Stem Cell Transplant: Everyone Needs It (New Life Perspective)

 

 

Everyone needs a stem cell transplant. In Philadelphia, my brother in law, (Kevin) is presently undergoing the most fascinating medical procedure. His insidious and invasive cancer is such that his own immune system to fight the disease is completely ineffective.

Medication and chemotherapy will not be enough to save him. His own cells have become too friendly with the invader and they will not do their job. He needs a blood cell transplant from his son (Peter) who is a close enough match and whose cells will provide the help and healing he needs.

Before he undergoes the transplant it is necessary to completely kill all his own cells first. After two days of radiation and an extremely high dosage of chemotherapy his own cells will have died. There is a three day wait for the new blood to be received. The end result: his old powerless stem cells will have died and been exchanged for a new life giving source provided by his son.

There is definitely a more sophisticated explanation for this procedure but I have been given the permission to release this simplified post. There is a powerful metaphor in this procedure that illustrates a need that every person has. Every person has a need for a spiritual stem cell transplant.

          Every person needs a spiritual stem cell transplant

After the transplant is complete Kevin can expect the new cells to operate. They bring a whole new life to him. If his son had certain allergies he can also expect to have those allergies. If his son likes scotch then Kevin might develop a taste for scotch. This is true for people who have kidney transplants. They develop new appetites. They have a whole new source.

Jesus came to earth to provide a whole new source for living. Our source for living seems to be adequate but in reality it is not. We need to exchange our powerless and ineffectual “self” life for a supernatural “out of this world” life.

The old King James Version of the Bible had a very strange way of talking about Jesus. One verse says; “Oh what manner of man is this”. Matthew 8:27 Who talks that way today? Another verse talks about his love for us. It says, “Oh what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the children of God; and such we are”. 1 John 3:1  One day I discovered a very literal explanation for the term “oh what manner”. It means “Oh, what an out of this world person, what an out of this world kind of love He brings.” This is the only way Jesus and His love could be explained. He is out of this world and so is His love. Take a “long pause” after the semi colon and take it in. It is out of this world. It will take eternity to really fathom this.

We need a supernatural life and love. All that we possess in ourselves is not enough. We do not have what it takes. There is not enough trying that will help. There is a need to die to our own cells and receive the life cells or the love cells of another. We need to exchange our life for the life of Jesus.

When a child is in the womb it is completely dependent upon its mother. Peter could have said, “For me to live is mom.” In the same way Kevin can say “For me to live is Peter.” Whose cells are they? Are they Kevin’s cells or are they Peter’s cells? They are Peter’s, no they are Kevin’s now.

                     “For me to live is Christ”   Philippians 1:21

The apostle Paul said, “For me to live is Christ, or living is Christ.” We have His life, but it is also our life. We need His supernatural life and love for living in this world for the short time we are here. We can not survive on the moon without oxygen from earth and we can not survive on earth without life from heaven.

Bono of U2 said, “We can put a man on the moon, but let’s put humanity back on earth.” Bono knows we need compassion on earth and the humanity he is speaking about is Jesus who came to earth. Our greatest hope is found in His “out of this world life and love”.

Philadelphia is known as the city of love and freedom. Although it is known for brotherly love and in Kevin’s case “son love”, for me today there is a story that illustrates an even bigger love. Peter does not have to lay down his life for his father but there was a person who did that for us. That is the greater love or even the greatest love.

A gospel song has lyrics that say; “everyone needs forgiveness, a love that’s never ending…” It is true that everyone needs forgiveness, but more so, everyone needs “life”. A dying man’s greatest need is not for forgiveness but life. Jesus said; “I have come to give you life and life abundant”. Everyone needs this transplant.

“I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me,” Galatians 2:20 a