Over the past several weeks, I have been discussing with you the tenets of the fourfold gospel, which are the foundational beliefs of our denomination, the Christian and Missionary Alliance. Today we want to look at how Jesus is our Healer. In the American Church today, there is unfortunately a lack of emphasis on the doctrine of divine healing. One of the greatest blessings that we have in Christ is also one of the most overlooked. Perhaps one reason for this neglect is a distaste amongst evangelical churches for the showmanship involved in many “miraculous healings” in some charismatic circles. Another reason could be simply a lack of faith in divine healing and the thought process that supernatural healings only took place in the time of the early New Testament Church. But Jesus is still our healer! Let’s look to the scriptures to gain a better understanding of the doctrine of divine healing and what it means for us today.           

     The Alliance defines divine healing: as “the supernatural power of God infused into human bodies, renewing their strength and replacing the weakness of human frames by the life and power of God.” In the bible, healing is seen in 2 different ways. First, we see Jesus healing people through signs and wonders. In Luke 18, we see what happened after Jesus healed a blind beggar: “And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God (Luke 18:43).” Jesus healed people in a miraculous way regardless of their spiritual condition as a means to authenticate his power and glory and to draw people to himself. Secondly, we see divine Healing as a privilege for the believer. In Matthew 8, after Jesus had healed Peter’s mother-in-law who was sick with a fever and many others who were demon possessed, Matthew confirms the Old Testament prophecy in vs. 17: This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:“He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.” Christ bore his body for our body and it was through his redemptive work on the cross that provision is made for healing. Also, James 5:13-14 says “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 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.” When we call upon the elders to pray on our behalf, we are admitting our weakness and our reliance on the power of Christ to heal. We do this because the bible says we ought to do this. The oil is not a medical remedy nor does it have any supernatural power in itself, rather it symbolizes the work of the Holy Spirit and the spiritual reality and blessing of divine healing.              

     Healing comes by faith, but faith itself is not the cure. Healing is a gift that is freely given, and it is not received based on the amount of faith that we have. Rather, our focus in faith must be on believing and trusting in healing as a present reality and a privilege that is already ours in Christ Jesus. Jesus is our healer! However, though divine healing is a blessing for the believer, there are times when God withholds his healing. Why is this? First of all, unconfessed sin or disobedience to the will of God may be a barrier to physical healing. This is not always the case and we shouldn’t think of the lack of healing as punishment for sin, but when some friends brought a paralytic man to Jesus in Mark 2, the first thing that Jesus said to the disabled man was “Son, your sins are forgiven (Mark 2:5).” When he forgave him of his sin, then the man was able to get up and walk. As someone once said, “the correction of a physical condition sometimes requires the correction of a spiritual condition.” Secondly, sometimes God may allow sickness to come into our lives to make our faith stronger and so that we would glorify him through our endurance and perseverance. We can all probably think of faithful people who have been sick for a long time and have not seen any healing, and it certainly is not because of their lack of faith. God can use pain or sickness to teach us to be totally reliant on him and to trust completely in the plan and the will of the Lord. Divine, total, whole person healing is a benefit for us today. When we walk in faith and yield and submit our bodies to him, we can trust in him to heal us, and even if he chooses not to, we can trust that he is Good and he will be glorified.