A church like ours include people who hold differing views on countless issues. We are held together by several foundational biblical convictions as expressed in our Statement of Faith (SOF), convictions that are all connected to what the Bible calls "the Good News from God." (See our Statement of Faith) Our SOF ends with this declaration: "We believe that God will raise the dead bodily..., believers to eternal peace in His presence with restored relationships to God, renewed creation, and one another in the new heaven and the new earth, to the praise of His glorious grace."
This weekend, we will gather to reflect on a corollary to that glorious promise in God's Word. We will remember that the completion of God's promise is still in process, i.e., that all is not yet right in the cosmos. And, we will acknowledge that all is not yet perfect in our individual lives either. Those ongoing flaws in our human make-up include spiritual, emotional, relational, and physical imperfections. Specifically, we will consider the reality of the many physical disabilities that permeate our world. The Bible provides us with a distinctive view of physical disabilities that should shape the life of a local church family like ours. Of course, there is no way to be comprehensive about what the Bible says about disabilities on any given weekend. The issue is too big and complex. However, I would ask you to consider prayerfully the following parts of a biblical worldview related to physical disabilities:
· The Bible does not cover up the fact that God's world currently includes disabilities. It speaks often of people in this world and among God's family as being blind, lame, unable to hear and/or speak, affected by skin disease, cognitively impaired, lame, and affected by numerous "thorns in the flesh."
· Physical disabilities in no way destroy the image of God in people and the value that each human being has in the eyes of God.
· Jesus has power over all disabilities but, in his wisdom and providence, does not always choose to remove the disability immediately. As with all trials, the Bible asks us to consider that God has a "perfecting work" he is doing through the trial (James 1:2–4).
· Physical disabilities will no longer be a part of God's world when all is made new. Thus, they are temporary realities. God's Word proclaims that all will be made new in a world without mourning, crying, or pain. The effects of sin will be removed (Rev. 21:1–5; 22:1–5).
Until God's work is completed, let us learn to look through the trial to the promised outcome, pray for evidences of God's healing and restoring power to be seen among us, live in trust and obedience to God even when we cannot answer the why questions, and support one another in our church family until our Father's work is done—thoroughly and beautifully done—to his glory.
To His Glory,
Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor
