How to Destroy the Cancer of Sin in Your Life
When they said that dreaded word, “Cancer”, my head began to twirl. It was hard to hear the rest of the words. The plans for surgery and chemotherapy were like a distant whisper. I was in the middle of my Master’s Program in Nursing. It was late October. The semester would end in early December. The plan was to have surgery in December. That month throughout November, I could envision this evil force eating away at the good cells. The thought of these destructive cells multiplying, growing and taking over filled my mind with disgust. These cells had been there growing for many years in silence without my being aware of their presence while all along they had been consuming all that was good within their reach.
Sin is like that. It is a poison, a sickness deep within our hearts that grows steadily throughout our lives until our heart, spirit and soul is consumed; unless, we come to recognize it and seek the cure. We can try to ignore it, hide it, and place bandages on it; but, it continues to grow unless we come to the place where we “cut it out at its core.” For that we need the surgeon. Jesus is that surgeon to cut out the source; destroying its power. He did that at the cross when He took our punishment upon Him. He willingly obeyed the Father’s command. Righteousness and Justice demanded that sin’s penalty be paid. If God could just ignore man’s rebellious heart, Satan would have won. Evil would have won and righteousness would be consumed by the cancerous cells of evil. Righteousness could only win if evil were destroyed.
JUDGMENT EXECUTED
Jesus came to take upon Himself all of God’s wrath against sin so that the power of evil could be destroyed—so Satan would lose. “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me” (John 12: 31-32). The judgment of the world was to be paid upon the cross. Christ took upon Himself the penalty for sin, once and for all. Satan lost. Then why is evil still present? We are given the choice to both recognize the “cancerous sin” within our heart and seek the cure or to ignore its presence.
BELIEF UNTO SALVATION
“ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:14-18). Because of their sin and rebellion, a plague had entered the camp of the Israelites. There were serpents whose poison would bring death. The cure was to in faith lift their eyes up to see their own evil hanging upon a cross of mercy. Sin is a poison within our hearts and souls which will lead to eternal destruction and death. We must see our sin, look upon it as that which hung upon the cross, accept that Christ in mercy paid my penalty and come to Him in faith, believing He is my Savior. Then, I am given eternal life. If I do not recognize my sin or if I don’t believe He died on the cross for me; then, my disbelief is my own condemnation. I must seek and want the cure.
IF SIN’S POWER IS DESTROYED, WHY AS A CHRISTIAN DO I STRUGGLE WITH SIN?
Although Satan has lost the war, he still tries to win the battles which are his attempts to destroy our testimony. He still wants to take as many with him as possible along the way. Back to the cancer analogy. Cancerous cells begin as a single cell which has gone awry. Every day of our human life, single abnormal cells present. The reason they cannot become cancerous growths is that our immune system engulfs them and destroys them before they can reproduce. As believers, we know that sin cannot ultimately destroy us because of God’s grace and His promise that He will complete the work. Still, when we ignore sin; sometimes the cancer of sin grows and become tumors which God must remove from our lives. The surgeon’s scalpel will cut them out. How we can avoid their growth to begin with is building a healthy spiritual immune system through prayer and studying the word.
HOW TO DESTROY THE CANCER OF SIN IN YOUR LIFE
1. It begins by recognizing that you are a sinner and then looking to Christ as your Savior in full belief that He has won the war for you.
2. Study God’s word “11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm 119:11)
3. Prayer is essential to a healthy spiritual immune system. “ And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5). I do believe that if you look closely at this scripture—James is referring more to the sickness of our souls, rather than physical ailments. Although God is capable to do both. What is promised here is the healing of our spiritual souls by forgiveness of our sins.
The Song I chose for you today is Healer. Do you believe He is your healer today?