Parkstone

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Biblical answer: Early in His ministry, the Lord Jesus Christ received a question from John the Baptist, who was in prison; it is recorded in Matthew 11 vv 2-5. In a later verse, Jesus spoke of the greatness of John the Baptist, but in prison, John wanted reassurance of his identification of Jesus as the promised Messiah. The ministry of Jesus was notable in two different ways; first His use of parables to explain the principles of the Gospel; and secondly, His many miracles of healing. Just two examples are found in Matthew 8 vv 2-10.

There are many similar examples where Jesus healed the blind and deaf, the lame and the paralysed, the lepers and the dumb, and the mentally deranged. He healed men, women and children; He even brought people back to life from the dead. Unquestionably, the Lord could heal people and even in many cases His critics could not deny the fact.

Two other examples where the power of God has performed acts of healing, this time from the Old Testament: 1 Kings 17 vv 17-24 and 2 Kings 20 vv 1-6. All these examples prove that the power of God can overcome illness and even death. Perhaps the loveliest example of the power of God at work is found in the occasion when Jesus raised His friend Lazarus from the dead. The record is found in John 11 vv 20-26 and verses 37-44.

There is no doubt that God can heal us of all manner of diseases, even death itself. In the Epistle of James we have some interesting thoughts, relevant to this subject: James 5 vv 14-16. These verses read as if, anyone who prays for a sickness to pass, or they are prayed for by other believers, will be healed. Yet experience tells us that this approach does not always work and this conclusion leads us to an important principle – God does not always answer our prayers in the way we want or expect. Luke records that the Lord Jesus Christ on the evening before His crucifixion prayed to His Father, that the horror of the next day could be avoided: Luke 22 vv 40-44. On the face of it, the prayer of Jesus was not answered in the way that He wanted; but the difference between us and Jesus is that He was content to accept that God’s will must be done, irrespective of our wishes.

It may not be a very palatable thought but the question of our healing must be seen in a different light. The fact is that we all suffer from a fatal condition, an hereditary condition that is ultimately always fatal and befalls every member of the human race, unless God intervenes and decides otherwise. The fatal condition is described in Genesis 2 vv 15-17 and Genesis 3 vv 17-19.

This condition is fatal, a terminal condition we all share; a punishment for disobedience; the end result of our sin; the one thing that is true of every member of the human race; as has been said in the past, ‘Death is the great leveller’.

However, the God we worship is a loving and merciful God and He has placed on record His wish concerning every one of us:

Ezekiel 33 v 11: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.’

The amazing truth is that God wants us to live, for ever, in His Kingdom. God wants that more than anything else, to heal us of the fatal disease we all share and the amazing thing is the incredible length He has gone to in order that His wish comes true. There is, however, a condition to which we have to respond:

Romans 6 v 23: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.’

John 3 v 16-17: ‘For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world , but to save the world through Him.’

Our response is to show faith in God’s word and submit to the simple act of Baptism into His name. God demands our faith and belief before He is prepared to perform the act of healing from the mortality we all share. In John 11 vv 25-26 we read that Jesus said to Martha, the brother of Lazarus:

‘Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.’

Can God heal me?

In the case of physical illness, the many frailties we all share, then the fact is that God is able to heal us, in response to prayer, but always, only if it is part of His plan and purpose. Remember Jesus in Gethsemane and the understanding He showed – ‘not my will, but yours be done’.

In the case of the mortality we all share, then God’s answer is always ‘Yes’. He will heal us but only in response to our faith and belief; we are expected to acknowledge that we are sinners, deserving death, and submit ourselves to Baptism as a sign of our repentance, and to rise from the waters of baptism cleansed of sin and prepared to follow our Lord, who will, without doubt, lead us to His eternal Kingdom.

The Bible tells us a lot about the Kingdom of God on earth, that is to be so much better than our life today, that we find it difficult to comprehend such an existence, a world free of disease, suffering, sorrow and mourning; no more the frailty of old age and disability. Our earth will be cleansed from the pollution and abuse of mankind; it will be a world at peace because it will be ruled by the Lord Jesus Christ.

ll this is no fanciful dream, it is not the result of escapism or the idealistic view of someone who shuts out the world. It is all part of God’s promise in the Bible to fill His earth with His glory and the remarkable thing is that He wants us to be there; all this is certain because of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let us make sure that we accept God’s invitation and may His blessing be upon us as we submit to His will and follow His Son, who has made all this possible.

( Bible quotations are from the New International Version.)