Are You Demonizing God?

John 9:1-3

Message No. 0809 | Twitter @GodandUs | www.wisdom-speaks.ca

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Many christians still believe that when they have problems or fall sick, it’s because God is punishing them for their sins. It is as though to every sin, there is a punishment, which looks like they are paying for their own salvation. If this were the case, then our earthly parents must be more loving that our Heavenly Father. This writing attempts to change our thinking and disposition, by letting us know that the problems we have are mostly of our own choices or the corrupt and broken societies we live in. God is not responsible for our problems, conversely, He is the solution provider.

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It is common among christians to believe that when they suffer some set back, it must be because the Lord is punishing them for their sins. More so, people believe that this conclusion is relevant to others than it is to them. For instance, while it may be difficult to accept that one has sinned and that this is responsible for the fate that they suffer, it is much easier to see a fellow believer who is suffering and conclude that they are being punished because of their evil deeds.

In John chapter 9 verses 1-3, the Bible says that Jesus was passing by and saw a man who was born blind. His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” On the surface, this question looks weird and shows a complete lack of understanding of the action and responsibility of the sinner for his or her own sin. The disciples already knew that the man was born blind, which means that he knew nothing about choices by the time his blindness took effect. How could a fetus have committed a sin that was responsible for his blindness?

On the other hand, the disciples also showed a lack of understanding of the nature of God, as a loving, sin-forgiving and sin-cleansing God. Though the Bible says in Exodus 34 verse 7, that God visits the iniquity of fathers upon their children, the same Bible shows a different nature of God much later in the book of Ezekiel. In chapter 18, the Bible says:

Ezekiel 18:20 NKJV

The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. 

This means that, whereas it is possible for the sin of the father to affect his son, this will likely happen if the son himself turns out as a wicked person who has no regard for God and His laws. According to Ezekiel, the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. The soul that sins (not an innocent soul), the Bible says, shall die.

Just as the friends of Job did, by believing that Job was suffering because of the sins he had committed, the disciples of Jesus Christ believed that being born blind must be directly related to the sins committed by the blind man’s parents or by himself. Unfortunately, this belief is still being upheld by 21st century believers today. I watched the video of a man of God who recalled someone say that each time he did not pay his tithes, something bad always happened to him, either he fell sick and spent lots of money to get well, or his vehicle developed problems that would take lots of money away from him. In other words, God is so vindictive that He punishes him for omitting to pay his tithes. The man of God immediately said, that is not God.

Friends, please do not equate our God to a demon or some other idol that people waste their time worshipping. While it is condemnable to commit sins, our redeeming God does not deal with us according to the multitudes of our sins, else, none of us would be alive. The Bible says in Psalm 130 verse 3, that if God would mark iniquity, no one shall stand. Christians of our days must do better than the friends of Job. We suffer many things because of the broken societies we live in. Our vehicles develop faults partly because of the roads we drive on, and we fall sick partly because of our own lifestyle choices, and widely because of the viruses running free in our communities.

Let us stop demonizing God. He is not an idol or an evil god that would dish out immediate punishments to its  disobedient followers. If God were to make us pay for all our sins, then what was the need for Christ’s suffering and death? Would it not mean that we are paying for our own salvation? Let us live holy before Him, because if we do, there would have been no need to expect His punishment in the first place.

What to Do?

Stop demonizing God. He is not responsible for your problems.