Christ Part 3: Jesus Christ Our healer

This is the third in a 4-part series on the Ministry of Jesus Christ as our Savior, Holy Spirit Baptizer, Healer and Soon Coming King.

We believe that Divine Healing is the power of Jesus Christ to heal the sick and the afflicted in answer to believing prayer; that He who is the same yesterday, and today and forever has never changed but is still an all-sufficient help in the time of trouble, able to meet the needs of, and quicken into newness of life, the body, as well as the soul and spirit, in answer to the faith of them who ever pray with submission to His divine and sovereign will.  – The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel

DIVINE HEALING

We believe Jesus, the Divine Healer heals the sick today, heals in answer to believing prayer and in accordance to His will.  He is the same today as He was in Bible days and meets the needs of the body, soul and spirit.

Divine healing is the third of the great aspects of Christ’s ministry.  It is the duty of the church to be active and to take the initiative in prayer for the sick (James 5:14-16).

1.    It is not unreasonable that the Lord should heal our bodies

• Man was created in the image of God  (Genesis 1:26-27).

• The human body is included in Christ’s redemption  (Romans 8:23).

• Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit to glorify God in our bodies  (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

• We are to present our physical bodies as living sacrifices to do God’s will  (Romans 12:1).

2.    The origin of sickness

• There is really no disagreement that sickness is the result of sin coming into the world.  Even death is the result of this sin (Romans 5:12).  If there had been no sin in the world there would have been no sickness and death.  Sickness and death may also be traced to the influence and power of Satan.  The sickness and devastation that came upon Job was the result of Satan’s touch  (Job 2:7, 42:10)

• Those whom Jesus healed were oppressed of the devil.   …how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.  Acts 10:38  “Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”  Luke 13:16

• Jesus stated that His prophetic mission was to free mankind from the “prison keeper,” Satan.  “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,…”  Luke 4:18

• Sickness is among the curses of the broken Law  (Deuteronomy 28:15, 22, 27-28, 35).

3.    Some sickness and afflictions are the result of specific sins

• Our disobedience or sin.   Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.  John 5:14  …my strength fails because of my affliction,…  Psalms 31:10

• Failure to discern the Lord’s Body  (1 Corinthians 11:27-30).  To discriminate, to separate others from one’s group, a party spirit, etc.

• Murmuring against God’s leaders (Numbers 12; Numbers 16:46-50).

4.    Divine healing as a doctrine

• God heals our bodies.  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 on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you.  Exodus 15:26

• God heals our bodies in response to the prayer of faith.  And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.  James 5:15

• C.   Jesus made provision for our healing by shedding His blood and taking the stripes upon His back.  Therefore, we believe that it is His desire that we live in wholeness, body, soul and spirit   (Isaiah 53:3-5)

• God’s Word states that the faithful believer may have divine health within the normal life span.  Such a life is described in Job 5:26.  The Bible also teaches that God sets a limit on the length of our life.  The length of our days is seventy years — or eighty, if we have the strength… Psalm 90:10  Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,… Hebrews 9:27

5.  The New Testament Greek words used for healing

• “Therapeuo”  To care for the sick, treat, cure, heal  (Used in Matthew, Luke, John 5:10; Revelation 13:3)  Noun: Medical service, care and attention.

• “Iaomai”  Physical treatment, made whole, spiritual healing  (Matthew 13:15, 15:28; John 12:40; Acts 28:27; Hebrews 12:13)  Noun: A means of Divine healing, Divinely imparted gifts in the church.

• “Sozo”  To make whole, save from disease and its effects  (Mark 5:23; Luke 8:36).

• “Diasozo”  To save thoroughly, to escape  (Luke 7:3)  Noun: Stresses the process as reaching completion.

NOTE: Jesus died not only to forgive us of our sins and to heal our bodies, but to make us whole – to heal us from the inside out!  Divine healing encompasses any healing touch from Jesus where healing and restoration is brought to our body, soul or spirit, instantaneously or progressively.

6.    A few instances of Divine healing in the Old Testament

• Elisha and the dead child raised to life  (2 Kings 4:35).
• Naaman, the leper, healed  (2 Kings 5:1-14).
• Hezekiah’s life extended  (Isaiah 38:1-5, 21).
• David thanked God for healing  (Psalm 103:3).

7.    A few of the many instances of Divine healing in the New Testament

• Large crowds healed  (Just in Matthew alone 4:24, 8:16; 12:15-22; 14:14, 36; 15:30; 19:2).
• The Roman Centurion’s servant healed  (Matthew 8:5-13).
• A leper healed by Jesus  (Mark 1:40-41).
• The man with palsy healed by Jesus  (Luke 5:24).
• A nobleman’s child healed  (John 4:49-50).
• Annanias healed when Peter prayed  (Acts 9:33-35).
• A crippled man healed when Paul prayed  (Acts 14:8-10).

8.    Conditions for Divine healing

There are apparently two conditions necessary for the reception of healing: asking (petition) and faith.  Two things can hinder our receiving: failure to ask and failure to believe what we ask.

• We must ask.  It does not appear that Jesus ever healed anyone without being asked to do so.  Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.  John 16:24  (John 14:13-14; Luke 11:9-10; James 4:2)

• When we ask we must ask in faith, believing that He will answer our prayer!  But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.  James 1:6-8

9.    How to pray for Divine healing – James 5:13-18

Is anyone among you suffering?  Let him pray.  Is anyone cheerful?  Let him sing psalms.  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.  James 5:13-16

• We are instructed in Mark 16:18 that we are to lay our hands on the sick.  Today, when the believing person lays hands on the sick in the Name of Jesus, it is as though Jesus is laying His hands on them.

• Call for the elders of the church, who augment and inspire faith for the seeker, whose prayer life is marked with answers from God, and anoint with oil in the Name of the Lord.

• Pray for one another, confessing sins to each other so that we may be healed.

• Personally call upon the Lord.  The Lord has promised that if we ask anything according to His Name, He will do it!  Is any sick?  Let him pray.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Hebrews 13:8  

Contact us | Questions?