Healing Power

It was another one of those typical Sundays. We were at morning services and the time had come for the Lord's Supper to be served. The first prayer for the unleavened bread had been offered. And at this particular point, as always, I was trying to wrap my head around what it really meant for Jesus to die on the cross. My little girl was sitting next to me on her mother's lap, and as I glanced at her face I saw it. It reminded me of what Jesus had truly come to do.

A day or so ago my daughter had come into the living room crying because our oldest son had accidentally scratched her on the face. The scratch left an abrasion that was going to take a few days to heal. As she sat next to me I saw the mark still there on her small, soft cheek. It had improved a little but still had a long way to go. I thought to myself, "How wonderful that God has made the human body with its own healing power!" I would be especially sad if every time one of my children scraped a knee or cut their hand or scratched their face that it would leave a mark that would never go away.

God is a healing God. He is the only one who has the power to heal. Our limited capacity for our physical bodies to heal themselves comes from God's design. When it comes to being able to heal from within, God still holds the key. Sometimes we need healing from the pains and disappointments and sad circumstances of life. Sometimes we need to heal from the wounds we have regretfully inflicted upon others. Sometimes we need to be healed from the sting of sin. This is why Jesus came to earth and died.

At that moment, I realized again the majesty and wonder of the plan of God. He chose to heal our lives through the scars of our sins that were cast upon His own Son. But he knew it would be alright. He knew His Son would recover. For an eternal and all-powerful God, who created the material universe and even time itself, the physical death of Jesus was no more than a scratch. He knew that the marks would eventually heal. After all, He is God, and it is God who takes the scratches away.

No matter what sins we may be dealing with, and no matter what wounds we may suffer in life, we have a God who can heal us completely. There is no scratch that the power of the cross cannot restore. In the blood of Christ there is matchless, unlimited power. Healing power.

Yes, I'm headed for a home built by God alone.
 Hallelujah, Praise the Lord I am.
Where the only thing there that's been made by man
Are the scars in the hands of Jesus.