“What is God’s will concerning healing in the church? Is healing still relevant today? Is healing a part of the atonement? Is it God’s will to heal every time? Why we don’t always receive our healing? These are just some of the questions that come up when the topic of healing comes up.
Historical & Biblical Examples of Healing
- The Passover Lamb, The Exodus and Healing – Exodus 12:1-14.
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The Passover Lamb was for the healing of the nation of Israel.
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God made a covenant with them saying, “I am the Lord who heals you.”
This privilege is provided for by the atonement as we shall see later in the message. The prophet Isaiah prophesies concerning Christ and His work of atonement when he says, “Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses), and carried our sorrows (pain).”
This was the first covenant God gave to the children of Israel after crossing the Red Sea. It was a covenant of healing, which is typical of our redemption as well.
The Passover lamb that Israel partook of was a type of Jesus Christ, who is the Lamb of God, our Passover Lamb. Jesus, who is our Passover Lamb has come to heal the whole nation of spiritual Israel.
Healing and the Atonement: The Prophecy of Isaiah - Isaiah 53:1-10.
The prophet Isaiah gives us a wonderful glimpse into the life and ministry of the coming Messiah. This is a prophetic passage concerning the atoning work of Christ, the Messiah. In this prophecy he prophesies many things concerning the Messiah’s ministry and all that He would go through on behalf of God’s people, of which we find healing being very much a part of the atoning work of Christ.
As we can see there are three very bold affirmative statements in this passage of Scripture that refer to healing being a part of the atoning work of Christ.
- Verse four: He has borne our griefs - The word griefs means sicknesses, weaknesses and diseases.
- Verse five: by His stripes we are healed - this includes emotional and physical healing.
- Verse ten: He has put Him to grief - The Amplified version says, “He has put Him to grief and made Him sick.”
The Testimony of Jesus Fulfilling the Atonement.
Matthew 8:16-17 very plainly illustrates to us that Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 53 by healing all who came unto Him. It says, “He took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.”
- Jesus was committed to healing all because of the healing covenant.
- In Jesus’ mind, healing and forgiveness were equal.
- Peter sees healing as something that has already been accomplished.
Healing is simply the salvation of Jesus Christ having its divine action in a man’s body the same as it had its divine action in a man’s soul.
Because of what Jesus did on the cross we have perfect liberty to press forward in healing. Just because we fall short and sin at times, we don't say it's God's will for me to sin; we simply get back up as a righteous men and women without any condemnation and continue to go forward in his grace. We must do the same for healing.
The Greek words for salvation or saved show that healing is a part of the atonement.
“Sozo” (verb) and “Soteria” (noun) are the two Greek words that are used for the term salvation or saved. They are also translated healed, healing, made whole, preserved, etc.
An Important Point to Consider when looking at Healing and the Atonement.
In the same way that we still deal with sin, even though Christ provided the perfect atonement , we still deal with sickness even though it has been provided for in the atonement. When I sin, I don't say, "It must be God's will that I continue to sin just because I haven't got the victory over a particular sin." "I do what the apostle paul exhorted in Philippians. I continue to press towards the mark of the high calling in Jesus Christ, apprehending what He has already aprehended for me." Because I am not perfected in my salvation, I don't get under condemnation because of my imperfections. I simply keep pressing forward. And because I keep pressing forward, I eventually get the victory. It should be the same way in our healing. If we don't receive our healing right away, don't draw back and say, "It must be God's will for me to be sick." You should rather say, "I am continuing to believe God for my healing. I'm going to press towards the high calling of Jesus in this area as well." Healing is simply a part of our salvation that we have not been perfected in. 1 John 1:8 says, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." You could also say, "if we say he have no sickness in us, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us."
