Posted on 12/26/2022 2:23:20 PM PST by Frank Broom
That might seem like a strange title, but I titled it that because a lot of people think that it's wrong to look for healing from God. They actually think you are using God in a way that you shouldn't be and will try to condemn you for it. But, my thing is this if God has no problem with it and we definitely see Jesus had no problem with it so why do you have a problem with it. Is there another people can go to. As a matter of fact God said, I am The Lord that healeth thee. And one of his covenant names is Jehovah Rapha meaning The God That Heals. So, apparently healing is important to God. Now, I know someone will say spiritual healing is more important, but just because one might be more important doesn't mean the other isn't. And then there's those that say The Bible is only referring to spiritual healing, but Jesus healed physical sicknesses and diseases. And you NEVER see Jesus chastise someone for coming to him for healing. And he was a representative of the Father. He was a physical manifestation of God in the flesh. And when multitudes of people came to him he healed them. He didn't rebuke them, but he was more than happy to do it. He was a walking demonstration of God's goodness. And GOD IS GOOD. And do not let anyone tell you anything different.
So, what I want to do is let's see what The Bible says about the subject of healing from the old testament to the new. In Proverbs 4:20-23 it says, My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. 21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. 22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. 23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. That word health is translated-medicine, remedy, healing, and cure. So, God by his word has provided medicine for your healing, why would He do that. Those are instructions for you to receive your healing, I did them and I received my healing. God said his word is life and health. God is the God of life and health and not death and sickness. And in Psalm 103:2,3 it says, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: 3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases. So, that says healing is a benefit of God. And you see in Matthew 10:1,8 Jesus told his disciples to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead. Jesus said in Mark 16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they....lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. So, God wants his people laying hands on the sick. And in James 5:14,15 it says, Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. If any is sick among you, notice he didn't say that was only for certain people. No, God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). Don't base God by circumstances base him by scriptures. Circumstances don't define God. I just wanted to encourage people if you are trusting God and his word keep trusting. Don't let anyone condemn you for trusting God for your healing.
It is not God's will that any should perish. And I wouldn't want to end this article without giving someone the opportunity to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. It's very easy just pray: Dear God- I know I have sinned and I now turn from them and I invite Jesus to come into my heart (Revelation 3:20). He died for my sins and you have raised him from the dead and I now confess that Jesus is my Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9,10). I thank you for saving me, Amen
My experience is that healing comes from obedience. As you obey and start to accrue the benefits from being obedient, it slowly replaces your hurts.
Jesus ratified his message of the good news of the Kingdom by a mass campaign of healing. Consider, he asked the unbelieving scribes and Pharisees, “Which is easier? To say the words your sins are forgiven, and have it be true; or to say the words rise up and walk, and have it be true?” And then he said, “But so that you will know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sin...” and he turned to the lame man and told him, “Take up your mat, rise up and walk.” The lame man, proving the actuality of Jesus authority to heal, took up his mat and walked, simultaneously proving the actuality of Jesus declaration that the man’s sins were forgiven.
I will go so far as to assert that a church that cannot, or will not, both preach and practice healing cannot ratify the gospel it proclaims.
Jesus spent three years healing all throughout the land of Judea, and even in Samaria. When his identity was questioned by the disciples of John the Baptist, his response hinged upon healing. He said, “Tell John the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk.” A substantive hallmark of Jesus’ identity as Messiah lay in his authority and power to heal. It was a secondary matter that he said also, “...and the good news of the Kingdom is preached to the poor.”
Proof of the efficacy of Jesus mission: to be executed by God on Mount Calvary in our stead to obtain for us, by his blood, total forgiveness of the Divine Penalty of sin; was established beforehand by a 3-year healing campaign. And God ratified the whole of it on the third day by raising Jesus from the dead.
Bkmk
That is a good and true word. Sin brings to us two problems: a Divine penalty, and natural consequences. Jesus, in his blood, paid in Full the Divine penalty for our sin. He paid it universally, unilaterally, for all people, in all places, for all time. But we still must repent and believe for forgiveness of, and healing from, the natural consequences of sin; natural consequences that include bodily illness and death.
Consider how Isaiah testifies that Jesus was wounded for our transgressions, that he was bruised for our iniquities. Jesus received physical damage in his mortal body because of our sin. But are we talking about the Divine penalty of sin, or the natural consequences? Isaiah clarifies the matter saying, “...and by his stripes we are healed.” Those who construe these claims as only spiritual go beyond what is written, and say what the Word does not say, limiting it in a way that it is not limited. This is an egregious error.
Consider the Lord’s Supper: we have the wine — the blood of the New Covenant in Jesus’ nlood. And we know that without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness of sin. We further know that it is the blood of Christ that has taken away the writ of condemnation that was against us. This writ of condemnation pertains to the Divine Penalty of sin that we could not pay and still have any hope of seeing God; only by God’s execution of Jesus Christ in our stead is this penalty taken away, paid in full.
But The Cup isn’t the only element on the table; there is The Bread also, about which Jesus said, “This is my body given for you.” When we consider Isaiah’s claims about the manner in which Christ’s body was given, and when we further observe that a dominant feature of the ministry of Christ lay in three years of healing people right and left, how can it not be manifest to us that the bread is on the table as testament to Jesus’ intent and authority to heal our bodies?
In 1 Corinthians chapter 11 Paul directly connects the failure to discern the body of Christ when taking communion with illness in the human body, and even death. He talks about taking communion without discerning the body of Christ, and then he turns right around and says, point blank, “That is why many among you are weak, and ill, and some have even died.” I think it is clear that Paul is testifying that the bread of communion — the body of Christ — is very directly connected to the condition of our mortal bodies.
In rolling the bread and the cup together as the sacrament of communion, the tendency is to construe Jesus’ sacrifice of both his body and blood as pertaining to the forgiveness of the Divine penalty of sin. My observation is that this understanding is, of itself, a failure to discern the body of Christ. When we construe the Lord’s Supper in this manner we address the Divine penalty of sin only, and leave unaddressed the natural consequences of sin that affect our bodies, that Isaiah clearly claims Jesus gave his body to heal. Discerning the body of Christ in communion as distinct from the blood clarifies that healing should have remained a central, prominent aspect of the ministry of the church throughout the world right up to this very hour.
I’m so grateful when I read other’s commentaries on Scriptural, supernatural healing and the truth of God’s Word as relates to this. Jesus was scourged for our physical healing. He was crucified for our eternal salvation. In other words, He took it all for us and desires for us to be set free from ALL that burdens us. He wouldn’t be referred to as the Great Physician if He wasn’t capable, willing and ready to heal us physically.
I also like Frank’s comment about not being condemned if you’re trusting God for healing. We have been through the wringer by friends, family members and especially physicians, that come in like steam rollers to force us into the system. My husband has an issue with his hip and we are trusting God and His promise of healing implicitly and will not go into the ‘system’ of surgery, drugs, etc.
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