. This afternoon, I was teaching the children in church from the book of Romans. One of the verses we looked at was the following:

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)

According to the Bible, all people are bad. All have sinned. That includes, for example, the first man Adam, the Buddha, Mary the mother of Jesus, the apostle Paul, Mohammed, Joseph Smith, Bob Jones, Mother Teresa, John Piper, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the pope, you and me. There was only one Man who ever lived without sin - Jesus Christ. And this Man took upon Himself the sins of the world and God's just punishment on it when He bled and died on the cross, so that we would not have to pay the penalty but could have our sins forgiven.

For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

This is what Good Friday is all about.