Living Stones – Wednesday, December 6, 2017
Sickness and God’s glory
John 9:3
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.”
In the encounter in John 9 with the man who was born blind, the disciples had put to Jesus the questions about the man’s condition based on their understanding of the source of sickness. For them, sin had to be involved. The answer from Jesus introduced another facet in the understanding of sickness.
In our Judeo-Christian worldview we understand that, in a general sense, all sickness is as a result of the fall of man. We believe that when sin entered the world through man’s disobedience everything was damaged including our bodies. As a result of sin, therefore, our bodies will be decaying and dying until we are glorified at the coming of Christ.
In a specific sense, we recognise that some sickness is as a result of sin, either sin on the part of the person who is ill, or sin somewhere in the family line that has had its consequences on the generations.
However, the answer from Jesus shed new light on how we view sickness. While not refuting the accepted understanding of the specific connection between sin and sickness Jesus said, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.” In other words, some sickness is not connected to specific sin, but all sickness is an opportunity for a demonstration of God’s glory.
There is a very popular question that’s been around in one form or another since the fall of man. The experience, and record, of Job in the Bible bring these questions into sharp focus. If God is good, why is there suffering in the world? Or, why do bad things happen to good people? And so on.
Once we appreciate the impact that this very fall of man has on both people and creation as a whole, we are better able to appreciate the opportunities that suffering present for a demonstration of the Glory of God.
The Apostle Paul helps us to appreciate this in a section of his letter to the church at Rome. In Romans 8:18-30 Paul tackles the questions about suffering, hope and glory. In verses 20 and 21 he underscores that the whole creation, like us, suffers on account of sin and awaits the glorious liberation to come, “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”
Just like we observed before, in the end, we will reap incorruptible bodies. “So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.” 1 Corinthians 15:42, so too the creation will be restored.
In the meantime, however, there is suffering, and every kind of suffering is an opportunity for God, whether sickness, disease, disasters, bondage, abuse, oppression, or other natural or manmade events.
Often it is when we are sick, especially when our sickness is beyond the common cold, that we spend more time reaching out to God. There are more prayers offered at the bedsides of the afflicted than at the tables of the healthy. We all find the time to seek God for intervention when we are laid-up because, although there is time, we can do nothing else. We see the glorious power of God when we are sick even if we are not healed because we are so conscious of God being outside of the limits of our situation.
Not only do we see the glory of God as we reach out to Him in our suffering, but we also see the glory of God as He reaches out to us, to the afflicted. God often gets our attention, again when we are laid-up. We are otherwise too busy for God, school, work, family, relationships, entertainment, vacation, and even, for some of us, church, all get in the way of God being able to get through to us. It is on the bed of affliction that, finally, we can hear Him and see His glory, either through the Bible left at the bedside, or His voice speaking to us or through the compassion of those who come to visit and minister to us.
While Jesus still heals today, and while He has given to some in the church the “gifts of healings by the … Spirit,” He never promised that all persons who are sick in this life would be healed. Persons will still be in the hospital and many will die as a result, but we will be commended for visiting those who are in the hospital to minister to them that they might see the glory of God through us. “I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.” Matthew 25:36.
The Apostle Paul lived with his affliction and through it experienced God’s grace. He tells us that he went before God about it on three occasions and wasn’t healed. “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9.
It is those who do not know God, and who do not reach out to Him, who truly experience despair in times of sickness and suffering.
Think on these things:
- Were you ever laid-up on a sick bed and, if you were, did you use the time to reach out to God?
- Have you ever had a sense of the glory of God in any difficult time in your life?
- Do you make time to visit the sick, to pray with them and show them the glory of God?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that, in sickness and in health, we would make the time to reach out to God to experience His glory, and make time to help others experience His glory in their sickness.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex
