I Am The LORD That Healeth Thee
July 2019 |
“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.” — Exodus 15:26
Atonement To Make Men Whole
God is in the process of redeeming mankind. After the fall of man in the beautiful garden of Eden, God chose to redeem His highest creation. This means that God wants to restore man back to His original condition and perhaps make him better than the original. Be that as it may, we are sure that God desires to bring back man to a place where he is no longer inundated by sin. God does not want man under the bondage of religious law or serving self rather than the Creator. He doesn’t want us oppressed by the devil, drawn away to the world’s system of sensuality and sin, or operating after the flesh. God wants to set men free from every effect of the fall. This would include illness, disease, or infirmity, which are all results of the fall and not a part of God’s original creation. So with redemption in mind, He sends His only begotten Son, who gives Himself as a sacrifice to purchase us from the grip of despair that all of the aforementioned described miseries create. Christ’s finished work on Calvary’s tree paid the price and broke the bondage that the fall created. Now we are to appropriate freedom from the debasing results of the fall, believing that Christ’s work at Calvary accomplished victory for us. This includes appropriation of healing for the physical body.
The Balance
Many Christians find it hard to believe God for healing. The lack of balanced teaching regarding healing is mostly to blame. It seems that some men teach that everybody, everywhere, all the time must experience healing. Way over to the other side and again, out of balance, is the group that proclaims that healing is not a part of the atonement and that the days of miracles and the gifts of the Spirit are long since passed away. The term that brings us into balance is the word dead. To be dead to something indicates that a relationship between two parties has dramatically ended or been affected. When a son commits an atrocity so great that the father of that son disowns him, he is spoken of as dead. That father might say, “My son is dead.” In this scenario, both parties are still in existence. However, the one entity no longer has an active relationship with the other. Their former relationship is no more. While the possibility of relationship exists, the improbability of that relationship is the norm. Therefore, being dead to something doesn’t eliminate the possibility of the two parties running into each other. It merely indicates that a powerful change in the relationship between the two parties involved has occurred and is far more normal than the old relationship that once existed.
What Believers Are Dead To
Whenever the believing sinner comes to Christ, he is immediately baptized into Christ, crucified with Him, buried with him, and raised to newness of life. As a result, his relationship to the following entities undergoes a dramatic change. We have become dead to (the) sin (nature), dead to law, (as a route to righteousness), dead to self, dead to the world, and even dead to the devil. As a result of my existence in Christ, I am no longer to be dominated by (the) sin (nature), brought into bondage of law, serving self, drawn away to the world, or overcome by the devil. Notice that none of these harmful entities have been totally removed. Only my relationship to them has changed. I still must face the world, the devil, selfish desires, the potential of an active sin nature, and the stupefying power of religious law. I overcome them by faith. I must believe that my being joined to Christ at redemption produces the “deadness” between myself and all ungodliness. Therefore, by faith in Christ and the cross I am dead to sin, self, law, the world, and the devil. As a believer, I must also understand that the Scriptures declare that my relationship to sickness, illness, and infirmity has changed also.
Apply The Faith You Already Have Toward The Healing Of Your Body
In order to gain freedom from sickness, we must believe that our union with Christ has set us free from the power of sickness. I should be confident that God wants me to live free from sickness, just like He wants me to live free from sin. Therefore, I face my opponent (sickness) with the power of knowledge of how my enemy was defeated by Christ at Calvary. This belief enables me to pray a prayer of (the) faith against sickness, illness, or disease. I can have victory over sickness in the same way that I gain victory over every other negative aspect of the fall. Faith that Jesus died to free me from sickness is a must. He did it for me at the cross. And now, when I encounter the enemy of my body, I come against him in the mighty name of Jesus, believing that it is God’s will to heal. The end result I leave in the hands of the healer Himself— the Lord Jesus Christ!
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