The current COVID-19 pandemic we are
experiencing is hopefully a once in a lifetime event. With something this
dramatic taking place it seems prudent to look for lessons that can be
applied. In that regard, there are
probably countless lessons we can learn including better preventative hygiene,
proper disaster planning, leadership models (both good and bad), re-evaluation
of priorities, spending a lot of concentrated family time, etc. One aspect that occurred to me was a spiritual
illustration. Through one super
spreader, Adam, the world has become infected with the sin virus. And, if you’re a father, you’re a spreader
too. So, what spiritual lessons does
this analogy offer?
Verse
Things to think about:
· While the
Garden of Eden was surely nicer than the Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market, the
epicenter of the disease has been identified.
o
And like in Wuhan, an animal, in this case a serpent, was the
ultimate source of the disease.
o
At that time, God was acting as a sort of CDC, imploring the
people to stay away from a known threat to their health. And like some folks today, Adam and Eve
believed fake news (“you will not certainly die”) leading them to ignore the
warnings and pay a very heavy price.
o
They knew almost immediately they had contracted the disease and
self-quarantined (they even had Personal Protective Equipment!).
§ Genesis 3:7-88
– “Then
the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were
naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for
themselves. Then
the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the
cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.”
· As we said,
Adam was the original super spreader.
o
Romans 5:12 – “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one
man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people,
because all sinned”
· The sin virus
is invisible, 100% contagious, and deadly.
o
Romans 3:23 – “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”
and Romans 6:23 – “the wages of sin is death”
· The world has
come up with many home remedies such as religions, good works, and philosophies
o
Romans 1:22 – “Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools”
o
Colossians
3:8 – “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive
philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual
forces of this world rather than on Christ.”
o
Isaiah 64:6 – “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our
righteous acts are like filthy rags”
· The truth is
Jesus is the only way to eradicate the sin virus
o
John 14:6 - Jesus
answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No
one comes to the Father except through me.”
o
Romans 8:3-4 – “…God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of
sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order
that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us…”
· Just like
with a physical cure, you actually have to take the medicine. It’s not enough to consider it or watch other
people take it.
o
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.”
· Once we’ve
been cured, it is our responsibility to help others who also have been
infected.
o
Mark 16:16 - Then Jesus said, “Go into the world. Go everywhere and
announce the Message of God’s good news to one and all. Whoever believes and is
baptized is saved; whoever refuses to believe is condemned.”
o
A lot of people think they won’t get sick from coronavirus because
they’re too young, too healthy, or just lucky.
Of course that’s not true.
o
Similarly, many folks think the sin virus doesn’t affect
them. They’re “good people” who “try to
do the right thing”. But we know the
disease is no respecter of persons.
o
How can you and I be “carriers of the cure”?
§ Who do you
know whose life is in the ICU right now and desperately needs the breath of
life that only Christ can provide?
