Five Important Questions Regarding Coronavirus

David Chanski

1. HAVE YOU STOPPED TO GIVE THANKS TO GOD?

Wait. What? Give thanks for a virus that is killing thousands of people? I’m not saying that. I am saying that everyone has things for which he should be thankful. And Scripture says it is sinful not to be thankful to God (Romans 1:21). For instance, you can be thankful that you are in a part of the world that has good hospitals with competent medical professionals and modern medical technology. No matter your present physical condition, you have many things for which you should be grateful—a good job, a comfortable home, friends and family who love you. Thank God for that.

2. HAVE YOU STOPPED TO ASK WHY THIS PANDEMIC HAS OCCURRED?

I don’t mean you should be asking whether Covid-19 is the result of unhealthy food sources or societal practices, or whether it was caused by the irresponsible—or even malicious—acts of a government. But why has God allowed it to occur?

The Bible says that God is good and righteous in all He does. And it says that He is sovereign over all that happens in His world. That is, He not only permits all that happens in the world, but He brings it to pass, or makes it happen. Scripture says that He “works all things according to the counsel of His will” (Ephesians 1:11). Ultimately, everything that happens in the world happens because God willed it to happen. We may not know His reasons, but we know that He has reasons and that they are good ones.

3. HAVE YOU CONSIDERED WHAT GOOD MIGHT COME OF THIS PANDEMIC?

Scripture says that “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). So-called “calamities” or “disasters” like Covid-19 are not exceptions to this rule. But what good could possibly come from a pandemic? For one thing, a crisis like this can help people realize the vanity of this world and the things in it—including even things like riches and fame. They’re fleeting things, and they have no eternal value. As Jesus said, “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:36-37). His point is that wealth and property profit us nothing in the end, and nothing is worth owning if we end up separated from God.

4. HAVE YOU CONTEMPLATED THE BREVITY OF LIFE AND WHAT LIES BEYOND THE GRAVE?

God is certainly using the coronavirus to confront all of us with the reality that life is short, and that death is never very far away. Perhaps at no other time in the history of the world have so many people been brought face to face with these brutal facts all at the same time as is happening right now.

Scripture says that “it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). It is judgment that lies immediately beyond the grave. It is facing Jesus Christ, the Maker and Judge of all mankind. That may be something that most people don’t want to face, but it’s something that is good for every single human being to seriously consider—before it’s too late.

5. DO YOU KNOW HOW TO OVERCOME DEATH?

Whether your death comes from Covid-19 or not, it will come. There is a tremendous rush right now to find a vaccine and a cure for Covid-19. They may or may not be found. There’s a sense in which we could look at this virus and its related disease as pictures of sin. Sin is everywhere in the world. It’s inside us all, even if we don’t realize it. And it is deadly. As the Bible says, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). The Bible also tells us however that there is a cure for this most deadly of diseases, sin.

The cure is the blood of Jesus Christ, who died on the cross to save sinners. The reason He did that is because God the Father is not willing to simply cast everyone who has sinned against Him into hell. He would be completely righteous to condemn every single sinner, but as Scripture says, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). If you repent of your sins and trust Jesus Christ to save you, your sins will be forgiven, and you will be delivered from everlasting destruction. Jesus said, “He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25-26).

Ask God to forgive you of your sins today, and trust in His Son Jesus Christ to save you. Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame” (Romans 9:33). If you put your trust in Him, you will not need to fear the coronavirus. You will not even need to fear death itself (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).