The Good News of Christ is a gospel of healing for the whole person.
Isaiah 53:5 prophesies the healing that will come in Christ. I Peter 2:24 declares the healing that is finished in Christ. Some believe that Isaiah 53:5 and 1 Peter 2:24 speak only of spiritual healing. But the healing that was accomplished in the gift of Christ’s life for us was complete. It lacks nothing.
When we were born again—thoroughly and completely forgiven by the grace of Jesus—we were spiritually healed and made new (2 Corinthians 5:17). Our spirit was reborn by the Holy Spirit (John 3:6). The phrase, “by His stripes we were healed” (1 Peter 2:24, NKJV) does not speak of the healing of our spirit. It speaks of the results of the spiritual healing of our spirit. When Christ destroyed sin, He destroyed the root of all sickness. We were healed spiritually and physically in Him.
“And you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power” (Colossians 2:10, NKJC).
We are created in three parts—spirit, soul (mind), and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Where are we complete in Him? Which part of us was made new?
“Flesh gives birth to flesh, and spirit gives birth to spirit (John 3:6, PHILLIPS).
Our spirit is born of His spirit. Christ, who was sinless, took our sin so that we might receive the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). Our spirit has been reborn—made new, righteous, and complete by the Holy Spirit. For these truths to make a difference, we have to understand and believe them in our hearts. We must be renewed in the spirit of our mind and put on the new creation—the new man—which God has created within us in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:23-24).
Though many may not believe it, healing is available to all of us. Just as healing is available for the sinner, it is also available for those who are sick.
If we are going to understand the healing power of New Covenant grace, it is imperative that we understand that it is only within our spirit that we are completely reborn as a new creation in Christ. Our mind and body are not perfectly reborn. In our mind and body, we still deal with temptation and destructive emotions, and pain. When we look at ourselves, it is hard to believe we have been made new in Christ. But when we look into the mirror of God’s Word, we can see the new person that Christ has made us.
Rather than explain away God’s love and desire for us to be healed, we need to press on to believe the truth of God’s Word. “By His stripes, you were healed.”
“But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him” (1 Corinthians 6:17, NKJV). We are joined to the Lord spirit to spirit.
“For in Him (Christ) dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power” (Colossians 2:9-10, NKJV).
All the fullness of the Godhead is complete within our spirit. We must be renewed in our minds by the Word to conform to the new person God has made us (Romans 12:2).
Christ, the healer, is in you. You are completely forgiven, healed, delivered, and filled with the fullness of God. Just as you stir up faith to walk in holiness, take the grace that is yours in Christ to walk by faith and not by sight—to walk by faith in the healing that He died for us to receive.
© 2021 Lynn Lacher
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