Does God Want Us To Be Sick?

We continue with the subject of Divine Healing, with a reminder of some pertinent scripture verses before we deal with the subject at hand: Isaiah 53:3-5; 1 Corinthians 13:9-10; Romans 8:10-11; Ephesians 1:13-14; John 9:1-3; Luke 10:1-12; Mark 16:15-18; I Corinthians 12; Matthew 9:28-30; Mark 9:23-24; Mark 6:1-6; 1 Corinthians 11:27-32; James 5:14-20; Revelation 22:1-3

As I have said in an earlier post, it was God's justified curse on man for sin which resulted in death and led to decay, infirmity and disease. A reasonable person might assume from that nugget of truth that God's will for fallen humans is that they be ill, at least at times. However, that same God sent his son Jesus to become the curse for us so that we could be freed from its effects. The penalty of death (and with it infirmity, decay and disease) was eradicated by the substitutionary death of the sinless lamb of God. 

Since God's wrath against sin was fully expended upon Christ in suffering his passion, none of God's wrath is left for the heirs of salvation. Logically (even if there was no passage like Isaiah 53:4-5), for the sacrifice of Christ to exhaust and expunge the curse of death, it would also, by necessity, wipe out the effects of death, namely, decay, infirmity and disease. Therefore, people who embrace Christ's vicarious sacrifice for sin through faith, should not only have the blessing of sins forgiven and eternal life, but they should also have the provision of healing, now.

The promise of divine health and healing for those within the covenant of faith is well attested in scripture. It is an established pattern, from of old, that clues us into God's management style. He wants those he redeems to be well. That Isaiah makes it clear that healing is provided for within the atonement of Christ only strengthens the point. Some of the last verses of the Apocalypse clarify the ultimate intention of God that those that are his be well.

But wait a minute here, we still grow old, get sick and die. Why, if all that I've written above is true? According to the Apostle Paul, these mortal frames formed from Adam and Eve's flesh (genes) must be put off before new bodies untinged by Adam's sin and not subject to death may be put on. We have a very rich inheritance in Christ, but we can only receive a portion of it now while in these dead bodies. We'll have to wait until the resurrection for the full package.

Until then all humanity, even the believing, will continue to die in their time. And while in dying bodies, even Christians can get sick, despite the provision of healing in the atonement. Is there anything that can be done about that? We'll take up that question and the whys and wherefores in the next post on the subject.

Props to the Preachers

I want to take some time to publicly acknowledge those who have most impacted my life as a disciple of Christ and a minister of the gospel. There is no question these fine gentlemen have much better fruit to their credit than me, but from this, maybe the fruitiest, a very sincere thanks to these men of God for a job well done.

Rex Bornman
Rex was my first pastor after coming to Christ. My first visit to the State College Assembly of God, where he pastored, came a week after I marched the aisle and was subsequently baptized at a Southern Baptist Church in Harrisburg, PA (my home town). I totally freaked out-- the place was positively spooky, but even though it scared the bejeebers out of me, I felt a strange compulsion to go back to that place, where the people responded to God in a way that made sense, at least if one truly believed in hell and salvation.

As I devoured the Word and talked with God, the Lord would instruct and illumine me. Sunday after Sunday, Rex would preach (in his own flamboyant style), and repeat almost verbatim what God had been speaking to me in my “prayer closet.” Talk about being pumped! I learned what God sounded like through that ongoing experience and developed sensitivity to and trust in the voice of the Holy Spirit. You’ll not likely ever read this Rex, but thanks. You’re the best in my book, and still the most effective preacher I have ever had the pleasure to see or hear. 

Stephen Michaels
The first time I heard Steve preach was on the street outside Schwab Auditorium on the campus of Penn State. Generally, I did not like street preachers: they were nothing but clanging cymbals playing for shock value to get an audience. Not Steve, he spoke with passion, but logically, sensibly, persuasively.

A couple of years later, Rex introduced him as the new campus pastor for the Chi Alpha chapter the State College A/G was sponsoring at Penn State. Steve cleaned up real well! In my first conversation with him, I slightly hinted (and I do mean just slightly!) that I was intrigued by the Holy Spirit. Steve told me he’d be at my room at 5pm, and gave me little chance to object.

With Bible in hand he began going through the scriptures concerning the Holy Ghost. I was getting excited, and after about ten minutes of his presentation, I knew God wanted to baptize me in the Holy Ghost and would. Steve went on for about another 20 minutes or so, while I was chomping at the bit. He laid hands on my head, I felt overwhelmed and overflowing, and started speaking in heavenly language I did not know.

From that time until I left college (I hung around for a short while after graduation) Steve was a friend and counselor, discipler and example. Thank you Steve, for the much good you did for me. 

Mike Smith
I started Bible college in January of 1984, 1100 miles away from home, in a town I’d never been at before, knowing no one but my poor wife, who got dragged along with me into the frozen tundra (sweet thing, she came along cheerfully). We began searching for a church family. In the process, one Sunday morning, we got on a schoolbus that had come to North Central and off we went to who knows where.

We ended up in White Bear Lake, MN at Calvary A/G. They worshipped there, it was refreshing. Then, Mike Smith got up to preach. He was a rugged looking fellow, with a kind voice, and light in his eyes. He was refreshing. A couple of years later, he gave me my first job in ministry. He was one of the nicest people I have ever met. To this day, I don’t think I have met a better example of kindness and grace. Thank you Mike, for the start and for the example.

Paul Grabill
When I was a home missions pastor in Pittsburgh, one of the Sectional Committeemen was assigned by the presbyter to be my mentor and treasurer. He was a doctoral candidate at Fuller, attempting to lead an old A/G church stuck in the 50’s into the 80’s. He had flaming red hair! He was patient and smart, and knew more about the nuts and bolts of church life than anyone I ever met. He poured knowledge liberally upon my hardened head—some of it seeped in!

I learned more about human nature and how it effects ministry and church life, and how leaders need to work with it realistically in a few months with Paul than in years of Bible College. I thank God for the gift of time and the abundance of knowledge I received from Paul. In a strange twist of fate, Paul pastored that very same State College Assembly of God mentioned above (as well as serving as the Asst. Supt. of the Penn-Del District), and from which he went on to his eternal reward August 11, 2011.

Robert Owen
My wife grew up going to church. She was saved when only four years old! When she was 12, her family started attending South Hills A/G in Pittsburgh, pastored by Robert Owen. He’s a Welshman, which means he loves to sing and has a great accent! The first time I sat in his church, I was visiting my new fiancée’s family. In a sanctuary filled to capacity, he looked right at me from the pulpit, and told me to take the gum out of my mouth (evidently, he didn’t want to look out and see a bunch of cows chewing their cud). Talk about seeker sensitivity! I don’t remember when, exactly, I got over it. ;-)

For years his church was the largest congregation in the Penn-Del District, yet no matter how large it got, he and Miriam would stand at the back door greeting everyone by name when they left the service. Even in a room packed with hundreds and hundreds of people, the place still felt like a familiar place, like family. He’s taught me so many valuable lessons about call, ministry, commitment, integrity, and generosity, I wouldn’t know where to begin enumerating them. Thank you, Pastor Owen, you served the cause of Christ until the end of your days (November 19, 2012) and planted seeds in the hearts of men.

There you have it: the ministers that have meant so much to me. Their service was of benefit to thousands, I’m just grateful I was one of them. So, props to the preachers, may blessing continue to pour forth from you even long after you're gone.

Why Do People Get Sick?

With this post we enter a series on the subject of Divine Healing. Before we get started, here is a list of pertinent scripture verses regarding sickness that you may want to read in conjunction with this article: Isaiah 53:3-5; 1 Corinthians 13:9-10; Romans 8:10-11; Ephesians 1:13-14; John 9:1-3; Luke 10:1-12; Mark 16:15-18; I Corinthians 12; Matthew 9:28-30; Mark 9:23-24; Mark 6:1-6; 1 Corinthians 11:27-32; James 5:14-20; Revelation 22:1-3

Let's first understand where sickness came from. I have no doubt that sickness was not part of the pristine, sinless creation that God called "good." The atonement of Christ included a provision for healing, so it would seem that when things are right with God, sickness is not in the picture. The Apocalypse clears up any doubt on the subject by revealing that in the eternal age to come, trees will provide leaves which keep the body well.

So, sickness must have come into being as a result of the negative impacts that came upon mankind due to not being right with God. That would leave, it seems to me, two possible instigating agents for sickness: God or the Devil. There are scripture passages which attribute illness to God, and passages which attribute illness to the Devil, so maybe sickness is a tag team effort.

I don't believe that to be the case, but let me ask you a clarifying question that may help us discover what is the case: "Did bacteria, amoebas, and worms exist before the Fall?" My answer is yes, they most certainly did. God alone is shown scripturally to have the ability to create life, so the Devil cannot be given the credit for their existence. Yet, most of what we experience as sickness is the direct result of creatures such as these infecting our bodies.

I'm led to wonder, if our immune system worked as well as it must have as originally designed by God, would humans or any life-form ever get sick? If not for the antagonism between creatures and between creatures and their environment resulting from the judgment on sin pronounced by God, would there be anything to get sick from? It seems clear to me that sickness is the effect of the justified curse of death upon Adam and his race.

 

Even though I could see viruses, prions, cancer and genetic defects as being the result of some devilish ingenuity manipulating what God had created, would these types of things have any ill effect (let alone exist) if we were still in the pristine physical condition we had before the Fall? I am forced to conclude that disease actually results from death, rather than death resulting from disease. Our bodies were stricken with a curse which has them decaying toward death and subject to disease from the moment they come into being. 

Everything in creation was stricken by God along with mankind so all creation opposes us and our physical existence-- the ground, plants, animals, and even our bodies themselves. Our bodies do not work up to original design specs; they are infirm; they don't recover like they could; they age, and then they die. Bacteria, viruses, parasites, and genetic anomalies are a problem now because of enmity imposed by the curse, and by our immune systems and the replication processes in our cells not working perfectly as they did in Eden.

Now that is not the Devil's doing, at least not directly by authority, it was God's doing, and God's alone. He had the authority: he spoke the curse. Does the Devil play a role in illness? Peter seemed to think he could. The Evangelists often referred to exorcism in terms of healing. It certainly appears that illness and physical affliction are tools in the Devil's arsenal against the human race in his antagonism toward them.

That is not, however, the same as saying disease is caused by the Devil and his demons. Disease, by general principle, is the result of the Fall, and therefore, in a very real respect, is the God-given, natural lot of life on this fallen planet. And all life is subject to it. That the Devil uses what is available to him to exacerbate our condition and to increase misery should not be surprising to anyone. But to see the Devil behind every bush, or every sniffle, is a mistake, and frankly, gives him far too much credit.

Why do people get sick? Simply, because they live in decaying (dead) bodies. The Devil and his roam about seeking to add misery and to steal days from us while we're in this condition, but they are merely the exploiters, not the authors of it. If the Devil and his minions were deep-sixed today, sickness would still be a possibility tomorrow. Ultimately, to solve the problem and possibility of illness, the curse of death has to be removed from our physical being.

So what's a body to do in the meantime? That, and a few other issues in posts to follow, starting with this one.

Stop, In the Name of the Law

What we do has no impact on our acceptance by God. Our record cannot add to, nor detract from what has already been done by Christ; in other words, present actions cannot rewrite ancient history. It is on the basis, and only on the basis of what Christ finished, that our standing with God rests. God quenched the flames of his wrath in the blood of Christ, so there is none left for us who believe! Everyone who puts their faith in Christ's finished work has become, and will remain the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

Faith in Christ is what matters, but what we do does reflect upon the reality of that faith. If I say I have faith but have no works, I'm a liar plain and simple. Such is at best merely so-called faith, which cannot save but only leave me in my sin under the wrath of God. Faith that is efficacious salvifically doesn't try to bamboozle God with lip-service while a faithless heart does evil works. Faith is active, faith works, specifically, through love.

What good works we do are actually not our own fault. These "things" have been seeded by the hand of our loving God onto the pathway of our lives. We will stumble into them just by walking, without having to climb Everest or swim the English Channel to accomplish them. To miss such "things" so readily provided by God could only mean that we didn't have the faith to bother. Oblivious is not something faith is.

We live out of what Christ has freely given to us through faith; namely, righteousness and the Holy Spirit. We have nothing to prove by trying to live up to some code by willful exertion. If we attempted to prove something to God in that fashion, we would only prove that we are sinners. Doing the good that God has prepared for us to do and endeavoring to emulate Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit only demonstrates the faith in him that we do have.

It certainly is a joy to be alive, accepted, and actuated by God. Burdening ourselves and others with a need to earn status or to measure up before God is joyless. It's embracing the law instead of the gospel and trying to find satisfaction in emptiness. That's a fool's errand that smacks of the curse. The law was not given to us that we could gain righteousness by it. If that's what you're doing, please, stop in the name of Jesus, and especially in the name of the Law.Stop, In the Name of the Law

Is That How Jesus Would Do It?

I did not grow up in church, per se, even though I did attend a few mainline church services along the way. I did some hard time in Sunday School, but got released early, when I was 11, for bad behavior. ;-) Occasionally in those years, a televangelist popped into view while flicking the TV dial through its rotation. The, well, "unique" techniques of communicating employed by those televangelists struck me as weird and distracting. If folk talked the way they did anywhere else, they'd never be taken seriously, but laughed to scorn.

For the hecklers of such it wouldn't be a content issue driving them to scorn, but a technique issue. The behavior of the messenger distracted from the message, and understandably so. So what lesson, from all that, do I think I can pass on to communicators of the gospel today? "Stop being a clown!" Church is not a carnival, preaching the Gospel isn't a performance, and the "anointing" doesn't have any biblical, behavioral signs or tics! 

Enough with huffing and puffing, the added "ahees" in between words, the eyes rolling back in their sockets, sudden shudders, profuse, self-inflicted sweating, hanky waving, and on, and on, and on. I'm reminded of a car manufacturing anomaly from the 70's: the Chevette SS. Stripes and chrome, and a bigger engine package could never hide the reality-- it was still just a Chevette! Rather than the example of Christ, these "demonstrative" preachers emulate the illusionist's art-- distracting the audience's attention away from the truth they should be zeroed in on.

Maybe it's just cultural, maybe it's blatant, faithless, manipulation... could it be doing the Devil a favor?

WWJD. I think it's germane to the preaching "craft." If Jesus didn't do it, should we? Who better knows how to communicate eternal, life-giving truth than he? It's alright to be a fool for Christ, and it's OK to preach foolishness as the world sees it, but it's not acceptable to diminish the majesty and importance of the message of Christ through affected tomfoolery. So, the next time you're preaching, or even the next time you're going to see a preacher, do everyone a favor, especially the Lord of glory: ask yourself, "Is that how Jesus would do it?"

The Word Says, "Just Breathe"

If we don't live by a code or law, if there is nothing we can earn or merit, if our records do not effect our salvation, how then do we live? The simple and straight forward answer is that we live out of the Spirit that God endued us with when we were born again. We live inspired, not perspired lives. Our existence is a promenade with God-- we walk hand and hand with him where he's walking. Where he goes we go, what he does we do, what he says we say. It's the life model of Christ.

The Christ inspired life is not about passing some proficiency exam or earning continuing ed credits to advance up a ladder. It's about the grace that allows a human to live in loving partnership with the God, our Creator. Folk that attempt to live by a code are not generally folk that experience God personally. They, in effect, are trying to jam their good deeds down God's throat and he, in response, gags at their company.

God sees all our works: all the failure, all the sin, all the self-serving, self-centered acts of willfulness, not just the acts we want him to see. Since our good deeds in themselves can never erase bad ones, and everyone sins, trying to earn or maintain favor from God on the basis of our works gets us nowhere. His favor is all we have going for us; apart from Christ, we have nothing. 

In an emergency, the desperate cry that's often heard is "Somebody, do something!" In our desperation to be at peace with God, our panicked souls often invoke that same cry, but ironically, they do so reflexively. We're that somebody, and so we seek to save ourselves. However, the something that needs doing has already been done by someone else. And so perfectly, in fact, that nothing else could be or needs to be done in addition.

Our rescuer stands by us, alive and well, the victor over hell and death. Oxygen mask in hand, he offers us the breath of life. All we need to do is accept it and breathe in. Yet many of us balk. Why do we find it so hard to acknowledge our own inability to save ourselves or to keep ourselves saved? Are we so prideful that we'd rather go down in flames trying to do it ourselves rather than yield, child-like, to the rescue of God?

What a lot this life is! Looking to keep us far from the help we actually need the devil says, "Look what you've done!" Looking in the mirror of pride the flesh says, "Look what I've done!" Looking at the cross Jesus died on faith says, "Look what Christ has done!" And cutting to the very marrow, the Word says, "Just breathe."

To Hell With It

I said in an earlier post that we do not have anything to prove to God, nor can we measure up to his (or anyone else's) standard. All that we can prove by such vain efforts is that in our own Adamic natures, we are sinners. Does that mean we should live willy nilly, that anything goes? No, sin will always be sin, and God will always hate it. Ultimately, he must completely disable it!

Philosophically, sin is an impossibility. How can that which is against the will of God (sin) exist in objective reality when God is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent and righteous? God could not be said to have the last two attributes if he allowed or could not stop sin. So, sin can only exist in this temporary framework of spacetime, which is constricted, cursed and scheduled for termination.

The grace of God allows the illusion of ongoing sinful life for, really, just a moment, because of the possibility of repentance and redemption among the denizens therein. A time is coming, and shortly, when reality will come a-knocking, and then, nothing that stands in opposition to the will of God will stand any longer. That coming, ultimate reality check is called hell.

Some folk wonder how a loving God could put living human beings into a fiery lake forever, but I don't know what other possibility could exist. They usually think that, even if the lake is real, it cannot possibly be forever. Sometime, the flame has to go out, and the worm metamorphose and fly away to different quarry. All of us who are parents, or who had parents, realize that punishment ends sometime, right? No, such thoughts arise from a misunderstanding of human and angelic nature, sin and independent wills.

Ultimately, how can any will exist but that which is omnipotent, particularly if the omnipotent one was righteous too? For any opposing will to exist contemporaneously and/or permanently would undermine the nature of the supposedly omnipotent, righteous one. That one would then, in fact, not be omnipotent and righteous, but impotent and indifferent-- merely capable of conceiving but not of delivering.

Why does that make hell necessary?

Primarily, human and angelic being cannot be disposed of nor dissolved. We know the Spirit of God is eternal and indestructible, but what he lends breath or personal spirit to cannot be destroyed either, though it can be established with independence as a being. Humans and angels (I don't have a scripture reference for angels, but it does make sense to me) fall into this category. If everything in nature reveals something about the invisible attributes of God, think about what the conservation of mass and energy reveals to us about the breath from God that makes us a person-- it cannot be destroyed.

Once created, humans and angels cannot be destroyed. However, they can be disabled, they can cease having independent freedom of thought and action. How? Overwhelm their will with incessant fire and they will never entertain a thought, nor devise a scheme, nor hatch a plot in opposition to God's will again. They will never act on such again. Don Piper's experience of a painful recovery after a traffic accident is helpful here:

In the first few weeks of my recovery, I was in such constant physical pain I couldn't hold any thoughts in my mind for more than a second or two (from 90 Minutes in Heaven, p. 102)

One long "arrrrgh!" will be their lot, cosmic pink noise. Coherent thought will be impossible, no conceptions nor communications. Their eternal will is silenced in perpetual flames, whereas God's will continues unabated, unfettered by opposition. It has to be.

God created us with divine-like capacities in order to fellowship with him. Christ reveals in flesh and bone, in spirit and in thought what that looks like. It’s not oppressive nor coercive, but food and life, joy and peace. Our wills are meant to be experienced as the replication and expression of his. Exertion of our will (our works) is not the means to achieve that, inspiration is. As for sin, to hell with it!