Jesus is a good doctor & he takes your insurance

Jesus is called The Great Physician because of all the healing he did for people's bodies and for the ultimate cure he provided for sin for all of us.

He used miracles of healing to get people's attention so they'd hear the message about the Kingdom that was coming and had arrived.

Every person he healed and every person he raised from the dead died again. None of what he did for people's bodies was permanent - none of them are walking around today.

But the lasting cure, the unending healing was for sin - he provided the cure, the last sacrifice, the only possible thing that would take care of the rift between God and humanity.  That was and is permanent.

It's all gone. Past, present, and future. Sure, there are still scars and there are still consequences we experience because of our own sin and because of others' sin, but they don't keep us from God.

Because sin has been dealt with, God's Spirit never has to leave us - ever.  It's not as if we tell a little lie and the Spirit has to leave us for 20 minutes and we're "unprotected" then.  

That's a way that a lot of people think about God - that anytime you sin, you have some kind of interim trial period during which you get a pass till you get prayed up and apologize and get forgiven again.

That's not the way it happens.  There's just no more law held against you, pure and simple.  There's not a waiting period during which God wants to think about what you did and then "come and make nice".

God isn't your mom or your dad or the principal at school or your coach or teacher - you know, the people that want you to feel bad for a while and make amends.  We project them onto God and we shouldn't.

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We know we sin and we regularly acknowledge our gratitude to God for his complete forgiveness for all our sin, knowing he's not stacking them up like receipts to go through later - he ran them all through the shredder long ago and never looks at them again.

That kind of forgiveness brings a level of healing that is hard to explain for someone who has never considered it.  

That kind of healing - complete forgiveness and the willing presence of God in your life - changes everything.  

It can take a while for it to become clear.  Old habits, including internal habits, die hard.  Old patterns of interactions and feelings run deep.

Jesus' work on the cross and in his resurrection and sending of the Spirt provide unending medicine for what ails us.  

We sometimes just don't want to take it - we'd rather suffer.  We feel the need to beat ourselves us because that's what we were taught about how a good Christian is supposed to do when they sin.  "You need to feel bad, do some good things to balance it all out, and then go on with life having learned your lesson."

And we'd rather other people suffer and so we don't want them to take the good medicine.  There are people in our lives who did us or our loved ones some kind of wrong and we want them to suffer greatly for it AND if we're not careful, we'll even wish they'd go to hell.  

But we know that's not the kind of love God shows us and so we let him change our hearts to be like his - full of mercy and grace.  And it might take our whole life for him to begin that heart change and it will only be finished on the other side of time.  And that's okay.

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Usually it seems it takes a couple of years for people from the time they hear about forgiveness to the time they can trust God's forgiveness is forever and complete and they know they can depend on it.

Why so long?  Because they've usually lived a lifetime hearing the exact opposite AND that the exact opposite was "good news".  It's a lot of damage to undo.  It's a lot of unlearning and new learning.

You'll know it's beginning when you go back to the scriptures at some point and it suddenly seems like you're reading a new book or reading it for the first time - like someone snuck in and put new or different words or lines in it that you'd never seen or imagined before.

You'll start seeing people and their sins differently and sometimes with more grace that you imagined possible from you.  Yes, even those people.

You'll see yourself different and will start believing the good things God says about you that we usually skip over when doing Bible study because it all seems like a lot of fluff that goes nowhere, but are actually some of the most amazing truths about us we'll ever hear - life changing things!

And you'll definitely see God differently.  He will seem dangerous and capricious at times.  His way of doing things will seem crazy from our point of view - but that's because we have a very limited view.

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Medicine is amazing.  The first DR/MD I remember visiting regularly was an older gentleman who worked out of an office at the back of a "drug store/soda shop" on the town square.

You could go in and get a penicillin shot or get your ears pierced.  Or both if you wanted.  It wasn't unusual for Dr Dunbar to be smoking a cigarette while visiting with you about your needs.

As time went by, I encountered a lot of different doctors over the years and witnessed amazing advances in medical knowledge and chemistry, resulting in things we never imagined possible.

Two of my children were a little under two pounds at birth and born almost 3 months early.  They are both just fine.  It is miraculous.  And it's medicine.

But even with all the best medicine, there's always something we haven't cured.  There's always something that research is "just beginning" on and we don't know if there will ever be a cure.

I could list off so many things I've seen in my short life and know that there will be even more in the decades ahead that will boggle our minds as to how they figured that out and cured that disease, etc.

But even with all that, life is still terminal.  You will die.  Your corpse may be looking good and in general good health, but at some point, you will take the long dirt nap, put on the pine pajamas, assume room temperature, etc.  

And that terrifies a lot of us.  Jesus went through his death and resurrection to show us that there is another side and, while we may still be a little trepidatious about it, it's gonna be okay.

For a lot of people, what was terrifying was not just the death process, but what will happen to them on the other side.

And because of what Jesus has done for us, there's no need to worry anymore.  You will receive a rich welcome home.  Your deductible is completely covered and you don't need a referral.

Jesus is the good doctor.  He gives the best medicine.