The Lord of Healing
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June 07, 2015 |
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 "And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed" (1 Peter 2:24).
Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
We can feel God's unlimited love when we understand the providence of the cross that Jesus bore to redeem us from all our sins.
God sent His Son, Jesus to the earth and completed human salvation through His Son's passion and crucifixion. Let's delve into the providence of Jesus being scourged and shedding His blood.
1. The providence of being scourged and shedding blood
Being scourged by flogging is never a light punishment. The well-trained soldiers of the Roman Empire whipped Jesus. When the whip or scourge would wrap around the body and the soldiers snatched the whip away strongly, pieces of flesh were torn away. Pieces of lead at the end of the whip penetrated into His body. He was wounded to the extent that His bones were exposed, and He shed so much blood.
Why was Jesus scourged and why did He have to shed blood? Isaiah 53:5 reads, "But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed." As written, Jesus was scourged and shed His blood to forgive and heal us.
In Exodus 15:26, God says He is our Healer. He says, if we keep His commands and do not sin, no disease will fall upon us. Thus, to be healed of a disease, we first have to be forgiven of our sins.
Matthew 9:2 reads, "And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, 'Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.'" Before healing the sick man of a disease, Jesus first resolved the problem of his sin. John 5:14 also states, "Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you." Even if you receive the healing after receiving the forgiveness of your sins through repentance, if you live in sins again, something worse may happen to you.
We can see that the original root of diseases is sin. To redeem man from sin there has to be shedding of blood, so Jesus was scourged and shed His blood to set us free from all diseases.
2. To meet the Lord the Healer
Thus, those who believe that Jesus redeemed us from our diseases by being flogged and shedding His blood do not have to suffer from infirmities or diseases (Matthew 8:17).
But some believers say, "I am weak" or "It is hard to cast off sins". If you think and confess that way, you cannot but be weak and find it hard to cast away sins. If you confess, "I am healthy by God's grace. I am fine" in any kind of situation, God's grace and strength will come upon you as you confessed. You will overcome tiredness, and the things that seem impossible will change into something possible.
When you receive prayer for healing, you should confess, "I have already been healed," not "I believe I will be healed." Then, God will work according to your faith. Some say, "How can I say I am already healed while I still have the pain? Isn't it lying?" But if you understand spiritual faith, you will not say this.
Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." When we hope with faith for something that is not visible it will become reality. But it does not mean that it will be accomplished just by confessing with our lips. When we confess with our lips with faith stemming from our hearts, it will be done.
It is the same with healing of a disease. If we believe and say, "Diseases and infirmities are already gone by God's power," the Lord will work according to our faith. It is because Jesus was already whipped and shed His blood to redeem us from our infirmities and diseases.
But if you neither believe this, nor confess it with faith, then your disease will not be cured. No matter how many times you receive the prayer, you will believe in your heart, "I am still sick. I am not healed yet," so you are actually still sick. Unless you break off these negative thoughts, you cannot experience God's work.
The power of God the Creator does not only heal diseases, but it shows the work of creation itself. God can heal any disease or disability.
In particular, countless people were healed at the same time in revival meetings and overseas crusades. Although they received the prayer from the stage, they were healed of many incurable diseases such as cancer and AIDS. Moreover, the blind came to see, the mute to speak, the deaf to hear, and the lame to walk. They were even healed while praising or listening to the sermons.
3. The reason believers cannot be healed
Why do some believers still suffer many diseases though they say they believe Jesus redeemed them from diseases by being scourged? It is because they did not follow the righteousness of God.
Exodus 15:26 states, "And He said, 'If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer.'" Here, 'Egypt' spiritually refers to the world, and the ten plagues that came upon Egypt refer to all the diseases on this earth.
If we keep God's commands, we will not have any disease. Even if we get sick, if we just repent and turn back, as God said, "I, the LORD, am your healer," He will heal us. But here the verse tells us to do what is right not in men's sight but in God's sight. What is right is different for different people because they see, hear, and learn different things as they grow. Their circumstances and values are all different. That is why one man may think something is right while another man thinks that it is not right. Therefore, we should take God's Word as the only standard. What is right in God's sight is only truly 'right'.
For example, if other children beat your children, some of you may feel greatly distressed and go to the other parents to protest. However, God's righteousness teaches us, "Whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also," "Follow peace," and "Love even your enemies". Even if it seems to be losing for the moment to follow God's righteousness, God will eventually recognize that person and lift him up.
Some people may think, "How can I keep many commands of God?" But to keep God's commands is not something difficult. It will be easy when we try hard with the belief that the Holy Spirit helps us and God gives us grace and strength.
If you think, "I have too many things to cast off. When can I cast all of them away?" it is better to pray and fast to cast away what seems to be the most difficult thing to cast away in your heart. After you get rid of it, you can throw away the rest more easily. It is just like pulling a tree out. If you pull out the main root of a tree, it is very easy to pull out the remaining roots.
In 2 Chronicles 16, King Asa of southern kingdom of Judah served God very well, but his faith changed and came down with a disease. At that time he should have repented thoroughly and depended on God. But he still did not seek God but doctors. He eventually died because he couldn't recover. Many people say, "I believe in the almighty God." But when something happens to them in reality, many of them do not rely on God but on the world. They do not gain spiritual faith with which they can be healed. Only when they get out of the darkness and walk in Light, can they destroy the wall of sins, receive spiritual faith, and experience God's works.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus redeemed us from all our diseases and infirmities by being scourged and shedding His blood. I urge you to keep God's commands and depend on God for whom everything is possible. I pray in the name of the Lord that by doing so you will meet the Lord your Healer and receive the blessing of good health.
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