“Our difficulty seems to be this: the promise is so "exceeding great" that we cannot conceive God really to mean what he clearly appears to have revealed. The blessing seems too vast for our comprehension; we "stagger at the promises, through unbelief," and thus fail to secure the treasure which was purchased for us by Christ Jesus.”[1]
So many times I meet people who can’t comprehend that the work of Jesus on the cross healed us of sin and its effects: sickness and disease. It is all very well to accept Jesus heals our spirits but they baulk at Jesus healing our souls and bodies. This is despite the fact that Jesus commanded His disciples to “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!” (Matt. 10:8 NLT). Some people seem resigned to accepting the sicknesses that befall them or else they pray for healing “if it be God’s will”.
To confirm the doctrine that is preached to be of God we can expect such miraculous operations. When I had “incurable” cancer several years ago and had been given 6 months to live, not for one minute did I pray “Heal me Lord if it be your will”. I knew the will of God from the hours I had spent studying the meaning and use of the Greek word,”sozo”, in the New Testament. (For example, the word is cognate in the name of ‘Jesus’—a name that literally means Yahweh heals physically and spiritually.) I thanked God for my healing long before it was a reality.
If under Adam mankind received the curse of death, sickness and disease, it only stands to reason that those under Christ have had the curse reversed and can be blessed today with forgiveness of their sins, healing from disease and assurance of eternal life with their Lord and Saviour. As we sing at Christmas time, “No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground. He comes to make his blessings flow, far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found.”
Our Saviour is the Good Shepherd who cares for those who are cut off, seeks the young, heals those who are broken and feeds those who stand still (In contrast to the foolish shepherd of Zech. 11:16). If we stagger at the promises of God we will miss the treasure that was purchased for us by Jesus.
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[1] George Müller, The Autobiography Of George Muller cited in https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/726092-autobiography-of-george-muller accessed 2.3.22