Healing is not just for people who are regarded as “super saints.” It is for everyone who believes that Christ paid the price for their sins. One evening, after Jesus had healed Peter’s-mother-in-law, many came to Jesus.
“When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: ‘He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses’”
(Matthew 8:16-17, NKJV).
In this Scripture in Matthew, Jesus healed all who were sick. In Isaiah 53:5, healing is mentioned with the coming Messiah being “pierced for our rebellion and crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed” (Isaiah 53:5, NLT). This verse is Isaiah's prophetic word of the Savior, who would one day come to forgive sins and heal. Jesus healed the demon-possessed and sick that night, revealing that He was fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy.
What does this mean? Not only was the forgiveness of sins purchased for us by Christ on the Cross. Healing was also purchased for us. Healing is as much a part of salvation as the forgiveness of sins. God doesn’t want us to be sick as much as He doesn’t want us to sin. If we look at healing as part of the atonement, our view of healing changes. We are not only redeemed from sin but also from sickness. Jesus did a perfect work on the Cross.
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:1-2, NKJV). What gives you access to God’s grace is not your goodness or good works, but faith in what Jesus has done on the Cross. When you put your faith and trust in His finished work, He saves and heals. You believe and receive healing the same way you do salvation.
Jesus “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you WERE healed” (1 Peter 2:24, NKJV). The verb tense in this verse is in the past. When this was written Jesus had already paid the price for our salvation. Healing had happened on the Cross. The new covenant of grace was in place. In the New King James Version of Isaiah 53:5, the present tense is used— "by His stripes you are healed." The present tense in Isaiah is used before the finished work of Jesus, and the past tense in I Peter indicates the work of Jesus has been completed. Jesus has already paid for our sins, and He has already healed us.
“Let all that I am praise the Lord,” the psalmist declared. “May I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases” (Psalm 103:2-3, NLT). God’s forgiveness of all sins and His healing of all diseases come together in this verse. Jesus brought forgiveness and healing to us.
When I believe healing is as much a part of salvation as the forgiveness of sins, I believe my healing has already been accomplished. I’m redeemed from sickness in the same way I’m redeemed from sin. I can believe in healing just as I can believe that I'm forgiven. Just as I have a choice about sin, I also have a choice about sickness.
Not only did Jesus take my sins, but He also bore my infirmities and took my sicknesses to the Cross. I choose to take my thoughts captive and believe that Jesus has healed me. I resolve that I will receive the healing Jesus suffered and died to give me. I won’t allow the healing that cost Him everything to remain dormant because I choose not to believe.
Faith is my response to the grace of Jesus and all that He has purchased for me. Before I ever asked for forgiveness for my sins, Jesus had already paid the price for them. There was never a question in my mind if Jesus would forgive me. He already had. Now I believe there is never a question if Jesus will heal me. I believe He has healed me. I choose to believe it no matter how I may feel. I won’t doubt it because I won’t receive what I don't believe.
I believe that He is the Lord who heals me! So I am healed!
“Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for You are my praise."
(Jeremiah 17:14, NKJV).
©2020 Lynn Lacher
www.lynnlacher.com/2020/09/his-finished-work.html
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