Divine Healing Made Simple: Simplifying the supernatural to make healing & miracles a part of your everyday life (The Kingdom of God Made Simple Book 1) (5 page)

When God’s people rebelled against Him, serpents entered their camp. God told Moses to make a serpent of brass and put it on a pole in the middle of the camp and anyone who looked at it would be healed. God made a way for people to escape death and be healed. All they had to do was turn their eyes upon the brass serpent. Many did, but some did not. Healing has always been like this. It is available to all who desire to be healed, but it is never forced upon anyone (see Num. 21:8-9).

Before He was crucified, Jesus compared the death He would suffer to the time when Moses lifted up the brass serpent in the wilderness:

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
JN. 3:14-17

Jesus came to give His life as a ransom for many. His death demonstrated God’s unconditional love for us and His desire to forgive sin. He came to reconcile those who were alienated and redeem that which was lost. He came to teach those who lived in darkness and to reveal the Father’s heart to His creation. Nowhere is God’s mercy and compassion more clearly demonstrated than in the healing miracles performed by the Rabbi who called himself the “Son of Man.”

When Jesus suffered beating and death on the cross, not only did He obtain salvation for us, but He obtained our healing. In Isaiah 53, the prophet declared the things the Messiah would suffer and how His suffering would benefit us:

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned – every one – to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
ISA 53:4-6, NIV

In this passage Isaiah sees four things that are taken from us:

•   Our griefs

•   Our sorrows

•   Our transgressions

•   Our iniquities

He sees two things that are given to us:

•   Peace

•   Healing

With His suffering and death, Jesus purchased not only our freedom from sin, but our freedom from sickness. Notice the actions in this verse; the prophet saw our transgressions and iniquities being taken from us at the same time peace and healing were given to us. If the suffering and death of Jesus purchased our forgiveness of sin, they also purchased our healing. Forgiveness and healing are eternally tied together at the cross.

Forgiveness and healing are tied together in other places in Scripture. Jesus connected them in the following account from the gospel of Mark:

“Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, Arise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins” He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”
MK. 2:9-11

While it’s true that Jesus used this encounter as a visible demonstration of His authority to forgive sin, it also illustrates the relationship between forgiveness of sin and healing. Jesus has the same authority over both sin and sickness and the grace of God deals with them in the same way. With the same proclamation Jesus forgave the man’s sin and healed him of his sickness.

James also tied forgiveness and healing together. Notice how he confidently asserts the outcome of prayers for the sick:

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
JAS. 5:14-16

Although there is much debate over God’s will toward healing, I hope to convince you that His will is not as mysterious as it seems. If you understand God’s will toward salvation, you can understand His will toward healing, because the same principles apply to both. Failure to understand this connection has caused much confusion.

If you are a Christian, it’s unlikely that you would need to ask the question, “Why are some people saved while others are not?” Most Christians know the answer to this question, which is found in the Bible:

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
2 PET. 3:9

It is God’s will that all people be saved. Men and women are saved by the preaching of the gospel. If the gospel is not preached, no one hears it. If they do not hear it, they are not saved (see Rom. 10:14-15).

Salvation comes when men and women cooperate with God in preaching the gospel and when they receive it. If men are not saved, it is not because God doesn’t want them to be saved, but because man has not effectively preached the gospel or he has rejected it. The bottom line is – God’s will about salvation is known. He wants all people to be saved, even if many are not.

The exact same principle applies to healing, because healing, like salvation, is an act of God’s grace. Healing is delivered through believers like you and I. When we lay hands on the sick, God has an opportunity to heal them. If we fail to deliver healing or if people refuse to receive it, we shouldn’t question God’s will toward healing. Just as with salvation, His will is that we would be healed, even if not all people are healed.

God does not force His will upon anyone. He has chosen to limit the enforcement of His will so that we might be able to exercise free will. In addition, He has given key roles to non-human beings. We must account for the interactions of angels and demonic beings, which also have free will. God has limited His involvement in our affairs to the degree that He has allowed Satan and his minions to oppose virtually every aspect of His will – not only with regard to salvation, but with regard to healing.

Jesus healed all who came to Him. No one was turned away. As long as people were willing to be healed, He was willing to heal them. He didn’t heal all who were sick, but rather, He healed all who were willing to be made well. Some who were sick, did not want to be healed, so they were not healed. The will of man is always honored by God, who gives to us according to our desires.

Some people argue that Jesus was looking for certain individuals whom the Father pointed out to him for healing, while avoiding others whom the Father did not want to heal. They believe that there were many people the Father did not want to heal for one reason or another. To support their assertion, they point to the fact that Jesus said He only did what He saw the Father doing (see Jn. 5:19).

The problem with this view is that in numerous accounts in the gospels, Jesus visited villages and it was said that He “healed them all.” Rather than looking for certain people to heal while avoiding others, He healed everyone who wanted to be healed – without exception. It seems more likely that what Jesus referred to when He said He only did what He saw the Father doing – is that He was given instructions from the Father on
how
to heal each person, rather than
which
person to heal.

If there were no exceptions to healing in the life of Jesus, there are no exceptions to healing in the will of the Father. Bill Johnson observed that “Jesus is perfect theology.” Any belief we have about God that we don’t see modeled in the life of Jesus should be carefully considered and probably rejected.

If the will of God was for us to be sick, then no one disregarded the will of God more than Jesus. Every time He healed someone, He may have cheated them of a lesson they needed to develop their character. You could argue that persecution builds character, because the Bible teaches that Godly character comes by enduring persecution (see 1 Pet. 4:12-19). But you can’t argue from Scripture that sickness builds character. Nowhere is this taught in the Bible.

It seems more likely that what the Father showed Jesus wasn’t who could or could not be healed, but how they should be healed. While Jesus healed all who came to him – He used a different method nearly every time. It was probably the method and not the individual that the Father showed Him. Later in the book we’ll describe the various methods used in healing and how we can receive instruction from the Father on which method to use and when.

We must also consider the will of the enemy with regard to healing. Jesus said the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy (see Jn. 10:10). In calling His enemy a thief, He revealed that Satan’s activities are illegal. The fact that stealing is illegal doesn’t keep people from committing robbery. God allows crime, not because He approves of it, but because He values free will and wants us to exercise our free will partnering with Him in abolishing lawlessness. In the same way, God allows sickness not because He approves of it, but because He values free will and wants our participation in His plan to defeat it. Sickness is now an unauthorized activity carried out by the kingdom of darkness.

There are criminals who break the law and there are agents authorized to fight illegal activity. In the same way that police fight crime, we are commissioned to fight sickness. Healing is a matter of enforcing God’s will here upon the earth as His representatives.

Ephesians chapter six teaches that we are involved in a war against the enemy and Psalm 84:11 says that God withholds no good thing from us. Bearing these things in mind, let’s look at a passage that will help clear up the issue of God’s timing and healing:

And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.”

Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.
MT. 17:14-17

After repeated failed attempts by the disciples to heal his son, the man could have easily concluded that it wasn’t God’s will for his son to be healed or that it wasn’t God’s time. Failure robs us of hope and hope deferred makes the heart sick. But this man didn’t give up hope – he went to Jesus.

By casting out the demon and healing the boy, Jesus demonstrated that the condition (epilepsy) had a spiritual cause and that it was God’s will and time for the boy to be healed. Many well-meaning people will attempt to heal the sick and fail, because they haven’t developed faith that consistently heals. We can’t fault them for trying, but we shouldn’t assume that their failure means that God doesn’t want healing to take place. Failed healing usually results from a lack of faith on the part of the healer, not a lack of willingness on the part of God. Remember, Jesus rebuked His disciples for their lack of faith when the boy was not healed. If someone has prayed with you and you haven’t been healed, don’t let their failure make you believe that God doesn’t want you healed. Be like the Father of the sick boy and find someone full of faith or go to Jesus yourself.

Healing is sometimes a gradual process, like the rest of God’s work in our lives. From the first day we believe in Christ as our savior, changes begin to take place. Although we are immediately given the righteousness of God, our conduct doesn’t immediately become righteous. The transformation from rebellious sinner to obedient son or daughter is a process called sanctification. How quickly it happens is determined by our cooperation with God. The more we resist, the longer it takes. Over time, God’s grace transforms us into the image of His Son.

Salvation, though it is immediately available, may take time to be brought to fulfillment. Healing can be much the same way. God’s grace for healing is always available. We can obtain it immediately. But the change in our body may take time. God’s plan for healing can be resisted by us and by the enemy, slowing our healing. In another chapter we’ll look at the ways that we can work against God’s plan for our healing.

Most of the people I know who operate in healing have something they want to be healed of. I’ve been healed of neck and shoulder pain, back pain, and a heart condition that I had for 25 years. But I’m still waiting for my eyes to be healed. I believe my healing is coming, so I’ve decided to wait for it. I think it’s worth our time to pursue healing with a passion. But until it arrives, we must patiently wait.

In most of the chapters of this book, I’ll share my own revelation from God in the form of dreams, but in this chapter our dream comes from a friend. Ken Nichols has been used by God in healing for some time. He wrestled with the question of whether he had blanket authority to pray with everyone for healing or if he had limited authority to pray only for certain people. On December 5th, 2010, Jesus paid him a visit in a dream and answered that question. This is his account:

Before I explain the dream, let me give some background. Now as many of you may know I fully realize from the Word of God, that we are one with Christ who has been given all authority in Heaven and earth. Jesus our example and teacher demonstrated to us the will of the Father in all things, including healing the sick. He never prayed for even one, instead He gave a word of command and declaration. Another way of saying this is, He exercised authority and healed them. But there have been some books I read and those who are well meaning who said: “We only have authority over those things we are specifically given authority over, it’s not just a blanket authority!”