The Coronavirus --
What Christians should know about it
Surely you must have heard about the coronavirus, COVID-19. If you have not, you must be like the man on the backside of the moon living in total isolation. The news of this pandemic is everywhere. How does that news affect you? Unnerving? Frightening? Worrisome? I can understand your feelings. The news is bad. The highly contagious disease is spreading like a wildfire fanned by high winds, is it not? It seems to be part of our life’s experience that since a horrendous calamity has not hit us in the past, we tend to think it will not happen to us at this present time either. It will only happen elsewhere to someone else. If that is what we think, we could be in for a very rude awakening.
How as a Christian will we feel about the deadly pandemic spreading in the world around us? What do you think? More importantly than what you and I think is what God says. He says we should love our neighbor as ourselves. This is what he also said through his apostle John: “Whoever has worldly goods and sees his brother in need and shuts off his affections from him, how can the love of God remain in him?” (1 John 3:17) This verse does not speak about pandemics, but it does speak about seeing our fellow man in trouble who is unable to help himself alleviate his suffering. The verse questions, then, how can the love of God remain in a person, in you and in me, if he, if we, shut off our affections for the hurting? If you and I, then, have no affections, no compassion, for those infected and being infected with the coronavirus, the love of God is not in us. To put the matter frankly, crassly, if we feel no compassion for the victims of the coronavirus, we are no better than heartless beasts. God forbid that we should be such persons!
Aside from our Christian emotions about our own wellbeing and our compassions for those infected and dying of the coronavirus, what more should we know about it? We should know first of all that Jesus forewarned us such a plague on mankind would come to pass. This pandemical plague should not surprise us, therefore, any more than any of the other signs Jesus gave for his second coming should surprise us. Listen in part to the signs Jesus gave us:
10 Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom,
11 and there will not only be violent earthquakes, but also famines and plagues in various places, and there will be both terrible events and great signs from heaven. (Luke 21:10, 11)
Notice that in verse 11 Jesus specifically pointed out there would be plagues in various places. So, it has happened in the past; so, it is happening now. The Greek word for “plagues” in verse 11 is “loimoi”. Its basic meaning is “pestilences”. Having been forewarned about the coming of pestilences by Jesus, we should be prepared to take the occurrence of the coronavirus in stride without becoming panicky. It is just one more sign of Jesus’ coming in glory to judge the world and to bring us into eternal blessedness. For that we eagerly wait. So, let’s get the pestilences over with, so we can get into heaven, right?
The second thing we should know about this pandemic is that, like everything else that takes place in this world, it happens according to God’s immutable, that is changeless, will. We know this is true because 1 Corinthians 12:6 says, “God works all in all.” Let us realize, then. that this worldwide viral epidemic is the will of God. You may wonder, “Well, why is it the will of God?” For two reasons.
First, the pandemic is the punishment of God upon this ungodly world. Pestilence was also a punishment that God inflicted upon his sinful Israelite people during the Old Testament era. (ref. Numbers 16:46-50; Numbers 25:8, 9; 2 Samuel 24:13) God the Holy Spirit wrote through the apostle Paul, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and wickedness of people. . .” (Romans 1:18) Look at the world as it is, yes, as God sees it. The world has rejected him in favor of other gods that are no gods at all, but only the figments of people’s imaginations or the allurements of their desires. Their unbelieving hearts have turned to every kind of pleasure and perversity, as well as the persecution of his name and his Christian people. In doing such things the ungodly of this world have stored up for themselves wrath for the day of wrath that is coming. This coronavirus is only the prelude to the greater wrath still to come.
The second reason for this pandemic upon mankind is it is another call from God to the world’s sinful population to repent of their unbelief and sins while there is still time to do so. As evidence that calamities such as the coronavirus are a call to repentance, recall the Galileans whom Pilate slaughtered in the temple of Jerusalem and the eighteen people who were killed when the tower of Siloam in Jerusalem toppled upon them. The Lord Jesus asked the people following him if they thought that those who were killed were greater sinners than those who were not killed. Then he said to them, “No, I tell you, but unless you all repent, you will likewise perish.” (ref. Luke 13:1-5) Jesus made it clear that those calamities were exemplary calls to repent. So too, the people of this world should recognize that this pandemic is God’s warning call to repent so that they do not perish eternally. In that warning call lies God’s love that does not want any to perish but all to be saved. (ref. Ezekiel 18:31, 32 & 33:11; 1 Timothy 2:4)
That love of God that does not want anyone to perish but desires all to be saved is the one reason that God has not yet destroyed this world of wickedness. Peter wrote, “The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some consider slowness, but is being patient toward you, not wanting anyone to perish but all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) The Lord is allowing this world to continue for a while yet because he is being patient. In his patience he is gathering together his Church of believers in his Son, Jesus Christ the Savior of all. As soon as he has gathered up that last believer in Jesus, he will come suddenly in glory to judge the living and the dead, at which time he will destroy this world as it is now.
Well, you may wonder if the coronavirus is a punishment upon the unbelieving sinful people of the world, what about the Christians who may become infected with the coronavirus? Are they being punished too? No! The punishment that we Christians deserve for our many sins Jesus endured and suffered in our behalf as our substitute. Through his suffering and dying upon the cross he paid for our sins to reconcile us to God’s peace. The Holy Spirit declared this through Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:19, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself,” and through the apostle John in 1 John 2:1 & 2, “Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. . . is the appeasing sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” This is true for you and me as well. Should we ourselves, then, contract the coronavirus, we are not being punished for our sins. Remember this!
What can we say, then, if you and I should become infected with the virus? If our contraction of the disease is not a punishment, what is it? It is a chastisement, that is, a punishment for the sole good purpose of correcting and discipling us. Our ever-loving Lord teaches us this in the following verses:
19 As for me, as many as I love I correct and discipline; start being full of zeal, therefore, and repent! (Revelation 3:19)
5 . . . and you have forgotten the encouragement that addresses you as sons,
“MY SON, STOP REGARDING THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD LIGHTLY,
AND STOP BEING FAINT-HEARTED WHEN YOU ARE BEING CORRECTED BY HIM;
6 “FOR THE ONE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES,
AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES AS HIS OWN.”
7 Keep holding on for the disciplining; God is dealing with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not discipline?
8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
9 Furthermore, we, to be sure, customarily had earthly fathers who were disciplinarians, and we used to respect them; shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?
10 For on the one hand they used to discipline us for a short time according to what seemed good to them, on the other hand he disciplines us for what is good for our sharing in his holiness.
11 Now on the one hand no discipline seems to be a cause for joy but for grief, on the other hand later it yields a peaceful fruit of righteousness for those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:5-11)
All right. Our contraction of the coronavirus would be a disciplining of us to grow in the holiness and righteousness of God. But what if we were to die? Then what is it? It is no longer a discipline then. That is a good point. Then our contraction of the virus is God’s call to us to come home, to join him in the everlasting kingdom of righteousness and glory and life. We Christians, because we are sinful human beings throughout our lives, will suffer the earthly wages for our sins – death, as it is written in God’s Word the Bible, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) Yes, the coronavirus could kill us. Remember, however, that we Christians will all die of something anyway, unless Jesus returns in glory first to judge the world. Whether we die of a heart attack, or a stroke, or cancer, or whatever, what difference does it make? We die in any event! Likewise, then, with the coronavirus. It is a killer, and if it kills us, it kills us. In a way, that may be swifter and more merciful than suffering the ever-progressing agonies of cancer or some other slow life-consuming terminal disease. But such a death is not the last chapter of our life. It is only the beginning of a better, more glorious and blessed life. For do not fail to notice that the end of Romans 6:23 says, “. . . but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” With that promise and assurance of God, our potential, fatal contraction of the coronavirus is the passageway God has opened to us to enter into heaven.
So, whatever human emotions and misgivings that you may feel over the coronavirus pandemic, by faith as a Christian believer in Jesus you can say if you do become infected, “Either I will survive this, or, I will enter into heaven. And since life in heaven is far better than life on earth, either way I am a winner.” It is like, “Heads I win. Tails I can’t lose!”
God’s blessings be with you.
Rev. JC
How as a Christian will we feel about the deadly pandemic spreading in the world around us? What do you think? More importantly than what you and I think is what God says. He says we should love our neighbor as ourselves. This is what he also said through his apostle John: “Whoever has worldly goods and sees his brother in need and shuts off his affections from him, how can the love of God remain in him?” (1 John 3:17) This verse does not speak about pandemics, but it does speak about seeing our fellow man in trouble who is unable to help himself alleviate his suffering. The verse questions, then, how can the love of God remain in a person, in you and in me, if he, if we, shut off our affections for the hurting? If you and I, then, have no affections, no compassion, for those infected and being infected with the coronavirus, the love of God is not in us. To put the matter frankly, crassly, if we feel no compassion for the victims of the coronavirus, we are no better than heartless beasts. God forbid that we should be such persons!
Aside from our Christian emotions about our own wellbeing and our compassions for those infected and dying of the coronavirus, what more should we know about it? We should know first of all that Jesus forewarned us such a plague on mankind would come to pass. This pandemical plague should not surprise us, therefore, any more than any of the other signs Jesus gave for his second coming should surprise us. Listen in part to the signs Jesus gave us:
10 Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom,
11 and there will not only be violent earthquakes, but also famines and plagues in various places, and there will be both terrible events and great signs from heaven. (Luke 21:10, 11)
Notice that in verse 11 Jesus specifically pointed out there would be plagues in various places. So, it has happened in the past; so, it is happening now. The Greek word for “plagues” in verse 11 is “loimoi”. Its basic meaning is “pestilences”. Having been forewarned about the coming of pestilences by Jesus, we should be prepared to take the occurrence of the coronavirus in stride without becoming panicky. It is just one more sign of Jesus’ coming in glory to judge the world and to bring us into eternal blessedness. For that we eagerly wait. So, let’s get the pestilences over with, so we can get into heaven, right?
The second thing we should know about this pandemic is that, like everything else that takes place in this world, it happens according to God’s immutable, that is changeless, will. We know this is true because 1 Corinthians 12:6 says, “God works all in all.” Let us realize, then. that this worldwide viral epidemic is the will of God. You may wonder, “Well, why is it the will of God?” For two reasons.
First, the pandemic is the punishment of God upon this ungodly world. Pestilence was also a punishment that God inflicted upon his sinful Israelite people during the Old Testament era. (ref. Numbers 16:46-50; Numbers 25:8, 9; 2 Samuel 24:13) God the Holy Spirit wrote through the apostle Paul, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and wickedness of people. . .” (Romans 1:18) Look at the world as it is, yes, as God sees it. The world has rejected him in favor of other gods that are no gods at all, but only the figments of people’s imaginations or the allurements of their desires. Their unbelieving hearts have turned to every kind of pleasure and perversity, as well as the persecution of his name and his Christian people. In doing such things the ungodly of this world have stored up for themselves wrath for the day of wrath that is coming. This coronavirus is only the prelude to the greater wrath still to come.
The second reason for this pandemic upon mankind is it is another call from God to the world’s sinful population to repent of their unbelief and sins while there is still time to do so. As evidence that calamities such as the coronavirus are a call to repentance, recall the Galileans whom Pilate slaughtered in the temple of Jerusalem and the eighteen people who were killed when the tower of Siloam in Jerusalem toppled upon them. The Lord Jesus asked the people following him if they thought that those who were killed were greater sinners than those who were not killed. Then he said to them, “No, I tell you, but unless you all repent, you will likewise perish.” (ref. Luke 13:1-5) Jesus made it clear that those calamities were exemplary calls to repent. So too, the people of this world should recognize that this pandemic is God’s warning call to repent so that they do not perish eternally. In that warning call lies God’s love that does not want any to perish but all to be saved. (ref. Ezekiel 18:31, 32 & 33:11; 1 Timothy 2:4)
That love of God that does not want anyone to perish but desires all to be saved is the one reason that God has not yet destroyed this world of wickedness. Peter wrote, “The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some consider slowness, but is being patient toward you, not wanting anyone to perish but all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) The Lord is allowing this world to continue for a while yet because he is being patient. In his patience he is gathering together his Church of believers in his Son, Jesus Christ the Savior of all. As soon as he has gathered up that last believer in Jesus, he will come suddenly in glory to judge the living and the dead, at which time he will destroy this world as it is now.
Well, you may wonder if the coronavirus is a punishment upon the unbelieving sinful people of the world, what about the Christians who may become infected with the coronavirus? Are they being punished too? No! The punishment that we Christians deserve for our many sins Jesus endured and suffered in our behalf as our substitute. Through his suffering and dying upon the cross he paid for our sins to reconcile us to God’s peace. The Holy Spirit declared this through Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:19, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself,” and through the apostle John in 1 John 2:1 & 2, “Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. . . is the appeasing sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” This is true for you and me as well. Should we ourselves, then, contract the coronavirus, we are not being punished for our sins. Remember this!
What can we say, then, if you and I should become infected with the virus? If our contraction of the disease is not a punishment, what is it? It is a chastisement, that is, a punishment for the sole good purpose of correcting and discipling us. Our ever-loving Lord teaches us this in the following verses:
19 As for me, as many as I love I correct and discipline; start being full of zeal, therefore, and repent! (Revelation 3:19)
5 . . . and you have forgotten the encouragement that addresses you as sons,
“MY SON, STOP REGARDING THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD LIGHTLY,
AND STOP BEING FAINT-HEARTED WHEN YOU ARE BEING CORRECTED BY HIM;
6 “FOR THE ONE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES,
AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES AS HIS OWN.”
7 Keep holding on for the disciplining; God is dealing with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not discipline?
8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
9 Furthermore, we, to be sure, customarily had earthly fathers who were disciplinarians, and we used to respect them; shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?
10 For on the one hand they used to discipline us for a short time according to what seemed good to them, on the other hand he disciplines us for what is good for our sharing in his holiness.
11 Now on the one hand no discipline seems to be a cause for joy but for grief, on the other hand later it yields a peaceful fruit of righteousness for those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:5-11)
All right. Our contraction of the coronavirus would be a disciplining of us to grow in the holiness and righteousness of God. But what if we were to die? Then what is it? It is no longer a discipline then. That is a good point. Then our contraction of the virus is God’s call to us to come home, to join him in the everlasting kingdom of righteousness and glory and life. We Christians, because we are sinful human beings throughout our lives, will suffer the earthly wages for our sins – death, as it is written in God’s Word the Bible, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) Yes, the coronavirus could kill us. Remember, however, that we Christians will all die of something anyway, unless Jesus returns in glory first to judge the world. Whether we die of a heart attack, or a stroke, or cancer, or whatever, what difference does it make? We die in any event! Likewise, then, with the coronavirus. It is a killer, and if it kills us, it kills us. In a way, that may be swifter and more merciful than suffering the ever-progressing agonies of cancer or some other slow life-consuming terminal disease. But such a death is not the last chapter of our life. It is only the beginning of a better, more glorious and blessed life. For do not fail to notice that the end of Romans 6:23 says, “. . . but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” With that promise and assurance of God, our potential, fatal contraction of the coronavirus is the passageway God has opened to us to enter into heaven.
So, whatever human emotions and misgivings that you may feel over the coronavirus pandemic, by faith as a Christian believer in Jesus you can say if you do become infected, “Either I will survive this, or, I will enter into heaven. And since life in heaven is far better than life on earth, either way I am a winner.” It is like, “Heads I win. Tails I can’t lose!”
God’s blessings be with you.
Rev. JC
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