LIE: The Coronavirus is God’s judgment on the world.
Have you heard this? If you haven’t heard it, good for you, but lemme tell ya, it’s all over the place.
Here’s one Christian speaker who is known for speaking out about 9/11, and speaking out about Hurricane Katrina, and speaking out now about Coronavirus. Time and time again, many speakers have spoken out in the name of Jesus, saying that God is bringing these things on the world as punishment. God is apparently ticked off at New York, then He gets ticked off at Louisiana and apparently now He’s ticked off at the whole world, according to what we’re hearing.
Here’s a quote from someone out there: “It’s a way for God to wake us up and to say, ‘Make sure you’re right with Me.'” Is this Coronavirus a way for God waking us up?
Secondly, here’s a quote: “Coronavirus is a scourge from God.”
Now, if you don’t know what a scourge is, maybe you need to revisit the Mel Gibson movie, The Passion of the Christ. They show you in vivid detail, that scourging is a pretty serious thing. Imagine long shards of metal on the end of a leather strap, gouging and gashing your back, many people dying from that punishment.
It was NOT discipline. It was NOT Fatherly discipline on a child, it was a Roman soldier inflicting punishment on a prisoner. And we’re gonna say, “Coronavirus is a scourge from God”? Sadly, this stuff is out there.
Here’s one: “God not only chastises individual persons but He also sends tribulations to families, cities, and nations for the sins which they commit.” Can you believe it?
Well, what about this verse? It seems like this verse is the most prominent, coming from 2 Chronicles 7:14, you’ve heard this before, but they’re bringing it out now:
“and My people who are called by my Name(, if they would) humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
And this is quickly applied to the USA, and this is applied to the nations. The theme that’s running out there is that this would go away if we would get purged of our sins, and if we would just seek God more as if He’s far off into the distance. We gotta find Him, we gotta get Him, we gotta bring Him down to earth, we gotta talk to him, we gotta lie on the ground and beg and plead and then this will just go away because finally He will be able to hear our prayers…
…Is that the message of God for us right now?
2 Chronicles 7 is an interesting passage because in it we find Solomon building and consecrating a temple, that is a Jewish temple, in this same passge 22000 cattle are slaughtered. In this same passage 120000 sheep and goats are killed for the sins of the people of Israel…
…Who is YOUR sacrifice?
I ask you this morning, does the Cross of Christ matter in terms of the Coronavirus? Does the cross of Christ matter in understanding who God is and what he’s doing today in the midst of this trial? Because it is ugly out there – It is difficult and stressful and there’s great fear and great anxiety, and when some preacher shows up on the scene and heaps MORE fear, and guilt upon us, saying that if we would just do our part, this would go away…
Are we needing to seek God’s face, or do we have Christ living us?
Are we needing to get our sins forgiven, or does Hebrews 10:14 stand, that by one offering we have been made perfect forever?
Are we to fish through 2 Chronicles and find a passage where God is talking to Israel about their land, and then take it, put it on a pedestal out of context, and bash people with it today?
My friend was on a conference call with a lot of different leaders and pastors. They brought out this passage and concluded that our prayers were just not being heard because of all of our sins. Then they hauled out 1 John 1:9: if we would just confess our sins, then God would forgive us, and He would heal our land. So we pump out the confessions, pull down the handle, and out comes the vaccine, I guess.
Do you see what we’re doing? We’re taking the days of the Law and we’re applying them in an era of Grace. We’re ignoring the cross, ignoring the resurrection, ignoring Romans 5 that says we have peace with God, and then you say, ‘Well, what is God thinking in this time? Where is he? What is he up to?’
2 Timothy 2:3-4 says this: “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, WHO DESIRES ALL MEN TO BE SAVED AND TO COME TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH”
You know what that means? He’s not ending people’s lives, He is seeking to save.
2 Peter 3:9,“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, NOT WISHING FOR ANY TO PERISH BUT FOR ALL TO COME TO REPENTANCE.” So is God bringing this so we will perish? No, He’s not wishing for any to perish – He wants us to come to repentance!
You say, well what’s going to bring that repentance? I mean, maybe God brought the virus to cause us to repent?
No, the Bible says this in Romans 2: “Do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?”
God knows what brings us to repentance! It’s not threats! It’s not punishment! It is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance.
So, what do we see in all of this? We see that the wages of sin is death. Jesus died. Do the math, and celebrate.
When we’re out there preaching and teaching and sharing that this MIGHT be God, it COULD be God, who knows, perhaps it’s the wrath of God, maybe it’s the judgment of God… We are acting as if Jesus NEVER hung on a cross, that He NEVER paid the price, that He NEVER paid those wages, and then, we’re quenching the Spirit by refusing to celebrate.
So, it’s a lie. Is this Coronavirus God’s judgment on the world? No! God’s judgment was put on Jesus Christ, paid in full. He hung on a cross so that we wouldn’t have to. Jesus died because of the wages of sin is death. We can look to the finished work of Christ, and say, ‘it is finished’ along with Him! We can declare, ‘I am at peace with Him, I am saved from the anger of God.’
This is a fallen world – have you noticed? I mean, there is flawed DNA, there is rape, and murder, and war, and violence, yeah, it’s a fallen world! Planet earth is coming at us, but Christ Jesus is working in us… let’s not confuse those two. Planet earth comes at us, Christ works in us. BIG difference.
The Truth? God is grieving with us – that’s what He says. We laugh with those who laugh, grieve with those who grieve. And is He not doing that Himself right now? God is grieving with us, and counseling and comforting us right now. This is not about punishment and judgment, it is about a fallen world.
God is not a death dealer – He is a Life giver.
We are not sinners in the hands of an angry God. We are saints in the arms of a loving Father.
JB's Personal Brain Defragmenter 
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