Series on "The Message of the Cross" - (12)
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July 9, 2006 |
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 Our Lord the Healer
"And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed" (1 Peter 2:24).
Among all of God's Providence He has manifested in order to gain true children, the most important part is how Jesus came into this world in flesh, subjected Himself to all kinds of suffering and crucifixion, and accomplished the path of salvation for all mankind. Let us today delve into the Providence of Jesus' being flogged and shedding of His blood.
1.The Providence of Jesus' Being Flogged and Shedding of His Blood
Within God's Providence, Jesus was turned over to the courts of Pontius Pilate at the hands of the Jews, flogged, and crucified. While the crucifixion itself was a very brutal punishment, the punishment by flogging was not a light one, either. When a well-trained soldier in the Roman army wielded a whip, it wrapped around Jesus' body one and a half times and tore at His flesh. At the end of the whip were sharp, hook-resembling metal objects that pierced His flesh and when the soldier snatched the whip away, these sharp metal objects snatched off pieces of the flesh with them. Jesus was wounded so gravely to a point that His bones were exposed from underneath His skin.
Why did Jesus have to be subject to such gruel suffering and shed His blood by flogging? As Isaiah 53:5-6 tell us, "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. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him," Jesus was flogged and He shed His blood in order to give us healing of a variety of diseases.
God promised us in Exodus 15:26 that He would not inflict us with any diseases as long as we kept His commandments and stayed away from sinning. Therefore, if we want to receive the healing of our diseases, we must first receive God's forgiveness of our sins. For example, as Jesus said to a paralytic in Matthew 9:2, "Take courage, My son, your sins are forgiven," we see that He took care of the problem of sin before healing the paralytic.
Moreover, Jesus told a man who had been sick for 38 years in John 5:14, "Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse may befall you." This reminds us that even if we may have repented and received God's forgiveness of our sins, if we return to the sinful way of life, we may come down with a disease that is far worse than ever before. For the root of disease is sin and because the atonement of disease required the shedding of blood, Jesus set us free from all types of diseases by being flogged and shedding His blood.
2.Meeting with Our Lord the Healer
1 Peter 2:24 tells us, "For by His wounds you were healed." Thus, anyone who believes that Jesus has redeemed him from his diseases by being flogged and shedding His blood no longer needs to be tormented by any weaknesses or illnesses (Matthew 8:17).
Some people say, "I sin sometimes because I am weak. It is difficult for man to live completely by God's Word." People who say to and of themselves, "I am weak," are bound to be weak and the life in Christ for those who say to themselves, "It's difficult to throw out sins," can only be difficult. On this, we are reminded in Proverbs 18:21, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit."
When you confess in any conditions or situations, "I am strong and filled with the Spirit by the grace of God," according to your confession of faith, you will receive God's grace and strength, easily overcome fatigue, and transform "impossible" into "possible." In receiving prayer for healing, instead of confessing, "I believe I will be healed by the prayer," if you confess, "I believe that I've already been healed," God will do His work according to your faith.
Now, some may ask, "How can I say I've been healed when I still feel pain? Will I not be lying" If they have correct knowledge of spiritual faith, they will be able to understand this easily. As Hebrews 11:1 tells us, "Now faith is the assurance of [things] hoped for, the conviction of things not seen," faith is not in confessing of something only after witnessing it; it is the realization and conviction of things yet unseen as you hope for them by faith.
Confessing with your lips, "I believe," when you do not believe from the heart will not bring about the realization of things for which you hope. Only when you confess with the faith by which you can believe, will things for which you hope be realized.
The same can be said of the problem of disease. If you believe from the heart and confess with your lips, "By the power of God, diseases and weaknesses have left my body," our Lord will do His work in accordance with your faith. This is because Jesus was flogged and shed His blood to redeem us from our diseases and weaknesses. If you are unable to believe or confess this by faith, disease will not leave you. For you will still believe, "I am still in pain. I haven't been healed," even after receiving prayer, you can only be left in pain and suffering. Unless you shatter all such negative thoughts, you will not be able to experience God's work.
God the Creator manifests not only the work of healing but also the work of the Creation itself. We can see time and again how He easily heals and fixes any kind of diseases and deformities. At revival meetings or overseas crusades, a myriad of people come forth at once to testify to their healing. Even as I pray only from the pulpit, countless people are healed of such incurable and terminal diseases as cancer and AIDS, while the blind, the mute, the deaf, and the crippled are healed, and many others have experienced healing during the time of praise and worship or while listening to the messages.
3.Saying "I Believe" but Still Unable to Receive Healing
If people continue to suffer from sickness even as they say they believe Jesus was flogged and redeemed them from their diseases, this is because they have not lived by God's righteousness.
In Exodus 15:26 we read, "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." In spiritual terms, "Egypt" here refers to the world in which we live and "the Ten Plagues" that befell Egypt refers to all diseases that exist in this world.
If we keep and live by God's commandments, we will not become subject to any kind of diseases. Even if we fall ill, once we repent and turn from our ways, as we read that "I, the Lord, am your healer," our Father God the Almighty will heal us. Yet, you have to be righteous not in your own sight but in God's sight.
Righteousness – a set of values and perspectives – differs from person to person because the living circumstances and values under which people have seen, heard, and learned as they were growing up are different. One person may deem that his behavior is "righteous" but another person may feel it is "unrighteous." Things are righteous only when God deems them "righteous" as they are measured against the Word of God who is the truth itself.
For instance, when their child comes home crying after getting beaten up by his friends, the parents become upset and try to have a word with the other children's parents. The righteousness of Our God the truth, however, tells us, "Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also," "Seek peace," and "Love even your enemy." You may feel you are sustaining losses in following God's righteousness, but in the end God will recognize and elevate you.
Some may wonder, "How can I possibly keep all of God's commandments?" but keeping and living by God's commandment is not a difficult task. If you believe and live your life as you always remind yourself, "The Holy Spirit always helps me and because God gives me grace and strength, I can do it easily," it is extremely easy. When you accomplish "The Ten Commandments," "the nine fruit of the Holy Spirit," elements of love as featured in 1 Corinthians 13, and "the Beatitudes," you will be able to live by the kind of righteousness that is proper in God's sight.
From my earliest days in Christ, whenever I discovered sin within me while reading the Bible, I wrote each of them down in a notebook and was able to throw away all my sins one by one in prayer. If you love God and fix your eyes on heaven's glory and rewards, keeping God's commandments is not a difficult task. If you are thinking, 'I have so many sins to throw away and it will take me ages to throw all of them out!' try making a list of the sins with which you have the most difficulty throwing out, concentrating your prayer on those, and fasting, and you will be able to throw out the rest very easily. This is the same as how once the biggest roots are pulled out from the ground, the smaller roots are also pulled out easily.
In 2 Chronicles 16 we find a king named Asa, who at first had served God well but ended up falling gravely ill after his heart changed and he built up the wall of sin. The king should have rent his heart in repentance and clung to God, but Asa died eventually after seeking the physicians instead of God.
Many people today confess, "God is almighty and I believe that He governs man's life, death, curse, and blessing," but when actually faced with a problem, they are quick to seek and rely on worldly means and methods. No matter how well they may know the Word and how much they may have heard God's messages, they will not possess spiritual faith by which they could be healed without keeping His commandments. When people receive the Holy Spirit, receive the right entitled to them as God's children, and come out from the darkness and begin walking in the light and righteousness, the wall of sin standing in their way to God will be destroyed, the faith by which they can believe will descend upon them, and they will be able to experience the works of God. They will not fall ill and even if they have become sick, they will receive healing as soon as they believe that they have already been healed.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, as He was flogged and shed His blood, Jesus redeemed us from all our diseases, weaknesses, and deformities. May each of you diligently keep God's commandments and give glory to Him by always seeking the One who is able to do anything, in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ I bless!
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