Divine healing has been a controversial topic in the body of Christ for the past 2000 years. Many have viewed divine healing as being for the fringe lunatics who do not accept reality. However we shall soon discover that divine healing is meant to be the norm rather than the exception among the believers. Many a times we see born again Christians rushing to be treated by Doctors before seeking for healing from the source who is Jehovah Rapha, the Lord out Healer. However, as anyone with a basic knowledge of medical science will quickly figure out, even the doctors have a no go area that they refer to as incurable diseases. We need to study God’s Word and discover where sickness originated and if there is a remedy there in any case. We shall soon see that God’s original intent was for us to live in divine health and receive healing from Him.

I have heard history teachers declaring to their unwary students that early man (I wonder where early woman went?) was using primitive stone tools and was so ignorant about what we in the modern age know. From the scriptures we actually see that early man, of whom Adam was the earliest together with his descendants to the 9th generation up to the flood lived to an average of 900 years. It is so amusing that a so called “enlightened” scientist can choose to discredit Adam, who fellowshipped with God and received revelation from Him face to face as a “stone age fool” and yet with all his science cannot even reach 20% of Adam’s lifespan. There is something that Adam understood in the Garden of Eden that we need to understand if we are to enjoy God’s best for our lives.

WHERE DOES SICKNESS ORIGINATE?

Genesis 1:28
(28) And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and HAVE DOMINION over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

We see from this scripture that God’s original intent was for Adam to have authority over every living thing including bacteria, viruses and any other disease causing organism. God never created any sickness to torment Adam but rather gave him dominion over all creation. There was no clinic or hospital in the Garden of Eden. When God created the world and all that is in it, He declared that it was very good (Gen 1:31). This obviously implies that there was no sickness in the equation since sickness is obviously bad. So if God’s design never included sickness, where and when did sickness sneak into Adam’s and his descendant’s lives?

Romans 5:12
(12) Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Sin entered into the garden through Satan who came in the form of a serpent. Satan tempted Eve and she ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that God had commanded them not to eat (Gen 3:1-7). Eve convinced Adam to eat this fruit and when he gave in, death entered the human race. The connection between death and sickness is very simple. Sickness can simply be defined as death in slow motion. Every other descendant of Adam inherited the death gene from Adam and this was only broken by the second Adam who is Jesus Christ. Thus we conclude that if it was not for Adam’s sin in the garden of Eden, there would be no sickness in the world today.

DID GOD HEAL IN THE OLD TESTAMENT?

The Old Testament describes God’s dealings with mankind before the cross of Calvary. The Old Testament and New Testament can be likened to two floors on a storied building. The New Testament which is the upper floor is built over the Old Testament ground floor. Thus if we know how God operated in the Old Testament it can give us a hint concerning what lies ahead in the New Covenant.

Psalms 105:37
(37) He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was NOT ONE FEEBLE PERSON among their tribes.

This scripture describes the state of the children of Israel when they had just come out of Egypt and were embarking on the Exodus to the Promised Land. They came out of Egypt healthy and wealthy. There was not a single sick person among all the 12 tribes. This was no mean feat since we had a population of about 2 million Israelites embarking upon this journey. Since coming out of Egypt represents the born again Christian coming out of the world, this then means that God’s will for us is divine health the moment we receive Jesus Christ as Lord. The Old Testament uses types and shadows to reveal to us the will of God even into the New Testament.

Exodus 15:26
(26) And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD (Jehovah) that healeth thee. (Rapha)

God clearly spoke to His people during the wilderness wanderings that He is Jehovah Rapha, the Lord that heals every single individual who obeys His covenant. The term Jehovah or Yahweh is God’s name in Hebrew, meaning the self-existent eternal one and Rapha which is translated as the healer is his title meaning that He is Doctor Jehovah. I believe that this is the revelation that Adam received in the Garden of Eden and passed it on to his children to the ninth generation. This scripture seems to imply that God puts sickness on people, however the Hebrew tense is permissive, meaning that God only permits Satan to put sickness upon those who disobey His Word. The best doctor in the whole world would be the one who created man in the first place. Just like in the natural world, spare parts for a faulty or worn out item are procured from the manufacturer who dreamt up the concept in the first place. Doctor Jehovah should be our first consultant because He made us in the first place.

Many other individual healings are stated throughout the Old Testament. Some examples of God’s healing power manifested towards individuals include:
1. The healing of Naaman the Syrian general from leprosy (2 Ki 5:1-14)
2. The healing of Miriam from leprosy (Num 12:10-15)
3. The healing of Sarah from bareness (Heb 11:11)
4. The healing of Hannah from barenness (1 Sam 1:5-20)
5. The healing of Rachel from barenness (Gen 30:22-24)
6. The healing of King Hezekiah from a life threatening boil (2 Ki 20:5-7)
7. The healing of King Jeroboam’s withered hand (1 Ki 13:4-6)

DOES GOD HEAL IN THE NEW TESTAMENT?

Matthew 8:16-17
(16) When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and HEALED ALL THAT WERE SICK:
(17) That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.

The ministry of Jesus Christ demonstrated God’s perfect will concerning healing since He was God in the flesh. Notice that in verse 16 it is stated that Jesus Christ cast out demons and healed all that were sick. On that specific day Jesus did not just heal a few, He healed all. Jesus, the express image of God the Father, healed every sickness whenever the people walked in faith. The healing and deliverance ministry of Jesus Christ accounts for a third of all his recorded ministry activities. Healing and deliverance are connected because as we have seen earlier, sickness entered the world through Satan’s agency. Remember that Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy and part of his arsenal is sickness (John 10:10). However as believers we have an assurance that Jesus has taken all our sicknesses and diseases. If Jesus took them, that means that legally they do not belong in my body and I have every right to cast them out in Jesus’ name. I have a legal right as a believer to walk in divine health.

Acts 10:38
(38) How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and HEALING ALL THAT WERE OPPRESSED OF THE DEVIL; for God was with him.

This scripture states that Jesus Christ was anointed for a purpose. That purpose was to heal all those oppressed by the devil. Notice that sickness is equated to oppression by satan. Every sickness and disease known to man comes either directly or indirectly from the devil. God thus shows that He is not the author of sickness. If you are ignorant of this truth, you will believe false teachings such as “God is using this sickness to teach me a lesson.” I am amused by those who hold to false doctrines such as “God is the author of sickness” and “sickness is God’s will” because in their actions they turn out to be the worst hypocrites. The same person who claims that God put sickness upon him will rush to the nearest hospital to fight what they had just termed in their booming sermon as “God’s will”. If indeed they claim that sickness is God’s will then why try to fight God’s will. The actions of those who claim that sickness is “God’s will” clearly demonstrate that deep within their hearts the Lord has placed a seed of His Word that sickness is an enemy to be resisted and fought rather than a divine friend to be gladly embraced.

Throughout the New Testament we see that Jesus healed many individuals like Peter’s mother in law (Lk 4:38-39), the Centurion’s servant (Lk 7:2-10), the woman with the issue of blood (Mk 5:25-34), the hunchback woman with the spirit of infirmity (Lk 13:11-13), blind Bartimaeus (Mk 10:46-52) and the man with the withered hand (Mat 12:10-13) among so many others. The Apostles and other ministers likewise demonstrated God’s healing power in the book of Acts. Apostle Peter healed the lame man at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple (Acts 3:1-8) and Aeneas the paralytic (Acts 9:33-34). Apostle Paul healed the father of Publius from dysentery (Acts 28:8) and the also healed the lame man at Lystra (Acts 14:8-10). Many other healings in the book of Acts are mentioned in general terms since the numbers of those healed were large. Jesus Christ used these ministers to continue the healing legacy that He started in His earthly ministry.

Hebrews 13:8
(8) Jesus Christ THE SAME yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

In all this we need to realize that Jesus Christ has not changed. What He did during His three and a half years of ministry was just a foretaste of what was to come. God does not change, thus we need to throw out all false doctrines like “cessationism” that claims that miracles were there only to confirm the written canon of scripture and ceased at the death of Apostle John the last living Apostle of the twelve in the first century. Rather we need to know that the same Jesus who opened the eyes of the blind, made the lame walk, made the dumb to speak and opened the deaf ears is still at work today and His ministry has not been altered a single bit. God’s healing power is available for you for the taking when you exercise your faith in His healing Word.

HEALING TESTIMONY FROM THE HOSPITAL

One healing testimony I can recall vividly is when I was called to pray for one of the residents of Kiswa who had been admitted to Naguru hospital some time back. When we reached Naguru hospital together with two brethren from Worldwide Apostolic Church, we found the lady whom I came to know as Jennifer Nandutu lying on the bed and totally paralyzed. I did not know this at the time that I prayed for her healing but she told us her history in her testimony later on. She was admitted to the hospital 5 days prior because she had become totally paralyzed from her waist downwards. When she was brought to the hospital, the doctor got out a needle to test whether her paralysis was genuine. He covered her face and begun piercing her legs starting from the toes to the waist and she told him that she could not feel a single thing. Apart from the paralysis she was also diagnosed with high blood pressure. She had remained in that state till we met her. When we came into that ward I did not know that she had not walked in 5 days. I proceeded to preach the gospel to Jennifer and Beatrice, her sister who was her caretaker in the hospital. Beatrice recommitted her life to Jesus Christ and Jennifer was born again.

I proceeded to share with Jennifer the healing scriptures and finally prayed for her healing. I recalled how Jesus Christ ministered to the paralytics and in the same style I commanded her to get off the bed and walk. Jennifer got off that bed and begun to walk and jump in the hospital ward. She was totally and completely healed. It reminded me of the scene in Jerusalem when the lame man walked at the gate of the temple, “And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God” (Acts 3:8). The commotion caused by her healing led to some staff members peeping from the doorway of the ward to know what was going on. Jesus healed Jennifer and demonstrated that He is still the same yesterday, today and forever. Jennifer was discharged from the hospital the following day and she has remained healed and became a member of Worldwide Apostolic Church. You too can receive divine healing by faith wherever you are. I release God’s healing power upon you who is reading these words and I see you rising up and claiming your healing by faith in Jesus’ name!