What just happened to me?
Did God decide to give me a dose of heaven? Why today? Why not when I really needed it six years ago! Why not for my mom who died?
You'll want to read the articles on the Basics Page about what happened at the Cross and why you can benefit from this even if you are not a Christian.. ...[yet! :) ]
The most important thing to notice on the Basics Page is the part about Healing being a picture of the gospel.
What you just saw was a SICKNESS REMOVED. Bam, just like that! Weird. Wow. Why?
First of all, it is obviously an expression of God's love which is toward you. He cares. He knows your pain and the burden of a sickness or physical weakness. He provided a way for you to be delivered from this!
Secondly, it is literally a way for God to demonstrate to you that he is truly being honest when the bible tells you that your SINS WERE REMOVED also. Through Jesus.
Huh?
Jesus would say things to people like, "So that you will KNOW that I have authority to forgive sins, I tell this [sick] man to take up his mat and walk [be healed!]." And he would be healed, and everyone would be astonished and try to comprehend what he was saying!
It is hard to comprehend what it could mean that my "sins were removed." Huh? Who can remove a sin? The only way that could happen would be maybe like if a judge had my crime written down in a computer file somewhere and he deleted the crime like I never did it.
Yes.
But that's just weird, because what judge would do that? You can't take a murderer and pretend he didn't murder someone by deleting the crime off "the books"! (You're thinking, "My ex-wife sure didn't delete my crime of adultery, and no judge would rule a judgment as if I'd never cheated.")
But we know a judge COULD do it, but on this earth, he would NOT.
But God removed your crime by placing the punishment on someone else. It didn't go away, it just went away from you. He PUNISHED someone else INSTEAD OF YOU.
You have probably heard all your life, "Jesus died for your sins." Yeah, well, what does THAT mean!? Even 20-year "Christians" don't know what that means! Most people, including "Christians" are still walking about either worried about their sins or oblivious to the fact that they ever had any! In other words, they are either trying to NOT NEED forgiveness or they are thinking that they never did or do.
But God punishing Jesus means that in your place, as your substitute, Jesus took what belonged to you to show you that even in your worst scenario--when you deserve punishment the most--he loves you and has EVERYTHING you need so that you will come to him to get EVERY need met, now knowing that He will not withhold from you. If He forgave my worst offenses, well, then, nothing would stop him from helping me in my time of need. THIS is the rescue from self-destructive and other destructive things. It is real, it is powerful. It is the difference between struggling with life on your own resources and your own terms, and having the God of the Universe backing you up and supplying your needs at all times. It is a real deal!
If you struggle to believe that your sins were really removed by Christ's death, then you can be thankful that God gave us healing as a picture of it. Healing is an external expression of the internal reality of forgiveness. The removal of sickness (which we can see) demonstrates the removal of sin (which we can't see).
How can cancer just be removed overnight? What kind of extravagant gift is this that my arthritis was just lifted off/out of my hands?
It is the same.
It is so hard for us to believe that our sins are forgiven! The scripture uses all of these metaphors to depict what happened when we received forgiveness of sins.
It says:
- We were "transferred from darkness to light"?
- We were "born again"?
- We were made "a new creation," recreated in all holiness"
- We experienced a "circumcision of the heart in which the body of the flesh was stripped away"?
- A "heart of stone" was removed and we were "given a heart of flesh."
- We were "declared righteous"
Both healing and forgiveness occurred (were provided) at the cross. Whether or not we ever receive them, they were provided before we were born! How humbling is that!?
He healed your diseases; he forgave your sins. (Isaiah 53, Psalm 103). But both are recieved by faith: by believing that they have been offered to you through the death and resurrection of Christ and then by reckoning yourself as having had them credited to your account. RECEIVE IT. Just say, "Yes, Lord, thank you!" "If you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth, you shall be saved*" (Romans 10:9).
Now, you can see a picture of what God did when he removed your sins. Just like that!
Look through this site to answer your questions, and leave any questions as comments!
