This is in response to Danny's post to me.
I believe that you are saying that you have a problem with the idea of God using suffering and especially sickness to accomplish His purposes in someone's life.
You specifically refer to Romans chapter 8 that says that the goodness of God leads men to repentance.
There are many places in scripture that I can point to that indicate that God uses violence, disease, famine, pestilence, and many other forces to accomplish His purposes. Sometimes they are an attempt to cause the individuals suffering to consider that God is bringing this on them, and they should, therefore, recognize this and turn from the behavior and attitude that is causing God's judgment to come upon them. In Job 33 Elihu, sort of considered the "wisest voice" in the book of Job, makes these statements, "vs. 18 he(God) keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword. He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain: so that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat.......vs.28- He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light. Lo, all these things worketh God oftentimes with man, to bring back his sould from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living."
Other times the suffering is to benefit the onlooker. God knows that the persons experiencing the judgment will not turn, but He knows that it will be made clear to some looking on that these people had this happen because of their sin, and they will choose not to make the same choices.
Sometimes what may appear to be a harsh blow allowed by God is actually an act of mercy on His part. Isaiah 57 begins by saying, "The righteous perish, and no man layeth it to heart and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness."
At times suffering is simply judgment. God has had enough and will choose to punish those who have been pleaded with, warned, warned some more, and yet continue to act in ways that are flagrantly sinful. Ezekiel 14:13-14 says, "Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it: though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God."
Your analogy of the Dr. Frankenstein-like father (see jo mama's comments on previous post for those of you who do not know what I'm talking about) is perhaps where I should focus the rest of this post. If I am understanding what you were trying to say with that comment, I am guessing, because of our previous conversations about doctrines with their origin in the Word of Faith movement, that you are referring to whether it makes sense for God to choose to allow His people (Christians) to be sick. Perhaps a more accurate way of expressing from your point of view would be, "Is it the will of God that a Christian be sick?"
Okie Dokie. I suppose it depends on what you mean by the question. Does God play with our immune systems in the perverted and jaded way that you described in your comments? Of course not! However, if you believe that by being Christians we are somehow able to bypass all potential for sickness because Jesus is like a get out of sickness card in some cosmic game of monopoly, then to that I also say, "Of course not!"
First, what will you do with I Corinthians 11:28-32, "But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world."
I know that the scriptures teach that, "... by his stripes we are healed," and in the gospels, it is made clear that we have access to his miraculous healing power which, I believe is still as true today as in the first generation of believers. However, does this mean that all sickness will be healed in us. Could it not simply refer to the fact that we have this among other miraculous signs at work in our lives as a witness to the truth of Christ. Consider this. We know that Jesus prayed in John 17 to the Father that He would not take us out of the world, but keep us from the evil. We know that Jesus made it clear to his disciples that they (and we) were to face many, many trials, sufferings, and persecutions. Many of the first generation of the church were probably healed only to then be delivered to the Roman government to be killed or worse to watch those closest to them be killed. Why would He allow us to be so vulnerable to one form of suffering but completely keep us from another? Is it not true that someone can live a life that is uniquely glorifying to God because of their faith, peace, and strength in the midst of illness? I know that many denominations and individuals have gone to the other extreme of claiming that to even believe that God is as willing to work miraculously by healing someone today is to not understand the scriptures. That is the subject of a future blog. However, let us not allow their error to drive us to believe that God is somehow required to act in healing someone who is a faithful believer. That is no more scriptural than their belief.
What about 2nd Timothy 4:20, "Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick." Paul is writing this. This is the same Paul that Acts makes it abundantly clear was used by God more times than we know to perform some of the most outrageous miracles ever recorded.
Finally, in Galatians 4:13 Paul makes an amazing statement, "Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first. And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus." He goes on to point to his sickness and how they treated him with such love in the midst of it. He uses this as an illustration of the type of spirit that they should return to instead of their more legalistic leanings as of late. Paul's sickness is used by God to open the door of opportunity to the Galatians to show their love for him, and as a teaching tool for Paul to point back to as a point of reference for them to make their faith's course correction so to speak.
I guess the bottom line is that the goodness of God does lead men to repentance and if it takes Him using terrible events and circumstances including sickness to steer people away from eternity apart from Him or to keep them from causing someone else to miss eternity with Him, then this is an example of His goodness.
May we all embrace eternity's values. I know that I so, so, so often do not.
Sincerely, Dennis.
No comments:
Post a Comment