Title: What God Does/John 9:1-7
Contents
As people go through life, they will face many problems. Sometimes, you encounter a simple problem and solve it lightly, but sometimes you are faced with a problem that is difficult to understand.
Then a question arises in our mind. "Why is this happening to me?" So, people are faced with a problem that there is no way to solve and worry about it. That's why some people say, "The next time I stand before God, I have so many questions to ask." That is why we live in this world with many problems.
Not long ago, the mother of a woman who was angry with a vicious taxi robber said, "Why is it my child, there are many evil people and many sinners in the world, but I don't know why my daughter, who was so good, had to die mercilessly at their hands." I saw you sigh.
In fact, we don't know why. If we have to die aimlessly at the hands of evil people, there are many people who will die free of charge and there are many sinners on this earth, so we do not understand why innocent young children should die and innocent good people should die. We do not know if there is any reason or if there is any providence of God there. So, it is something we should ask the next time we stand before God.
Looking at the text, the same question arises here as well. In the text, a person who has been blind from birth is mentioned. This man was born blind from birth. So the disciples asked Jesus about the blind man. The question is twofold.
The first is the question, "Why was this man born blind?" It would be understandable if this person was ill and lost his sight, but if he was blind due to an accidental eye injury, it would be understandable, but no, he was born blind from birth. What is the reason?
The second question, then, is, "Who's sin is this?" Hebrews have a habit of looking at an event and asking the cause. And Hebrews have a habit of thinking that when some misfortune happens, it is because of someone's sin.
So the disciples asked Jesus. “Is this man born blind because of his parents’ sins or his own?
Not only the disciples of Jesus, but we also think this way at times. When things don't go well, you ask, "What sin have I committed?" And he laments, "What sin did I commit in my previous life?"
Even if you don't know, I'm sure you've experienced this as well. This is the so-called causal thought in Buddhism. We don't believe in Buddhism now, but because we've been living in a Buddhist culture for a long time, we naturally come up with this idea too.
However, in reality, it may not be possible. In some cases, it is the parents' sins that cause certain misfortunes and incurable diseases in children. Other times, it may be because of your own sins. For example, if I say that I am promiscuous, have an affair, lead a debauched life, get sick, and eventually lose sight and become blind, it is of course because of my own sin.
On the other hand, when parents who have a sexually transmitted disease through an affair and an affair with disorderly and disorderly life give birth to a child, some children may be born with deformities, and others may be born blind with loss of sight. If so, this is because of the sins of the parents. And if the parents drink too much, smoke a lot, take drugs, even when they're pregnant, will the child be born intact? If you say that a crippled child was born in that way, it must be because of the parents' sins. The young son born to David and Bathsheba died as a result of God's discipline. It is purely because of the sins of the parents. So that's what the disciples asked Jesus.
However, in response to these disciples' questions, Jesus speaks of a third cause. "This man was born blind, not because of his parents' sins, nor because of his own sins. It was because of something God wanted to do that he was blind."
Jesus' answer is, at least, that there is a providence that God wants to do in this event. For example, there is no worldly cause for this event, but a higher level of providence.
Here we see how God works. When God works, He works His way. It's different from how people do it. There are two characteristics of God's work.
First, what God does is always future-proof.
The cause, purpose, and effect of God's work are all future. So, what God does is always hopeful. People are not like that. People put the cause of everything in the past.
For example, I am sick. Then people come to visit the sick and constantly try to find the cause of the disease in the past. So I ask, "Why did you get sick and how did you do that?" Then the person replies, "Because I have sinned." Now this person also has the cause of his illness in the past. It is the same question the disciples asked.
But Jesus answered that this man was blind not because of his parents' sins, not because of his own sins, but because of God's will. For example, it means that the reason this person became blind was because there was some meaning in the future.
Perhaps this blind man must have lived with a lot of resentment during his life. “Why did I become blind from birth?” "Why am I so unhappy?" How unhappy has this person lived for a long time?
But after meeting Jesus today, I came to know that there is a certain providence of God for the future. It made me realize that I have a special mission and not anyone else.
How happy and hopeful must this person have been to have solved a problem that he had not been able to solve? Until now, he had been living with trouble because his own problem could not be solved, but today, after realizing the answer and discovering himself, how happy must this blind man be?
The believer must interpret all matters with the future in mind. When all problems are interpreted in the future, everyone is hopeful. Whatever God does, the result is hopeful and future-proof.
Occasionally, we will officiate an engagement. This engagement ceremony is a little different from a wedding ceremony. Celebrating an engagement ceremony makes you feel more hopeful than a wedding. Two betrothed people will certainly fight if they stay married. You will quarrel, you will hate, and sometimes you will regret getting married. And if they live together for a few years, they too will become dull.
And yet, when you get engaged, you don't even think about it. Because for them now, their hope for the future is more overwhelming than the present. So I like it all the time. When you exchange gifts with each other, you don't know how much you like them. Young people these days can't even be shy. Continue to be single. Sweat and panic and don't do it. What makes these young people so happy is because they have a future.
So people must have this future. Life focuses on the present, and the meaning of life is always focusing on the future. This is the life of a believer. Because God is future. We discover this through the blind man here.
Second, what God does is that all His purposes are good.
This is the second characteristic of God's work. If you look at the life of this blind man here, he lived an unhappy life for a while. But his life then sees great results. Through that event, many people came to know God, to know that Jesus was the Messiah, and to know what God was doing. God's work always develops hopefully like this, and the results are given as benefits.
In John 12, we see the story of Lazarus. Lazarus died at a young age. So the brothers mourned, the villagers mourned, and Jesus wept over the death of Lazarus. But things don't end that way. According to the Bible, Lazarus is later raised from the tomb. Only then will many people come to know God. That's why John 12:11 says, "Because of Lazarus, many Jews went and believed in Jesus." This is the hallmark of what God is doing. In the end, neither God nor Lazarus suffers any loss. After all, it has given many people a different way of thinking and feeling about their lives.
God is working through us right now. Someone is ill to death. It is clearly a great ordeal and unfortunate for him. How heartbreaking and painful would you be? So, I pray seriously with myself and my whole family. Then, at some point, he was miraculously healed. I experienced the miracle of God's healing while I was praying really deeply. So, the sickness was healed like hell. And I got healthy.
So is that the end? no. That person starts telling people this from then on. That is the so-called testimony. If this testimony is successful, it can be a very good evangelism method. This man goes around and preaches God. God works like this. Therefore, any work in which God's providence is included is beneficial.
I am poor now for good reason. What I am wealthy now is that there is a certain plan of God. I am weak now and there is a reason for that. It's difficult now, but it will surely be beneficial after that. That's how God works.
It is the life of a believer to know and live for such reasons. That is why believers do not deny or avoid life, no matter what situation they are in, they can rather be thankful for. We learn this from this blind man.
Most of God's blessings come through this process. And God comes to us through this process. So instead of trying to see one part of our life or the world as a whole, we should be able to see the whole as one part.
We sometimes have doubts. It's time to see people who, as we think, seem very useless, live a long life. That person is living long even though it seems like he has no reason to live that long. We don't know why. It's because God needs him even when people don't need him. Even though I am in such a serious illness that I cannot move right now, I am still alive without dying because I have work to do. We need to know that I am here because God needs me, even if not everyone in the world needs me. How precious is this?
When it is time for someone to die, they do not breathe and do not die. Then, when his son, who was living far away, arrives, he takes his hand, says a word, and closes his eyes comfortably. He couldn't close his eyes because he couldn't say a word. That's right. The reason I am still alive now is because I have work to do and I still have things to say before God.
We must all see ourselves in the grace of God, and we must think about it. When I live like that, I realize that my life is precious and worthwhile.
Look at this blind man here. People were blind, and he was a beggar, and he didn't care about his humble life, but God's providence was there for him. How mysterious life is. This is my story, this is my life. In this way, I also have God's plan, providence, and purpose. Through this blind man, we can see ourselves and see the value. I hope that you too will experience this mysterious grace of God.