7 Purposes of Divine Healing
The wonderful English Bible teacher Smith Wigglesworth used to tell about traveling one day in a railway coach. Two others on the train-a mother and daughter-were very sick, so Wigglesworth said to them, “Look, I’ve something in the bag that will cure every case in the world. It has never been known to fail.”
The mother and daughter were quite interested, so the minister went on to tell them about this “remedy.” When they finally asked for a dose, he opened the bag, took out his Bible, and read them the verse that says, “I am the Lord who healeth thee” (Exodus 15:26).
What a wonderful way to share how the Bible is filled with promises and accounts regarding health and healing for His children.
Healing Throughout the Bible
God’s ever-present desire toward us is reflected in His Exodus 15:26 covenant with the children of Israel.
David acknowledges that covenant when, in Psalm 103:1-3, he says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases.”
Jesus ministered to the sick, doing miracles and healing all who came to Him. Matthew 4:23 records these words: “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.”
God’s will for you to walk in divine health and a right relationship with Him is emphasized throughout His Word.
But there is more to discover about divine healing, so much more.
Reasons
In the early days of our ministry I began to see people healed who had very little faith. I asked one man who came to the platform to testify about his miracle, “What church do you attend?”
“I don’t go to church,” he replied.
“Are you a Christian,” I questioned.
“No, sir,” he said bluntly. “I don’t know anything about that.”
Here was a person who had no knowledge of the Word, had never given his heart to Christ, but was now healed. I said to myself, “Lord, this doesn’t make sense!”
Soon after, I had a conversation with Dr. Lester Sumrall, a great man of faith who has since gone on to glory. I asked, “Can you explain to me why God is healing so many unbelievers in our meetings?”
He responded with this question: “Who did Jesus heal 2,000 years ago?”
I went back to my Bible and reviewed the miracles of Christ. Time after time He healed those with little or no understanding of the things of God. I began to realize that His mercy brings both salvation and the miraculous.
Seven Purposes for Divine Healing
Anytime I go back to my study notes from that time in my life after my conversation with Dr. Sumrall, it is always such a delight to go through what the Lord showed me.
Let me share seven of God’s many purposes or reasons for healing people-then and now.
Purpose #1: Jesus heals because He is full of compassion.
A leper came to Jesus, “beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean” (Mark 1:40).
What was the Lord’s response? “And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean” (verse 41).
It was compassion that led to the miracle. Jesus Christ heals people today for the same reason, so that “the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance” (Romans 2:4).
Purpose #2: Jesus heals because healing belongs to His children.
Once, when Jesus was preaching near the city of Tyre, a Syrophenician fell at His feet, asking Him to cast an unclean spirit out of her daughter.
Jesus said to her, “Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs. And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs” (Mark 7:27-28).
The Lord saw the woman’s faith and the daughter was delivered.
If you are a child of the King, healing should come to you first, even before unbelievers receive their miracle. Yet I watch as those who do not know the Lord reach out in great faith, hungry for the crumbs. And time after time He pours out His healing virtue upon these people. Thank God, healing is often the entry point that helps people receive Jesus Christ as Savior.
Purpose #3: Jesus heals to bring glory to His Father.
On the side of a mountain near the sea of Galilee, “great multitudes came unto Him…and he healed them…(and) the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel” (Matthew 15:30-31).
On another occasion, there was a similar response when Jesus healed a paralytic man. “when the multitude saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God” (Matthew 9:8).
All glory and praise belongs to the Father. Healing is a wonderful, awe-inspiring faith-builder that should lead to glorifying God.
Purpose #4: Jesus heals to fulfill God’s promises.
At Capernaum, “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: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses” (Matthew 8:16-17).
When the Master heals, it is a fulfillment of the prophecy spoken through Isaiah. On the cross, Christ took our sickness and infirmities.
Purpose #5: Jesus heals also to confirm His own Word.
Healing was promised by the Father, then declared by Jesus Christ. He said, “If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him” (John 10:37-38).
Christ knew exactly why He was sent to earth. He came to perform the works of His Father. Miracles confirm the spoken word of Jesus. He heals to fulfill His personal word to you.
Purpose #6: Jesus heals to show you the power in His blood.
The prophecy declared in Isaiah 54:4-5 was fulfilled 20 centuries ago: “he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5).
The blood of Jesus was shed to forgive sin and provide healing.
Purpose #7: Every time the Lord heals, the devil’s defeat at the Cross is exposed once again.
The Word tells us, “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).
At the house of Cornelius, Peter said, “You know…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” (Acts 10:37-38).
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