Posted November 25, 2009
The time is coming when all humanity will experience the life-giving and life-altering miracles that only the love and power of God can provide.
Health-care reform is a hot topic in the United States at the moment. Every politician, analyst and commentator is throwing around different facts, figures and opinions regarding this vast subject. Just mention the merits or disadvantages of what is commonly called the "public option," and you may spark a verbal fight of major proportions.
The potential impact is breathtaking in scope, as the consequences could ultimately affect one sixth of the resources of the world's greatest economic superpower. The proposed governmental cure has an estimated price tag of $1.2 trillion (yes, that's trillion with a "t") over the next 10 years, and we all know how figures can easily migrate upwards. America has not followed the nationalized medical practices of other Western nations. But that may be about to change.
How did we get here and who is to blame for the rising cost of medical care that is challenging so many families? Well, the usual list of suspects goes like this: doctors, insurance companies with their HMOs, trial lawyers with their gargantuan malpractice suits, government bureaucracies, escalating emergency room costs and, yes, the citizenry themselves, who increasingly view cradle-to-grave health services as a basic human right. Is there enough blame to go all around? Sure! But it's a tangled web that would take the wisdom of Solomon to slice down the middle and get right.
What will be the final outcome of this marathon battle? At this point, no one exactly knows. Everyone knows the system is in need of fixing. But the big question is always: Who goes first and who will lose the most?
A universal healing care plan?
While I can't predict the final outcome regarding national health care, I can firmly direct you to a better future world with a universal healing care plan prescribed by Jesus Christ. Yes, the time is coming when all humanity will experience the life-giving and life-altering miracles that only the love and power of God can provide.
Healing—restoring people to health—is always identified as one of the prime components of the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ, especially in His interaction with those most desperately in need. Matthew 4:23 tells us, "And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people."
It is apparent that Christ dealt with people in a holistic manner that dealt with body, mind and soul. His healing knew no bounds and played no favorites. While many in His day had hoped that this MessiahA Hebrew word meaning literally "anointed one," synonymous with the Greek word christos, translated Christ. "In ancient Israel both persons and things consecrated to sacred purposes were anointed by having oil poured over them ... The Israelites did not think of crowning a king but of anointing him when he was enthroned ... [The future Messiah] is to destroy the world powers in an act of judgment, deliver Israel from her enemies, and restore her as a nation. The Messiah is the King of this future kingdom to whose political and religious domination the other nations will yield. His mission is the redemption of Israel and His dominion is universal. This is the clear picture of the Messiah in practically all of the OT passages which refer to Him" (The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary, "Messiah"). would march in front of an army to liberate them, He instead chose to walk among lepers to liberate them from their socially stigmatizing disease.
All of this was but a foretaste of what is going to occur on a much grander scale when Christ returns to this earth, establishes His literal Kingdom over all peoples, and institutes a universal healing (health-care) program for those who will surrender their lives to Him.
Isaiah 35:5 speaks of a future society when "the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing." This new world ultimately crescendos into a society in which "there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying" (RevelationThe disclosure of God's Word and plan to mankind. In the Bible this refers to making obscure things clear; bringing hidden matters to light; causing especially called individuals to see, hear, perceive, know and understand the things of God; the unveiling of biblical mysteries (Romans 16:25). 21:4). Christ will bring answers that move beyond dealing with the end results of our lifestyles and instead deal with the very causes. In doing so, He is going to put sickness and death out of business.
Perhaps it is time for you to consider what God says about your opportunity to invest in a lifestyle of faith and well-being that can serve a purpose greater than your own life's momentary aches and pains. How about beginning to invest now in something that is going to become universal in scope—the healing care of Jesus Christ? You can begin taking that step by accessing our booklet Making Life Work . It shares biblical wisdom about health now, as well as keys to the eternal spiritual meaning of your life.
