and so we are healed

Jesus traveled throughout the region of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the good news about the kingdom.  And he healed every kind of disease and illness.  News about him spread as far as Syria, and people soon began bringing to him all who were sick, and whatever their sickness or disease, or if they were demon-possessed or epileptic or paralyzed - he healed them all.  Large crowds followed him wherever he went - people from Galilee, the ten towns, Jerusalem, from all over Judea, and from east of the Jordan River.

 Matthew 4: 23-25

What God wants is unobstructed relationship with us.  Sin obstructs relationship with Him, and He is the One who defines sin.

 

God wants a relationship with us so badly that He does not require us to transform our own lives - rather, he requires repentance, which is, in essence, an acceptance of God’s terms for an unobstructed relationship.   He defines sin for us; we agree that what God has said is sin is, in fact, sin; and we acknowledge our need to stop sinning and our powerlessness to do so without help from God.  We are truly healed when we understand and believe that He Himself has provided the means to live in accordance with His terms.

 

It is not so much a specific sin that is more deadly than others.  All sin is death, and we are all born with various sinful tendencies and weaknesses.  That is because we are living in a post-fall world.   After Adam and Eve rebelled against God in the Garden of Eden, every human since then has been born with some ”natural” tendency toward obstruction and rebellion against God.  God knows this, loves us nonetheless, desires to be with us, and therefore He wants us to ask Him to heal us, to reconcile us, to transform us, because He surely will.  That is what He desires.  He wants unobstructed relationship, and He Himself has provided the means to obtain that.

 

Yet we hesitate.  We focus on:

  1. the cost.  I have found fulfillment in my understanding of the world and my place in it, and I will lose much that I have invested my entire self in if I follow Him.
  2. perceived “unfairness”.   a little farther on, our thoughts turn to the “unfiarness” of our lot in life:  “Well, if He was going to ask me to live differently, why did He make me this way?”  The truth is that none of us are born as God originally made us.  We are all born into a corrupt, post-fall world.  God did not originally create us with natural tendencies to rebel against Him.  But He foreknew that we would succumb to sin, and had mercy upon us, and thus has provided the means for release from our post-fall, inherited captivity - whatever that may be for each of us.
  3. desire for approval and respect.   we have a very strong natural instinct to be accepted, approved, and respected by others.  We spend our entire lives building our identity and reputations to fit what we think will give us value in the eyes of those we most want to be accepted by.  This group of “approvers” may change and shift in importance as we mature.  It may not even be apparent to us that we are seeking acceptance or approval.  But it is apparent to God, who sees our hearts and inmost desires. 

 

If we are willing to accept God’s terms of repentance from sin, He does the rest.  Transformation happens over the course of a lifetime.  But, if we are earnestly and wholly devoting ourselves to pursuit of Him, the pain of the “cost” subsides; the need for approval and respect falls away; and instead, we are utterly enraptured by an entirely different - even foreign - awareness of Love; a greater, more full, more dimensional, more powerful, more satisfying love than we even knew was possible.  And so, we are healed. 

Filed in repent | No responses yet

he himself has redeemed us

Lord, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive? But you offer forgiveness, that we might learn to fear you. . . with the Lord there is unfailing love. His redemption overflows. . . . He himself will redeem Israel from every kind of sin. . . (Psalm 130: 4-8) (NLT)

“He himself will redeem Israel from every kind of sin.“  How much does the heavenly Father love you?  Here is the plain and simple answer:  He Himself has taken the punishment for my sin and your sin - every kind and manner of sin — upon Himself.  That’s the measure of His love for you and for me. The question is: will we believe this wonderful truth, repent, and turn to Him?  Let it be so, for God’s love has been measured, and it was found to be unfailing.

God took our sin punishment upon himself in the form of Jesus Christ, the full and complete essence of God born in a fully human capacity, and who was subject to all the weaknesses and temptations common to humankind.  Jesus was both human and God - hence referenced as both the “Son of Man,” and the “Son of God.”  Although fully human, Jesus did not sin.  He lived a life of perfect love, humility, purity, and righteousness.  In the face of sarcasm, criticism, and hostility, He tenderly healed, comforted, and taught the neediest, the weakest, and even the most exasperating of persons. When the time came, Jesus suffered greatly and died as a substitute for all who earnestly confess their sins and desire to be reconciled to God.

Continue Reading »

Filed in encourage | No responses yet

a christian myth: expect financial prosperity~if you have enough faith

the (extra-biblical) myth:   a christian should have faith that God will prosper him or her financially, because financial prosperity is a “witness” and “testimony” to others that he is a loving and good God.  what better evidence of the presence of Jesus Christ in a believer’s life than a healthy, prosperous, christian family that does “good” and gives generously to charity?

 

the (biblical) truth:    an authentic christian may, in fact, lack many indicia of prosperity otherwise sought after in a culture’s value system, such as financial stability, political or social power, success in a chosen field of learning, and physical attractiveness.  

  Continue Reading »

Filed in exhort, repent, witness | No responses yet

Older Entries »