The Healing Promise!
God's Word speaks a lot about healing. It is seen throughout Scripture, from cover to cover. The prophets of the Old Testament ministered healing to God's people. The Psalms and Proverbs speak of it. Jesus made healing a central theme of His earthly ministry. It is clearly included in the redemptive work of the cross. It is also included in the Great Commission that Christ delegated to all believers. The first century believers demonstrated God's healing power, as seen in the Book of Acts as well as in other historical documents. The writers of the epistles also discussed it.
This article is written for the purpose of simply convincing you from the Word of God that God desires to heal you. In later writings we will see principles on how to appropriate this promise as well as some hindrances and objections that some have expressed to this type of teaching. But first, we must begin with the fact that healing belongs to you. It is included in the covenant that He has made with you. There may be many reasons why we can believe the message of healing, but I want to focus on three specific reasons you can believe this message. Reason one: because God said it; Reason two: it was a central theme in the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, as well as his first century disciples; Reason three: it is seen as included in the redemptive work of the cross;
Reason one: The Healing Promise belongs to you because God said so. "Bless the Lord, oh my soul and all that is within me: Bless His Holy Name! Bless the Lord, oh my soul and forget not all His benefits; Who forgiveth all thine iniquities and healeth all thy diseases" (Ps.103:1-3). Did you know that there are benefits for walking with the Lord? There are benefits in this covenant that He made with us and we are specifically instructed to not forget all those benefits. The word "all" seems to imply that there are several. This is the Word of God, so God is instructing us about benefits for being in a relationship with Him, and He lists a few of them in the 103rd Psalm.
For the purpose of this teaching, we want to focus on a benefit that is mentioned the third verse, "healeth all thy diseases". Thank God that He forgives all your iniquities (sins), but healing of our body is just as much part of the Covenant that He has made with us as is the forgiving of our sins. I see these two promises pared together throughout Scripture. Certainly God is interested in your spirit, He wants to give you eternal life. But He seems to be just as interested in your body, providing total health.
These promises, which we will be looking at, are not just for the "sweet-by-and-by" after we leave this present life. I want you to see Scriptures that indicate that He promises that you can live this current lifetime in perfect health! He is very interested in you, in your current circumstances. He is interested your present-day situation, all the events and activities that you face today. It is so exciting to know that God is interested in all of who you are, spirit, soul, body, and finances! He is concerned about all that concerns you!
Let's look again at the third verse, "Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases". After becoming a born-again Christian, did you ever feel like God hasn't really forgiven all your sins. Many people suffer needlessly under a load of guilt and shame because they are not fully convinced of this truth. But if you truly know His Word and are in tune with His Spirit, you know that all your sins have been thrown into the Sea of Forgetfulness, and God has chosen to forget all your past failings. The truth is, He has forgiven all your sins, whether you feel like it or not! What a tremendous, glorious promise!
But just as true is the promise of healing. It really does not matter what you feel like or what others might tell you. The truth is, God promises you that healing of your body is included in the covenant that He made with you! The same Bible that promises you that your sins are forgiven is the same Bible that promises you that physical healing belongs to you also. Yet so many Christian leaders will tell you otherwise. They will tell you that "sometimes He heals, and sometimes He doesn't" and they present the idea that you just never know if God will answer your prayers. But that isn't what the Bible teaches.
Many will tell you that sometimes God answers "yes" and sometimes He answers "no", but the Bible tells us that He always answers "yes" when we are asking in faith in a promise from His Word (II Cor.1:20; I Jn.5:14). If you've gone through our "Abiding Life: Volume One", you should have learned that God exults His Word even above His own Name (Ps.138:2) and there is no higher authority than that. So regardless of what others have told you and regardless of what your body might be telling you, Divine healing and health is God's will for you. In fact it is always God's will to heal you!
We have a covenant with God and included in this covenant is not only the forgiveness of your sins, but also the healing of your body. We've lived far below our potential as Christians. We have not measured up to what God intended. We have not taken advantage of all that He has provided for us. We settle for far less than what we need to, as children of God. There is no reason for a child of God to be sick. The physicians and other "experts" think that they have all the right answers, but they frequently don't. When their answer contradicts God's Word, "let God be true and every man a liar" (Rm.3:4).
With that said, let's look at a few other passages of Scripture that make this promise, that God desires to heal you and give you continual health. You can find the principle of Divine healing throughout the entire Bible, in nearly every book of the Bible. One of the first clear examples of God demonstrating His healing power is when Abraham prayed for Abimelech. "So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children" (Ge.20:7). Then of course there was the healing of Sarah in order for her to bare children.
One of the first clear promises of healing is found in the book of Exodus. Here God calls Himself the LORD that heals, or in the original Hebrew He is calling Himself "Jehovah Rapha", which could be translated, "God, your physician". "And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee" (Ex.15:26).
Then in the Book of Numbers, we see Moses praying for the healing of his sister Miriam and God answered the prayer by demonstrating His healing power (Nu.12:10-15). In the next book of the Bible, He declares to His people, "I heal" (Dt.32:39). The Lord spoke about healing through His prophet Isaiah saying, "Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD" (II K.20:5).
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God also promises to bring healing to our land when we repent, unite in prayer, and seek Him. "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land" (II Ch.7:14). Healing is mentioned in several other places in Scripture and we should cling to what He declares in His Word. These are just a few examples and there are many more added at the end of this chapter (I Sa.6:3; II Ch.22:6; 30:20). Partnered with this promise are many passages that promise longevity (Ps.91:6; Pr.3:2; Ep.6:3). I urge you to take time to look up all of these passages from the Word of God. |
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God tells us in the book of Psalms that "He sent His Word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions" (Ps.107:20). If you need a healing of any kind, you must begin digging into the Word of God and study what He says about the subject. "He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds" (Ps.147:3). To say that He heals broken hearts could imply that He is promising specifically emotional healing. But He also says that He binds up wounds. There are a lot of wounded people in society. Some are wounded spiritually. Some are wounded emotionally, Others are wounded psychologically. A lot of people are wounded financially. Still many are wounded physically. Whatever your wounds are, He desires to bind it up and to heal it completely.
Over and over again, God declares healing to His people. "...the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound" (Is.30:26). We see the promise of healing even in the prophetic books of the Bible. "Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise" (Jer.17:14). Jeremiah didn't have any doubt that God would answer favorably to his request for healing. "For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD.."(Jer.30:17). The prophets of God knew that God deeply loves His people. "Come, and let us return unto the LORD: ...and he will heal us" (Ho.6:1).
We've been focusing so far on a lot of Old Testament healing promises, but the New Testament has a lot to say on the subject also. Many of which we'll see as we discuss "Reason Two" and "Reason Three". But there is one exciting thing we must always remember, God desires above everything that you be healthy! "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth" (III Jn.2). God never wants you to be sick! Healing is always God's perfect will your all of His children! Once we know what the entire Word of God repeatedly states about healing, there can be now doubt about the truth about this subject. If healing was provided under the Old Covenant, certainly we should expect that it is provided in the New Covenant, which is called the better covenant.
Reason two: it was a central theme in the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, as well as his first century disciples. Jesus demonstrated the perfect will of God. If you want to know what the will of God is concerning your health, just look at Jesus. Jesus Himself was a living demonstration of the perfect will of God. He never rejected anyone who came to Him for healing. He never told anyone "no it's not for you". Jesus Christ is the Logos of God, the full revelation of God. He was a man living in the perfect will of God. He healed every sick person who approached Him in faith and in another place stated that He was doing the will of the One who sent Him.
In the first three verses of the eighth chapter of of Matthew, we see a leper approach Jesus saying, "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean." That leper wasn't questioning the Lord's ability to heal, he was questioning His willingness. Most Christians today have the same basic mind-set that that leper had. All of us know that He has the ability to heal and we wouldn't question it for a moment. But were not always convinced that He will heal us. It usually not effective to ask a believer if they believe in Divine Healing. All Christians believe that God heals. The test question that I give is, "do you believe that it is always God's will to heal". If someone answers that questions with anything other than resounding "yes", they don't understand full faith message and they don't understand the Covenant that God made with us. (Mt.8:1-3)
In the very next story in the same chapter we see a centurion approach Jesus, telling our Lord of his servant who was very sick. Once again Jesus states what His will concerning sickness and healing when He says, "I will come and heal him"(Mt.8:7). Don't forget that Jesus is the express image of God Almighty. Whatever the will of Jesus is, it the will of our Father God, Jehovah. Later on in that eighth chapter of Matthew, it clearly declares that He "healed all that were sick" (Mt.8:16). Jesus settled the issue, once and forever, concerning His will on this subject. We must conclude that if someone is not healed, it has absolutely nothing to do with the will of God. There must be other issues that are involved which are hindering the manifestation of the healing, which we'll discuss in a later chapter. Right now, I just want you to be convinced that God is for you, not against you. He does desire healing for your body.
Not only did Jesus spend a lot of time healing people, He gave you the same power and authority that He operated in (Lk.10:19). He even made healing part of the Great Commission (Mk.16:17-18). And the apostles and other early Christians clearly understood their role in demonstrating God's love and healing power (Acts 3). Jesus is the manifest presence of God almighty. He always has been the means by which God has dealt with man on Earth, even in the Old Testament. Jesus has always been the member of the Godhead who manifested the Godhead to man. He is the express image of God Himself. He is the personification of the Godhead, Jehovah Rapha! Once we know Jesus' attitude toward healing, we know the will of God on the subject. (II Cor.4:4; He.1:3; Col.1:15; 2:9) |
Reason three: it is seen as included in the redemptive work of the cross. Jesus took my sicknesses, diseases, illnesses, and pain upon Himself on the cross! If He bore my sickness and disease, it would be a miscarriage of justice for me to bare it also. The main reason healing belongs to you is because of what Jesus did on the Cross. When ever the devil is trying to put something on you, just look to the cross and see what Jesus did for you, to provide healing for your body (Is.53:4-5; Mt.8:17; I Pe.2:24). This is something He did for you! By His stripes you were healed! He paid the price willingly, not just for the forgiveness of your sins, but also for the healing of your body. The bottom line is, you don't have to be sick anymore! He paid the price in full! He took pain, suffering, and ultimate punishment so you can live free from diseases, illnesses, infirmities, and sickness.
Remember the Scripture we began with in this chapter, that urges you to not forget all His benefits. Healing is one of the many benefits that belong to Christians because God has made a covenant with us. He paid an awesome price in order for you to receive these tremendous benefits. For you to not be living in your benefits is to be living way beneath you rights as a child of God. His plan for you includes healing, health, and longevity. You need to be convinced of this, not just in your head, but in your heart of hearts. You need to be convinced that God is on your side and He wants to pour blessings upon you, not cursings (I Pe.3:9). Jesus wants to heal you! God's will is clear on this subject. People might call us extreme and they may say many things contrary to this, but there is no higher authority than the Word of God.
I'll end for now by giving you some additional Bible passages concerning Divine Healing that you should research in order to further cement this promise into your heart, mind, spirit, and soul. Besides all the ones already mentioned in this article, please look up the Scripture passages listed below and study them. Some of them will be discussed in later writing. (Ex.21:19; 23:25; Lev.13:18; Dt.7:5-15; 28:1-14; 30:19; I K.8:56; Ps.6:2; 30:2; 41:4; 60:2; 118:17; Pr.4:20-23; Ec.3:3; Is.19:22; 41:10; 57:18-19; Jer.1:12; 3:22; 30:17; Joel 3:10; Na.1:9; Mt.18:18-19; 21:21; Jn.10:10; Rm.8:11; II Cor.10:4-5; Ep.6:10-17; Ph.2:13; 4:6-7; II Tm.1:7; He.10:23, 35; 11:11; 13:8; Jas.5:14-15; I Jn.3:21-22; 5:14-15; Rv.12:11; 22:2)
