Is It the Will of God to Heal?

We live in a day in which God is moving through His church and equipping everyday believers to pray for the sick in Jesus’ name and see them healed. Can we really believe that it is the will of God for them to heal? I firmly believe the answer is yes. 

Sometimes I think that it can seem that the Bible talks about two different Gods. It can seem that the God of the Old Testament was angry and judgmental and the God in the New Testament is full of mercy and grace. The truth is that God does not have a dual nature. Regarding healing, the Old Testament is full of scriptures that show it was always God’s desire to heal. In Genesis 18 we see the Lord healed the bodies of Abraham and Sarah so they could conceive a son even though she was barren and they were well past the years of child bearing. Sarah had been barren all her life when God appears to this great patriarch, and through a supernatural miracle of healing Isaac is born. Isaac and Rebecca also had a son born because of a supernatural intervention. From Abraham and Isaac’s lineage we trace the ancestry of Jesus’ family line. 

When God spoke to the Israelites after he delivered them out of Egypt and He showed His desire and nature to heal when giving the law. Listen to the promise of God in scripture: “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer.” (Exodus 15:26). Randy Clark says regarding this scripture in Exodus that it is “God’s heart to heal” and that “This is evident from His self-revelation to Moses”. The great king and psalmist David described the benefits of God by stating “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases”. The God we read about in the Old Testament is a God who desires to heal. 

To understand the nature and will of God we need to look at Jesus and his life here on earth. I think the most convincing evidence that God is a God of healing is found in the person and ministry of Jesus Christ. His ministry was marked by supernatural healing. In the gospel of John, Jesus makes an incredible statement to one of his disciples when he says “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father”. (John14:9 ESV) The book of Hebrews says that Jesus is “exact representation of His nature”. (Hebrews 1:3 NASB) One of the names attributed to Jesus is Emmanuel, which means God with us. The assignment of Jesus was “not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.” (John 6:38) The Father, Holy Spirit, and Jesus are equal with each other and they will not do something that contradicts the other. So if we examine the ministry of Jesus here on earth we can clearly see how God desires to minister to humankind. Bill Johnson states that “Jesus came to reveal the will of the Father”. If we need an answer to the question “Is it God’s will to heal?”, then we need to look at the life and ministry of Jesus. 

Randy Clark states that “Jesus healed because he always did what his Father commanded him to do”.  At the onset of Jesus’ public ministry he stands up in the synagogue and declares his personal mission statement while reading from the prophet Isaiah. Jesus declares of himself “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.” He then immediately begins his public ministry by casting out demons and healing those who are sick. Jesus said that this was a sign of the Kingdom of God has come to earth. 

We can see Jesus furthering his ministry when he commissions the seventy two in the Gospel of Luke and says “Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you,’” (Luke 10:9 ESV). This ministry commission to heal was not just for those believers in the New Testament but it is also for Christians today. Randy Clark states that “Healing is part of the great commission assigned now to all believers”. In the Great Commission Jesus states that those who believe “will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well” (Mark 16:18 NIV) Church history also testifies to this truth of God healing because for the last two thousand years many men and woman have seen God heal. The Catholic Church even has a sacrament of that involves anointing the sick and praying for healing. 

I think that the desire of God to heal is also revealed when we look at the Greek word SOZO. This word is translated “save” in the New Testament. When looking at the context in which this word is used in scriptures it includes the forgiveness of sins, healing, and deliverance.  In our western culture we have a tendency to think the word “saved” means only the forgiveness of sins. But if we look at the ministry of Jesus and see that He touched the whole person, and brought restoration and healing, it helps us fully understand that salvation is much more comprehensive. Jesus died for us to be restored to our original relationship with God and walk in our original purpose. Part of this original purpose means wholeness of life in our earthly bodies. God’s love is clearly displayed when he brings physical healing. This act of kindness is a great aid when telling people the truth of a loving God and it also brings glory to the Father. 

It is the desire God is to heal and restore. When he does these things he is revealing His very nature to a world that desperately needs it. Healing is a practical expression of the Love of God. I am very thankful that it is the will of God to heal and it is my prayer that we understand and live this truth in its entirety.