God Is Still In The Healing Business

The first lesson talked about certain attitudes that we may have as far as healing is concerned. The second lesson established that healing is a part of the overall salvation package. This lesson will look at what it means to walk in Abraham's blessings.

Galations 3:13-14 says, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree. He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit"

I have read this scripture many times and each time I read it, I wondered what Abraham's blessings looked like. The bible clearly tells me that Abraham's blessings are also for me because I am a believer. So, I started to look at Abraham's life a bit closer to find out what that meant. Let's look at Abraham's life together.

God told Abraham to leave his home land and family and go to a place that God wanted to give him as an inheritance. Abraham obeyed. He left everything he was familiar with to inherit God's promise to him. God made certain promises to Abraham as he went. In Genesis 12;2-3 tells the first promise that God made to Abraham. It reads, "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

The two blessings include first the promise of increase and prosperity ("make you into a great nation"). He could not become a great nation without increase. Second, Abraham received a promise of protection, ("whoever does you harm will be harmed himself.") Then God promised Abraham that all people on earth will be blessed through him. That promise speaks of salvation and of the nations being grafted into His people to become His children, through Jesus Christ.

God tested Abraham and asked him to sacrifice His son, Isaac. Abraham fully intended to follow through with this in obedience to God's request. But God stopped him at the last minute because He didn't really want Isaac to die -- He simply wanted to see if Abraham would obey even though Isaac was his only legitimate son. It turned out that Abraham was willing to obey, and as he was about to slay his son, an angel called out to him to stop him from doing so. We read in Genesis 22:15-19, "The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, 'I swear by Myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed because you have obeyed Me.'"

As we follow Abraham's story, we begin to observe what God's blessing looked like. This is what I see. God blessed him with his direction. I know this because it is obvious that Abraham had no idea where the promised land was and how to get there. However, God showed Him the way. We can expect God to do the same for us. Psalm 48:14 tells us that "God is our God for ever and ever; He will be our guide even to the end."

Then we see God protecting Abraham's wife when Pharaoh showed an interest in Sarah and took her into his palace. He did so because Abraham hid from Pharaoh that Sarah was his wife and told him that she was his sister. Despite this lie, God did not allow Pharaoh to defile her. He inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram's wife, Sarah (Genesis 12:17). Then we see God supporting Abraham when he fought to rescue Lot (Genesis 14).

Then God rescued Sarah again when Abimelech took her into his palace because she was very beautiful. Again, Abraham told the king that she was his sister. We read in Genesis 20 that God came to Abimelech in a dream and warned him because of Sarah. In response, Abimelech gave Abraham and Sarah all sorts of presents: livestock, slaves and even silver to cover the offense. So, Abraham and Sarah benefited financially (Genesis 20:14). Financial blessings are also for us today because they were a part of God's blessings over Abraham and his household.

These are just a few examples of God's provisions for Abraham. There is nothing in the bible that would suggest that he got sick. He did not lack anything but became very wealthy. God increased his wealth and also made him strong as a tribe. His tribe was strong enough that kings allied with him (Genesis 14:17). Abraham's tribe was definitely not a weak tribe.

So it is safe to assume that when God puts his blessing on people, all parts of the person (body, spirit and soul) will be blessed. He includes everything that pertains to our body, soul and spirit. God did not say to Abraham, "ok after you die you will enjoy perfect wealth and health." Health, wealth and well-being come automatically with God's blessings. They are a part of God's kingdom. They are a part of God's blessing for His people.

We see this in Abraham's life and we also see it in Israel's history. Deuteronomy 7:12-15 detail some of the specifics of God's blessing. It reads: "If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the Lord your God will keep His covenant of love with you, as He swore to your forefathers. He will love you and bless you and increase your number. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land --the grain, new wine and oil--the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land He swore to your forefathers to give you. You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor any of your livestock without young. The Lord will keep you free from every disease. He will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all who hate you."

God's promise to Abraham was that He would increase his descendants to where they would count as many as the stars in heaven. It has always been God's plan to include us (all believers) in that count. Through Christ we are grafted into the cultivated olive tree (Romans 11:24). Through Jesus we become a part of the spiritual Israel. We have become Abraham's spiritual children and thereby inherit God's blessings (Abraham's blessing). Jesus has purchased us the right to God's blessings. We are entitled to them as much as God's chosen people are entitled to them. It was God's plan from the beginning to include not only Abraham's natural children but also His spiritual children who belong to Christ.

We read in Galations 3:29, "If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

Throughout the bible we find God move and heal the sick. We can find this in both, the Old and New Testament. I believe that it is God's heart for us to be whole. Look at the Israelites when they wandered in the desert for 40 years. Deuteronomy 8:4 tells us, "Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years." We read in Psalm 105:37, "He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes."

That should tell us something. We are talking about thousands of people here and none was feeble among them even though they endured slavery for many decades. We all know that slaves are not treated nicely. They didn't start out healthy. Some of them probably had broken bones or certain deformities because broken bones could not grow back normally. Others probably had open wounds from being beaten by the Egyptians. I can't imagine them having had a good diet either. So where did they get their health from?

It is obvious that God was in the healing business then and He is still in the healing business now.