God has been a God who heals for thousands of Years
Throughout the entire Bible God has been a God who heals the sick. There is not a single covenant between God and man, that we find in the Bible, where God does not heal the sick of those who obey Him.
In the garden of Eden before the fall, there was no sin so therefore there was no death, and if there was no death, there definitely was no sickness.
In God’s covenant with Abraham, healing was also provided. Abraham and Sara were unable to have a child, not to mention it was impossible for Sara to conceive cause of her old age, yet God healed them and they bore a son named Isaac.
In God’s covenant with the people of Israel, through the Old Testament law, healing of the physical body was a benefit provided for those who obeyed God.
“If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.” (Exodus 15:26)
“And the Lord will take away from you all sickness, and will afflict you with none of the terrible diseases of Egypt which you have known, but will lay them on all those who hate you.” (Deuteronomy 7:15)
The fact that God is a God that desires to heal the sick is not a new thing. He has been healing the sick for thousands of years, but in the New Covenant, the Covenant that Jesus began, it is more prevalent than ever.
Healing is a promise of the New Covenant
Just like healing was a promise for those under the Old Covenant Law, so healing is a promise for all of those who follow Jesus.
Isaiah, the prophet, prophesied about Jesus long before He was born saying,
“Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:4-5)
This passage of scripture is prophesying about the death of Christ and what He will accomplish on the cross. The Hebrew word for griefs and sorrows are the words sicknesses and pains. In other words, Jesus bore our sicknesses and pains on the cross.
Of course, Jesus bore our sins on the cross. That’s why this scripture says that “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities.” But not only did Jesus carry our sins on the cross, but He also bore sicknesses. The Gospel of Matthew confirms this when it quotes this scripture.
“When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.” (Matthew 8:16-17)
Notice that immediately after Matthew mentions that Jesus healed the sick he refers to this verse in Isaiah 53. The reason for this is because it was widely understood at that time that Isaiah 53 is not only referring to sins being taken care of through the death of Jesus but sicknesses as well.
Isaiah 53:4-5 is referred to again in the New Testament by the apostle Peter.
“Who, when He (Jesus) was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.” (1 Peter 2:23-24)
Notice that although the apostle Peter is not quoting Isaiah 53:4-5 exactly, He is referring to it. Also, notice when the prophet Isaiah says “By His stripes we are healed”, the apostle Peter says, “By His stripes you were healed.”
The reason for this is because Isaiah was pointing to the coming of Christ that was yet to be, while Peter was pointing to the work of Christ that has already been completed.
In short, the Covenant that we are under is the Covenant that is surrounded by the work of Christ in His life, death, burial, and resurrection. And in that work, we not only see the forgiveness of sins but also the healing of the physical body.
Jesus told all believers to go and heal the Sick
In addition to the work of Christ on the cross, we also see repeated commands made by Jesus to His disciples to go and heal the sick in every city we are in.
We first see this command in Luke chapter 9 and then we see it in the following chapter in Luke chapter 10.
“Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.” (Luke 9:1-2)
“After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. Then He said to them… heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.” (Luke 10:1 & 9)
Right after the Lord appointed His 12 disciples to heal the sick and preach the Gospel, He appoints 70 others to go and do the same. Now notice, all of the 12 and all of the 70 were given the same ability to go and heal the sick. This is important because healing the sick is not only for the “gifted” but for all believers in Christ. (Related article: How to Walk in the Gift of Healing- A Complete Guide).
This is why Jesus said to the apostles, And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (Mark 16:17-18)
As you can see, healing the sick is a sign that is meant to follow all believers, not just some. This passage above is the third time Jesus gave this command and this time it was given in the context of the Great Commission. Every time Jesus exhorts His followers to go out and preach the Gospel, He tells them to heal the sick as well.
All of God’s promises are Yes and Amen
All of the passages that we have covered so far have been promises regarding healing in some form or fashion. For instance, in Mark 16 Jesus promised that the sign of healing the sick will follow the believer and that when they lay hands on the sick, the sick will recover.
This is not only a command from the Lord to go out and heal the sick but it is also a promise to the church that when we lay hands on the sick in faith, they will be healed.
This is important to mention because the apostle Paul makes it abundantly clear that every promise of God is yes and amen, which means so be it.
“But as God is faithful, our word to you was not Yes and No. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me, Silvanus, and Timothy—was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes. For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” (2 Corinthians 1:18-20)
As we can see from this scripture, no promise of God is sometimes yes and other times no. If that were the case it would be impossible to have faith for anything.
Think of it this way; we have a promise from God that if anyone calls on the name of the Lord they shall be saved (Romans 10:13). What if God decided to say instead, “if anyone calls on the name of the Lord they have the chance to be saved.”
You wouldn’t be able to have faith because it is the assurance of the verse that produces faith in individuals, for “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” (Romans 10:17)
In other words, it is the “they shall be saved” that produces the assurance of salvation in believers.
We see the same assurance with regards to the promises of healing. Jesus said believers “will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” This is a promise from the King of kings and Lord of lords, and all of the promises that are “in Him are yes and amen, to the glory of God through us.”
Healing couldn’t have ceased cause faith hasn’t ceased
The healing of the sick throughout the scriptures is always in response to faith. We never see in the entire Word of God someone get healed apart from someone’s faith being released into the situation.
Faith and healing are inseparable. And not only did Jesus promise us healing, but He also promised us that when we release faith through prayer our answer will come when it is according to His will.
And since we already established that Healing is the will of God through proving that healing was a promise of God in the Old Testament as well as in the New, then the only logical conclusion is that we have free reign to pray for the sick to be healed.
Since we know it to be His will, we can now pray in faith for His will to come to pass. Jesus made countless promises to His followers that we will have our petition if we pray with faith in His name.
“And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” (John 14:13-14)
“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” (John 15:7)
Seeing people healed is a result of having faith in prayer. That is why James says that “the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up.” (James 5:14-15)
So, as we all can see from the Word of God, praying with faith in God has never ceased, and if the prayer of faith has never ceased then neither has healing.
If you want to know more about releasing the prayer of faith to heal the sick then I recommend an article I wrote titled How to Activate God’s Healing Power (Step by Step). Enjoy!
Sickness and infirmity is from the Devil
The Bible shows that the main reason Jesus came to earth was to destroy the works of the devil.
“He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:8)
Obviously, the primary reference that this verse is talking about is sin. However, it is not only referring to sin, it is also referring to all that the devil has accomplished since the fall of mankind.
“God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” (Acts 10:38)
“So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” (Luke 13:16)
These verses above reveal that Satan is the one who binds and oppresses people with sickness, not God.
Also, notice that the former verse replaced sickness or disease with “oppressed by the devil.” It was the work of the devil who caused sickness, but it was Jesus of Nazareth empowered with the Holy Spirit who destroyed that work.
So, if it’s true that Jesus came to this earth to destroy the works of the devil, and if it’s true that sickness is from Satan, then the only logical conclusion is that Jesus will continue to heal the sick, just like He will continue to save the sinner.
Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever
If anyone has ever read the New Testament, it is pretty difficult to ignore the fact that Jesus healed a lot of sick folks. Every sick person who came to Him, He healed.
Whole crowds of people with infirmities, illnesses, and even demon-possessed individuals sought Him out, and every time they were all completely healed.
“And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.” (Matthew 4:23-24)
It would be foolish to assume that all of a sudden Christ just decided to no longer heal the sick and rescue the demon-possessed. Especially since the Bible clearly states that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)
Sicknesses still exist and so do demons. People need to be healed and delivered in Jesus’ time, just like they do now.
The only difference is Jesus isn’t working on this earth in His physical form, instead, He is working on this earth through the power of His Spirit in His people – the Body of Christ.
We are meant to act on this earth in His stead.
We are meant to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom just like Christ did. We are meant to demonstrate the Kingdom through miracles, signs, and wonders just like Christ did. We are meant to make disciples as He did, and we are meant to endure persecution and the trials of life as He did.
If this isn’t the case, why would He call us the “body of Christ” if we were never meant to embody Him? Why would He tell us to follow Him if we weren’t meant to take after His example? Why would He say, “the works that I do he will do also” if you believe if He didn’t mean it?
We are all meant to follow His example by preaching the Gospel, healing the sick, and making disciples. The Lord Jesus has never changed, rather His people have changed. It is not His fault the sick are not healed, it’s ours.
If He never changed and His desires have never changed then neither should we. We should learn from the acts of the early church and go “out and preach everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.” (Mark 16:20)
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