How To Receive Your Healing

Is Sickness the Will of God?

There are several clear proofs that sickness is NOT the will of God. First, let's look at the 2 places where God's will is done, then let's look and see if there is any sickness there. The first place was the Garden of Eden. Eden is described as a bountiful paradise, containing all that mankind could desire. (Genesis 1:31) There was beauty, food, drink, even gold. (Genesis 2:11-12) Man could go for a walk with God in the evening. If you look at the list of things that God created in the Garden, there is no mention of Him creating sickness. That is because it was not His will. Only after mankind rebelled against God, choosing their own path instead of the path that God had laid out for them, do we see sickness entering the human experience. It entered in because mankind had become separated from God, and the abundant life that He had intended.

Now let's "fast-forward" to the book of Revelation, and look at the second place where God's will is done. Heaven. We know that God's will is done in heaven, because Jesus tells us to pray "Your [the Father's] will be done on earth as it is in heaven". Again, there is no mention of people suffering from sickness. For example, it does NOT say that Jesus could not come to the throne that day because He had a touch of the flu!

To be certain that sickness is not the general will of God, let's look at some examples from the ministry of Jesus. Remember that Jesus was the perfect manifestation of the will of the Father. In John 14:9, Jesus tells us that "... Anyone who has seen me [Jesus] has seen the Father...". That's because they behave and act the same. So if we see Jesus healing people, then we know that is also the will of the Father. In John 8:29 Jesus says "The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.". So let's look at Jesus's response to sickness in the following verses.

Matthew 8:16 "...[He] healed all the sick."

Matthew 12:15 "...A large crowd followed Him, and He healed all who were ill."

Matthew 14:36 "and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of His cloak, and all who touched it were healed".

Luke 4:40 "At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying His hands on each one, He healed them."

Note the use of the word "all" in each of of the above verses. "All" means every one - so none were left out. When Jesus came to town, and people came to Him for healing, we see in the above verses that he healed every one. No exceptions. He did not just heal a couple of sick people, or 10% of the sick people, but ALL of them.

There is only one occasion where He was not able to heal all, and that was in Capernaum - His home town. In that place, they would not receive Him as the Messiah or as a prophet of God, but they said (my paraphrase) "This is just Joseph's son - the carpenter - he's no-one special. We won't listen to him.", and they were offended by Him. (Mark 6:3) In that place, all He could do was heal a few sick people. But this was the exception, not the rule. However, we learn an important point from this, and that is that receiving healing is connected not just with God's willingness to heal, but also with the faith and expectation of the person who wants to be healed.

Let's see another example before we get into the foundation & power behind Jesus's healing ministry. Here's the example.

Mark 1:40-42 "A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean." Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed."

We can learn a lot from this example. First of all, leprosy was the incurable disease of the day. Some would say that it was like the "aids" of today. So nothing is too hard for God. Second, we see a man who knew that Jesus had the power, but doubted His willingness to use it for the sick man. The bible says that this made Jesus indignant. In other words, it was offensive to Jesus for someone to think that Jesus would have the power to heal, and not use it. Clearly, it was His will to heal. Jesus then dismisses the man's doubt, and says "I am willing...", then heals him. Glory to God!

Some people claim that God is glorified when men bear up under the pain of sickness. This is a huge mistake! The bible teaches that God is glorified when the sick are healed! (See Luke 18:38-43 & Mark 2:10-12)

The Foundation of Jesus's Healing Ministry

The bible tells us how Jesus had such a marvelous healing ministry. In Isaiah chapter 53, which prophesies about the future benefits of Jesus dying on the cross, it says that Jesus took up our pain, and bore our suffering. This means that he literally took those things on our behalf, so that we would not need to have them.

Isaiah 53:4-5 "Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed."

Young's Analytical Concordance shows that in the original language for the above text, the word for pain ("choli") means "sickness, weakness, and pain". So this verse says that Jesus took up our "sickness, weakness, and pain".

The Holy Spirit, writing through the apostle Matthew, says that Jesus's ministry was the fulfillment of this prophesy in Isaiah.

Matthew 8:16-17 "When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases."

Note that Isaiah foresees that some of the people watching the crucifixion thought that Jesus was being punished by God, but Isaiah explains that Jesus was pierced for our sins, not his own. Note that it was not the Jews or the Gentiles that sent Jesus to the cross, but it was our sins that sent Him there. If He had not died to pay the price for our sins, we could not be forgiven. Isaiah then says that by Jesus's wounds, we are healed. So at the same time that Jesus paid the price for the forgiveness of our sins, he also paid the price for our healing.

The apostle Peter confirms this:

1Peter 2:24 "He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed."

Why are Some Christians Sick?

A short answer is that many have not heard & accepted this wonderful truth. The bible says that "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6). If you don't know something, you can't benefit from it. Another reason is that people have sometimes accepted this truth in their minds, but it has not become a revelation in their heart (spirit man). The simple solution for this is to meditate these truths so that they become a revelation. Use the three step rule: Mediation - Revelation - Manifestation.

Looking at the ministry of Jesus, in the majority of cases, the people He ministered to were healed immediately. However, there were some cases where healing was not immediate, but was real none the less. Let's look at a few examples.

Luke 17:14 "And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that as they went, they were cleansed."
So Jesus ministered to 10 lepers, and there was no immediate result, but as they were going away (to see the priest), they were healed. Perhaps they were 100 yards away, or perhaps they were further. On returned to Jesus to give Glory to God but the other 9 were out-of-sight because Jesus had to ask about them (in Luke 17:17). The point here is that their healing did not happen at the very moment of prayer or ministry, but it did happen shortly thereafter.

In Mark 8:23-25, Jesus takes a man aside to minister to him. He lays hands on him, and the man's sight is partially restored, so He lays hands on him a second time, and he is fully restored. Even if it takes you a while to receive, keep going! Healing is for all!

Mark 11:13-21 This was not a case of healing, but of Jesus cursing a fig tree. There was no immediate sign of change, but by the next morning, the result was apparent. Nobody said to Jesus: "Nothing happened - you failed", but the work was in progress "behind the scenes".

The truth is that we (ministers & preachers) do not minister healing even as perfectly as Jesus did. We are still growing in that area. Never the less, Jesus is still on the throne, and if you go directly to Him and His Word (Scriptures), you can still receive your healing. If you go to a doctor, are you instantly healed? Don't you have to take medicine over a period of time for the healing to manifest? This is sometimes the case with Divine healing too. God's word is that medicine.

Prov 4:20-22 "My son pay attention to what I say; turn your ears to my words. Do not let them out of your sight; keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one's whole body."

The word "health" above, can also mean "remedy" or "cure". In modern English, we would use the word "medicine". So, God's word is medicine! Keep taking it!

Conclusion

Jesus has paid the price for your healing, and He wants you healed!

Divine Healing is a very large subject, and there are a great many books that explain it further. Please see the link below for some very good articles & books on this subject.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries - search articles on healing

God bless!