Mark 1:40-42, says, "Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him,' If you are willing you can make me clean.
' Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched Him, and said to him, 'I am willing be cleansed.
' As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed.
" Let me tell you a little bit about leprosy, it was a very deadly blood disease that was hereditary and contagious.
People during those times that had leprosy were not allowed into the general population; they were alienated.
If anyone got close to one of them the leper had to yell, "unclean! unclean!" so that no one would get close to them and catch it.
Leprosy is a type of fallen man; it's symbolic of you and me before we came to Christ.
The nature we inherited through Adam's fall was contagious and we could spread sin to others everywhere we went.
Jesus was the only one that measured up and He was the only one good enough and worthy enough to go to heaven.
According to 2 Corinthians 5, "God made Jesus to be sin and put all of our sin upon Him.
" All of our leprosy and our fallen nature were put upon Jesus and He became our substitute, then God took His righteousness and put it upon us.
There are so many people out there on their way to hell who think there are many different ways to get to heaven, and as long as they are pretty good they'll get there.
Wrong! Jesus is the only way.
Religion tells people they have to be good and, do this or that, and the goodness varies by that particular religion.
Unfortunately, most in Christianity today say basically the same thing: "yes, you are saved by the blood of Jesus 'but' you need to do this or that;" but folks that is not true Christianity.
However, we should want to do a lot of good works before we go, but that has nothing to do with us going.
Mark 1:43-45 says, "And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once, and said to him, 'See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the Priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.
' However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him for direction.
" After God healed the leper he had to take an animal, and offer it to the priest.
Then the priest would kill the animal, take the blood from the animal, and put it on the leper's right ear, his right thumb, and the right toe.
This was symbolic of the leper's cleansing.
The leper was cleansed for three purposes: on his thumb so that he could do the work of God, on his ears so that he could hear the voice of God, and on his feet so that he could walk with God.
When we came into the Kingdom of God and were cleansed by the blood of the Lamb: we entered into a position so that we could start working for God, hearing from God, and live a life walking with God.
Next, the Priest would put oil on top of the blood on the ear, on the thumb, and the right toe.
The oil in the Word of God is a type of the Holy Spirit and the oil sealed the leper.
Not only was he cleansed; he was set apart and sanctified.
The Word of God calls us saints; we have been sanctified and set apart for God.
After the Priest put the oil upon the blood, there was some oil that was left over; the Priest took the remaining oil and poured it upon the leper.
We were sealed by the Holy Spirit when we were born again; but then comes a time when God pours the Holy Spirit upon us and empowers us to do the work.
We need to be filled and under control of the Holy Spirit afresh, everyday, because we don't do it in our own might, we do it in His.
Romans 4:17 says, "God calls the things that be not as though they were.
" How do you suppose He does that in the earth today? God lives in and through us, He uses our voices.
We need to start saying things like, "God has anointed me, I have the wisdom of Christ in me, I have the power of the Holy Spirit in me, I have the love of God in me, I have the Divine nature living in me, and I am the answer to the world.
" We are the answer to the world; if not the whole world, we are at least the answer to our own little part of it.