Determination - Part iV
“And again He entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that He was in the house. And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and He preached the Word unto them. And they come unto Him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. And when they could not come nigh unto Him for the press, they uncovered the roof where He was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, He said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.” —Mark 2:1-5
The believer’s faith will be tested, but to reach the triumph of faith, he must exhibit a tenacity that says, “I will not stop believing.” In Mark 2, Jesus saw the tenacious faith of these men who broke up a roof to get their sick friend to Jesus, and we see the result: the life of the paralyzed man was forever transformed. They had brought this man, sick of the palsy, to receive a healing, but he came away with so much more. Not only was he physically healed; he was also spiritually healed.
Every miracle that Christ performed on this earth was so much greater than the actual miracle itself. The healing of this sick man was no different. Physically, he needed healing, but he was in far greater need of spiritual healing. Jesus first had to address the root of the problem: the sin in this man’s life that left him in this terrible condition. Before He could ever meet the physical need of this man, He needed to meet the spiritual need.
Sickness And Sin
All sickness is a direct result of sin. When Adam fell, sin and sickness came into this world. It was never God’s will for anyone to ever get sick, but because of sin, sickness entered into the picture.
If you want to see what man would have been like without the sin nature, then look no further than Jesus Christ. He was the very epitome of what man should have and could have been. Jesus was not born in the normal manner as you and I were born, through the union between man and woman. Christ was born by decree. The Holy Spirit spoke conception into existence, and Christ was conceived. As a result, Christ did not have a sin nature, which meant that He never got sick—He never had a cold, the flu, or even a headache. He was born perfect, lived perfect, and died as the perfect sacrifice to redeem mankind from sin. It had to be this way, for if He would have become sick in any fashion, then He would not have been the perfect sacrifice.
Look back at what happened during the old covenant. When God instructed sinful man to offer a lamb for sacrifice, it had to be perfect, which meant that it could not have any sickness or disease attached to it whatsoever. They had to inspect minutely, and if they had found any type of discoloration, sickness, spots, or imperfections, that lamb was discarded and another chosen. All of this was to point to the one who would come, who would be perfect in every area of life, including being free from sickness or disease.
Sickness is caused by sin, but not every sickness is caused by the personal sin of the individual, although some can be. Liver cancer, for example, can be caused by the excessive drinking of alcoholic beverages. HIV can result from unprotected sex outside of marriage. And lung cancer often results from years of smoking.
But there are some sicknesses that are caused through no fault of the individual. In the case of this man in Mark 2, his sickness was caused by his lifestyle of sin. When Jesus said to him, “Your sins be forgiven,” He was dealing with this man’s spiritual situation first.
It’s remarkable that Jesus called this man “Son,” because he was not yet saved. Notice that Christ never condemned the man in spite of his current condition. Let this be a lesson to us today: Jesus never condemns anyone who comes to Him seeking help, regardless of his physical condition. He is there to help us and to bring us to a place of spiritual freedom. Christ forgave this man of his sin, even though the sacrifice—Himself—had not yet been given, and His blood not yet poured out. This was done on a judicial basis, by what He would do, which would satisfy the demands of the broken law and bring about divine justice.
Now that the Cross is a fact, forgiveness can be experienced by simple faith, just as it was experienced by this man, even though the work had not yet been accomplished. The man believed in what Christ said, and we believe in what Christ accomplished. By looking to Christ and the Cross by faith, God forgives the sinner and looks at the believing sinner as though he had never sinned a day in his or her life, which is justification. The act of sin that was produced by the believing sinner was completely blotted out, removed, done away with, forgiven, and cast into the sea of God’s forgetfulness, never to be brought back up again. Hallelujah! That is good news for everyone who will simply believe.
Forgiveness And Triumph
And not only did this man receive forgiveness of sin, but he received what he came to Jesus for, his healing. All of this was accomplished because there was a group of men who, when met with a test of their faith, would not quit, would not give up, and would not be deterred. There was a tenacity to their faith, and as a result, there was triumph. Their friend was forgiven and healed.
The same can be said for you today, no matter what happens in life regarding your trials, don’t give up, continue to press through and believe that God is able to do what is needed, and if it’s in the will of God, there will be a triumph to your faith. I encourage you, believe Him and refuse to believe the lies of the enemy telling you that it will never happen. Believe God that it can and will happen!
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