Are You Sick & in Pain? – Part 3

Have hope! Your healing is done and paid for already!

If the Lord Jesus has won the war against the devil and defeated him on the cross of Calvary, why is it that we still experience sickness? Yes, the Lord Jesus has indeed won the war, but after winning the war, He went back to the Father, having given His disciples the charge to enforce His victory over the devil until His return. Scripture reveals the Fathers heart by saying,

“To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be made known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.” (Eph 3:10).

God has appointed a day for all men to be judged based on how they respond to His Son because He has made Him both Lord and Christ (Act 2:36) and Prince and Savior (Act 5:31). Father has given all authority and power over to Him and has made Him judge of all (Joh 3:35, 5:22, 13:3, 17:2). The work of redemption will be consummated when He gives His true believers, new resurrection bodies just like His (1 Joh 3:1-3). The house sale has been closed or completed, but the owner has not moved in yet, but has put His representatives in charge to make ready for His coming.

Jesus has defeated the enemy, the devil, but he has not bound him or stripped him of his power. There is an appointed day when this will happen (Rev 19:11-20:3), and blessed are those who wait for it eagerly without stumbling. Until then, we have to fight the devil in this ongoing spiritual battle, destroy his works, and manifest the victories in the natural with the power and authority He has given us. He has given us everything we need, including His name, His blood, His promises, His word, the help of the heavenly hosts, and His Holy Spirit to take the ground back from the devil, for all of heaven is backing us and cheering us on.

We will not finish the fight and make everything just fine and rule the earth by ourselves without our King. But He wishes to show Himself strong through His body even when He is away, and we ought to fulfill His wishes in obedience, through our faith in Him. If we are ignorant of the truth or just pretend that everything is fine, we will be destroyed (Hos 4:6). “Where there is no vision, the people perish,” says the Scripture (Pro 29:18). If we sleep or stand still and do nothing, ignoring the wishes of our King, we will suffer greatly.

It is the power and authority that He has received from the Father that the Lord has given His disciples. Today, we are His disciples, if indeed we have been born again by His Spirit, and we are walking in obedience to Him by faith. Remember what He said before He went back to His Father, “All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” (Mat 28:18-20). This is part of the manifold wisdom of God that He intends to gather all things to Himself in One, Christ. (Eph 1:3-10).

We tend to spiritualize and theologize His words and make them powerless with all our analyzing, instead of simply believing them and walking in them. He gave his authority first to the twelve (including Judas Iscariot) (Luk 9:1-2) and then to the seventy (Luk 10:1), and they all simply believed it and walked in it, and produced the fruit of their faith. In fact, the seventy returned rejoicing, saying, “Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.” Then the Lord gave them an astounding promise, saying, “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” (Luk 10:19). Will we, for a change, believe that God is not afraid to give us His power? He longs to trust us with His power and authority so that we may use it wisely to build His kingdom, not ours.

It is obvious, according to His own words, that He is not double-minded about giving us His power and authority but that we are, maybe, frightened or hesitant to receive it. Is it that He is too scared and therefore holding it back from us, worrying how we will mess it up? If this were the case, then He wouldn’t have given us any wealth, relationships, worldly power, or intelligence in any shape or form because we, as human beings, mess these things up often and sometimes beyond repair. But God does not think like us, and neither is He wringing His hands worrying about how things will turn out in the end. In fact, He has given this season to the church before He returns to show the devil and His hordes that man, His masterpiece creation, whom he deceived and caused to fall, can indeed love and obey Him truly and wholeheartedly for who He is and not just for the goodies He can give them. We ought to get over our fears, doubts, defeatism, arguments, and finger pointing, and instead of tearing each other down, begin to build each other up by His power and do what He has already prepared for us to do, in faith.

And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him. (Mat 3:16)

Jesus has also taught us clearly how to obtain His power. Before He ascended to heaven, He gave some final instructions to His disciples. He said, “And, behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high.” (Luk 24:49). The Holy Spirit confirmed it by saying,

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Act 1:8).

If this is what He had commanded His disciples who had already walked with Him for over three years and had done signs, wonders and miracles with His power and authority, how much more do we need the Holy Spirit to come upon us and endue us with His power so that we too can walk in it doing His works? However, we would rather sling theological mud at each other than obey the Lord and seek His face to be filled by His Holy Spirit.

Look at the obedience of the Son of God, who had no sin yet submitted Himself to John the Baptist and was baptized by him so that heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit came down and rested upon Him (Mat 3:16). Being obedient to the Father, He was filled by the Holy Spirit, and tempted by the devil in the wilderness. But He overcame the tempter and returned in the power of the Spirit to do the work His Father had given Him to do (Luk 4:14). Is He not our ultimate example? Let’s remember what the Lord has shown us and embrace it with a pure and uncomplicated faith. Should we not at least set aside our differences, pet theologies, and traditions and simply trust Him and obey Him to manifest His glory?

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It is a joy to share with you what the Lord is doing in and through our lives. Thank you for praying for us.

Please share ‘Resurrection Life’ with your friends and family and bring them along in our journey with the Lord. All glory to the One who rose from the dead, never to die again – our Lord Jesus Christ.