My exposure to discussion and demonstration of physical healing has been, obviously, within charismatic and/or pentacostal streams within the Church. In these streams, the theology of healing has been centered in the atonement. When Jesus died he carried our sin and sickness, our guilt and grief, our iniquity and infirmity. This understanding draws heavily from the suffering servant language in Isa 53. I fully affirm this and in what follows I don’t mean to in any way minimize this reality.

Here’s my question though. If healing is based in the atonement, then upon what basis did Jesus heal prior to the cross? Upon the basis of his deity? I don’t think so, for Luke 4 makes it plain that it was the empowering work of the Spirit that enabled him. It seems clear that what Jesus did, he did as a man empowered by the Spirit. If healing is based in the atonement, then upon what basis did the 12 and the 70 heal when Jesus sent them out prior to the cross?

I believe the answer lies in Jesus’ often repeated refrain “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” Adam was a man, rightly related to the Father, endued with dominion, and empowered by the Spirit. He was earth’s governor, appointed by God and given authority by God. When man sinned this authority was lost. Sin and sickness reigned. Since that time no man had the kind of dominion that Adam had and lost. Until Jesus. Paul refers to Jesus as the “last Adam.” When he entered the scene he was a man, rightly related to the Father, endued with dominion, and empowered by the Spirit.

The Kingdom was “at hand” precisely because Jesus had come on the scene as a man in this way. Even prior to the cross, this man was able to demonstrate kingdom authority over devils and disease simply through the declaration of his word. Similarly, he was able to delegate this authority to those that followed him. All this prior to the cross.

So, what is the role of the cross in all this?

Well for one it occurs to me that on this side of the cross my faith is able to look back into the past toward Christ’s finished work. But there is no good reason to think that the disciples faith prior to the cross was not able to, in trusting Jesus in that moment, look forward to the the cross in a similar way. Secondly, through the cross God has provided the only way for me, as a man, to be rightly related to God, endued with authority, and empowered by the Spirit. Third, on the cross Jesus, the suffering servant, took upon himself all the brokenness of our world. When Revelation 21 is fulfilled and all creation is renewed, it will simply be the full appropriation of the provision Jesus has already made. Finally, in choosing to lay down his life, Jesus defeated Satan. The first Adam chose to save his life and he lost it as a result. The last Adam chose to lay his life down and as a result he found it. The first Adam abdicated his authority in the earth and gave it to the serpent, the god of this world. The last Adam took it back.

So: is healing a Kingdom issue or an Atonement issue? The answer is yes, for the cross is the climax of God’s plan to restore the earth to his Kingdom rule. So, when I pray for the sick, I am giving expression to the Kingdom rule of God through men upon the earth, a Kingdom re-inaugurated in Jesus as he began his ministry and whose final victory was forever secured on the cross.

“God is in control. If you’re sick, he must have some purpose in it.”

“You know, he doesn’t heal everyone. You can’t really expect him to heal you.”

“You don’t really think you have enough faith to receive something like that from God do you?”

Thoughts like this have a certain odor to them, and a definite weight. They push down upon your sense of strength and can make it so hard to breathe in and out through the normal rhythms of simple asking and receiving.

Matthew 8:2-3
2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 3 Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.(NKJV)

We seldom doubt that God “can” heal us. We, like the leper, simply struggle with whether he “will” heal us. In this same situation, though willing to embrace the leper’s question, I wonder if we’re also willing to hear Jesus’ response? There are three primary reasons we might find it difficult to really hear Jesus say “I am willing.” To each, the proper response is repentance.

First, there’s the issue of theological bias. Entire segments of the Body of Christ have taught for years that “Jesus used to be willing but he’s not anymore.” This obstacle is easy to overcome with a quick glance at scripture and some basic repentance. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Heb 13:8, ESV)

Second, there’s the barrier of past disappointment. When you’ve prayed and not experienced God’s healing power, painful disappointment can reinforce the idea that maybe Jesus just isn’t really in the healing business anymore. But does what we haven’t experienced have the authority to set the standard for what we believe is true about God’s character? If we find that our experience has been given this kind of inordinate authority, the proper response is repentance.

Third, there’s the obstacle of inaccurate valuation of both self and the cross. Some find it easy to believe Jesus is willing to heal others but they’re unable to personally align with that truth simply because they don’t believe they’re worthy of that kind of love. This is merely an argument with God.  He has deemed you worthy of great sacrifice. Motivated by his valuation of your worth, he has given himself to make you worthy, and in his sacrifice has provided not only for your cleansing, but for your freedom from every grief and sickness. This obstacle masquerades as humility but in reality it is a direct attack on the sufficiency of Jesus’ death on the cross.

Again, the proper response in the face of this challenge is repentance. At times we find that our heart cries out with the leper “If you’re willing…Jesus’ response to the leper is still his response to us today. “I am willing.” Are you willing to hear it? If you’ve identified something that’s in the way of hearing Jesus say this to you, are you willing to surrender to God in the process of repentance?

Everyone has difficulty in their past. There are no exceptions to this, only varying degrees of difficulty. Many are presently convinced that they are currently not experiencing the freedom Christ has provided because of the events in their past. This is simply not true.

John 8:32
32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”(ESV)

Freedom is a result of knowing the truth. The clear implication is that the absence of freedom is a result of knowing something untrue. It is the lies we believe that hold us in bondage, not the past events of our lies. These two are connected however, for often we came to believe the lies that we believe during the difficult moments of our past. Hard things happen and we assign meaning to those events. We experience grief and loss and in moments of pain embrace a definition of reality that at the time seems to make sense of them. This means that I am…This means that God is…This means men are…This means authority figures are…

We hurt and in our hurt we decide things about ourselves, about God, about others. And very often the reality we adopt is incongruent with reality as God sees it. One of us is wrong. I bet it’s not God. So God heals memories not by erasing the past but rather by freeing us from the deception we embraced in the past. You are not in bondage because of what you experienced. You are in bondage because what you came to believe about reality is a lie. Freedom doesn’t erase the past. Freedom redefines what the past means about God’s goodness, nearness, and power. Freedom redefines what the past means about your value and identity. When you experience the Truth, freedom is the result.

God has made us three part beings: body, soul, and spirit. Our body is the physical house in which we live. Our soul is comprised of our mind, emotions, and will. The soul may seem more abstract than the body, yet it is deeply integrated with our physiology. The intellect, emotions, and volition are all part of the amazing functionality of the human brain.

The human spirit is perhaps the most difficult part of us to define. My spirit is me – me at a deeper level than what I think, feel, and want. Thinking, feeling, and wanting are all things I do. There must be a me doing those things. Thinking, feeling and wanting are all experiences. There is an underlying me experiencing these experiences. My spirit is the deepest part of who I am.

I believe the human spirit is also functional. God is a Spirit and we were designed to be one with Him. We were designed to be connected to God as our source of life and identity. My spirit is my capacity to be joined to God. In this sense, the human spirit is like an electrical plug designed to connect to an external source of power and thereby receive what is needed to fulfill purpose. I was made to live by His life. Spirit to spirit connection with the Almighty is what makes me truly alive. Disconnection with God would truly be death. Disconnected, my spirit would be about as useful as a disconnected electric chord of some appliance in my home. Of course there are other spiritual realities to which humans can choose to connect. Dangerous indeed.

In this marvelous passage from Romans 8 Paul is talking about the role of the Holy Spirit in bringing us into an experience of Sonship. His Spirit talks to our spirit and tells us that we are His sons. We belong. We are connected. We are safe and secure. We are loved and valued for who we are. We are all longing for this kind of connection. We were made for it. A human spirit that doesn’t experientially know this kind of Father to Son connection is what some refer to as an “orphan” spirit, a spirit that is fatherless. I believe the orphan spirit is rampant in our generation.

God wants to heal the orphan spirit. The Holy Spirit wants to talk to your spirit. Picture your spirit like a branch attached to a vine (see John 15), receiving from the vine everything you need. The Holy Spirit wants to impart love to you, belonging, security, identity, provision, and value – everything a good father gives to his children. The only thing that will heal the orphan spirit is the experience of the Father’s love.

He is speaking. Can you hear Him?

I love those moments when I’m reflecting on a beloved and familiar passage like this and suddenly a whole new way of seeing it emerges. I’ve always viewed this passage as a list of SIX things Jesus was anointed to do. The list looked like this.

Jesus is anointed to:
1. Preach the gospel to the poor
2. Heal the broken hearted
3. Proclaim liberty to the captives
4. Proclaim recovery of sight to the blind
5. Set at liberty those who are oppressed
6. Proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord

Because I’ve seen this passage organized in my head in this manner, I’ve seen “preach the gospel to the poor” as being a distinct item from the following five items. Because of this, I’ve simply read into the word “preach the gospel” my contemporary understanding and use of this phrase and thought of it in terms of evangelism – proclaiming the good news of the salvation provided through the death, resurrection and exaltation of Jesus. I don’t think this actually works here as an interpretation of that passage for the simple reason that he had not yet died, risen or ascended. If “preach the gospel to the poor” had referred to a proclamation of that particular good news, then in no way could Jesus have legitimately claimed, at that point, that this had been fulfilled.

Today it occured to me that the text actually lends itself to a different reading. Jesus is here speaking of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in his life. The Spirit has come upon Jesus for a specific reason – to preach the gospel to the poor. He then proceeds to unpack exactly what this means. The following statements give us specific insight into what the gospel is and who we should understand to be poor. “He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor” is a summary statement. “He has sent me to…” begins an explanation of exactly what this means.

Who are the poor Jesus has been anointed to preach good news to?
1. The broken hearted
2. The captives (those who are conquered)
3. The blind
4. The oppressed (those who are crushed)

What is the good news that Jesus is anointed to preach to the broken hearted, captives, blind and oppressed?
1. Healing
2. Deliverance / Liberation
3. Sight
4. Freedom / Healing

The passage then closes with another summary statement – “to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” – a phrase that hints at the year of Jubilee (Lev 25:10), where all things would be restored, a 50 year practice that pointed toward the coming Messiah.

Are we preaching good news to the poor?

One of the ways in which it is often necessary for us from the West to think differently is in how we think about matter. Since the Enlightenment, western thinking has become more and more materialistic. This doesn’t refer to an emphasis or reliance on money (though that is also true!) but rather a view of reality that denies the spiritual. A materialistic view of reality sees reality solely in terms of natural cause and effect operating in a system that is free from spiritual (supernatural) influence. If something happens that isn’t understood, the fundamental assumption is that there must be a natural explanation.

Of course materialism is false, dangerous, and very un-biblical. As Jesus followers within western culture one of the ways we learn to think differently (thanks www.bobhamp.com) is in recognizing the reality of a spiritual realm and the influence of this realm upon and within our material world. God has truly created both the heavens and the earth.

In this process of learning to think differently, it is possible we do not quite go far enough. We begin as materialists and begin to recognize, believe in, and even interact with a spiritual dimension to reality. This is certainly an improvement. We often stop short, however, of seeing the full extent to which the spiritual dimension of reality saturates all reality. In stopping short in this way, we hold the spiritual and material aspects of creation as being completely distinct from each other. There is a distinction. This is undeniable. But what is the nature of that distinction and what are its limits?

For instance, it seems clear that there are spiritual realities that are not material. Heaven, as the place where God lives and as the domain of angels and believing loved ones who have died is presented in the Bible as a non-material reality. Not all spiritual things are material. But does it necessarily follow then that not all material things are spiritual? That is not a logical necessity and is also not supported scripturally.

All of material Creation was spoken into existence by God.

John 1:1-3
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.(ESV)

We know that God’s word is Spirit. So all of material Creation has its origin in God’s word, that which is non-material/spiritual. We also know that material Creation is sustained moment by moment by that which is spiritual.

Hebrews 1:3
3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,(ESV)

All material creation has its origin in the non-material and is sustained by the non-material. Material existence is fundamentally spiritual in nature. Not all things are material. All things are spiritual (nod to Rob Bell here, but I haven’t seen his presentation by that title). If this is true, then words like “supernatural” are thereby redefined. Instead of seeing the supernatural in terms of spiritual reality invading non-spiritual reality, it is perhaps better understood in terms of material reality, out of sync with the spiritual reality that is both its origin and sustenance, being brought back into alignment. “Miracle” becomes simply the descriptor we use to put words to our observation of this realignment. If my eyes are blind it is nevertheless miraculous, in a technical sense, for my blind eyes have their origin and sustenance in God’s word, which is spiritual. All of creation is miraculous in that sense, for because God opened his mouth and spoke, something material became where previously there was nothing material. If God then speaks and heals my blind eyes, then this “miracle” doesn’t actually belong in a different category than the overall miracle of material existence as a result of God’s life giving creative word. But I still use the word “miracle” to describe the effect of God’s word in bringing my eyes back into alignment with his original design.

In this integrated worldview, where the spiritual nature of nature is affirmed, I gain a better understanding of several things – communion and water baptism for instance. In a dualistic view where I see the material and spiritual as being non-integrated, I must view these very physical things (water, bread, wine, or grape-juice if you like me are a Bible-Belt Dweller) as being simply symbolic. They are physical things which represent, point toward a spiritual reality. But with an integrated view, I am able to affirm the non-symbolic language scripture uses to describe the spiritual significance of baptism and communion. An integrated view helps me understand the importance of sexual purity, for no longer do I view the physical aspect of intimacy as being merely material. Instead the spiritual oneness that results from this physical act fits well within my overall view of reality. With an integrated worldview, I understand how laying my hands on the sick can serve as a conduit a release of spiritual power resulting in healing. With an integrated worldview I have a grid through which to understand how my body can be the Temple of the Holy Spirit. With an integrated worldview I can understand how people can suffer from demonization. With an integrated worldview I understand the biblical emphasis on the resurrection of the body as the anchor of our future hope in contrast with the more popular non-material hope of eternity in heaven after we die. With an integrated worldview, I have a context for understanding Revelation 21, where the New Jerusalem descends to earth and heaven and earth become the same place.

Without thinking differently about matter and spirit much of scripture will seem foreign. Once I begin to embrace an integrated spiritual/material worldview, much that I read in scripture will elegantly snap into place in terms of both my understanding and even my experience. It’s an important adjustment.

John 1:1-3
1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

Col 1:17-18
17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Rev 4:11
11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”

Heb 1:3
3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power ,

In these verses we see that all things have their origin in and are presently sustained by the Word of God. All of Creation came into being through the Word. All of Creation is currently upheld by the Word.

God spoke and from nothing everthing came. This is miraculous don’t you think? All that appeared in that moment owes the continuance of its existences to the continuing reality of the Word. Is this any less miraculous? In fact, it is in the exact same category – existence resulting from the voice of God. Want to see more miracles? Consider that your very existence and the existence of the material world in which you live are both miracles.

We usually think of miracles as being those things God does which are outside the norm of nature. But what if nature itself is miraculous? If that is true (and it is), then there is no categorical difference between my observation that the sun came up this morning and my expectation that today God might speak to me about healing some sick people. No difference at all.

Ps 107:20
20 He sent forth his word and healed them;
he rescued them from the grave.

Matt 8:8
8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word , and my servant will be healed .

Are you listening?

Have you ever wondered why many who ask for healing don’t receive it? This is a common question and I’ve heard it voiced in a variety of ways. Very often this question is more than simply theological or conceptual. Many times a great deal of disappointment and hurt lies underneath.

As I have personally wrestled with this issue, there are a few theological realities which I have found to be helpful. I share these today hoping they might also be helpful to others.

1) There is a difference between my position and my condition. What Christ has provided (my position) must be appropriated by faith in order to impact my experience (my condition). For example: The land of Israel was theirs positionally long before it was theirs conditionally. It was their inheritance long before it was their possession. To lay hold of their possession, they had to enter in and possess it by faith. An entire generation failed to do so, according to Hebrews 4, because of disobedience and unbelief. I believe Jesus has fully provided for all healing through his atoning work. The healing of sickness is part of our Kingdom inheritance inaugurated in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Many of us believe this, acknowledge this, affirm this, but few have learned to enter in and possess it. It belongs to us positionally, but we have yet to appropriate it experientially in a manner that affects our condition. I believe God is today stirring up his people to contend for and lay hold of more of the inheritance that is ours in Christ. My hope and expectation is that as we learn to contend for this we will begin to experience increasing victory in this area.

2) Faith and Unbelief operate both corporately and individually. Jesus himself was limited in what he could do in Nazareth (Matt 13:57-58). This limitation wasn’t due to the unbelief of one individual. There was, in that community, an atmosphere of unbelief which limited his ability to meet the needs of individuals. I believe the secularism and materialism of our culture, combined with the widespread unbelief of the church in our culture concerning the miraculous, has served to create an atmosphere of unbelief which stands as an obstacle. In the West, when we hear about something supernatural, our gut instinct is often that there must be a natural explanation. In other parts of the world, when they witness something natural, their first instinct is that there must be a supernatural explanation. Is it any wonder that it is easier to expereience that which truly is supernatural in those cultures?

3) Sickness is often only a symptom of a deeper root problem. Contemporary medical wisdom tells us that 80% or more of illness is psychosomatic. This means that a great deal of sickness has its root in problems of the soul. It is possible in some cases that we experience limited success in ministering physical healing because we have yet to deal with the underlying, fears, un-forgiveness, bitterness, stress, etc. that lie at the root of the illnesses we face.

4) We have not because we ask not. Very simply, it appears that healing is something we receive by asking. I know when John Wimber (founder of the Vineyard) began to contend for God’s healing power, he prayed for more than 250 people before he saw his first miracle. He prayed for 200+ more before he saw his second. As he began to contend, to ask – consistently, proactively, and faithfully – he began to see more and more people healed. I think sometimes we fail to see breakthrough because particular disappointments and losses discourage us and we simply back away from the issue. The giants are just too big. As Bill Johnson teaches, we easily get our focus on what hasn’t happened and enter into discouragement and unbelief instead of focusing on what God has done and is doing with thankfulness and moving forward in obedience and faith.

5) We are in a war. Satan is actively engaged in warfare against God’s purposes in our lives. He opposes and hinders at every turn. In Daniel 10 we see a specific example of how an unseen spiritual battle delayed Daniel’s answer to prayer.

I’m sure much more could and should be said. This isn’t at all intended to be an exhaustive answer to a complex dilemma. I do not know which of the above factors (if any) have specific relevance to your situation. I’m simply sharing some of the thoughts that have been personally challenging to me as I’ve wrestled through this same issue. I hope these ideas might serve simply as a starting place for you to pursue all the inheritance that God has provided you in Christ.