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THE MEANING OF THE GOSPEL TODAY – HEALTH AND HEALINGFor centuries, staying healthy was, quite rightly, a means to an end, e.g. to survive, earn a living, raise a family, or accomplish a noble goal. For Christians, this last example would include the goal of being a faithful steward of God Who can accomplish, through us, the tasks He has assigned us.But today, it is not unfair to say that the quest for HEALTH has become an end in itself – find the ideal diet or the ultimate exercise and create the perfect body. Who can deny that for many HEALTH and the body have become two of our modern gods? In pursuit of bodily perfection, millions search endlessly for the latest HEALTH secrets and spend large sums on adjustments, injections, prescriptions and procedures. Some listen to the latest guru while others look even for the magical cure. And so, idolatry stalks the land under the guise of wisdom.Two questions now confront us: does the real God, the Designer and Creator of the human body, have any concern about our HEALTH, apart from our spiritual HEALTH? Does the Gospel have anything to do with our HEALTH today? The answers to both questions are a resounding yes. These are the issues we must now explore. In doing so, we must give attention to:OUR GOD’S CREATION OF USOur presuppositions concerning human nature will determine our approach to issues of HEALTH and HEALING. Let us examine 1THESSALONIANS 5:23 which says “May the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This verse raises the whole matter as to whether we have three parts – “spirit, soul and body” (tripartite beings), or two parts (bipartite beings) in which case “spirit and soul” would be similar. “Wars” have been waged on this issue. Without getting into the “wars”, let us take note of the indisputable fact that has been imparted to us. We have a physical or material side as well as a spiritual side which, of course, is non-physical or immaterial. Let us also note that our non-physical nature includes the mind, ROMANS 12:2.The spirit is the innermost functioning reality of the personal life. Thus 1COR: 2:11 – “For what person knows a man’s thoughts except the spirit of the man which is in him?” and ROMANS: 8:15-16– “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have the spirit of sonship. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is the Spirit Himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God”.But in Biblical teaching the body is also very important. This is a radically different view from that of the ancient Greeks who regarded the body as being evil and as the prison of the soul. In 1 THESSALONIANS 5:23 the body is to be sanctified on the same level with the soul and the spirit. The sanctifying work is to be “through and through” (NIV), implying “a totality from which no part is excluded.”1We are whole beings. “The spirit, soul and body of a man are so interrelated as to make him a whole being and Biblical salvation involves the whole person”2.2 CORITHIANS 4:16 also gives us insight into how we are constituted. ”Though our outward man perished, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (KJV). The Good News Bible speaks of “our physical being” and our “spiritual being”. It has been pointed out that “outward man” is a unique and comprehensive expression including all that is implied in “earthen vessel” (v 7), “our bodies” (v 10), and “mortal flesh” (v 11). “Inward man “refers to “the highest part of our immaterial being, which is capable of being the home of the Holy Spirit and of being ruled by Him”3.Thus we are far more than physical and/or mental beings. We are spiritual. To be really HEALTHY we must be well in every area of our being. This is a vital revelation to which we in the Church must hold firmly. Dr. Keith M. Bailey, in his insightful book ”Divine Healing: The Children’s Bread” writes:“For the most part” medicine in our time is studied from a humanistic point of view. If the doctor is a thorough going humanist, his treatment of patients will ignore the fact that his patient has a spiritual nature and that his ailment could have roots in some form of spiritual disorder.If one accepts fully what the Bible teaches about the nature of man, HEALTH and HEALING cannot be committed entirely to medicine and related sciences. Since man has a spiritual nature it is not always possible to treat his physical problem and neglect to treat the whole person. If a Biblical position is to be maintained, the spiritual problem which may be the underlying cause of the physical malady must be dealt with by those who understand spiritual things.”4Our grave danger in the Church is to minimize the importance of the body. Such an attitude could have the effect of greatly reducing or totally destroying the expectation of good physical health. So let us examine 1CORINTHIANS 6:13-15, 19-20 – “The body is not meant for immorality, but for the Lord and the Lord for the body, and God raised the Lord and will raise us up by His power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body”.These verses are referring to more than a future resurrection of the body. The emphasis is on a present relationship between the Christian’s body and the Lord Jesus Christ. This body is in a very exalted position. It is a member of Christ and the temple of the Holy Spirit and can glorify God – all in this present life. But note the key statement – the body is …for the Lord, the Lord is for the body. One very reasonable conclusion to draw from this is that if the Lord manifests such interest in the bodies of His saints, whom He has redeemed with the price of His own blood, then His interest in the HEALTH of our bodies would require that physical healing be included in His provision for us.However, the fall of Adam and Eve brought Sin, with its terrible consequences into the world and this threatens our very survival. The times cry out urgently for the message of the Gospel and the daily overwhelming challenges of life demand a WHOLE GOSPEL for THE WHOLE MAN, meeting his needs spiritually, intellectually, mentally, and physically.The Gospel reveals:ll. OUR GOD’S INTENTION TOWARD US3 JOHN 1-2 are instructive. “The Elder, to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth: Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in HEALTH, just as your soul prospers” (NKJV) Wishing the addressee good health at the beginning of a letter was the common practice in the Elder’s day. But what we have here was more than the conventional expression of good wishes to a friend. The Elder, the Apostle John, asked God for the best in every way for Gaius. And he went further, praying specifically for his good HEALTH, that is, for his physical well-being in direct proportion to his spiritual well-being. “The spiritual is indeed the standard of measurement for the physical”5. The Apostle John possessed authority and leadership by virtue of his character, integrity, experience and moral standing. Such a man would not have prayed for what he knew to be against the will of God and his prayer shows us that God wants us to be healthy – physically, spiritually, mentally and totally. This is a blessing of THE GOSPEL TODAY as it was in John’s day. It is a part of the whole Gospel for the whole man. We should preach it and teach it with all diligence and conviction and expect it with all trust and confidence.The nature of God, who is loving, caring and compassionate also reveals this desire for wholeness which is reflected in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. All of Jesus’ words and works were those of the Father. His character was that of the Father. He revealed the very heart of God and there is no other revelation to replace or surpass that. Thus “In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophet; but in these last days He has spoken to us by a Son” (HEBREWS 1:1-2). Compassion was a major element in Jesus’ ministry to the sick. That was the unchanging compassion of the Father.The theologian Karl Barth explains what he saw as the important thing about the people in Jesus’ miracle stories. They were sinners but to Him, the important thing was not that; it was that they were sufferers:“Jesus does not look at their past, and then at their tragic present in light of it. But from their present He creates for them a new future. He does not ask, therefore concerning their sins. He does not hold it against them. He does not denounce them because of it. The help and blessing He brings are quite irrespective of the sin. He acts exactly in the same way as His Father in heaven, Who cause His sun to shine on the good and evil, His rain to fall on the just and the unjust.”6In only two cases in His recorded healing ministry do we see any reference to sin. In MARK 2:1-12 four men let down a paralytic through a hole in the roof of the house in which He was teaching. “When Jesus saw their faith”– “the faith that laughed at barriers”7 – “He said to the paralytic `Son, your sins are forgiven you.’”(v.5). Then amidst a controversy with the scribes, He healed the man. Various explanations have been offered as to why Jesus pronounced forgiveness before providing healing. The relevant thing to notice is how Jesus addressed him as son. His form of address indicates not only affection but also Jesus’ compassion for the suffering man. That was the compassion of God.The second reference to sin is in JOHN 5:1-9, 14. After healing the man who was ill for thirty-eight years, Jesus cautioned him: ”See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse befalls you.” In his case, his own sin was the cause of his sickness. But Jesus warned him only after healing him.In light of the fact of only two cases, we can agree with Karl Barth. Further, the love, care and compassion of God in Christ are manifested clearly in the raising of the only son of the widow of Nain in LUKE 7:11-17. There is no indication that Jesus knew her before He met her on the way to the burying of her son. But He well knew her terrible predicament as a result of her son’s death. “And when the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, ‘Do not weep’” (v13. Then He restored the dead son to life. Obviously, He was greatly moved by her weeping.God continues to be the same loving, caring, compassionate Father as He has always been. So His good INTENTION TOWRARD US has not changed. Indeed, Ken Blue in his book `AUTHORITY TO HEAL ‘points to “His consistent and unambiguous hostility towards sickness and His desire to heal it”. He goes on: “God Himself is distressed by our plight and His emotional response is powerful. Mighty acts of rescue, healing and deliverance follow from His compassion”. 8We live in the sphere of withering and decay. These realities are indications of death at work in our lives. It was never GOD’S INTENTION that we should live with the pressure of death upon us. He wants us to be liberated and whole. Not surprisingly therefore, there are:lll. OUR GOD’S PROVISIONS FOR USIt cannot be over emphasized that GOD PROVIDES for the whole man. Christian doctor John Wilkinson expressed this concern : “We can only define health in relation to our concept of man, his nature and purpose. We can only define his well-being when we can define man himself. If we think of man in merely biological terms as an animal, then we shall define his well-being in terms of animal comfort and pleasure. Whilst, if we think of man in purely economic terms, we shall define his purpose and well-being in terms of his productive capacity and the resultant state of society. By the same token, since there is a Christian view of man, there is also a Christian understanding of health and well-being”.9GOD’S PREVENTIVE PROVISIONSThe following are the PROVISIONS granted to us to keep us in good health.NUTRITIONAL PROVISIONS AND EXERCISEToday we have an ever-intensifying flood of information in books, the media, inclusive of the internet etc. about food and drink. The more we hear about these PROVISIONS the more we must thank the Lord “Who richly furnishes us with everything to enjoy” (1 TIMOTHY 6:17).But we do know that sometimes the nutritionists and other “experts” disagree among themselves. In such cases, Christians just have to proceed on the basis of 1TIM. 4:3-5– “foods which God created are to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving; for then it is consecrated by the Word of God and prayer”. These verses are telling us that all things that God made for our health and nourishment are good for that purpose. Since God, Who is good, created them, they are thereby consecrated to us. “The Word of God and prayer” may refer to the use of Scripture in the `grace’ we say before meals. However, we need to be mindful of food allergies and bear in mind that some foods are injurious to our health such as those that are genetically modified and those contaminated by the use of certain pesticides.Of course, we should not forget that “physical training (bodily exercise) is of some value” (1TIM. 4:.8 NIV) since it contributes to our physical fitness and health in this life. Of course, Paul was in no way minimizing the value of bodily exercise. He was simply emphasizing the great importance of spiritual exercise by contrasting it with physical exercise. So while “physical training is of some value”, spiritual training “is of value IN EVERY WAY” (ESV).MEDICAL PROVISIONSTo live a healthy life we should have our annual/regular medical checks. People can be going around with life-threatening illnesses like high blood pressure, diabetes or worse, and don’t know. Doing such checks does not, in the nature of the case, contradict the GOSPEL or indicate a lack of faith. Look at Jesus. He did not refer critically to physicians as He did to the ways of the scribes and Pharisees (MK. 2:17). He never chastised anyone for seeking His help only after they had sought out the physicians. Look at Paul. Twice he acknowledged the presence of Luke: “Luke the beloved physician and Demas greet you” (COLOSSIANS 4:14); and “Luke alone is with me” (2 TIM.4: 11). In the book of ACTS we see Luke as his faithful travelling companion. So praise God for His medical PROVISIONS.SPIRITUAL PROVISIONSPsychosomatic illnesses are really very destructive to our health. They originate in the mind and are manifested in the physical body. The power of the mind, especially the sub-conscious mind, over the body is an amazing thing. The spirit of ENVY may have many serious consequences within human relationships, but it also has damaging consequences in the body and life of the envious person. Thus PROVERBS 14:30 - “A sound heart is life to the body, But envy is rottenness to the bones” (NKJV). “A sound heart” signifies “a tranquil mind” (RSV) and this brings physical health. Envy of others ruins it. So attitude and health are understood to be related even at the early time of the writing of PROVERBS. BITTERNESS brings pain to the other people, but it leaves its worst scars in the one who harbours it.But spiritual qualities such as hope, peace, love, kindness and trust can greatly preserve us in good health. When they are present in us they release endorphins into our blood and thus we are uplifted, happy and well. All these qualities are PROVIDED for us in the GOSPEL.10Take the matter of HOPE; it is a major overcomer of depression, which has many causes. In an article on HOPE by Dr. Armand Nicholi, Jnr., reference is made to a noted physiologist Dr. Harold G. Wolf who wrote: “HOPE, like faith and a purpose in life is medicinal. This is not merely a statement of belief but a conclusion proved by meticulously controlled scientific experiment”. Wolf further stated that “In one experiment carried out at the University of Rochester School of Medicine 54 patients for open heart surgery were interviewed pre-operatively and followed post-operatively. The patients were divided into four groups which the investigator called (1) adjusted, (2) symbiotic, (3) anxious and (4) depressed. The significant finding here is that 80% of the patients who died after surgery were in the depressed group. They were the patients without hope. In another study, 100 patients undergoing open heart surgery were interviewed pre-operatively. Twelve of them were diagnosed severely depressed before surgery. All 12 of these patients died immediately or in the early post-operative period. In both of these investigations there was no correlation with severity of cardiac disease and surgical factors.”11The Webster’s Dictionary defines HOPE as “belief that what is desired is attainable; HOPE involves trust and reliance.” But belief in what? Trust in what or whom? We must have some basis or reason for our HOPE. It must be rooted in some reality. HOPE in the living God is a product of the Gospel. (ROMANS 5:1-5). It grows from “the God of hope” (ROM.15:13). This description of God tells is that He is the ONE in Whom our HOPE is based and He is the SOURCE from Whom we derive our HOPE. The author of PSALM 42:5 testified of his depression: “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me?” What was his own answer to his agonizing question? “Hope thou in God; for I shall again praise Him; my Help and my God”.God has also provided us with the blessing of FORGIVENESS. Living in sin will have the most serious spiritual consequences for all who so lived; and guilt arising from unconfessed sin can inflict terrible injury to our health. King David discovered it for himself, as we see in PSALM 32. “When I declared not my sin, my body grew old through my groaning all the daylong…my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer” - “alarming physical symptoms”12 (vv.3-4) But when he confessed his transgressions to the Lord; he was transformed, having received FORGIVENESS. Thus his wonderful testimony is recorded: “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.” (vv. 1-2).The GOSPEL assures us of God’s FORGIVENESS. But, God covers our sins in forgiveness as we uncover them in confession. The GOSPEL also assures us of God’s power to enable us to forgive those who do us wrong. In a lecture at Brown’s Town Baptist Church in May 2018, Dr. Andre Williamson, Oncologist and Haematologist, asserted that it is a medical fact that the person who harbours an unforgiving spirit can even reap cancer as a result. We are to appropriate and make use of the foregoing and other PREVENTIVE PROVISIONS while we are healthy so that we will remain in good health according to GOD’S INTENTION FOR US.And the Lord has also provided us with the privilege of PRAYER. We can and should PRAY daily for our total health as seen in 3 JOHN 2. Such PRAYER should include CONFESSION of what the Word of God says about our health. The Greek word translated confesses means “to speak the same thing”. When we speak the same thing as what God says, we release His power to effect what we say. Jesus tells us that we will have whatever we say (MARK 11:22-24). Most times we just say whatever we have and suffer loss as a result. Charles Capp, in his booklet “God’s Creative Power for Healing”13 has many examples of the CONFESSIONS (or declarations) from the word of God which we can make. We must also fill our PRAYERS and our lives with THANKSGIVING. Science supports the benefits of thanksgiving to life. Hans Selye, who is considered the father of stress studies, has said that thanksgiving/gratitude produces more positive emotional energy than any other attitude in life. In a gratitude study14 done in 2009 by the National Institute of Health in the U.S.A., researchers examined blood flow in various regions of the brain while their research subjects thought about feelings of gratitude. The research shows that the hypothalamus, that area of the brain which controls much of the bodily functions, was most impacted. It was further discovered that gratitude positively impacted areas in the brain connected with the dopamine neurotransmitter. Dopamine is the feel good chemical that is released in the brain, which allows you to feel peaceful, positive, progressive, hopeful and energetic. So we must abound in thanksgiving. It honours the Lord and is very good for our health (COLOSSIANS 2:6-7).All of us have a serious responsibility to do all we can and should, to be in good health, and not just as an end in itself because God has given to each one a purpose to fulfill. To do that, we must strive to be at our best in every way.But God, knowing our frame, remembering that we are dust and also that we are fallen human beings, has also made the following available to us.HIS CORRECTIVE PROVISIONS1. DOCTORSIn general, medical doctors, dentists, psychologists et al are God’s gifts to us. They are intended to be His servants for our good, and we should not hesitate to make use of their services where necessary. However, despite the progress, in the nature of the case, there are serious limitations in what even the best doctors can do. How would the typical modern psychiatrist deal with the demonized Gadarene whose circumstances are described in MARK 5:1-20? What could the typical modern specialist do for the woman whom we meet in LUKE 13: 10-17 and who, for eighteen years “was bent over and could not fully straighten herself”. Jesus delivered them both because He drove demons out of the man and broke the bondage in which Satan himself had held the woman.The fact is that when people lock God out of their lives they thereby open themselves to demonic spirits. Doctors of and by themselves cannot solve such problems.2. DIVINE HEALING1. GOD’S REVELATION OF HIMSELFExodus 15:22-26 tell us that on their wilderness journeying, the Israelites, after their triumphant crossing of the Red Sea, went three days without water. They found water at Marah, but being bitter, it was not drinkable. Their short-lived joy quickly changed into complaining against Moses. In response to His cry to the Lord for help, the Lord showed him a tree/piece of wood. Upon throwing it into the waters, “the waters became sweet”. “There the Lord made a decree and a law for them and there He tested them. He said, `if you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His eyes, if you pay attention to His commands and keep all His decrees, I will not bring any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord Who heals you” (vv 25-26 NIV).“I am the Lord Who heals you”. That’s the Lord’s REVELATION OF HIMSELF. Verse 26 is widely referred to as the Old Testament Divine Healing Covenant. It is called a “covenant” because in it the Lord promised that He would keep His people free from diseases and conditioned the promise upon their diligent obedience.The Hebrew words used for the diseases and heals (rapha’) are regularly used for physical sickness and bodily healing, respectively. So this is not only a spiritual concept, but also an intensely physical one. The verb rapha’ means “to cure, heal, repair, mend and restore health. Its participial form rophe’, ‘one who heals’ is the Hebrew word for doctor. The main idea of rapha’ is physical healing”. (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance). See, for example GEN. 20:17; LEV. 13:18; 14:3. “The Covenant is made absolutely certain by the fact that the Lord joins His mighty name to the promise, calling Himself Yahweh-Rapha’, meaning “The Lord Who Heals”. ‘Yahweh-Rapha’ is one of the compound names by which God revealed His attributes to Israel. Thus His very name declares that it is His nature to be the Healer to those who obey His word.” To heal was “to recover TO health and to sustain IN health”.15Later on in the Old Testament period, God’s people experienced their Lord’s healing power for example in the bronze serpent episode in NUMBERS 21:4-9; during the ministries of Elijah and Elisha 1 KINGS 17: 17-24; 2 KINGS 4: 8-37; 5: 1-4; in the life of David, PSALM 103:1-3. PSALM 35:27 tells us that the Lord “has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant” (NKJV). The word translated prosperity means “safety, wellness and happiness”.DIVINE HEALING is for today because God is still The Lord Who Heals. It is as valid to say of Him: “The Lord my Healer” and to expect healing from Him as it is to declare Him: “The Lord my Shepherd” and to expect His shepherding.2. GOD’S PREDICTION CONCERNING HIS SUFFERING SERVANT The PREDICTION/prophecy in ISAIAH 53:4-6 was so certain of fulfillment that it was written as an accomplishment. The verses tell us that the Servant “has borne our griefs”, that is, He has taken them upon Himself, “and carried our sorrows” as a burden. The verbs “has borne” and “carried” refer to vicarious suffering. That is, suffering in place of and on behalf of others, in this case, in our place and on our behalf. And He suffered this on account of our “transgressions” and “iniquities”. But note also that “the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him and by His wounds we are healed” (v.5 NIV). The Hebrew word translated peace is shalom and is a very inclusive word. Here it denotes both physical and spiritual well-being. So by the wounds inflicted on the Servant “we are healed” spiritually and physically. It is significant that in v.4 the word ‘griefs’ also means sicknesses and the word “sorrows” also means pains.So the PREDICTION/prophecy is that God would send a special SERVANT Who would suffer, not for Himself, but for the sins and sicknesses of mankind. That Servant would take the diseases of others upon Himself through His suffering and death for our sins, the root cause of sickness and disease.3. GOD’S CONFIRMATION OF HIS PREDICTION IN HIS SONJesus’ healing ministry was awesome and phenomenal. Here’s Peter’s witness to Him: “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; He went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him” (ACTS 10:38). John also bore witness to Him: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book” (JOHN 20:30). “There are also many other things which Jesus did; were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written”. (JOHN 21:25)But for our purpose, what is most significant is the interpretation which MATTHEW 8:16-17 put on His ministry: “That evening they brought to Him many who were possessed with demons; and He cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, ‘He took our infirmities and bore our diseases’”. This text leaves us in no doubt that divine healing was provided in the atonement accomplished by Christ on the cross. So the doctrine that there is Healing in the Atonement is biblically sound.To avoid this most precious and permanent truth, some commentators suggest that Isaiah’s prophecy was fulfilled completely by the healing of that one day. So what about the many other healings done by Jesus on many other days? Would it also mean that the sections of ISAIAH’S prophecy which tell us that the Servant would deal with our transgressions and iniquities were fulfilled completely on that one day when Jesus pronounced forgiveness of sin on the paralysed man in Capernaum MARK 2:1-5? Of course not! That strange interpretation has no firm foundation.It would be more accurate to say that MATTHEW 8:16-17 give us a partial fulfillment of ISAIAH’S prophecy, anticipating the suffering on the cross “in that the healings began to roll back the effects of sin for which Jesus came to die”16. MATTHEW’S statement implies that it is in the cross that we have the final answer to sickness. All our sicknesses are not necessarily due to our personal sin. But as Leon Morris puts it: “The violation of the laws of health will inevitably result in physical trouble of some sort, so that we can perhaps discern a certain kinship between sickness and sin. At any rate complete healing, making a person ‘every whit whole’, involves dealing with both moral and physical disorder. Looked at in this way, it is not at all surprising that Christ’s atoning work should have as one of its effects a dealing with sickness, even if we do not see the full effects of that here and now”. 17ISAIAH’S prophecy, from which MATHEW quoted, tells us that God’s SERVANT was to suffer for OUR sin and sicknesses. “If OUR refers to all of us in regard to our sin and our being given a Saviour, then it also refers to all of us in regard to sickness and our having been given a Divine Healer“18 This interpretation of ISAIAHS’ prophecy is strengthened by the use in the Gospel of the Greek word translated save. Some comments by Dr. Kenneth Bailey are instructive: “This same verb (“save”, sozo in Greek) used consistently to express salvation of the soul is used also in seventeen New Testament passages, to express physical healing…(The Gospel writers) were not forced to this usage by the poverty of the language, for the Greek language, has more than one word for healing.The root idea of (the Greek word) is to make `safe and sound’. The salvation of man is to make him safe and sound in every part of his personality. The very employment of this word suggests that the interest of salvation is the whole man. It is not possible in the Biblical scheme to isolate the body and have salvation apply exclusively to man’s higher nature.”19 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever”. (HEBREWS 13:8) Yesterday, during His earthly ministry, He was a Divine Healer. He’s undoubtedly a Divine Healer today. But how did He continue His ministry after His ascension in the time of the apostles and how does He continue it today?4. GOD’S CONTINUATION OF HIS CONFIRMATION THROUGH HIS SON’S DISCIPLESAll four Gospels show us that during His earthly ministry, Jesus gave to both His apostles and other disciples “power and authority to use that power, over all demons and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom and to heal the sick” (LUKE 9: 1-2, 10:1, 8-9). The significant thing to note here is that the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom and the ministry of healing the sick went together. In LUKE 10:9 the instruction was to “heal the sick” first. The explanation for the healing was to follow: “say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you’”. Sickness was no part of God’s original creation. It will have no place in the final state of things when the kingdom comes in fullness. The healing of the sick accompanying the preaching of the kingdom is the forerunner and foretaste of the glorious life to come when “there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away”. (REVELATION 21:4)We have here one of the clearest indications of the fact that DIVINE HEALING is a REALITY for today. Jesus taught us to pray: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” So long as this prayer is being fulfilled we should firmly expect DIVINE HEALING which is a sign of the kingdom.After Jesus’ earthly ministry, His apostles and disciples, with His empowerment and authorization, continued steadfastly in the work of DIVINE HEALING. Their prayer in ACTS 4: 29-30 is instructive: “And now, Lord, look upon their threats, and grant to Thy servants the ability to speak Thy Word with all boldness, while Thou stretchest out Thy hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the Name of Thy holy Servant Jesus.” Their earnest desire was for a ministry mighty, not only in word, but also in supernatural deeds. That was what they saw in Jesus and what they knew to be His will. Paul claimed that he had fully preached the gospel of Christ, because his ministry was “by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders and by the power of the Holy Spirit”. ROMANS 15: 18-19It must be emphasized that it was not only the apostles who healed the sick. Philip, one of the seven men chosen to serve in the daily distribution of food in the Jerusalem Church (ACTS 6:1-6) exercised a mighty healing and deliverance ministry in Samaria (ACTS 8: 4-8). Ananias, an ordinary disciple in Damascus, was instrumental in the restoration of Paul’s sight (ACTS 9: 17-18).For our part, we need to realise that it makes little or no sense to have the conviction that DIVINE HEALING is for today and yet do nothing about it. To be useful, conviction must express itself in action. To appropriate GOD’S PROVISION of DIVINE HEALING we must have a STRONG DESIRE for it - “Make love your aim and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts” (1CORINTHIANS 14:1). The Greek word translated earnestly desire means “to be zealous for, to burn with desire, to pursue ardently, to desire eagerly or intently”. We are to be motivated by love– for God, which will cause us to long for Him to be glorified through the gracious manifestations of His power and compassion, and also for our suffering brothers and sisters that they may be made whole. The spiritual gifts include GIFTS of HEALINGS (1 CORINTHIANS 12:4, 9). Note both plurals. There are many kinds of sicknesses and diseases and the PROVISION covers them all. And healings are done in a variety of ways, e.g. with the Word Ps.107: 17-20; PROV. 4:20-22; MT.15:28; with the word and a touch LUKE 13:12-13; with a touch MARK 1: 30-31; by prayer ACTS 9: 39-40; JAMES 5: 14-16To cooperate with the Holy Spirit in stirring STRONG DESIRE for DIVINE HEALING, we must take the time to preach and teach it until Christians are gripped with the importance and the urgent necessity of it. Like the apostle Paul, we must “not shrink from declaring ... the whole counsel of God”. (ACTS 20:27)Then we must act in FAITH as Jesus emphasised and encourages us to do (MARK 9:23; JOHN 11:40). In JOHN 14:12 He gives us this promise: “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing; He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (NIV). He does not mean greater in value or significance, but in scope and number. Jesus also assures us that healing is “the children’s bread”. (MATHEW 15:18) And in HEWBREWS 13:6 we have an amazing description of the Lord: “The Lord is my Helper” and so “I will not fear”. The Greek word translated helper means one who comes running when we cry for help. The word describes the Lord as poised to rush to the relief of His oppressed children when we shout for His assistance. It was Andrew Murray who wrote: “faith is the ear by which I hear what is promised, the eye by which I see”.20On the other hand, UNBELIEF has terrible consequences as MK. 6:1-6 show. Jesus had been performing many and diverse miracles including the feeding of the 5,000 and the raising of Jairus’ daughter just before returning to his hometown. The cynical unbelief he experienced there prevented him from doing any “mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk and healed them” (verse 5).The undeniable fact is that DIVINE HEALING has always been a part of the historic Christian Faith.It did not suddenly re-emerge in the twentieth century, with the emergence of Pentecostalism. God’s healing power through the Holy Spirit continues to be manifested and people receive divine healing even without being ministered to by persons with the gifts of healing. Let us embrace GOD’S PROVISION which is for us all.And yet, despite all that has been written in this article so far, it cannot be denied that there are mysteries in divine HEALING, which we might never be able to solve in this world. So we must grapple with the perplexing question:WHY ARE SOME PEOPLE NOT HEALED?Despite all the efforts to argue otherwise, there can be no serious doubt that UNBELIEF/LITTLE FAITH is a major cause. In MARK 6: 1-6, the people of God COULD HAVE HAD mighty healings because Jesus was among them in physical Person. They WOULD HAVE HAD miraculous healings because Jesus had gone there full of the power of the Spirit and compassion. They SHOULD HAVE HAD many healings because they were the covenant people of God and healing was the children’s bread (MT. 15:26). But as it was, Jesus “could do mighty work there, except that He laid hands upon a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their UNBELIEF” (MARK 6: 5-6a). There was no diminution in either His ability or availability to heal. It was rather that “Jesus was not free to exercise His power in these circumstances”.21 As Leon Morris puts it: “We cannot say that Jesus never healed unless the patient had faith, for there was a lame man in JOHN 5 who knew nothing…We could similarly cite the healing of the Gadarene demoniac and other miracles. We may say that Jesus commonly worked His miracles in an atmosphere of faith and that normally only those with faith were in a position to receive healing at His hands. But at Nazareth we are dealing with outright rejection and hostility, we cannot expect miracles in such an atmosphere.”22At other times, the problem is with LITTLE FAITH in those who are to minister the healing, not necessarily those who are to receive it. That was Jesus’ answer to His disappointed disciples who were not able to exorcize a young boy. Why could they not cast it out? Jesus said to them, “Because of your little faith.” (MT.17:14-21). “By small faith He is probably referring to the poor quality, the poverty of their faith, for He goes on to speak of even a very little real faith as able to move mountains.”23 It was to this kind of mountain-moving faith that JAMES 5:13-15 referred. It is a direct gift of the Holy Spirit (1COR. 12:1,9). In many cases, healing will not be effected without this kind of faith.In MARK 9:29, Jesus gave another cause for the impotence of the disciples. “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer”. Divine healing will not happen automatically. It will not flourish in an environment unsaturated by prayer, or through a servant of God who does not pray much.Are some people not healed because it is not God’s will for them to be healed? No one can be dogmatic on this issue. Paul said: “Trophimus I left ill at Miletus”.(2 TIMOTHY 4:20). It is safe to assume that Paul had prayed much for Trophimus who had accompanied him on his third missionary journey (ACTS 20:4). Dr Luke was , no doubt, also involved. We have here one of the puzzles in divine healing. “Although divine healing is part of the saints’ inheritance (see MT. 8:14-17), sometimes we are not healed, even when we have prayed in faith and confessed our faith outwardly. The Bible gives no explicit answers to this puzzle and the fact that a close associate of an apostle was not healed shows that the dilemma has existed from the early days of the church. Such a fact should never discourage or introduce doubt to our prayers. It should however, serve as a guard against presumption or condemnation.”24It is worthy of note that some of the men and women who have been mightily used of God in healing have died from illnesses. Probably that was to ensure that all the glory for their work should go to God alone.It should be noted too that there is a suffering for the Name of Christ. This is the suffering which we undergo because of our relationship with Christ and which we would not undergo if we were out of this relationship. At his conversion, Jesus said, concerning Paul, “I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of My Name” (ACTS 9:16). That suffering took a heavy toll on his body.When some persons are not healed and die, their death is sometimes regarded as a form of healing. But death is not seen as such in the New Testament. Rather, it is regarded as “the last enemy to be destroyed” (1COR. 15:26). In spite of the fact that some people do not receive healing, we should not doubt that it will happen when we pray. As pointed out earlier in this paper, ISAIAH in chapter 53:5 prophesied that the Suffering Servant (Jesus) would suffer for our “transgressions” as well as our “infirmities”. We do not pray for salvation from sin with an “if”. Why then should we pray for healing with “if it be thy will”?Finally, when God’s kingdom comes in its fullness there will be no more sickness, suffering or death (REV.21:4). That kingdom has ALREADY broken into human history in the Person of Christ. Yet the fulness is NOT YET. It could be that we have limited healing because of the tension between the ALREADY and the NOT YET. But on earth, Jesus healed ALL who sought His ministry. And as HE sent out His disciples to minister He told them to “Heal the sick… and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you” (LUKE 10:9). As we pray “Thy Kingdom Come”, we should expect great healings, despite the mystery. REFERENCESFindlay, George G, The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Thessalonians (Cambridge Greek New Testament, Cambridge University Press, 1904) p.132. Cited in Stott, R.W. The Message of Thessalonians (Inter-Varsity Press, 1999) p1.133.Bailey, Keith M, Divine Healing The Children’s Bread (Christian Publication, Inc 1977) p.24Plummer, Alfred, The Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians (International Critical Commentary; T & T Clarke, 1915) Cited in Tasker, R.V.G, 2 Corinthians (The Tyndale Press, 1969) p. 76Bailey, op. cit. p.181Hiebert, D.E, “An Exposition of 3 John 1-4, Bib. Soc. (1987) p.62. Cited in Akin, Daniel L, The New American Commentary An Evangelical & Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture 1, 2, 3 John (Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2001) p.240.Barth, Karl, Church Dogmatics, IV/2, trans. G.W Bromiley (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1967) p.27 Cited in Blue, Ken, Authority to Heal (Monarch Publications Ltd. 1989) p.68Barclay, William, The Gospel of Mark (The Saint Andrew Press 1969) p.40Blue, op cit. pp. 67, 72Frazier, Claude A, Faith Healing: Finger of God? Or Scientific Curiosity? p.45. Quoted in Bailey op.cit.182Conference Paper presented by Dr. P.B. Rokade “Release of Endorphin Hormones & its Effects on our Body & Moods: A Review”, Dec. 2011(on line)Quoted in article on HOPE by Dr. Armand M. Nicholi, Jnr., Harvard UniversityStott, John R.W., The Canticles & Selected Psalms (Hodder & Stoughton 1996) p.88Capp, Charles, God’s Creative Power For Healing (Harrison House, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1991)The Neural Basis of Human Social Values: Evidence from Functional MRI (Roland Zahn et al. February 2009)Van Cleave, Nathaniel M. Article on The Old Testament Healing Covenant, based on Ex. 15:26 in Spirit-filled Bible. (Thomas Nelson Publishers 1991)Gundry, R.H., Mathew (Grand Rapids, 1982). Quoted in Morris, Leon The Gospel According to Mathew (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.1992)p.198Morris, Leon, The Cross of Jesus (Grand Rapids, 1989), p.93Van Cleave, op. cit. p.1418Bailey, op. cit. pp. 22-23Murray, Andrew, “With Christ in the School of Prayer” (Basingstoke: Marshall Pickering, 1983), p.88 Lane, William L., “The Gospel of Mark” (?1974 Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co) p.16Morris, “Mathew”. op. cit. p.367, footnote 130Morris, op. cit. p. 448Spirit Filled Bible. op. cit. p.1857 ................
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