The answer to the question is NO, NO, NO.
If sin, disease and death are real, then God must have made them.
Lesson Application Ideas for Oct. 6-12, 2003 by Corde Hanzlik, C.S., Austin, TX
The answer to the question is NO, NO, NO. Of course. If sin, disease and death are real, then God must have made them. But, God made only good. So we can rejoice with the Golden Text: Now is come salvation! All is God’s. The liar is exposed and gone!
Responsive Reading includes one of our camp songs. If God is our rock, fortress, deliverer, strength, buckler (small, protective, shield), horn of salvation (translated from Greek as irresistible health), we will certainly call upon Him. He is exalted.
(Note the layout of the Lesson as to the order of the Bible stories to answer the specific order of the Lesson subject.)
Section 1: As it is with most Lesson Sermons, the first section establishes what God is all about: how great He/She is, the power, authority, where He is, what He has for us as His dear children. We could add to the list started with the Responsive Reading – He’s good, righteous, forgiving, heals, lifts up. God does what He promises, as we are obedient to Him.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures:
Mrs. Eddy tells us in the first marker, as God is All, how can there be anything else. Think about all. Can there be a right answer with a bit of wrong mixed in? Wouldn’t that corrupt the entire answer? Can there be one perfect idea of God and something else? Ask yourself this week if you are tempted with anything less than good and right, “How does this error exist?” if God is All. No compromises. No half and half. Not even 99.9 and .1. There’s one cause, one effect. As we understand (salvation), we prove that we are not deceived. Marker 2 – “evil is the awful deception”.
Section 2: Who showed us the way to claim our authority over evil’s deception? Jesus, of course. He had to prove himself to doubters as to his cousin, John. How? Not by verbal argument, but by proof. As a picture is worth 1000 words, one healing goes a long way to prove God’s love for us. Did Jesus stop with one proof? No. He was to prove to everyone the right to be free. John’s disciples took the report back to John that Jesus was the one awaited.
Science and Health: Jesus was living his Christ mission to “destroy the works of the devil”.(marker 9, p474:30) The promise that we have from the example of Jesus is as Mrs. Eddy tells us, “we learn … how to demonstrate Christ.” Where?, not in or of matter, but, through divine Principle as taught in Christian Science. (marker 10, p285:27)
Section 3 (now remember the order of the Lesson question): What story would we expect in this section? One that destroys sin. So we have the story about a short man named Zacchaeus. He was so short that he had to climb a tree to see Jesus in a crowd as Jesus walked by. (You know what it is like not to be able to see a parade when you’re the littlest one. You get on your dad’s shoulders.) At any rate, Jesus saw Zacchaeus and called to him to come down. Jesus knew (God told him) that Zacchaeus was really a good man, although the people called Zacc a sinner. What had he done? His job was a tax collector, a difficult job, even today. He was accused of taking advantage of his own people (Jews) by taking too much in order to keep some for himself as well as pay the tax required by the Roman governors. Zacchaeus swore to Jesus that he would give it all back and more. He knew stealing was wrong, a sin. Why did Jesus pick him out of the crowd? Maybe because Jesus could easily see Zacc in the tree, but more so, Jesus recognized the effort that Zacc was making to witness the Christ. Zacc was literally lifting himself up to see Christ, Truth. He was redeemed and blest for that effort.
Science and Health marker 11 tells us, “Christ came to destroy the belief in sin.” It doesn’t say the he destroyed people. How can there be God and sin? Impossible. He couldn’t create both sin and good. We are “linked” only with good. Go climb a tree!
Section 4: What is going to happen in this section? Disease will be healed! Not just one at a time, but 10! Ten lepers. The ten were to show themselves to the priest in order to be forgiven their sins (the supposed cause of their leprosy). Only one came back to Jesus to thank him, truly recognizing the healing Christ. Is this like Wednesday testimony meetings? Hmmm. Just like the story with Zaccaeus, we see that the recognition of the Christ is vital to healing. So, we are healed as we understand the Christ man and praise God.
Science and Health: Again, it is impossible for God to create anything unlike good. He made only health. “Jesus beheld the perfect man”(marker 17, p476), not men. One man, the Christ ideal. We have the authority to deny sickness. (marker 18, p390)
Section 5: Death is overcome in this section. Again, look for the complete recognition of the Christ that Jairus had as he sought Jesus. Jairus showed great humility as he was ruler of the synogogue to come begging to Jesus. It was beneath him. But, nothing and no one could make him doubt Jesus, not even the laughing crowd. The crowd laughed for two reasons. One, clearly the daughter was dead to them. Second, that Jesus said that she was asleep as if to ignore death. A real wacko. Raising the daughter was no problem to Jesus.
We’re told in Ps. 118 that we “shall not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord.” We are the very declaration of life as we live!
Science and Health states, (marker 21, p428) “Life is real, and death is the illusion.” We will always be the wonderful idea of the Father-Mother God, deathless. God needs us, every one of us!
Section 6: Wrap it all up in a neat bow. The answers are still NO, NO, and NO. The Bible reminds us of that. We work together with grace to see, claim, the day of salvation/health. NOW! HERE! Thank you, God. We each work out our own salvation. No one can do it for us. It seems that we have the fear and trembling part down real well. What is most gratifying is that God wants us to have it. (Of course, He knows that we have it already. So do we, really. We always have known it.) God loves us.
Science and Health: We don’t have to climb a tree, go see a priest, or crawl on our knees to find the Christ man. Why not? “The kingdom of God “is within you,” – is within reach of man’s consciousness here, and the spiritual idea reveals it.” Already in consciousness, present thought. Here, now. Amen and hallelujah!
