Sickness and disease came from the fall of Man. In other words, they are
the byproducts of satanic dominion over man. Any redemptive act of God
that would redeem us from Satan must also redeem us from sickness,
disease, poverty and all manner of bondage, because they come from
Satan. However, any redemptive act that fails to redeem us from these
things, especially sickness and disease, is a limited redemption at
best. So, what is the limit of redemption that God has provided through
Jesus Christ? According to the Holy Spirit, speaking through the Prophet
Isaiah, "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5)
We can see the reality of this in the earth ministry of Jesus as the Son of Man as recorded by the Apostle Matthew, "When evening
had come, they brought to Him (Jesus) many who were demon-possessed. And He
cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.” (Matthew
8:16-17) Then we see a greater revelation of this through the Apostle
Peter after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus to the right hand of
the Father, "who Himself bore our
sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might
live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed." (1 Peter
2:24) Basically, we see that which was to come, Isaiah; that which had
come, Matthew; and that which is a finished work that continues to be,
Peter.
Here is redemption. God
dealt with the sin problem, (Isaiah 53:6) by substitution, through
Jesus Christ and as we see in the scriptures shown above, He also dealt
with the disease problem. If God laid our sin on Jesus Christ, it would
be wrong for us to live in sin. In the same way, if God laid our diseases on Him, it would be wrong for us to live under the continual
dominion of disease. The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul tells us, "But
if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He
who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal
bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." (Romans 8:11) The Holy
Spirit who dwells in the believer will indeed heal these mortal bodies
of ours. We see once again that healing is a part of the plan of
redemption.
What about our needs? It is wrong for me to need clothing, food, and shelter, and not to have them? Jesus tells us, "For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things." (the necessities of life) (Matthew 6:32) Jesus goes on and says, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." (Matthew 6:33) The Apostle Paul tells us, "And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19) Paul is also referring to the necessities of life. The
word "supply" means, to make full; to cause to abound; to furnish or
supply liberally. Therefore, "God shall supply all your need" means
exactly what it says.
All of these issues deal with bondage. Bondage is defined as, the state of being a slave; the
state of being bound by or subjected to some external power or control.
So think about the measures that God took for humanity. God the
Word became flesh (incarnate) (John 1:1, 12); He (Jesus) suffered on the
cross; spent three days and nights in Hades; satisfied the claims of
justice; subdued and triumphed over Satan, (Colossians 2:15) death and
hell, (Revelation 1:18); was raised in victory from the dead, (Ephesians
1:19-21); ascended into the presence of the Father where He sat down at
the Father's right hand; (Hebrews 1:3), and has made redemption both
eternal and available for all mankind. (Colossians 1:13-14) With this in
mind, it then seems to be almost a crime for us to remain in bondage, a
slave to the devil, in any area of life, especially when we consider
the depths of redemption.
Jesus said, "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed." (John 8:36) The Apostle Paul tells us, "Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." (2 Corinthians 3:17) and "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage." (Galatians 5:1) God
declares that we are free! Unbelief does not change these facts.
Ignorance of our rights and privileges cannot annul the Word or make it
of no effect. God says we are free! Not only did God break Satan's
dominion and power over us, He also translated us, (removed from one
place to another), by the new birth, out of Satan's family and placed us
into the Kingdom of the Son of His love, that is, into His own family.
Therefore, Satan has no more right to reign over us than he has reign
over Jesus.
So, let us make our confession of these wonderful truths, through the lips of faith. Let us declare, "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption..." (Colossians 1:13-14) Hallelujah!!!
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