"He is God! Do You "Get It"? Lesson 170

Lesson 172: “HE IS GOD! DO YOU “GET IT”?

Jesus performed a miracle at Bethsaida, causing a blind man to see. Some people brought the blind man to Jesus and begged that He touch the man and heal him. There are several messages here in these few verses (Mark 8:22-26). We need to bring people to Jesus that need healing or more especially those who need to be saved (8:22), for that all important special touch of Jesus Christ. Notice that the Scripture says that the ones that brought the blind man, pleaded with Jesus to touch him. Never stop praying for a lost soul or a loved one that needs healing but continue to devote yourself to prayer (Col. 4:2), present your request to God (Phil. 4:6b) and pray continually (1 Thess. 5:16). Plead with Jesus to bring your son, daughter or spouse to the Lord through salvation; beg him to heal a loved one; humble yourself before God, offering prayers in faith and your prayer will be heard and God will answer (James 5:13-18). Jesus ‘led’ the man out of the village before he healed him. The Scripture does not say why Jesus did this so I am drawing a conclusion that you need to be willing to follow Jesus wherever He leads you without kicking against the pricks (Acts 9:5 KJV). These ‘pricks’ most likely are the nudging of the Holy Spirit convicting you (John 16:8) to receive the mercy of God even though you are acting in ignorance and unbelief (1 Tim. 1:13-14). Now comes the hard part! We must allow Jesus to use whatever He chooses to save, heal and guide us, such as the ‘spit’ He used to make the blind man see and we need total obedience in order to have a healthy relationship with Him (Mark 8:26).

Jesus asked the man if he could see anything and the man answered that he could see people that looked like walking trees. Jesus touched him again and this time ‘his eyes were opened’ and he saw clearly. Did Jesus not the power to heal on the first touch? Was He having a bad day? Did He just not care about this man? None of the above! Jesus was just letting us in on one more lesson. Even though many are saved, they do not totally and completely understand who God is and His power. The Apostle Paul spoke of seeing a poor reflection as in a mirror or looking through a glass darkly (1 Cor. 13:12) indicating that even he did not ‘get it’ in total clarity. A lost person does not have to understand everything about God in order to be saved. Romans 10:13 tells us that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved, however, we that are saved need to grow in knowledge and understanding (Eph. 1:9-10, Col. 1:9). Speaking of Israel, who never seemed to ‘get it’, God said, “my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hos. 4:6). If the people of God do not have a strong knowledge of the Word of God they will tossed back and forth by the false teachings (Eph. 4:14). Some may claim that knowledge is unimportant since Peter and John were unschooled and ordinary (Acts 4:13). The Sanhedrin realized that Peter and John had no formal rabbinic training and therefore accused them of not being qualified to teach the Scripture. They knew that the Apostles had received their theological training from Christ Himself but being the trouble makers they were, they still opposed their teachings. All of Paul’s teachings stressed the need of knowledge. He even prayed for the Israelites since they showed zeal for God but this zeal was not based on knowledge (Rom. 10:1-4).

Knowledge of God and His Word will help you to get the meaning of some of the Words He spoke in His Scripture. He has mercy on whom He has mercy and compassion on whom He has compassion (Rom. 9:15-18) but the Lord is good to all (Ps. 145:9). He is God and does whatever He pleases (Ps. 135:6) but takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Eze. 33:11). Even if we do not ‘get’ some of the seemingly contradicting verses, we need to take hold of John 3:16-18. This God that some question loved this old world so much that He sent His one and only Son to die that we might live. If you have a hard time understanding the Word of God then you should ask for wisdom (James 1:5) and He will open your minds so you can understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:45). If you still do not ‘get it’ then perhaps you should brace yourself like a man so that God might question you (Job 40:7). I will remind you to read the last chapter of Job before you try this. “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know” (Job 42:3). We own our very being to God and all the things that we call our own we owe to God and our eternal life we owe to God. He owes us nothing but has given us everything. Still some of us all the time and many of us most of the time just do not ‘get’ the fact that God is God and we are servants of God put here for His pleasure and to do His will. He will answer your prayers and give you the desires of your heart if only you humble yourself in obedient submission to His will.

All men are sinners (Rom. 3:23, 5:12); sin has separated us from God (Is. 59:2) but Jesus Christ has come to seek and to save that which is lost (Luke 19:10, John 17:12). God won the victory over eternal death through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:51-58) and has made atonement for our sins (Heb. 9:26). If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us (1 John 1:8-9) and He is the only one that can save us for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12, Matt. 1:21). Now is the time to accept this free gift of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2), tomorrow may be too late, for your life is only a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes (James 4:13-16). He is God and when He sounds that last trumpet, it will all be over except of the reading of The Book (Rev. 20:15). Do you ‘get it’?