Dr. Mike Jones

THe coronavirus and god’s Punishment?

Q: Can You Share Your Thought(s), as to Whether or not, COVID-19 is a Punishment from God, Concerning the Rampant SIN in the World?

A: [Now…that’s a good question!] There’s no doubt about it, that the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted everyone’s live: This norovirus has taken, over 120,000 American lives (more lives lost to the Coronavirus, than the Vietnam (58,200) and Gulf (219) Wars combined). And of late, those in the age group of 18-40, who thought themselves to be invincible, in the early analyses, of this virus.

COVID-19 is so ‘dominant’ that the virus has brought major world economies to the brink of disaster. And daily, people who viewed Holy God as (somewhat) of an intrusion into their daily lives, are now asking, the same question that was asked, during the 911 disaster, “Where is God, in all this? Why would a good God, let this virus, invade America, and reap havoc on good people?!”

As Christians, our first response should always be, to that particular question, what is recorded by Jesus in Matthew 19:17, “There is none good, except God alone.” And while they’re pondering that response, add in what Apostle Paul said, in Romans 3:10-12, “As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous—not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.”” 

Unregenerate man has no idea that he was born in sin and shaped in iniquity, as expressed in Jeremiah 17:9, “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” In the Book of Ecclesiastes 9:3, we see a similar truth: “It seems so wrong that everyone under the sun suffers the same fate. Already twisted by evil, people choose their own mad course, for they have no hope. There is nothing ahead but death anyway.”

I read an article recently from ‘Focus On The Family’ that complemented what I just stated: “He is absolutely helpless. He can’t expect his rational mind to help him overcome moral or spiritual corruption. His thoughts, like his will and emotions, are not naturally directed toward God. In a strictly theological sense, he is “totally depraved.” He bears the stain of sin in every part of his being. Ultimately, his only hope is in the redeeming grace of God. This is what the apostle means when he says, “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find” (Romans 7:18).”

In the Heidelberg Disputation (1518), Theologian Martin Luther was given the floor to articulate his views on “The Hidden God of Suffering.” Luther stated, “God reveals Himself by hiding himself in the suffering: God can be found only in suffering and the cross. He cannot be known apart from the sufferings of Christ.” Therefore, he believed that those who accept Christ by faith, cannot know God apart from personal suffering. God is glorified in confounding the wisdom of mankind by hiding His love under wrath and His glory under suffering. Like the Apostle Paul, Martin Luther experienced this throughout his life’s work, and wrote about it, in many of his disputations, before his death.

If God is SOVEREIGN (as the Bible emphatically declares, that He is), over a world that’s trapped in sin, and dying more and more, each day, in its present condition, from wars, famines, pestilences (now – refers to any epidemic disease that is highly contagious, infectious, harmful and devastating), it is NOT purposed to be a secure, trouble-free, and always happy place, as some contemporary theologians proclaim it to be. 

Is this God’s will? Yes. And yet, sin, by definition, is a violation of God’s revealed will. So even though the sinful world defies God’s revealed will, it is God’s sovereign will to sustain this world. And it is good for us that He does; otherwise, we would perish along with everything else that is evil.

One day, Holy God will again, make EVERYTHING, perfect, like He did in the beginning of time: until then, we ‘must’ live in this imperfect world, that SIN created, that made it a manifestation of God’s wrath against sin. All of us are experiencing, through the novel Coronavirus (aka COVID-19), that this fallen world is a hard place to live; and yet, through ‘ALL’ the bad things that are happening, are in accordance with His SOVERIEGN will.

The Apostle Peter said, “For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin with God’s household. And if judgment begins with us, what terrible fate awaits those who have never obeyed God’s Good News? And also, “If the righteous are barely saved, what will happen to godless sinners?”

Saints, for us, this judgment from God is sent to purify the church. And, contrary to popular teachings, God sometimes uses “DISEASES” to bring particular judgments upon those who reject Him and give themselves over to continuous sin.

And whereby the world is concerned, we know from sacred Scripture, that not ‘all’ suffering is a specific judgment for specific sins: but the biblical example that we see in Acts 12, concerning the death of Herod Agrippa, was for a specific sin – stealing God’s glory. 

We read in Acts 12:20-24, “Now Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they sent a delegation to make peace with him because their cities were dependent upon Herod’s country for food. The delegates won the support of Blastus, Herod’s personal assistant, and an appointment with Herod was granted. When the day arrived, Herod put on his royal robes, sat on his throne, and made a speech to them. The people gave him a great ovation, shouting, “It’s the voice of a god, not of a man!” Instantly, an angel of the Lord struck Herod with a sickness, because he accepted the people’s worship instead of giving the glory to God. So, he was consumed with worms and died. Meanwhile, the word of God continued to spread, and there were many new believers.”

Know that God is sovereignty, and as Believers, we can stand on His promise, that’s found in Romans 8:28, “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”