Healthy, Not Health Care
by Pastor Matthew E. Walker, 16 August 2009

Our nation is embroiled in a raucous debate as to how to reform the healthcare industry. Our President has endorsed the basic tenants of a plan in both chambers of our Congress while the minority party has stiffened in opposition. Caught in the middle are the American people, businesses that deal with health insurance, and hospitals and doctors who actually mete out the needed care. With all the hubbub there are many frantically searching for answers.

What strikes me about the debate is that, strip away all the fluff, and what you have is that people don’t really want health care. They want to be healthy. That is, it would suit most people just fine if they never had to visit a doctor at all. Understanding this opens the door to a different angle on this discussion. What role does God have in our health?

Because we live in the Age of Science people are slow to understand God’s sovereign role in life. The religion of our times is Scientism. For example, Scientism says that the earth evolved from a cosmic gas and an incredible explosion and that over eons of time everything just came to happen. Moreover, Scientism says that man is causing global warming and that people need to radically change their personal life habits because we are destroying the planet. Compare those two ideas with what the Bible reveals in Colossians 1:16-17.

16 For by [Jesus] were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

Not only did God create this world but it only holds together because of Him. The earth does not revolve around the sun giving the appearance of sunrise and sunset just because. It happens because God makes it happen every day. Scientism is unable to grasp this truth. It claims that man evolved and that he can, somehow, control his own destiny on earth. That includes killing the planet off through greenhouse gas emissions from First World living standards. Man did kill the world but it wasn’t through air conditioning and cars and oil by-products. Man killed the earth the day he sinned against God. Romans 8:19-22 explains how man’s sin affected his environment.

19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

In a deeply theological section the Bible explains that because of man’s sin creation is also subject to corruption and death. After Adam sinned man began to die and so did the animals and plants. Before his sin there was no death. It is a little known fact that our first parents, Adam and Eve, only ate plants. It wasn’t until after the Great Flood that God revealed to Noah that the animals were for meat. Originally, man was an herbivore. He was created in perfection and was not subject to death. The animals did not die. There was no death. But God warned Adam about death. He warned Adam in Genesis 2:15-17.

15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

The warning is that sin brings death. When Adam sinned death was introduced into the world and death passed along to everyone because everyone has sinned. Do not be confused here. Physical death is the result of spiritual sin. Romans 6:23 says that death is the result of sin.

So what role does God have in our health? The answer is: everything. Scientism says that man is created by the physical union of a man and woman (or more specifically the union of their biological substance because non-sexual reproduction is taking place in laboratories), God says that He uses that process to bring people into this world. Children are not the result of some biological process. They are born according to the will of our sovereign God. And because of Adam’s sin, they are born dying. Sickness and death are typical of life “out of the Garden,” a place God never intended man to live. God promised Adam that sin would bring death and it surely has.

Now our God is not without love. He realizes that His precious creation is dying and that is why Jesus came to earth. His death on the cross was in substitution for us. He was fully righteous and without any sin. When He died by crucifixion at the hands of Roman soldiers He died for the sins of any who would turn to Him by faith. Like one of the men who died alongside Him that horrible day, any turning to Jesus in repentance and trust is accepted. When Jesus died and later rose again He defeated death. For the Christian, there is no sting in death.

I was reminded of this as I sat in a Chick-Fill-A in Kernersville, NC one Saturday. Right beside the door there was a table set up with some friendly ladies standing there offering people the chance to donate a dollar to an 8-year old boy who had cancer. His medical bills, even with insurance were well over fifty thousand dollars. As I gave dollars to my children I thought about that family struggling through this crisis. I am sure that they would gladly give everything they had for a healthy son. Healthcare means little to people who are dying. Does it matter if you die in your own bed or in a hospital? I would rather die at home. All the promises of our government that they will bring access to healthcare to everyone is noble but a fool’s game. People will still die. If that little boy overcomes cancer, and I really hope that he does, he will still die someday. Remember, “death passed to all men, for that all have sinned.” The best Scientism can offer is some “quality” of life. It cannot relieve people from physical death. As a Christian, while it is true that I will die physically, unless the Lord Jesus returns first, that death is merely a passageway to heaven, my real home.

As the healthcare debate continues through the fall and even possibly into next year’s election cycle do not be misled by media reports and any other propaganda from Scientism. Even if your health care improved, which I doubt, that will not make you healthy. Health comes from God. Be certain you are right with Him.