Monday 15 March 2010
Friday 1 January 2010
Who does miracles and healing, man or God?
My understanding is that it is man, operating in the authority which God gives, who performs the miraculous.
In Genesis 1:28 we read that God gave man dominion over every living thing on the earth. In his parables Jesus pictured man as a manager in charge of the wealthy man's possessions whilst he went away on a journey. The managers were intended to act with executive powers regarding what the boss had left in their charge. (Matt 25:14) The instruction to the twelve and the seventy (Matt 10:1 and Luke 10:1) involved giving them power to heal the sick. The word 'power' is exousia ex-oo-see'-ah. From G1832 (in the sense of ability); privilege, that is, (subjectively) force, capacity, competency, freedom, or (objectively) mastery (concretely magistrate, superhuman, potentate, token of control), delegated influence: - authority, jurisdiction, liberty, power, right, strength.
In other words they did not pray that God would heal the sick and cast out demons, they did it themselves. Note the report that the seventy brought; Luk 10:17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!" They were clearly operating in the authority of Jesus as they were using his name but the demons were subject to the seventy. In Acts we clearly see that the church healed in the name of Jesus, they even referred to the healings as if Jesus were laying on his hands even though it was actually believers:
Act 4:29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus." And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
If the believers were filled with the Holy Spirit then their reference to Jesus 'stretching out his hand to heal' was not metaphorical but actual. This then gives the meaning to a passage in 1Jn 4:17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. As born again believers our identification with Christ is so perfect that we are him in this world. We share his spirit and operate in his authority, when we lay hand on, he lays hands on, when we speak, he speaks.
Then why are the sick not always healed?
Mat 13:58 And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.
Mar 6:5 And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.
Mar 6:6 And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching.
Mat 17:19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?"
Mat 17:20 He said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you."
In the Greek belief and faith are the same word 'pistis'. So the disciples, who clearly did have belief as they had clearly healed the sick and cast out demons also had unbelief operating at the same time. It was unbelief, in others, that prevented Jesus doing some 'mighty works' (Matt 13:58). So we see that it is unbelief on the part of the disciple or on the part of the recipient which prevents healing. God had done his part, 'by his stripes we were healed' (1Pet 2:24). What we have to do is to believe without unbelief and to create belief in others by the word of God. Jesus could not do it every time so I suppose that we won't either. The fault is not with God but with us. We have the authority, Jesus has paid the price, we need to believe and act.
In Genesis 1:28 we read that God gave man dominion over every living thing on the earth. In his parables Jesus pictured man as a manager in charge of the wealthy man's possessions whilst he went away on a journey. The managers were intended to act with executive powers regarding what the boss had left in their charge. (Matt 25:14) The instruction to the twelve and the seventy (Matt 10:1 and Luke 10:1) involved giving them power to heal the sick. The word 'power' is exousia ex-oo-see'-ah. From G1832 (in the sense of ability); privilege, that is, (subjectively) force, capacity, competency, freedom, or (objectively) mastery (concretely magistrate, superhuman, potentate, token of control), delegated influence: - authority, jurisdiction, liberty, power, right, strength.
In other words they did not pray that God would heal the sick and cast out demons, they did it themselves. Note the report that the seventy brought; Luk 10:17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!" They were clearly operating in the authority of Jesus as they were using his name but the demons were subject to the seventy. In Acts we clearly see that the church healed in the name of Jesus, they even referred to the healings as if Jesus were laying on his hands even though it was actually believers:
Act 4:29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus." And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
If the believers were filled with the Holy Spirit then their reference to Jesus 'stretching out his hand to heal' was not metaphorical but actual. This then gives the meaning to a passage in 1Jn 4:17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. As born again believers our identification with Christ is so perfect that we are him in this world. We share his spirit and operate in his authority, when we lay hand on, he lays hands on, when we speak, he speaks.
Then why are the sick not always healed?
Mat 13:58 And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.
Mar 6:5 And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.
Mar 6:6 And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching.
Mat 17:19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?"
Mat 17:20 He said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you."
In the Greek belief and faith are the same word 'pistis'. So the disciples, who clearly did have belief as they had clearly healed the sick and cast out demons also had unbelief operating at the same time. It was unbelief, in others, that prevented Jesus doing some 'mighty works' (Matt 13:58). So we see that it is unbelief on the part of the disciple or on the part of the recipient which prevents healing. God had done his part, 'by his stripes we were healed' (1Pet 2:24). What we have to do is to believe without unbelief and to create belief in others by the word of God. Jesus could not do it every time so I suppose that we won't either. The fault is not with God but with us. We have the authority, Jesus has paid the price, we need to believe and act.
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