Let the healing begin

by Greg Carpenter

Isa 53:4-6   Yet it was our weakness that He carried; it was our sorrows that weighed Him down.  And we thought His troubles were a punishment from God for His own sins!  (5) But He was wounded and crushed for our sins.  He was beaten that we might have peace.  He was whipped, and we were healed!  (6) All of us have strayed away like sheep.  We have left God’s paths to follow our own way.  Yet the Lord laid on Him the guilt and sins of all.

Where does healing begin? It starts with understanding how sickness entered into our world.  The story begins with Adam and Eve in the garden and how, through their choice, man and nature became subject to the ruler of this world, Satan.

God created a world that was perfect.

God gave order to all creation.

God created a world free of sickness, death, and disease.

God created man in His own image and allowed him intimacy with Himself.

God gave man freewill.

Adam chose to eat of the tree that was forbidden, and fell from grace.

Through the fall:

    Man lost that intimate fellowship with God. 

    Man became subject to and dominated by another ruler and kingdom.

    Nature fell from its order and became subject to perversion.

    Man became subject to death, sickness, and disease.

Death, sickness, and disease entered this world through sin - the sin of man's rebellion.  God never intended that man should suffer sickness, disease, and death, but Adam failed and violated the one and only condition:  DON’T EAT THE FRUIT OF THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL!! 

Rom 5:12   When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race.  Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.

This brings us to a place where healing can begin - to a place of understanding our relationship with Jesus, and the power of repentance and forgiveness.  Forgiveness is the foundation of healing and is found through the Atonement of Christ.  By faith in Christ, you have been forgiven at the cross, reconciled to God, and are in right relationship with Him.  What’s this have to do with healing?  All healing begins and ends with Jesus Christ, and forgiveness is the means.  At the cross we receive forgiveness of our sins.  But we are also required to forgive others who have sinned against us.

Matt 6:14-15   “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.  (15) But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will refuse to forgive you.”

Eph 4:32   Instead be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

Col 3:13   You must make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive the person who offends you.  Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.

So healing begins with Jesus forgiving us of our sins at the cross, which restores right relationship lost at the fall.  When we, in turn, forgive others, we release them and ourselves from condemnation and into the provision of Christ's healing.

Jesus, speaking to his disciples, said in John 20:23:  If you forgive anyone’s sins they are forgiven. If you refuse to forgive them, they are unforgiven.

Will you withhold forgiveness for yourself or another? Will you withhold healing that’s available, holding instead to unforgiveness?

Luke 23:33-34  ….finally they came to a place called The Skull. (Calvary)  All three were crucified there—Jesus on one side, and the two criminals on either side.   (34) Jesus said “Father, forgive them because they don’t know what they are doing”………

Jesus chose the will of the Father; He willed Himself to take upon His person all the sins of the world - and in so choosing and willing Himself, Jesus paid the price so we could be healed.

1 Peter 2:24   He personally carried away our sins in His own body on the cross so we can be dead to sin and live for what is right.  You have been healed by His wounds!

Forgiveness is an act of the will - a choosing to release all of the anger, bitterness, hate, judgment, criticism, and envy that is inside of us.

There may be someone you are holding in judgment or criticism - perhaps even some ethnic group that you feel animosity towards.  You may even need to forgive yourself.  By forgiving that person or persons, you release healing and freedom for both you and them.

Forgiveness is the first step in the process of healing from spiritual, emotional, and physical disease and sickness.

Forgiveness is the primary act of bringing wholeness to our lives; this is where we begin. In the coming columns we will look at some of the other issues of healing.

(All scripture taken from the New Living Translation)