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Hearing is the primary sensory function for communicating with our environment. Without
hearing, we miss an enormous amount of sound information that is all
around us everyday. The complaint I hear from deaf patients most often is that they feel isolated because of their difficulty communicating. Relationships with others and learning about the world around us are both very dependant on hearing.
Jesus used the analogy of hearing to describe our hearts. "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." (Mark 4:9) The Bible says that all of creation is continually revealing truth to us about God. "For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made." (Romans 1:20)"The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands." (Psalm 19:1) Yet, the Bible says that now creation is not the way God originally designed. Something happened to us that impairs our ability to hear the story that creation is telling us about God. When asked about his use of parable stories to teach about God, Jesus said, "Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand." (Matthew 13:13)
God compares hearing to a heart that understands truth, both about Him and ourselves. That truth is this: the human heart has rebelled against a loving Creator and is seeking to find purpose in life apart from Him. It is this rebellious pursuit that the Bible calls "sin". "All of us like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way." (Isaiah 53:6) "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) This sin renders our ears deaf to the story that creation and the Bible tells us about God.
Through cochlear implants we are now able to give hearing to many that are isolated and in silence. I am grateful to be a part of this exciting technology. However no technology can cure our most serious problem: our deafened hearts. The Bible says that this is a condition that we are helpless to change on our own. During His time on earth, Jesus performed many miracles to prove who He was. "He makes even the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak." (Mark 7:37) These miracles of healing were simply tastes of His greater mission. He was sent to open the ears of our hearts so that we might receive Him as the one who would set us free from sin. By His death on the cross, he paid the price that our rebellion demanded before we could enter back into a relationship with God, the kind of relationship that He designed for us to have from the beginning. He has done all the work. All that is left is for each individual to accept this pardon as a free gift. "Being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:24) Faith is the act of trust in that free gift as our basis for spending eternity with God. "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." (Romans 10:17)
In 1977, I accepted this free gift myself. Through my relationship with Jesus I find a purpose in life that includes, but also goes far beyond this life. This purpose energizes everything that I do. It also provides hope and a longing for the day when God will finally remove all suffering. Healing that comes from mans’ technology will always be expensive and will only last for this lifetime. God’s gift is free and lasts for all eternity. "The eye has not seen and the ear has not heard all that God has prepared for those who love Him." (I Corinthians 2:9)
- Dr. Peters |
