Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
We have touched upon the absence of “pain” (Revelation 21:4) in the heavenly city, as well as “the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:2). There is no doubt that complete healing of all kinds takes place as we enter eternity with Jesus; as we have previously studied, “healing” in Revelation 22:2 means “health-sustaining.” The issue of healing now is also an important one. Some cruelly say that people who are not healed now do not have enough faith; this vicious assertion has no place in Christianity. We do know that all physical healing comes from God, for He calls Himself YAHWEH-rapha, “the LORD [Who] healeth thee” (Exodus 15:26). I know people – not very many – who have been blessed by the direct intervention of God in their health needs. Unfailingly, their response to the miraculous has been humble, with all attention directed to the goodness of God. We should also admire the fact that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14); God far more frequently works through His establishment of protective systems in our bodies. For example, if we simply flipped our skin over, we would all quickly die, for skin – even my aging, wrinkled skin – is a powerfully effective barrier against infections of all kinds – and is covered with enough bacteria and viruses to overwhelm our internal systems in a matter of hours. We must remember that illness, pain, and suffering are the sad effects of Adam’s sin. This sin has affected (and infected) all areas of life, including our health. The fact that “pain” will be dealt with decisively as we inter the heavenly city is a blessed reminder that there is healing ahead and that God is indeed YAHWEH-rapha, “the LORD [Who] healeth thee.”