Healing through worship
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Bible Text: Matthew 8:1-4
Healing through worship
In today's passage, the leper bows down to Jesus. Worship Jesus. But something amazing happened. Through worship, his leprosy was healed. At his request, Jesus made him clean. At the time of Jesus, people thought that the cause of disease was sin. Sin actually causes disease. If you do not serve God and serve the world, you will get unwanted diseases. There are many people who live their God-given life without responsibility, experience financial and mental bankruptcy, and live in spiritual death. These are the problems that arise when we worship other things instead of worshiping God. So, the first commandment of the Ten Commandments is “You shall have no other gods before me”. If man does not worship God, he is bound to worship something else. The Bible says that worshiping something other than God is the most fundamental sin.
However, it is not correct to say that sin is the cause of all human suffering. It would be wrong to apply this theology to people born with a disease or disability from birth. This theology is a dangerous belief that inflicts double suffering on them. Job's friends had this attitude. Job's friends said that Job was suffering because he had sinned. But God sided with Job. Although sin and disease are not unrelated, it would be wrong to say that all suffering is due to sin.
Forgiveness through worship
Confession of sins and proclamation of forgiveness are essential in the order of worship. But at some point, modern people began to feel uncomfortable with the word sin. So sometimes the problem of sin is regarded as a mental illness or a psychological problem. This is not correct. The Bible adamantly speaks of this as a matter of sin. Healing in worship has to do with the problem of sin. When the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed, a person can be set free from sin and experience healing. Forgiveness is what causes healing.
Anyone who confesses their sins through worship is forgiven. Just as a person imprisoned for a sin is forgiven at the end of his sentence, we too will be forgiven. The only difference is that because of the blood of Jesus Christ, we do not have to pay the same penalty for our imprisonment. This is objective forgiveness. After serving their time in prison, no one can treat that person as a criminal any more. Objective forgiveness and legal forgiveness have been achieved. He no longer has to pay for his sins. Anyone who confesses that Jesus is Lord has already been forgiven of their sins. And we experience forgiveness of sins every time we worship. This is an objective fact that no one can change. Jesus Christ did it. “I, I, am the one who blots out your transgressions for my sake, and I will not remember your sins” (Isaiah 43:25).
The problem is that even when forgiveness is proclaimed, people still do not experience full healing. Recently, sexual offenses in particular have emerged as a social problem. It is said that many of them commit recidivism even after returning to the world after serving their sentences. Not only is it destroying yourself, but it is also seriously hurting the lives of others. In movies, prisoners often eat tofu when they are released from prison. By the way, they eat white tofu, but most of the time it doesn't change much. Eating tofu does not change a person. Paying for your sins and being forgiven does not heal your wounds and make you a new person.
In many cases, however, believers are no different. We worship, receive a declaration of apology, and go out into the world, but our appearance does not change much. It is like the tofu eaten by those released from forgiveness of sins. There is a shape of change, but there is no real change. Although there is a form of godliness, it does not have the power of godliness (2 Timothy 3:5). Although outward forgiveness has been achieved, healing through the experience of deep inner forgiveness has not yet been achieved.
Healing through worship
As a child, I had many boils on my body. How do I fix a boil? Usually plaster is applied. However, just applying a plaster does not remove the pus. The surest way to get rid of a boil is to squeeze it out and remove it down to the roots. My father knew the best way to get rid of boils. So you mercilessly squeezed my boil. I resisted by screaming at the highest pitch a man can produce. However, after my father's procedure was finished, the pain from the boil disappeared and the skin around the boil became normal again. Then, after undergoing this procedure several times, I thought that I could no longer handle it, and I refused my father's procedure once. I ended up squeezing the boil. However, the root of this boil seems to be very deep. So I still have a scar on my right thigh. As a child, I have memories of wanting to get rid of this scar, cutting it out with my fingers and making it even more annoying. It should have been removed before it hardened and became a scar, but I avoided it because I hated the pain.
The same is true of spiritual matters. The spiritual problem is the problem of sin. The problem of sin is a problem of relationships. When our relationship with God becomes distorted and our relationships with people begin to become distorted, boils also form in our souls. But as the boil grows, it begins to take very deep roots. You have to squeeze this out, and we say it's okay and it'll get better with time. And then put a band on it blindfolded. Although it may look fine on the outside, the boil will spread even more. Even if it hurts, it should be treated. Even if it hurts, it must be treated.
God wants a complete change through an inner change, not an appropriate change. God's forgiveness should not be made cheap. You must experience God's forgiveness and proceed to complete healing. God fully understands the human body. He says he has numbered even the hairs of our heads. He knows our hearts and our characters. We all know what our personality structure is like, our cognitive structure, and our emotional dynamics. We must come closer to Him and trust Him fully. If the surgery goes wrong, you have to shake off the fear of what to do and go out.
Just as the leper went to worship him with pus flowing all over his body, so we must worship as we are. We must bow down to Him and worship Him alone. Then, like the lepers, the power of Jesus will come upon us.
Go to Worship
At the time of Jesus, there was a woman who had a hemorrhage (Mark 5:25-34). This woman has met many doctors. However, as time passed, her illness did not improve. She hears rumors about Jesus and goes to his place. According to the laws of that time, anyone who sheds blood is unclean. But she came to Him in unclean body, shedding blood. And so carefully I touched the hem of his robe.
Worship is coming to Him. Like this woman, you are going to throw away your pride and move forward. If I was far away from him, his power would be only marginally affected by me. As I draw closer to him, his power will reach out to me with mighty power. It will have the ability to melt frozen lumps of wounds and allow new flesh to sprout. It will be the ability to stop the blood that doesn't stop. It will be the ability to stop the tears that never stop.
Where is your place of worship? Are you with Jesus? Or are you a crowd watching him from afar? Are you still afraid to draw near to Him? Am I still living with the pride that I will solve my problems? Or are people like me pretending to be humble, saying how can I approach him? We need boldness of faith. We need the courage of a woman suffering from leprosy and hemorrhage. You must go to Him and bow down before Him. I have to let go of my pride, the things I depend on. Worshiping Him is the only way to experience forgiveness and healing.
Are you still afraid of God coming into your life? I'm still at the center. You are worshiping me instead of worshiping God. God is my priority, not me. If we do not worship the Most High God, we are bound to worship ourselves or something else. Lower the barriers to allow God to invade our lives. Give yourself completely to Him. Exodus 15 refers to God as “Jehovah Rapha”. It means a God who heals, a God who restores, a God who heals. Worship God. Take one more step into the presence of God. God will heal you.