What is sin like? Christianity has an
abundance of symbolic words for sin: a wayward path, a stain,
darkness. Most seem to explain why only Christ can remove our sin,
and I think Psalm
41:3&4 can make a vital contribution to our medley of
metaphor. The Psalmist called to God for merciful healing, because
of his sin. His sin was referred to as an illness which needed
healing.
Now some may argue that God punishes
sin with disease, but personally I think it's foolhardy to blame an
illness or calamity on God unless God has explicitly taken credit for
the injury. Certain
Christian figureheads like to talk about why God sends disease
and disaster, and it embarrasses me every time. In scripture God did
strike some people with punishing sickness, but others just got sick.
Some were healed, and some were not. The only time we can tell
which afflictions were punishments from God and which were not is
when the Bible clearly delineates. Since the Bible does not say that
God punishes such-and-such a sin with such-and-such an illness I'd
just as soon take the Bible as is and not add anything to it. In any
case the only illness of eternal importance is the illness of sin,
and that is not a punishment; sin is self-inflicted.
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| Photo By: Beverly & Pack |
Sin is our fault, and we are fully
responsible for our own; at least, we were. Jesus, as you remember,
did an awful lot of healing. He still heals, and most importantly he
still heals that worst illness: sin. This is why the Psalmist called
for mercy. We can call for mercy as well, with perfect confidence
that Jesus Christ is the great physician who comes not to the healthy
but to the sick. (Mark
2:17)
