by Joshua Bixler
1 Peter 2:24: “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”
Military forces use medics on and off the battlefield. In a profession as dangerous and prone to injury as the military is, there needs to be trained medical professionals ready 24/7 to patch up and provide first-aid to soldiers. In the Army, all soldiers receive a certain level of medical training. These soldiers are not trained to be doctors or medics, but they can provide basic first-aid to a soldier in combat before the real medical professional arrives. This training is a vital part of having an effective military force. In the chaos of battle, doctors and medics cannot be everywhere on the battlefield at once. With every soldier being trained in the basics of first-aid, everyone can at least receive the first measures of lifesaving care at any time.
The Bible has multiple examples of God healing people from various illnesses, and in the case of Lazarus, even bringing people back from the grave, but there is a greater healing that God provides that Christian soldiers cannot afford to forget. A person can receive healing from a disease, but that does not mean the person will never be sick again. Even the healthiest people cannot escape the fact that one day they will die.
Every person born on this earth is born with the deadly illness of sin. There is no amount of exercise, healthy food, sleep, or earthly medicine that can stop the death that comes from being born into sin. There is only one cure. The only cure can be found in Romans 10:9-10: “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is LORD,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”
By truly accepting God into your life, you receive permanent healing from the deadliest disease. No earthly disease, whether it is cancer or the coronavirus, can truly kill you. By accepting God, when you cast off this mortal existence, you will live forever in heaven.
We as Christian soldiers are a lot like the combat medics described in the first paragraph. By spreading the Gospel of Christ, we are bringing first-aid to sinners. Like the soldiers on the battlefield though, this first-aid is not the complete lifesaving care they need. Just like the soldiers need the doctor or medic to finish patching them up and save their lives, the sinners still need to accept God into their hearts.
We cannot force sinners to accept Christ, but we can provide first-aid by spreading the good news of His death and resurrection. It is our job to go around spreading that first-aid in the hope that it saves lives from an eternity in Hell. We need to get out of our comfort zones and spread God’s word like loyal Christian soldiers. Once God saves you, do not keep the news to yourselves. There are people that need healing. As it says in Mark 2:17: On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Even though many of us are currently having to stay-at-home, find unique ways to spread God’s love in your interactions over the phone, in-person, and on the Internet today.