Article September 12, 1988 Issue

No cause, no ouch!

We find more dominion, more grace, more love—and healing—when we understand that God is the only cause. And good is the only effect.

Carolyn Hill

Probably on a day-to-day basis most of us don't give much direct thought to the subject of cause and effect. Maybe we should. It reaches into every nook and cranny of our experience and includes a number of things we may mistakenly feel are out of our power to control.

The Bible's teachings show us, however, that we do not have to put up with evil or to think it can control our lives. Because Christ Jesus refused to accept any cause of life apart from God, he was able to raise the widow's son at Nain from the funeral bier.^{See Luke 7:11–16 .} He also raised from the dead his friend Lazarus, who had been in the tomb four days.^{See John 11:1–44 .} The Master healed those suffering from sin and disease by his total acceptance of God as the one and only cause.

Man, made in God's image and likeness, cannot be held or dominated by matter. By his own resurrection, Christ Jesus proved beyond all doubt that life in matter is not what it appears to be. God is Life, and His man expresses this Life. Cause and effect cannot be separated.

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