“CANCER DOES NOT HAVE THE LAST WORD”

Originally Posted Feb. 26, 2021

One of the worst things a person can hear is, “You have cancer”. Those words can take your breath away, with your mind quickly jumping to the worse case scenario…. “ it’s  terminal and you have only a short time to live.” 

Yet, a even worse scenario is that a person doesn’t hear those frightening words from their doctor, but the reality is that they actually still do have cancer…. in the first case, you can begin to treat the sickness, while in the second case, you don’t treat it and the silent killer continues to do its damage. 

You can make an analogous case  with the subject of sin. Sin is a cancer whose ultimate effect, left untreated, is death… spiritual death. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”( Romans 6:23) 

When sin is ignored or denied or left untreated, it continues to spread and ultimately takes your life. No one like to be convicted of sin. No one enjoys realizing that they have acted in ways opposed to the Lord and his commandments. No one likes to suffer the consequences of their sins… the effects of an addiction, of hatred and bitterness that leaves you desperately unhappy, of a crime that has left victims in its wake. Who hasn’t had a nightmare where they committed a terrible crime and were immersed in the awful effects, only to wake up and realize it was a nightmare.. “ oh, thank God I didn’t murder that person…..”.

Well, the truth is that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) We all suffer from the “cancer of sin”. But we have very good news in Christ Jesus, our Lord. We don’t have to die in our sin. Because of his great love for us and his sacrifice on the cross and resurrection, we are going to be okay. God’s mercy is greater than our sin. 

Psalm 32 is beautiful and consoling… ”Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD imputes no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. When I declared not my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.  I acknowledged my sin to thee, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”; then thou didst forgive the guilt of my sin. (Psalm 32:1-5)  Psalm 51  continues with more beautiful and healing words from God….“A humble and contrite heart you will not spurn”. (Ps. 51:19)

So, dear friends and family, we all have received a tough diagnosis… the cancer of sin…… but, we have a life saving remedy and we don’t have to be afraid. The Lord Jesus is taking care of us. He has saved us from our sins and from the devil and death. And here’s the wonderful bonus, he’s preparing a place for us in heaven that will be more than magnificent. Wow, that is really GOOD NEWS”.