Saturday, February 27, 2010

God's Zeal to Save (Revised, 3/28/2010)


The Gospel of John Chapter 9 is a remarkable story, unusually long for a gospel, but it ought to be read.  In this story, our Lord Jesus turns a blind man into a believer, prophet, and teacher of the Jews!

But, the point addressed in this blog article is simply this:

NKJ John 9:1-3  Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him."
Christ's disciples thought they were delving into big-time theology when they could converse with the "expert," God's Messiah, about the legal niceties of responsibility for sin.  But, our Lord would have nothing of it.  He simply would not talk about or calculate the consequences of the man's sin.  He even says that the real reason for the man's distress isn't his sin!  He can say this because there is a bigger revelation to make than judgment for sin -- a revelation so big that it swallows up sin.  The man's predicament is instead an opportunity for the works of God to be revealed in him.

Now we know that the man born blind could not have been born blind if Adam had not sinned.  The man is guilty.  So are his parents.  They are more guilty than the disciples can even imagine.  But, God did not permit sin in order to simply bring a curse.  He permitted sin in order to show himself the Savior.  Jesus portrays the healing of this blind man as a manifestation of the (good) works of God -- as opposed to the (evil) works of man.  God is good -- and he is good to sinners.  He is the saving God.  The "works of God," which are his glory, are saving works. And, his saving works are greater than all our sin!

Christ is so zealous so save and to show forth the works of God that he put the man's sins out of his mind!  He simply refuses to bring them up against him -- forever.   (Heb 8:10-12)
 

1 comment: