Series | The Promises of God
Scripture | 1 Peter 2:24, “He
himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and
live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.”
Lesson 8 | The Promise of Healing
I believe the most
difficult promise to share with people on this earth is the promise of physical
healing. The reality of suffering and
devastating pain in the form of sickness and disease can cause even the
greatest among us to question God’s goodness.
A parent having to cope with a child that has cancer raises more doubt
about our God’s existence and goodness than all the greatest atheistic
arguments combined.
Here are just some
of the questions I hear from people concerning God and suffering, “Why does a
good God allow the world to have sickness and pain?” “Why does pain and suffering affect
children?” And lastly, “Why do bad
things like sickness and disease happen to good people?” These kinds of questions were even asked by
the greatest people in the Bible and God’s answer was always the same. The reason for sickness is sin. When Adam and Eve sinned, the perfect world
was affected with sin and sin brought sickness, suffering, and death.
This doesn’t mean
people who are sick are being punished because of their own personal sin or that they are under a personal curse. The idea of sickness
being a form of punishment actually comes from the religion of Hinduism and the
concept of Karma. Karma is the false
belief that teaches what one person did in a past life will affect them in the next life. Hence, the reason for so many poor
and impoverished people in India because to the religious followers of Karma-
the crippled, sick, and poor are that way because of their previous sinful life.
However, the Bible
teaches the opposite. The Bible teaches
all throughout, but especially in Romans 1-7, that because of Adam’s sin, the
penalty of sin, sorrow, and sickness has been dealt to all of mankind. Some may experience these things differently
but no one is free from them- everyone will be sick, have sin, and face sorrows. For this reason Jesus came to die on the
cross and break the curse of sin over all mankind. This
promise of healing comes in the same prophecy as the promise of forgiveness of sin and
comfort from sorrow. Therefore, according
to Isaiah 53, in which Peter is referring to in the above passage, Jesus on the
cross removed all of our sins, sorrows, and sicknesses.
As a result, we can
pray for healing on this earth and believe that God wants to heal us. Plus, we can be sure that when we die, all of
our sickness will forever be done away with as we receive our new perfect resurrected bodies. Therefore, in your
greatest challenges with sickness and disease look to Jesus and the cross for
healing and total restoration- both in this life and the one to come.
Reflection | Do you believe Jesus is your healer?
Action | (1) Ask God to remove any doubt or offense you may have towards Him because of the troubles you have faced in life. (2) Ask God to heal all of your sicknesses and diseases, including for those people who are sick in your life. (3) Lastly, have faith in God that He is your Healer in this life and in the one to come.
One Year Reading Plan (Optional) | Exodus 28:1-43, Matthew 25:31-26:13, Psalm 31:9-18, & Proverbs 8:12-13. Click here to read online.
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