The Works of God Displayed

[Christsfreeservant]

“As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’ Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.” (John 9:1-7 ESV)​

So, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples were obviously with him at the time, for they inquired of Jesus as to the reason the man was born blind, asking if it was a result of sin, either of the man or of his parents. Now I don’t quite understand their thinking with regard to the man sinning being the cause of him being born blind, but I do understand that some people will associate sickness or trials or tribulations in people’s lives with sin, thinking that they must have sinned against God for this bad stuff to happen to them, like Job’s friends did with him when he was enduring his trial.

But sickness and injuries and trials and tribulations are things which we will all face because we live on this earth in flesh bodies, regardless of whether we are walking in sin or in righteousness and holiness. So we should not ever associate sin with someone’s trials unless we know for a fact that the person has been living in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord, but even there, their sickness or trials or whatever may not have anything to do with their sins, for we all go through things like this, don’t we? And as followers of Christ we are destined for hardships and persecutions, etc.

Now I love this part that follows!! Jesus said that the man was not born blind due to his sins nor to the sins of his parents, but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him. Wow! It was God’s will and purpose that this man would be born blind so that when Jesus healed him of his blindness, the works of God might be displayed in his life. And it was God’s will when he created you and he placed you in the family where you grew up as a child, and when he allowed you to face all kinds of difficulties and rejections and persecutions throughout your life. All this serves God’s purposes for you.

For we are not promised “easy street” in this world. We are promised hardships, persecutions, difficulties, trials, and tribulations. And as followers of Christ we are taught that these serve God’s purposes in our lives to mature us in him, to teach us endurance and perseverance and steadfastness of faith, and to teach us to rely on him and not on ourselves, and to build within us moral character and Christlikeness. For we are called of God to share in the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. And these are used of God to test the genuineness of our faith.

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]

Now, it is never God’s will that we sin against him, but he will use even our failures as lessons for us when we turn to him in repentance and we now walk in holiness and in righteousness. These failures are reinforcements and reminders of what it was like when we were out of fellowship with him and so that we will not ever want to return to where we were before. And we read some of these reminders in the New Testament when the apostles reminded the believers of where they were before they believed in Christ, and of the purpose of why Jesus died on that cross, and as warnings to not go back there, and as encouragements to go in the right direction.

“So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, ‘Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.’ He answered, ‘Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.’” (John 9:24-25 ESV)​

So, back to the blind man… his blindness served God’s purpose in his life in order that the Lord would make him into the person he created him to be, so not just for the purpose of a miracle of healing of blindness, but for the purpose of turning this man from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that he might receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 26:18). For the man did believe in Jesus Christ, and he did worship him, and he gave glory to God for his healing (see John 9:8-38).

So, the Lord Jesus not only healed him physically, but he healed him spiritually. For once he was blind, not just physically, but spiritually, and now he could see both physically and spiritually because of the grace of God and because he believed Jesus and he worshipped him. He even stood up to the Pharisees who were trying to harass the man into agreeing with them that Jesus was a sinner, and he told them that if this man (Jesus) was not from God that he could do nothing. And they didn’t like what he said, and so they cast him out. And we will be cast out, too, when we stand up for truth and righteousness and when we rebuke the lies and the tricks of the enemy.

Give Thanks

By Don Moen / Henry Smith

Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son

And now let the weak say, "I am strong"
Let the poor say, "I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us"

We give thanks to You oh Lord
We give thanks

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