1 Corinthians 12 v 8 - 10: "For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:"
It has been said that doctors who have practiced medicine for many years are unable to explain how skin grows together. They can join the edges of a cut with a neat row of stitches but the wound must heal and close by its own power. God made us like that.
Psalm 139 v 13 - 14: "For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.
14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth."
We were fearfully and wonderfully made by God, and He did a marvellous job of creating us. However the wages of sin is death, and before death, in many cases, is sickness and disease. When Jesus healed the lame man who was let down through the roof, He said, Your sins are forgiven, rise up and walk.
When blind Bartimaeus received his sight Jesus said, neither did this man sin, nor his parents, but that the works of God would be seen in him. He was a special case, afflicted to be an example of God's healing power.
So sin produces sickness, infirmity and finally death, or a person is afflicted for a purpose known only to God. A third example is Paul with his thorn in the flesh, given by God to keep him meek and humble because of the revelations and miracles he was used by God to do.
Paul prayed three times for his affliction to be healed, but God answered, My grace is sufficient for thee. This is when we have to abandon ourselves to the will of God. It's very easy for pride and superiority to enter into those who have gifts of healing and miracles to deliver.
Healing and miracles are the gifts most often found among evangelists. Evangelists are preaching the gospel to the lost, unsaved souls and the Lord loves to accompany this with signs and wonders to show the new converts the power of God's love. If they receive healing they never forget that they have received a touch from Jesus. And they tell their friends and the Word spreads and grows, and the Kingdom of God grows.
Everything Jesus suffered before He was crucified had an eternal and lasting purpose. He sweated blood in the garden of Gethsemane to break the power of our will over God's will for us. He was lashed with a horrible whip that stripped lengths of skin off His back. By these stripes we are healed.
2000 years ago we were healed. Isaiah prophesied it, and it happened exactly like that. The Jewish priests Rabbis, of Judaism have blocked Isaiah 53 from being studied or read in the synagogues. They cannot explain it and it shatters their traditions and their belief that the Resurrection was a hoax, and that Jesus was not the Messiah. So it's scrapped.
But we were healed 2000 years ago and it is part of the New Testament covenant that exists between God and every saved soul. We enter into it when we pray the prayer of salvation. We are forgiven every sin. We are healed of diseases. We are delivered from the power of demons and set free of addictions.
To receive these miracles we have to believe by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who died to justify us. All things are possible to them who believe. When I got saved I made a decision to trust God in a Covenant relationship. That was forty years ago and it has never been broken. He has kept every promise.
I cancelled all worldly insurance, assurance, medical aid and I believed in Jesus to protect me from ever needing it. He has. It is the greatest freedom we can ever know. A life without fear, worry, doubt. A relationship with the greatest Friend I will ever know.
By His stripes. By His Blood, by His death and resurrection. We have everlasting life that starts when we are born again and continues in Heaven.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, You love us so much. Thank You for the great benefits we enjoy in Your Covenant with us. Thank You that by His stripes we are healed. Increase our faith and blot out soulish prayers that prevent healing. In Jesus' name. Amen.