A Theology of Sickness.
Why do people get sick? Why do we suffer from a failure in our immune system? More importantly, why did I wake up feeling like crap this morning… Why?
When I speak in terms of a theology of a certain topic, I bring what I know about God through his word and apply it to the topic at hand. This practice allows us to bring to light a God centered perspective on our world rather than a subjective man center perspective. So, according to the Bible, what are the reasons we face sickness?
1. Personal Sin – In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul corrects the church in Corinth about their sin at the Lord’s Supper. They do not “discern the body” (read: church membership) and thus allow those who live like an unbeliever to freely take the Lord’s Supper. Paul directly says that this sin has led to people becoming “weak and sick” (1 Corinthians 11:30). Now while it is not a rule that every time someone sins they get sick; we do have an example from Scripture that the Lord may choose to discipline through sickness those who sin.
2. The Unknown Wisdom of God – Other times we God allows us to get sick that ministers to us in a way we would not receive if healthy. We may never know the precise benefit or reason, but the Sovereign Creator has his purposes for “the Lord Almighty has his purposes, who can annul it? (Isaiah 14:27). When I think of God’s unknown wisdom, I think of Job. The Lord allowed Satan to kill Jobs family and strike him with disease. Through all of his suffering and sickness, Job came to the conclusion of 42:5-6, “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” I am convinced that the Lord commits to allow suffering in our lives in order for us to come to a humble, broken faith (cf. 1 Peter 1:6-7).
3. The Fall – When God cursed the earth and man in Genesis 3, man’s body became frail to the point of death. Then, again, in Revelation 22:2-3, John reminds us that the curse will be removes when Jesus returns and establishes New Creation. But in the meantime, we live with sickness and death. Sickness is a reminder that death reigns and people are under the curse. Could it be that sickness is an ironic grace that the Lord gives to remind us of our need for the Gospel of Jesus because we cannot refute we are under the curse when we are sick? The reality of a limited body is never more real than when we are sick; but on the flip side, the hope of New Creation is never sweeter than when your body hurts.
June 29, 2010 at 7:01 pm
The scriptural truth that reveals sin to be one source of sickness is one overlooked to a disturbing degree.
I know this is not the most profound statement but in reference to The Fall and consequent physical frailty, but you don’t really think about sickness until yourself or someone close you is sick and you are instantly reminded of how weak your physical body is.