Monday, March 6, 2023

Congenital Defects

 

Closeup photo of the face of a baby girl


“Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from
the time my mother conceived me.”
—Psalm 51:5

We thank God when we see a new baby, healthy and strong. Most little ones appear so perfect in every way. Yet, some parents know all too well the reality of a baby born with a defect of some kind, even if she appears perfectly normal on the outside.

Many times these parents spend the early years of their child’s life in and out of operating rooms, hoping that doctors can repair the problems with which she came into the world. They wait and watch for signs of normalcy and steady growth. If she progresses well, the parents rejoice that the path to healing was worth all the pain.

Truthfully, all people come into the world with congenital defects of the spiritual variety. We have a “heart defect.” In our natural state, we may look normal to the world, but inside we carry a flaw which, unless we get help, will “kill” us in the end.

We are born spiritually blind to the fact that we begin our lives already stained by the sin curse that we inherited from our parents, all the way back to Adam. Unless we get the right “treatment,” we will go through life unable to see our own condition. In fact, the Bible tells us in Ephesians 2:1 that we are actually:

“… dead in our transgressions and sins.”

So, what do we have to do in order to obtain a repair for this condition and recover? There is really nothing we can do on our own. Fortunately, the “operation” has already occurred—the treatment has been completed! Jesus took the pain. He took the punishment for our sinful condition on the cross. By faith in Him we can know His complete healing. As Jesus Himself said in John 5:24:

“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”

For our blindness, God has given us a “healing light”—for Jesus is the Light of the World. As the Apostle Paul states in 2 Corinthians 4:4:

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.”

Even centuries before Jesus walked the earth, the Prophet Ezekiel prophesied, in Ezekiel 36:26, about the “surgical procedure” for our healing:

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

Hallelujah! God has already provided a “heart transplant.” He has given us light to heal our blindness, and eternal life in place of the living death with which we came into the world. Through Jesus, we can walk in His perfection throughout our lifetime and in the eternity beyond.