Fire On Your Head

Here is a quick overview of healing in the Word of God, through the atonement of Jesus Christ. This is from a past journal entry on my laptop, that I felt led to put on my blog sometime for others to go over and meditate on for themselves wherever necessary in their lives.

It says in Isaiah 53:4-5: Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Christ died for both our sins and our sicknesses. Matthew 8:17 also says this as well. The concept of health and salvation is littered throughout both testaments. Deuteronomy 28 underscores the curses Israel would receive for their disobedience to God, and the blessings, including health and prosperity if they’d obey. The Passover lamb in Exodus 15 was both eaten (giving them strength for their journey) and the *blood*, put over their doorposts to keep from judgment God was bringing on the Egyptian firstborns. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases. Psalm 103:3

Also, at the Lord’s table, we both eat his flesh and drink his blood. By his stripes (on his body) we are healed, by his blood we are saved (from judgment, a type of Passover concept). This is underscored pretty clearly in 1 Cor 10:16 “Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Paul goes on to say in chapter 11 of this book “Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.”

There are two different things happening here. One pertaining to health/healing, the other salvation. Both are being remembered. This is underscored by how doing it improperly brought getting sick and weak, and falling asleep (dying). I don’t know if the falling sleep is due to judgment in terms of salvation or the consequences of bad health (not being healed).

Also, Jesus said to the man they lowered on the matt through the roof that He heals him AND that his sins are forgiven (Luke 5:18-25). And in James 5 “And the prayer offered in faith will (doesn’t say sometimes) make the sick person well; the Lord will (doesn’t say he might in certain circumstances) raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

So even throughout the New Testament the concept of forgiveness of sins, and healing of diseases is understood to be part of the same act of redemption on the cross.
The Greek word “sozo” for saved has to do with *complete* salvation, including healing of the body.

Here are few instances of it being translated as healed:
-Jairus and his daughter “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed (sozo) and live.” (Mark 5:23)
-The woman with the issue of blood “When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed. (sozo)” Mark 5:28
-”And wherever he went–into villages, towns or countryside–they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed. (sozo)” Mark 6:56 NIV, the King James says “made whole”.

Here are a few instances of it being translated saved
-The parable of the sower “Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.(sozo)” Luke 8:12
-”I am the gate, anyone who enters through me will be saved (sozo)” John 10:9
-”For it is by grace you have been saved (sozo), through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” Ephesians 2:9
-”But women will be saved (sozo) through childbearing–if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.” 1 Timothy 2:15 I include this example to show that obviously Paul isn’t saying women receive salvation by child bearing, but that this instance is maybe a bad translation or rendering of the word, able to underscore how interchangeable the concept of physical wholeness (healing/health) and spiritual wholeness (salvation) have the exact same word in the original Greek.

So I don’t see how if God is not willing that any should perish (not come to salvation, 2 Peter 3:9) that He’d feel differently about people receiving healing if he paid for it in the same act of atonement. It’s not that God doesn’t save someone, it’s because someone doesn’t receive it or they reject it. It’s not that God doesn’t heal people, it’s that someone doesn’t receive it or they can choose to reject God that would or will heal them. If he paid for it on the cross, then He doesn’t hold out on anyone that needs healing.

People not getting healed even though God is a Healing God–in fact that’s one of his names–do you think He’d be living up to it if He didn’t always heal? We’d have to call Him “Sometimes He heals” or something more appropriate–this is not the case, He is who He says He is. People not getting healed doesn’t change God’s nature anymore than people not getting saved doesn’t mean God doesn’t really save people. He died on the cross, it’s been paid for and it’s up to the recipient to receive healing/salvation.