A look of dismay covered the faces of the professional movers as the rare concert piano they were transporting caught on the edge of the lift at the back of the truck, slipped out of their hands, rolled down a steep embankment and landed upside down on some stone steps. The workers stared in disbelief at the broken piano several feet beneath them. The Bosendorfer piano was valued at nearly $100,000 dollars. A finer instrument would be nearly impossible to find. Bosendorfer’s are the Rolls Royce’s of the piano world, but now this one lay ruined, shattered, smashed and broken.
A nearby farmer used some of his heavy machinery to lift the piano back to the top of the embankment and load it on the truck. The once elegant instrument was taken to the best of repair shops, but it was a lost cause. There was no possible way to restore it after its fall. The beautiful work of craftsmanship, built to bring delight to audiences, was now nothing more than rubble.
I, for one, might have trouble telling the difference between a really good piano and a great piano, but I find this story very interesting. It reminds me of another work of craftsmanship that was very valuable to the One who made it. He made it with incredible potential for good. He created it to the highest standards and, after it was finished, with His unfailing discernment declared it was very good. However, this special creation suffered a great fall which left it in ruin—a ruin so complete that, left to itself, it would never serve the purpose for which it was intended.
What is this most special creation? It is you, and I, and all of mankind. When our first father disobeyed God’s command, he, along with the whole human race which was to follow him, was plunged into sin and death. “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Rom. 5:1212Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (Romans 5:12)). Along with sin came alienation from God. “Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” (Eph. 4:1818Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: (Ephesians 4:18)).
So deep into ruin has the human race fallen that God has this to say about it: “There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one....The way of peace have they not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes” (Rom. 3:10-1810As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 13Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: 14Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: 15Their feet are swift to shed blood: 16Destruction and misery are in their ways: 17And the way of peace have they not known: 18There is no fear of God before their eyes. (Romans 3:10‑18)).
Mankind has been ruined in the eyes of God because of sin. Men or women might be highly capable in sports, learning, or the arts, but in God’s eyes they are full of discord. They were created to bring pleasure to God, but through their self-will they have become unprofitable and full of bitterness and misery. Instead of remaining in a state God could freely bless, the human race fell into a condition that God must judge. And God in His holiness will judge!
Ruined sinners have a hell waiting for them at the end of this life. But, unlike the piano which could not be restored after its fall, humanity has a way to be redeemed. This is because the Lord Jesus, “the Man of Sorrows,” came to this earth and gave His life on the cross. Afterward, His body was placed in a grave, but death, which has an iron grip on the rest of us, couldn’t hold Him, and He arose from the grave. Later He ascended into heaven to sit at God’s right hand. Now God has “highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name” (Phil. 2:99Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: (Philippians 2:9)).
“Man of Sorrows,” what a name
For the Son of God who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim!
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood―
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Guilty, vile and helpless we,
Spotless Lamb of God was He!
“Full atonement,” can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior!