Introduction:
Man was created in the image and likeness of God with power to make choices. These choices determine the quality of our lives and our eternal destiny. Eve made the choice to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil rather than the fruit of the tree of life and convinced Adam to follow her example. They chose spiritual and physical death rather than eternal life. They made the wrong choice although God had warned them that the day they ate “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they shall surely die.” (Gen 2:17) They could have eaten of the fruit of all the other trees in the garden that included the fruit of the tree of life but chose to eat the one forbidden fruit. Their disobedience cost them their home in the Garden of Eden and God placed a “cherubim with a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life”. (Gen. 3:24) This was for their own good to prevent them from eating the fruit of the tree of life and living forever in their sinful state. God already had a plan to redeem man. His only Son, Jesus Christ, would become a man, defeat Satan and conquer death.
Step One: Sin changed the world
a) It ushered in death
The sin of disobedience changed the world. It ushered in death “for the wages of Sin is death”. (Rom 6:23) At Creation Adam and Eve were pure and without sin. Sin changed their godly nature and that of their descendants for in Adam “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). We are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners.
b) It affected fellowship with God
Sin cost Adam and Eve their relationship with God and affected their fellowship with Him. God is a righteous Judge and no sinful person could come before His presence. Adam and Eve knew this and hid from Him because sin had left them naked.
c) It blocks access to God’s provisions
Sin does not only separate us from God Who is the source of life, it also blocks our access to God’s abundant provisions. Without access to these provisions we end up experiencing lack, poverty, sickness and disease.
Illustration:
Sin makes us self-righteous and self-centred. It makes us think we do not need God and can get all that the world has to offer without Him. It makes us judgemental believing we are better than others and fills us with envy when others appear better off than we are and makes us rejoice at their downfall. David is described as a man after God’s own heart because he was different. He was sad when he heard the news about the death of Saul and Jonathan. His words and behaviour showed no hint of ill feelings towards Saul. It seemed he had already forgiven Saul and had forgotten all the years of injustice and oppression he had suffered at his hands. His behaviour reflected his feelings of love and admiration for Saul.
Application:
Forgiveness is enlightened self-interest. It is in our own interest to forgive because God forgives us much more than we can ever forgive.
Step Two: The healing of the sick
a) Jesus had compassion for the sick
God is love and Jesus had compassion for all those in need and went around healing the sick. When He came into contact with suffering He knew exactly the source of the problem and the reason for their suffering.
b) Jesus knew suffering was not God’s will
Jesus knew that suffering was not God’s will. He knew that it was sin that had ceded man’s authority to the devil and his intention was to make man as miserable as possible to frustrate God’s purpose. Luckily for man God’s purpose can be delayed but it cannot be stopped.
c) Jesus knew He had authority over sickness
Jesus Christ knew His identity and that He had authority over sickness and disease. He knew the devil had nothing of his in Him since He was born of a virgin and had no sin nature. That is the reason why “He was tempted in all ways as we are yet was without sin”.
Illustration:
Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. The Word of God carries a measure of faith that is available to every person. Faith believes God and is the only thing that really impresses Him. Jesus identified faith as the source of the healing of the woman with the issue of blood. Faith not only believes God but acts upon His Word. The woman heard about Jesus and believed that by touching the hem of His garment, she would be healed and she acted on what she believed. This woman had been isolated and denied fellowship in the Synagogue and with other people because of her condition. Her faith overcame all obstacles in her way. A woman with an issue of blood was forbidden by the Law to appear in public or touch another person. She, however struggled in her weakened condition to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment. The hem of His garment refers to the tassels placed at the corners of the Jewish prayer shawl. These tassels represented the 613 commandments contained in the Torah and are also referred to as wings. Touching the hem of the garment being worn by the One who had fulfilled the Law, the woman was declaring that Christ was the Messiah and that “The Sun of righteousness had come with healing in His wings”. (Mal. 4:2)
Application:
God’s grace is available to everyone. However, we take hold of what the grace of God has made available by faith. There was a great crowd around Jesus with many coming into contact with Him yet only the one with faith received a miracle.
Step Three: The raising of the dead
a) Jesus has power over Satan
Jesus Christ has power over Satan. When God created man, “He gave him dominion and put all things under his feet”. (Psalm 8:6) Sinful man could no longer exercise power and authority and Satan exercised this power illegally till a man without a sin nature came and legally regained the power God had given to man.
b) Jesus Christ has power over death
Jesus Christ overcame the devil and demonstrated His power over death by raising the dead to life. This was to demonstrate what would happen on the cross when the devil will finally be defeated and the power of death overcome.
c) Jesus Christ has power to give life
Jesus Christ has power to overcome death and give life. When He raised the dead back to life He was demonstrating that a time was coming when He would raise the dead to eternal life so that, “as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”. (Rom 5:21)
Illustration:
Faith is necessary for healing and the raising of the dead. Our Lord’s delay in arriving at the home of Jairus was increase his faith to receive a greater miracle. The raising from the dead required a greater faith than a healing and would bring greater glory to our Lord. Jesus’ delay also revealed the lack of faith on the part of those who came to report the girl’s death, and on the part of the mourners who had begun to weep and wail over her death. Jesus could easily have prevented the girl from dying, whether He was present or absent, but He chose to overcome death instead. The divine delay was for Jairus to witness the faith of the woman with the issue of blood and to hear the words of Christ. After witnessing such life changing experience Jairus would return home with greater faith believing that Jesus had power over death. After restoring the child to life Jesus told them to give the girl something to eat. One would have thought that if Jesus could raise the girl from the dead He could also have done so with a full stomach. And He could have done so. But here we are thought a very important principle that God does not do for people what they can do for themselves. Jairus could not heal his sick daughter, nor raise her when she died. Jesus could and did so. But Jairus and his wife could feed the child and so Jesus did not do so miraculously. Miracles do not need to be performed where normal human effort is sufficient.
Application:
The delay of Christ and the healing of the woman with the issue of Blood challenged and increased the faith of Jairus. The delay of Christ was not wasted time, it was for the benefit of Jairus. God’s blessing of others does not limit our own blessings in any way. Rather the greater the delay, the greater our faith and the greater the blessing.
Conclusion:
Jesus Christ has power over Satan and death. He defeated Satan and conquered death forever when He shed His blood on Calvary. When Jesus died, the veil in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom opening the way for all believers to enter into the presence of God. The veil in the Temple had woven into it the Cherubim and by tearing it God was revealing that the cherubim with the flaming sword was no longer where he was detailed to be and there was no longer a barrier to the tree of life. The resurrection of Christ is proof that Satan has been defeated and death has been conquered. His resurrection testifies to our own resurrection and eternal life with Him and because He lives we also live.
Personal Response:
Our lives as believers should be a testimony and witness of God’s love, that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”. (John 3:16) Let us by faith take hold of what the grace of God has made available to us that our lives will be to the praise and glory of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
