In Bad Need of Good Knees?

One of the greatest benefits of living in 21st century America is the ability to take advantage of many of the new medical and surgical procedures that have been developed in recent years. Some wonder if, given enough time and money, man might eventually conquer almost every physical malady known to his race?

For example, I have bad knees – very, very bad knees. And I’ve had them now ever since my high school years. This painful reality is due to sports and primarily to a 15-year-long ice hockey habit that was my passion from my early teens through most of my late twenties. It was fun most of the time, despite being plagued and limited by knee pain not long after I began the sport. To this day, my mother claims that God was not happy that I was playing some of my games on Sunday mornings at church time. It does seem in hind-sight that some of the more serious and freak injuries occurred during those times. Maybe she was right on the money? And now, this daily worsening problem is affecting nearly every area of life including just plain walking, and is only fixable at this point via double knee replacement.

But again, today’s advancing medical techniques has meant that some have new hope that their more serious medical issues can now be addressed or will be in time. But in the area of today’s all too common knee problems, a new process has been developed for certain candidates who qualify. Healthy cartilage cells are taken from the knee using an arthroscopic tube. The cells are sent to a lab where they are cultured and multiply in about four to six weeks. A layer of tissue is sewn over the damaged area. The new cells are injected under the patch, where they will regenerate cartilage with surrounding cartilage. It is an amazing concept and technology to say the least!

The doctor, who performed the first ACIs in the USA in 1995, has done approximately 600 procedures and says his success rate has been nearly 92% thus far. Unfortunately, my joints are now far too beyond this new process.

I also have another related problem. While not too many things scare me, the thought of this particular procedure turns me into a total coward. Part of that comes from having gone through multiple knee surgeries in ‘the old days’. The other aspect may be from some additional words of my mother who, after having her own double replacement due to a car accident, stated, “Now I think I can better understand what hell might be like.” Now how’s that for motivation for having a surgical procedure regardless of how badly it may be needed?

So my current game plan for the moment is looking to the rapture and why one of my favorite Bible verses has become Philippians 3:19-21. “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body…”

As stated, the Bible does make the promise of a future new body – a great source of comfort for all but especially for those who suffer with any long-term serious physical ailment. But for that amazing promise to become a reality requires another procedure to occur first. There needs a repair to the human heart, but not the physical unit that is the crucial and central organ of the human frame. There needs to be rather a spiritually repaired heart meaning the soul. That’s a procedure that comes only through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. (John 3:16, 1 John 5:12) When God forgives sin and renews the human heart, the Bible proclaims a complete and successful spiritual operation with miraculous, life-altering, and lasting results. 2 Corinthians chapter five makes reference to this great healing change with verse 17 stating, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Modern-day surgery can be a true blessing to those who desperately need it and, like some of us, are not afraid to go through it. But it can still be quite scary because of the potential risks, pain, and sometimes the agonizing process of rehabilitation. Plus there are those times when it does not totally achieve its intended purpose. Also, there are those who are ineligible for certain procedures for a variety of valid reasons. Some simply can’t afford cutting edge medical intervention or may not have access to advanced medical help depending on their individual circumstances.

But unlike when dealing with the physical failings of the vulnerable and frail human body, the method that delivers the damaged and deadened human soul from the power and penalty of sin is 100% available, 100% effective, and 100% permanent.

There are literally none that do not qualify fully and unconditionally for the spiritual healing attainable from personal faith in Jesus Christ. (John 6:37) The procedure for the total repair and rehabilitation of every broken soul has always been the same – by faith. (Romans 4:3). God’s reconstructive spiritual heart surgery cannot be replaced or improved upon according to biblical truth. His redemptive plan is pure and perfect. It is all about, and only about, simple saving faith in the finished work of His Son. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross fully atoned for the sins of the world. He alone can repair the relational breach between the Creator and those He created and loves. And only He is capable of dealing with the short and long-term destructive consequences of human sin.

And the great part of the ”good news" is that this requires no insurance, causes no pain, comes as a free gift, and is fully accessible to any who humbly admit their need of forgiveness and the necessity of having their damaged heart repaired and restored by the Great Physician.

To some this all may seem simply too easy to be true. But according to numerous passages in God’s word it is! What Christ did to procure man’s salvation is something we will likely never comprehend. But what He requires to take advantage of it is easy enough even for a child to grasp! “That whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” (Acts 2:21)

Bill Breckenridge