The Terminal Illness, Part I

A recent view of Puget Sound from Everett during low tide.  The Olympic Mountains can be seen in the distance.

God is for you.  Sometimes you and I need to repeat that phrase over and over again, not because it isn't true, but because we don't always believe it is true.

I recently read a quote that I think really gets to the heart of the matter.

God is more concerned about who I'm becoming that about what I'm doing. 

If you really take that bit of wisdom to heart, it will change the way you see your walk with the Lord.  But this isn't just something that was made up and sounds correct.  It is a theme supported by the entirety of the Bible.

You and I all are terminally ill with a deadly disease.  This disease has infected every single cell in our bodies.  It has permeated every muscle, joint, organ, appendage, and nerve.  Without proper medical attention for this disease, you and I will die.  God knows this and has a plan to eradicate this disease from our bodies once and for all time.  However, the way to get rid of it takes time and is a hard path to go down.  The disease I refer to, of course, is sin.

Our problem is that we make light of our own complete and utter hopelessness without the help that Jesus provided.  We think that if our bank accounts have a certain amount in them, we are safe from harm and are "blessed."  We think that if we can get that certain job or position, our lives will smooth out and we can "relax."  We think that if we can find a certain neighborhood to live in, our stress level will go down and things will improve.  Some of us think that if we can find a way to serve in the community more often or with greater things that we will achieve a higher moral state.  Perhaps if we would just take it easy more often our lives will be better and we will be more adjusted.  Yet none of these things have the power to cure our disease.  In fact, some of these things are an outward symptom of the disease and its spread, and we feed into it in the same way that a cancer patient can feed the disease by eating more carbohydrates.

The Lord knows that our real problem, our only problem, the disease we will die from, is sin.  We can't ever be free of it's grip as long as we are here on Earth.  It shows itself in our lives every single day in spite of our best efforts.  Doing good deeds won't cure it.  Building up wealth will not make it disappear.  Attending church will have no effect on its own in making it lessen or go away.  More rest will not help our bodies to fight it more effectively.  It is here to stay.

Our only hope lies in what Jesus did more than 2,000 years ago, long before you and I even had a chance to know Him.  He chose us before we chose him, and He did it because He knew we were utterly hopeless without the help that only He could provide.  He knew that our actions in life to make things right with God wouldn't actually fix the problem (see his interactions with the Pharisees) so He took the only action that would matter in sacrificing Himself on our behalf.

In Romans 8:31-34, the Apostle Paul says this about our condition:

³¹ What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? ³² Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? ³³ Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. ³⁴ Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

The best indicator you and I have that God is for us is by seeing what He did to address our greatest need.  He gave himself up for us, and because of that He is for us.

According to the Apostle Paul, the only indicator of God being for us, and the only one of importance, is that he made and completed a plan to eradicate the effects of this disease from us forever and ever.  We as humans tend to go back to our set of earthly problems though.  We usually say it like this:

• My life isn't as smooth as it should be.  God must be absent.
• I lost (fill in the blank) to death.  I am alone and God is silent.
• Lost my job last week and have no prospect for anything new.  God doesn't care.
• We weren't able to get that (house, car, job, tangible thing) that we wanted.  God knew I wanted that and didn't deliver, so He must be upset with me.

We say these things because we have no understanding of what our greatest need is.  The greatest need you and I have isn't comfort, and the Lord knows that.  In fact, I'd argue that He's not particularly interested in your comfort at all.  The American Church has a very hard time with that concept because our society is so wrapped up in getting comfort for ourselves, but that's a path that actually takes the person further and further from the Lord.  Our greatest need is to be saved from our own sin because there is literally nothing we can do about it on our own.  Someone else, someone perfect, has to intervene on our behalf. 

And intervene He did!  If I take that Romans passage literally, I see a picture of Jesus who not only died for me, but who rose from the dead and sits at the right hand of the Father.  The right hand of a king is the special spot reserved for advisors with special wisdom and influence.  I picture Jesus sitting next to the Father right at this moment, speaking to him about...me.  

"See your servant Paul down there?  I know he was just impatient with his kids.  I'm covering that."

"I know he is distracted and is building his own kingdom at this moment.  I'm covering that too, and will deal with him.  I will show him the new direction he must take."

I'm sure this account of what happens in Heaven doesn't in any way do it justice.  I'll never completely understand how Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit are all part of the same being.  Yet it brings me great comfort that someone up there, someone with supreme influence and authority, is intervening on my behalf.  And it's being done only because He chooses to do it, not by my own merit or activities.  That takes the pressure off me, but even more than that it reminds me of just how much I am loved.

But I am not special.  These things are offered to anyone who will just believe and follow.  When it comes to God's Kingdom, you and I are equals if we will just believe. 

In the next post, we're going to delve into this further, closely examining the reason behind difficulties in our lives.  God has a purpose in those too.