Gods Works

And His disciples ask Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents that he should be born blind?"  Jesus answered, "Neither this man sinned, nor his parents, but it is that the works of God may be manifested in him." 

Johns Account 9: 2-3, Concordant New Testament 

Have you ever wondered why it is that God does what He does?  How He allows some to prosper while other toil?  Indeed, this is one of the most common criticisms that I hear from both believers and non believers alike.  Some say that they cannot trust in a God Who would allow such suffering in the world.  Still others cling to the traditional "It's Gods will" mantra.  While the Lord may adhere to His will in so many matters, I believe that there is something which many Christians refuse to consider.  That being that God would allow some to suffer or toil that His love might be manifested in them.  In the series The Chosen, Jesus comes across a man who has been blind since birth.  Immediately His followers question him concerning the mans sin, asking Jesus if the man or his family were guilty of sin that he should be born blind.  Unfortunately, this is how many believers think when life gets difficult.  That somehow God is punishing us for our sin or unbelief.  Growing up, I was constantly reminded of the consequences of failing God.  Whenever I would be going through a difficult time, the first question my friends in church would ask is "What have you done to upset God?"  Although I may not have been guilty of anything, this is where their institutional church based thinking led them.  This is the place which the disciples of Jesus find themselves in as Jesus attends to the blind man.  In Jewish tradition, this man must have been guilty of some kind of sin for God to punish him with blindness, right?  But Jesus saw right through it.  For Jesus, this was an opportunity to manifest the Father, not to chastise the man for his sin.  Jesus responds by reminding His followers that it was not that the man sinned, "But that the works of God may be manifested in him" {Johns Account 9:2-3}.  Jesus took the attention away from sin and punishment and replaced it with the love and mercy of the Father.  Thus, the Jewish authorities criticized Jesus for healing a man on the Sabbath.  

Who Himself carries up our sins in His body on the pole, that, coming away from sins, we should be living for righteousness; by Whose welt you were healed. 

 

Peter to the Dispersion (1) 2: 24, Concordant New Testament 

The idea of sin has been one that has permeated Christianity for centuries.  God, being fair and just, must have a plan for punishing those who engaged in sin, right?  Yes, God does indeed have a plan for dealing with those who have engaged in sin, but it's nothing like many Christians have come to expect.  The apostle Peter tells us that Jesus bore our sins in His body on the cross {Peter to the Dispersion (1) 2:24}.  The apostle Paul proclaims that Jesus became sin on our behalf {Paul to the Corinthias (2) 5:21}.  The Lords plan for dealing with our sin was that He would dispatch His Son that He would give Himself for us {Johns Account 3:16-17}.  When we break it down, the issue isn't who has sinned, but who is able to see God at work in lifes most difficult situations.  Jesus looked past the sin issue and the love of the Father was manifested in His healing of the man born blind.  Ask yourself, where is God in the war in Israel?  Where is God in the child born with cancer?  God is where He has always been, right in the middle of all which He has created.  There have been many times in my life where I have been blind to the works of the Father by the situations I found myself in.  I no longer instinctively run to the issue of sin whenever life gets difficult.  For Paul has proclaimed that we should consider ourselves dead to sin through the work of Christ Jesus {Paul to the Romans 6:11}.  To know God on a more intimate level allows me to more closely see the works of the Father. 

~Scott~