1 Peter 2:24 24 He carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds, you are healed. To know and realize God's presence in the area of healing is such an encouragement and reality of our faith. There are so many ways that God heals us. The most significant way he heals is written in the verses above. To the sinner, he heals us from the curse of sin and makes us right with God. The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was the greatest act of love ever made and the result for all who believe in eternal life in paradise. In Luke 23:43 Jesus said to the thief beside him on the cross Luke 23:43 And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Even amid great physical suffering for Jesus and the other one on the cross, Jesus' assurance came through with flying colors!! We need to remember that the thief on the cross had nail prints in his hands as well, but he was not without sin until Jesus healed him in an instant. As Jesus was taking on the sins of the world, your sins, my sins, his compassion, and healing forgiveness healed the thief on the cross without fail. Oh, what a love that considers others, even while on the cross. No greater act of healing was ever accomplished and we live in that healing every day and throughout eternity.
There is also the presence of God in our physical needs as well. Many have a check in their thinking when we talk about the physical healing of Jesus. Why is this? I believe it is because we have seen so many misrepresent God and visions of a man tapping someone on the head and blowing in their face are hard to remove from our minds. But don't let the wrong impression of man's part in healing overshadow God's part in physical healing. God does heal and His presence in our physical needs is still evident today. James speaks to physical healing in James 5:15 where he says And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. The Psalmist voiced the blessing of God in Psalm 103:2-4 where he writes Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
Sadly, some try to explain away the physical healing power of God, but I am not in that camp. In God's Word, we would have to discount so much of who Jesus is by denying His power to heal and the many times this is written in the Bible. If we are going to deny the healing power of Jesus, then the power to save us from our sin would come into question and that would be blasphemy. So I will go on record as I line up with God's Word and say without denial that Jesus healed then and He still heals today. A while back my right hip needed to be replaced and I had a new hip put in its place. When I got home from the hospital I realized I wasn't feeling very good, even though I felt no pain from the surgery (and that was God's blessing to me). Two days later I tested positive for Covid. During my recovery, I also had to deal with the "bad" Covid and I thought I was going to die...literally. I was so contagious that my home health physical therapists (two of them) got Covid from me. But another dear physical therapist came to help me and she was wearing some kind of hazmat suit when she came in. God brought me through the Covid, and the physical therapy and recovery were a breeze! While having to deal with Covid and my hip replacement, God was there and He came through.
To deny God healed me would be so wrong and so incorrect. The peace I felt with God's presence sustained me and brought me through this very tough time. My wife had the "bad" Covid also and our adult children brought food and other things to minister to us. But we are all just humans and the spiritual and physical healing of Jesus was real and true. Healing is not anything we do, but all God does. An example of Jesus healing someone and the simplicity of what was said and done is shown in Luke 18:41-42 when some blind men were on the side of the road and they called out to Jesus as He came by. Here is the conversation as recorded in Luke. Luke 18:41-42 41 “What do you want me to do for you?”
“Lord,” he said, “I want to see!” 42 And Jesus said, “All right, receive your sight! Your faith has healed you.” I believe and that belief sustains me and strengthens me to live my life as a follower of Jesus Christ. To deny that God heals is to insult the power of our heavenly Father.
God's presence is real and He moves so mightily at times when we doubt just to affirm our faith. Only a loving God would care so much! Thank you, Jesus!!
Psalm 6:Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. God hears. God sees. God knows. We can rely on Him because He is our ever-present help in times of need. Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.
The Pilgrimage Continues...
David Warren