"While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" And immediately the leprosy left him. " ~ Luke 5:12-13
Jesus was approached by a man with a severe case of leprosy. It would not have been a pretty thing to look upon. He wasn't sure if Jesus would heal him, but he knew He could. Jesus made His will clear to the man by reaching out and touching him, and of course when He touched him...he was healed.
We desperately need to accept a couple of things here. Because our level of knowledge and belief in them have everything to do with living victorious lives as Christians. They need to be documented in our minds, our hearts...our souls. The first is God's will regarding physical healing. That leper didn't know whether or not Jesus was willing to heal him, but that is not the case for believers today. The Bible sets in place all the testimony and precedent we need to establish God's will concerning healing. It is always His will to heal. Never once does Jesus use sickness as punishment. Never once did He turn anyone away or even require anything of them, before He would heal them. He healed everyone who ever came to Him for healing. Yes in the old testament God put sickness on people who were rebellious. He was angry, and He even killed people. He had to deal harshly with people because they did not have the Holy Spirit and the only way to protect the majority of mankind from rebellion and the sin which was so prevelant was to make examples of some. But all of God's wrath has now been unleashed on Jesus Christ. He exhausted His judgment, punishment, and anger on Jesus as a way of reconciling us back to Himself. Now a just and holy God can look upon you, me, and whosoever will except the gift of salvation found in His son Jesus Christ and say 'their sins have been atoned for by the blood of Jesus'.
The other thing is this... His will to heal is not just for the physical body, but for our spirit man and for our soul or personality (consisting of our thoughts, will, and emotions). From the fall of man till the present day, every person born (apart from Jesus and John the Baptist) has been born captive to sin. When we make a commitment to trust in Jesus for our eternal redemption and make Him the Lord of our life, our spirit is set free from the bondage to sin; enabling us to live Godly lives.
"... just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men." ~ Romans 5:18
This doesn't mean we don't still have the capacity to sin, we do. It just means we are no longer compelled to sin by an uncontrollable force, and if we do we have an advocate, the Lord Jesus Christ, praying for us, and HE IS ALWAYS WILLING AND ABLE to free us from the burden of guilt, condemnation, regret, and shame that can hinder us from living the abundant life of an over-comer He died to provide us with.
"If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything." ~ 1 John 3:20
Dear brothers and sisters, remember this. No matter what sickness you face, and no matter what sin you have committed...Jesus is ALWAYS WILLING AND ABLE to heal you, forgive you, cleanse you, restore your confidence, and set you on a course of victory. Find out more about the superabundance of God's grace available to you through the atonement of Jesus as a New Covenant believer. God is not angry with you, and He has a perfect plan for your life. Learn how to appropriate all that He has for you by surrendering yourself to His love and amazing grace. Before long you will be so full of the love of God, you will be walking in faith, trusting in God, and loving His people with His kind of perfect love.
