On September 1, 2015, when I lifted a heavy weight, I suddenly heard a cracking sound in my right shoulder, as if something had fractured. Immediately, I felt a strong pain.
The response in my brain was quick and typical. Right before my eyes I saw slides of pictures such as a hospital, x-rays, tests, bandages, medicines, examinations, and more x-rays... With no effort at all these images scrolled before my eyes.
Shortly after that I was reading Scriptures and it seemed like the words were written just for me and to me. "But he (Jesus) was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him and by his wounds we are healed."
(Isaiah 53: 5)
"... This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.” (Matt. 8:17)
"He (Jesus) himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, ... by his wounds you have been healed.”
(1 Peter 2:24)
The pain persisted, I saw that the arm was swollen. Then came a moment of reflection and decision. Jesus healed me three times in the past, and now what? My reasoning brain told me what people do in those situations. Old thinking ran through my senses intensely, but I also remembered that the Bible says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; (head reasoning)." (Prov. 3: 5) Also, "... For we live (walk) by faith, not by sight, (physical eyes)” (2 Cor. 5:7)
While reading these verses, I made a decision. No matter what I feel, no matter what I see, the important thing is what is written. I don’t want to look at my swollen arm, or make a decision based on what I feel (pain). Instead, I looked through the eyes of faith at what is written and what Jesus did for me. I behaved like all was well and I am well.
The Bible says that Jesus took upon himself, (on the cross) all my sins. In the same passage it says that Jesus took upon himself all my diseases. When I first believed (over twenty years ago) that Jesus took upon himself all my sins on the cross, I saw or felt nothing extraordinary. No star shone brighter. My body did not experience any kind of shaking that I could feel, or see, but if you were to ask me if I was saved and have eternal life with God I would have told you that I am. I would have told you that not because of what I felt but because I trusted in what was written in the Bible.
Jesus asked in Luke 5:23, "Which is easier: to say, ‘your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘get up and walk?”
Very good question. Which is easier to say? Let’s also add a parallel question, “Which is easier to believe?” Is it easier to believe that Jesus took all my sins upon himself on the cross, and therefore, I have eternal life with Him? Or, is it easier to believe that Jesus took all my diseases upon himself on the cross, and therefore I have healing in my body in Jesus? Which is easier to say? Which is easier to believe?
For many years, (too many, actually) I was reading only half of the sentence - that Jesus took all my sins upon himself on the cross, "He (Jesus) himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, ..." At the same time, I ignored the second part of the line where it says, "... by his wounds you have been healed.”
In fact, it was not that I left it out, but I assumed that second part of the verse refers to spiritual healing, not physical healing. But when my eyes were opened, I realized that the Bible does not speak about spiritual healing, but it does speak about spiritual birth.
Before my new birth, my inner man, my spiritual man was dead. My physical man was alive, my soul (soulish man) was alive but my spiritual man was dead. Since that time "I believed in my heart and confessed with my mouth that Jesus is my Lord," and my spiritual man came to life by the Spirit and grace of God.
In Webster's dictionary it says this about the soul: "the moral and emotional nature of human beings." In the Synonyms dictionary we find that the soul refers to conscience, ego, feelings, intellect, mind, intelligence. These are the elements of our soul.
We find that the soul and the spirit are not the same. "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thessalonians 5:23) No, the soul and spirit are not the same. Animals have a body and soul but they don't have a spirit that could enable them to have a mutual relationship with God.
God does not heal or cure me spiritually. Natural persons born of a father and a mother are spiritually dead! God, in Jesus, raised me from being spiritual dead. He gave me the new birth. Jesus talk about it in John 3:37 where He says, “You must be born again." God does not heal a spiritually dead man; God gives new birth to the dead man. God, in Christ, created a new man in me when I believed and confessed that Jesus Christ is my Lord. (Roman 10:9) Only the spiritual part of me can contact and have a relationship with God, because God is Spirit. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Therefore, when Bible says, "... by His stripes you were healed," it refers to physical healing, not spiritual healing. Jesus bore my sins on his body, and by faith I was born again, receiving His gift i.e. my spirit was born again. And, that same Jesus Christ suffered in his body on the cross for all my illness, so that now by faith I can be healed and healthy. Because He suffered, I no longer have to suffer. Since He bore these things for me, I no longer have to bear sin or disease since I received His gift by faith.
Previously, I was healed three times. It happened in a moment. But now it was different. I realized that my healing is not completed in a moment. Is that abnormal? Is it wrong? No. Jesus while on this earth healed people. In most cases those were instant healings, but there were situations when people experienced healing gradually, not instantly, but as though with delay.
We remember the situation of the ten lepers in Luke 17, "When going into a village, there came out to meet him ten lepers. They stood at a distance and cried aloud: Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. Seeing them, he said to them: ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’ And when they went, they were cleansed."
Jesus, in response to their need for healing, told them to go and show themselves to the priests, and it says that as they went, when they were on the way, they were healed. Their healing occurred in the process of time, as though with delay.
It is often the same way today. Frequently Jesus heals immediately, but sometimes He heals gradually and sometimes it takes a few weeks or even months. We must hold on in faith, with our faith based on what is written. It is not faith in faith, as some say, it has to be a belief, a trust, in what is written in the Scriptures.
What if one of the ten lepers had focused his belief on his own judgment, his own reasoning, and said, “What's the point? I have to go and show the priests that I’m healed even though I'm not healed? After I'm healed, I'll go to the priests.” If he would start to doubt and not believe, he certainly would not be healed. However, all of them believed, and although they were not yet healed, they continued walking to the priests to show that they were healed. Actually they were walking by faith, faith in Jesus' word.
My salvation was accomplished on the cross more than two thousand years ago. I accepted that as a gift from God through faith in what Jesus did for me. I am saved! I am cleansed of all sins! This is the birth of my spirit, not the new birth of the body, not the new birth of my soul, but the new birth of my spirit - new birth of my inner spirit man.
The healing of my body took place there on the cross more than two thousand years ago, now I accept it as a gift of God through faith in what Jesus did for me. "... by his wounds (stripes) you have been healed." It is past tense, because it happened there on the cross. I am healed and this is the gift of God in Jesus. Regardless of what I feel or do not feel. Whatever I see or not see, I believe it because it is written. I believe it because God says so! If God wrote what was not the truth, He would be like a man, and He says that He is not like a man, who says and does not follow what he says. It would be a lie, and God cannot lie. He says, "You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to perform it." (Jeremiah 1:12) I hold on to His word!
On the other hand, if I tell myself that, “I am sick and I feel so terrible. I don’t know what’s happening. It’s too much” When I tell myself that, I convince myself and confirm to the world that the forces of darkness are winning against me, that they control my life and my health. If I surrender to forces of darkness, I delude myself and confirm to the forces of darkness that I am weak, too weak and I have given up. When I do that, I confirm that the forces of darkness are doing just what they expect me to do - to confirm their victory over me and thus, I encourage those forces to continue working in me and destroying me.
No, I will not! I will not let the powers of darkness destroy me. Jesus is the victor. Jesus is the greatest victor ever. He paid for my victory. It is not a fairy tale. It is a fact that is written. It is proven, and on that I will hold myself. I'll loudly repeat, “It is written - greater is He that is in me (Jesus) than the one who is in the world (Satan)." (1 John 4:4)
I discovered, and finally understood that I need to hold on to this truth. It is my conscious choice. I chose not give up. No matter what I feel; no matter what I see, what’s important is what is written. The more attacks on me, the louder will I repeat what is written about me and for me. Rescue comes to those who believe and confess, “If you declare with your mouth, ... and believe in your heart... you will be saved, (rescued.)” (Rom.10: 9) God is GOOD. He is very good. Jesus is the best. There is none better and never will be!
Because of what is written, I can believe it, and tell myself and others that Jesus took upon Himself all my diseases. He offers me health and healing by His grace. It’s free. I accept it as His gift, and when I do, I am healed - healed and healthy.
Sin is the work of Satan and sickness is the work of Satan. (John 10:10) I do not accept anything that comes from the devil. By faith I trust in everything that comes from God, from Jesus. I believe the Scriptures.
God, in Jesus offers me forgiveness for all my sin as a gift as it’s written in Ephesians, “For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God; not as a result of [your] works [nor your attempts to keep the Law], so that no one will [be able to] boast or take credit in any way [for his salvation].” (Eph. 2:8-9, Amplified Bible)
God in Jesus offers me complete healing and health, “By His stripes you were healed.”
I accept both as gifts from God. I believe and completely trust what God has written. When someone asks me about my eternal life, I confess with my mouth what is written and what I believe in my heart. When someone asks me about my health, I confess by mouth what is written and what I believe in my heart.
Someone may say, all people eventually die. Yes, but why not live to a good age and die without diseases, just "falling asleep?" It is not the will of God, as we find in the New Testament, that a person who belongs to Jesus Christ will die consumed with ugly cancer, other diseases, or being crippled.
Oh yes, I almost forgot to conclude about my arm. Yes, my arm is good. I’m able to do everything I was doing. At the time of this writing, nine months have passed and I am doing forty or more push-ups as I did before the accident.
Now I invite you to sing along, how great You are!! Ted Tomal
