With the advancement of medical sciences, diagnosis and subsequent treatment have become quite easy. But in the olden days, people did not have these facilities to identify the specific reason, yet they received healing. It might be because of the pure air quality and organic yields. In this modern age, the air quality has become toxic, and the agricultural fields are filled with artificial fertilizers, loaded with chemicals replacing natural manures to get a better yield. Medical sciences are trying to find medicines to treat the damage that the chemicals have caused in the human body. When improved treatment cures the disease, another disease crops up, and the cycle of finding suitable treatment goes on.
Benefits of Early Diagnosis
The symptoms of the disease lead the patient to consult the doctors for diagnosis. Early diagnosis enables the doctors to understand the medical course and accordingly plan their treatment. The earlier we identify the cause, the easier it is to cure the disease. Concerning our soul, the Spirit of God diagnoses our sin, and the laws give us a glance into the devious course of our sinful life.
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
1 Corinthians 15:56
The irony is that when a laboratory medical report diagnoses us with some disease we accept that and immediately start the treatment. Whereas, when the Spirit of God convicts us of sin, we do not take the treatment immediately, because we prefer our sinful life and predict the length of our life compared with that of other terminal diseases. We are reluctant to administer the word of God to be healed from our sins. We love to live in sin as long as it does not affect our lifeline and plan to take the medicine at the critical moment. Unfortunately, there is no emergency wing or an operation theatre to deal with the disease called sin. Our sins are healed because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross two thousand years ago. This truth does not give us as much satisfaction as the final laboratory report with the negative results.
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
Isaiah 53:5
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
The Symptoms
Concerning our physical ailments, we never mix them up with their symptoms, but in the spiritual course, we often mix up the symptoms of the disease. God desires that we all should be free of sin and its outcome. The Son accomplished the purpose of His Father to deliver us from sins and their consequences. We restrict ourselves with the symptoms, the outcome of it and fail to see the disease within us.
“Behold, all those who were incensed against you
Isaiah 41:11-12
Shall be ashamed and disgraced;
They shall be as nothing,
And those who strive with you shall perish.
You shall seek them and not find them—
Those who contended with you.
Those who war against you Shall be as nothing,
As a nonexistent thing.
There are three kinds of responses hidden in the above verse. The disgraced, the perished and the non-existing beings. Mostly we understand this verse collectively as the one that eliminates our enemies, sicknesses, poverty or problems. We think that this verse means that God is going to disgrace and give shame to the people who are angry with us. Secondly, when our enemies continue their wicked ways, God destroys them. Finally, God has taken away the root cause of all of our problems from our lives, and that is not going to exist anymore in our life.
We feel happy and satisfied that our sicknesses or problems are about to vanish from our lives. While claiming this promise, we restrict ourselves to the people who are against us and fail to go through the final wordings of God but the word says that we will see them again led to shame by our God.
Understanding the Cause
Often we blame the devil or the evil spirits as the reason for our plight. We rely on lame excuses blaming the devil for what we are doing. Mostly we blame people and hate them for their unpredictable behaviour towards us. Often we strengthen ourselves by saying that it is not them, but the devil inside of them who leads them against us. With this, we control our anger on them and route it towards the devil. In this endeavour, we often fail and start hating people without identifying the real cause. We do want to love them but end up hating them.
For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
Romans 7:19-20
The sin in us does not allow us to forgive our offenders as it produces anger, hatred and confuses our minds. Sin prevented Cain from doing the right thing, as he was unable to tolerate God’s blessing on Abel, and the frustration made him a murderer. Was there anything apart from Cain’s sin that caused him to murder his brother?
For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.
Romans 7:11
The Prognosis
If we truly repent, God is faithful to remove our sins, and it will not dwell in us anymore. If we do not have sin within, it will be difficult to identify others’ sins and blame them. When there is no blame game, enmity will come to an end.
He will again have compassion on us,
Micah 7:19
And will subdue our iniquities.
You will cast all our sins
Into the depths of the sea.
If we want to receive complete healing and deliverance, let us look upon Jesus who took our punishment on Him, and with genuine realization ask Him to forgive us. If we say this, He will forgive our sins with gentle caution to sin no more (John 8:11), and the people who fought against us will come to us in peace.
When a man’s ways please the LORD,
Proverbs 16:7
He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Let us not blame any individual, the situation, or the devil as the reason for sinning, instead let us diagnose the sin within us correctly along with its symptoms like jealousy, anger, hatred, greed, lust, and self-righteousness.
The Jordan Valley 