Pray Till Pentecost – Healing Devotion (3/5)
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Often, I hear people quote the verses after John 3:16 to add context but I have never seen someone add the verses before for greater context. One of the most famous verses in the Bible about salvation is preceded with a direct connection to a story of healing.
The bronze serpent in John3:14 is from Numbers 21 where Israel through their complaining and disobedience brought a judgment of fiery serpents which caused death and suffering. When they cried out to the Lord the solution was for Moses to create a bronze serpent on a pole which when the people looked at, it brought healing and saved them from death.
This story is the framework in which John 3:16 takes place.
Healing and salvation are inseparable. You cannot receive your salvation without receiving your healing. Jürgen Moltmann once said that ‘Salvation is salvation of the whole or it is not salvation at all.’
This has to be our understanding of salvation. Salvation is God redeeming the spirit, rescuing our souls and restoring our bodies. In conjunction, it also needs to be understood that salvation was achieved and accomplished at the victory of the cross and is not something we need to achieve by our prayers or right living. This is why Peter looking back at the cross when quoting Isaiah 53 changes the tense to ‘by His stripes you WERE healed. Healing came through Jesus just like your redemption did 2000 years ago.
What if I have not received my healing?
Good question, one that has too many variables to give an individually conclusive answer, but I do want to take some options off the table.
1. God heals sporadically
God’s will is that everyone is healed, saved and delivered which He provided at the cross for ‘whosoever will’. Numbers 23:19 says God is not a human who lies or a mortal who changes his mind, so once God decided to provide healing for everyone; He doesn’t change His mind.
2. You failed in your faith
There is certainly a growing in faith and we can always journey further in Christ in the outworking of our victory and authority but that does not mean that no healing means failed faith. I actually think the opposite is true. If you are still believing your victory even before you see it, that is the definition of great faith not failed faith. Keep believing, keep standing and keep holding fast to the confession of your faith and don’t let the enemy convince you that you don’t deserve it or that you have failed. You haven’t and neither has God.
The truth is that God did love the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son and whoever believes in Him should not perish. They shall have everlasting life in their spirit, soul and body, delivered at the cross through Jesus and lived out today by us.
