This series started by explaining what we believe on topics that prove that the Bible, God, and Jesus are real and active. Then it started making a break to our responsibility if this Christian walk was real. Communion, Baptism, Baptism of the Holy Spirit, the church, and its mission.
When we talked about Baptism of the Holy Spirit, I mentioned how this was a topic that divides us from other fellowships or denominations of Christians. Today's topic is another where people can get divided on. We are talking about Divine Healing and does God hear our prayers and use us to heal others.
Foundation #12 Divine healing of the sick is a privilege for Christians today and is provided for in Christ’s atonement (His sacrificial death on the cross for our sins).
God can and does heal! However, Healing was not Jesus’ top priority...Salvation Was. Healing is a tool; it’s a mechanism to lead people toward salvation. And we must never lose sight of that. Throughout Jesus’s ministry, he performed miraculous healings that glorified God and deepened the faith of witnesses.
For example read , Matthew 4:23-25. So I want you to note something after reading this passage. Jesus was baptized in the water and by the Spirit. He goes into the desert for 40 days and is tempted, and then begins His ministry by doing Healing and miracles. On the surface, it would be easy to say He cares about Healing, and He does. But what does He do next? Jesus starts teaching how to live because Healing is a mechanism or tool to get people's attention.
Now throughout the ministry of Jesus, we see individuals who start following Jesus because of the things He did but left when He wouldn’t keep doing them. We pray and seek God to do the miraculous, but more importantly, on this topic of Healing, we must seek God.
Why? Because God’s interest is in healing your physical body here and having you spend eternity in heaven with a new glorified body. Despite God’s Emphasis on The Blessed Hope, The Bible encourages us to pray earnestly for Healing. Why should we be persistent in our prayers? It builds our faith and gives us a testimony of the power of God.
Now, hear me say this as well. Just as I believe God can miraculously heal, I do believe that God has also given wisdom to people in the medical field. For example, in Biblical times, if you got a migraine, you were going through that migraine unless you got supernatural healing. Does it mean you don’t have faith if you pop an Excedrin? Absolutely not.
Although God can heal us, we must never presume that he must.
Death is the consequence of the fall and overtakes us all eventually, and most commonly recruits illness as its vehicle. When Christ returns, no disease will blot God’s creation, but for now, we wait and groan as our bodies wither. We may perceive our Healing as the greatest good, but God’s wisdom surpasses even the most impressive reaches of our understanding. We cannot bend his will to resemble our own.
Time and again, the Bible depicts instances when God does not immediately eradicate suffering but instead engages with it for good. God responded to Paul’s prayers for Healing not by curing him but rather by working through Paul’s suffering to draw him nearer to his glory.
The gospel offers hope that exceeds the reparation of our bodies. On this side of the cross, even as our vision darkens and the world closes in, we need not fear death. Christ has overcome, and through his resurrection, death has lost its sting.
Death is a momentary breath, a transition, a heartbeat before we reunite with our risen Lord. In the wake of the cross, death is not the end. Through Christ’s sacrifice for us, through God’s overflowing and sufficient grace, we have spiritual Healing to sustain us through eternity, even while our current bodies warp and break.
Why do we fear death? Because it is unknown. It is that same reason you might have feared going to college, starting a new job, or moving from family—the unknown. But so often in this life, the unknown is a good thing.
We don’t have to fear death because we are going to a better place.Now, when life-threatening illness strikes, by all means, pray for Healing if the Spirit so moves you. But can I also teach you a pastoral mentality I try to live in?
When I pray, I pray…
That if a cure is not according to God’s will, he might equip you and your loved ones with strength, clarity, and discernment.
That He might grant us all peace to endure — through the pain, through the infirmity, with eyes cast heavenward even as fear drives us to our knees.
That as the light within us dwindles, the light of the world might illuminate our minds and hearts, drawing us toward himself in our final moments on this earth.
That we would know in our hearts that our end on this earth is by no means the end.
I also pray differently for someone who isn’t a believer. Honestly, I probably have more passion because if Healing doesn’t come, they might not have time to accept Jesus. Remember, Healing is for today, but it is a tool to lead people to repentance so they can receive a glorified body that will no longer experience sickness and disease.
And before you get shocked or upset, Jesus walked past some sick folk. Two examples that we know of are Blind Bartimaeus and The woman with the issue of blood God can heal your body, but it will still die one day...But when Jesus saves your soul, it is ETERNAL!
The GREATEST MIRACLE OF ALL IS SALVATION
Want to hear and study this topic more? Check out the full message here on YouTube!