What is at the root of disease?
Discussion question for May 20, 2011.
Are diseases, such as cancer and diabetes, the result of things in the physical realm, the emotional realm, or the spiritual realm? How do you address disease in your life, based on this understanding? What can you do to help someone that is struggling with disease?
Here’s my summary of our discussion.
God wants you well, and sickness is not part of His design or will. Sickness, pain and suffering are all consequences of sin. In some cases it is a direct result of a person choosing to disobey God’s laws. In other cases it is the direct result of a person being affected by the sin of someone else. At times we are unable to identify the specific person or people that sinned, but recognize that disease is the result of being in a sinful world.
The initiation of a disease may come in any of the three realms: spiritual, emotional or physical. Because the human construct integrates these three realms, it is impossible to separate them. By the time a disease is “discovered” it has affected the whole person. Treatment must also address the whole person.
There is a false belief commonly held by believers: “God didn’t intend sickness, therefore I don’t deserve it.” This idea is at the root of many positive thinking strategies and mystic religions. It fails because it misappropriates God’s word of warning: “The wages of sin is death” and “In the day you eat of it, you shall surely die.”
The truth is this: “God didn’t intend sickness, but I deserve it because of my sin and the sin of others.” To get back to God’s perfect will (no sickness or sorrow) requires forgiveness. He provided the means for forgiveness and it is an act of will that each person accept and offer it.
The atonement described in Isaiah 53:4-5 and Matthew 8:16-17 is for sin and sickness. Immediately upon sin entering the world, God stepped in to intervene. We must recognize first, that we deserve to die right now. Except for His incredible love, we die a horrible death. Our response to disease must be to ask for His intervention, though it is not deserved. If He heals and saves, it is by His volition and according to His love.
We need to encourage ourselves and others with the truth. We judge God but don’t understand His nature. Therefore, we blame God for things we believe He is responsible for. We shift the blame when we do. The enemy (accuser of the brethren) traps us and tricks us into rebelling against God (sinning) and then tempts us to blame God for the consequences of that sin! Instead, we should be the ones sticking up for God and His reputation. Share the good news with those struggling with disease that God has intervened and saves us spiritually, emotionally and physically from the wages of sin.