JESUS HIMSELF:
THE REVELATION OF GOD'S WILL
By Pastor Max Solbrekken, D.D.
“Then said I, lo, I come, in the volume
of the Book it is written of Me, to do Thy Will, O God.” (Heb.10:
7, 9); “Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of Man,
then shall ye know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself, but as My
Father hath taught Me, I speak these things.
“And
He that sent Me is with Me; the Father hath not left Me alone; for I do always
those things that please Him.” (John 8: 28,
29)
Moses
spoke of the coming Redeemer (Deut.18: 15-22), David wrote of Him (Ps.22: 16) and Isaiah foretold His miraculous birth, sacrificial death and
glorious resurrection (Is.7:14; 6: 6; 50:5; 53:1-12).
St. Paul says: “God, Who at sundry times and in divers (various) manners spoke in
times past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken
unto us by His Son, Whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by Whom also He
made the worlds.” (Heb. 1: 1, 2)
The
Word of God is the Will
of God! The Will of God and
the Word of God are the same. No pronouncement by a Theological College or
Seminary can change the Word or Will of God. Nor, will any new revelation put
forth by a would-be prophet, in any way alter the Word or Will of God. God’s written Word is inspired, infallible,
unalterable, eternal and authoritative!
The Bible declares that Jesus of
Nazareth is the WORD of God: “In the
beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same
was in the beginning with God…And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us,
and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father, full
of grace and truth.” (John 1:1-4).
St. John declares: “That which was in the beginning, which we have heard, which we have
seen with our eyes which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of
the Word of Life.” (1 John 1:1)
CHRIST THE ETERNAL SON OF GOD!
Jesus Christ declared Himself the Eternal
Son of God: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life: no man cometh unto
the Father, but by Me.” (John 14:
6); “If ye had known Me, ye should have known My Father also: and from henceforth ye know Him and have seen Him
…He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father;
and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?
“Believe Me that
I am in the Father, and the Father in Me… And whatsoever ye shall ask in My
name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall
ask anything in My name, I will do it. If ye love Me, keep My commandments.
“And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of Truth; Whom the world cannot
receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him; but ye know; for He
dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
“At
that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you. He that hath My commandments, and keepeth
them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My
Father, and I will love them, and will manifest myself to him. Jesus answered
and said unto him, If a man love Me, he will keep My words: And My Father will
love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him.
“He that loveth Me not keepeth not My
sayings: and the Word which ye hear is not Mine, but Father’s which sent Me. But the Comforter,
which is the Holy Ghost, Whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach
you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have
said unto you.” (John 14: 7-31)
Jesus
Himself is the REVELATION of the
will of God regarding every doctrine in the Bible. He came to earth to do the
will of God. He lived out the will of God before men. His life was perfect and
no man could condemn Him!
He challenged His critics: “Which of you convinceth Me of sin?
And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe Me?” (John 8:46)
“And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth
this man letters, having never learned? Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent
Me. If any man will do His WILL, he
shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether it be of God, or
whether I speak of Myself.” (John 7: 15-17)
Even Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor
who finally consented to His death, declared Him faultless: “Pilate saith unto Him, What is truth: And
when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I
find in Him no fault at all.” (John 18: 38; Luke 23: 4)
JESUS: THE WILL OF GOD IN ACTION!
Regarding repentance and faith,
forgiveness and healing, peace and joy, Jesus of Nazareth was not only an
example, He was the WILL OF GOD in action. Everything He said and did showed forth
the mercy, grace and kindness of our Saviour toward mankind!
Beginning with the Healing Covenant that Almighty God made with His Chosen people at Marah
following their miraculous crossing of the Red Sea, we see His declared
Will to save and heal His people.
“And he (Moses) cried unto the
Lord; and the Lord showed him a tree (type
of the cross) which when he had
cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there He made for them a
statute (law) and an ordinance (an
order, decree) and there He
proved them,
“And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken
to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in His sight,
and wilt give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put
none of these diseases upon thee which I have brought upon the Egyptians: For I
am the Lord that healeth thee.” (Ex. 15: 25, 26)
SEVEN HUNDRED years before the birth of
Jesus Christ of Nazareth in Bethlehem, Isaiah prophesied His birth, death and
resurrection and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit: “Surely He hath borne our sicknesses (heb. makob), and carried or
pains (heb. nasa): yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten
of God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised
for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him and with His
stripes we are healed.” (Is.53: 4,5)
JESUS Himself is the fulfillment of
Isaiah’s Atonement Chapter and the Revelation of God’s Will in Divine Healing: “When the even was come, they brought unto
Him many that were possessed with devils: and He cast out the spirits with His
Word and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken
by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our
sicknesses.” (Matt.8: 16, 17)
GOD’S WILL IN
FORGIVENESS & HEALING!
Jesus revealed the will of God regarding
FORGIVENESS. To the woman caught in the act of adultery, He said: “Neither do I condemn. Go and sin no more.”
(John 8:11). To the thief on the cross He said: “Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23: 43. The story
about the Prodigal Son’s return to his Father is a classic example of God’s
dealing with Mankind:
“And
he arose and came to his father, but when he was yet a great way off, his
father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck and kissed
him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in
thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. And the Father said to
his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on
his hand, and shoes on his feet.”(Luke 15: 20-22)
He revealed the Will of God regarding HEALING. He healed everyone who touched
Him or asked for prayer. He commanded
His Apostles and Disciples to heal the
sick, cast out devils and raise the dead! That is why He gave the Great
Commission to all believers to preach the Gospel and heal the sick!
(Mark 16: 15-20)
“And He said unto them, Go ye into all the
world, and preach the gospel to
every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that
believeth not shall be damned. And these SIGNS shall follow them that believe,
“In My name shall
they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up
serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall
lay their hands on the sick and they shall recover.
“And THEY went forth,
and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the Word
with SIGNS following.” (Mark 16: 15-20)
And that is why St. James wrote: “Is any sick among you? Let him call for
the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in
the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord
shall RAISE him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” (James
5: 14, 15)
The REASON this gift was given to the
Church and why Jesus HEALED the multitudes and commanded His disciples to do
the same, was to do His Father’s WILL, fulfill Holy Scripture and to destroy
the works of the Enemy! It was to lay out the ground rules with definite instructions
to His apostles, disciples and all believers on the purpose, program and work
of His Church!
It was to demonstrate the Holy Spirit’s
power over Satan through the shed blood of Jesus Christ and His
glorious resurrection from the dead! And it was to liberate lost, fearful, sick and
tormented human beings from the cruel and torturous onslaught of the devil,
in continuance until Christ’s Return! And FINALLY,
it was to reveal to everyone who Jesus is, and to glorify His Father in Heaven!
Amen.
St. John was
very excited and stirred about the great healing Ministry of Jesus of Nazareth.
He stated that our Lord did so many miracles that if they had been all
recorded, all the libraries of the world could not contain all the books!
“And
many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are
not written in this book. But these are written that ye might believe that
Jesus is the Christ the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life
through his name.
“And there are
many other things which Jesus did the which, if they should be written every
one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that
should be written.” (John 20: 30, 31; 20:25)
Jesus stated: “I am not come to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5: 32); I am come that they might HAVE LIFE and have it more abundantly.”
(John 10:10); “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish
but have everlasting life.” (John 3: 16)
The Bible states: “And when they had found
Him, they said unto Him, All men seek for Thee. And He said unto them, Let us
go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, for therefore came I
forth. And He preached in their synagogues
throughout all Galilee, and CAST OUT
DEVILS.” (Mark 1:27-29)
THE SPIRIT OF
THE LORD ANOINTS!
He came to Nazareth where He had been
brought up and He stood up and he read from Isaiah chapter 61: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because
He hath ANOINTED Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He
hath sent Me to HEAL the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to
the CAPTIVES, and recovering of SIGHT to the blind; to set at LIBERTY them that are bruised.”
(Luke 4:18)
After His commentary on that Scripture,
they sought to kill Jesus in His home town: “And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were
filled with wrath He escaped out of their hands.”
Some theologians believe that Almighty God
made Jesus invisible when they brought Him to the brow of a hill planning to
cast Him down headlong, but He walked away unscathed. The Jews were not allowed
to kill Jesus even though they hated Him, because the Scripture stated that He
must die outside the Gates of Jerusalem by crucifixion at the hands of the
Romans!
I repeat, the major reason that Jesus of
Nazareth healed the sick and suffering was to do HIS FATHER’S WILL. Going back to the time of CREATION, the Word of
God states: “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created
He him; male and female created He them. And God blessed them, and said unto
them, Be fruitful and multiple, and replenish the earth…And God saw everything
that He had made, and, behold, it was VERY GOOD…” (Gen.1: 27, 28, 31)
There
was no sickness, pain or death in the Garden of Eden, until Satan came with his
insidious lies through the serpent and Eve was deceived. Adam and Eve SINNED and their rebellion brought sickness, pain, death and sorrow onto the
human race, which had previously been completely and totally well, free from
sin, worry, fear and death!
God the Father through His Son Jesus of
Nazareth, was restoring man back to his original and giving the human race a
taste of what will be the norm when Jesus reigns supreme on the earth!
In His wrath against SIN and the FRUIT of
sin, He was showing Satan that He would no longer be the master of planet earth
and his prisoners. Jesus came down from Heaven to show us what Life
in Christ could and should be. He was restoring man to what he was
intended to be before the Fall of Adam!
SICKNESS: THE
DEVIL’S OPPRESSION!
ORAL ROBERTS, a
great man of God who was used greatly in bringing deliverance to the sick and
suffering stated: “Jesus gave His disciples power. This is an impartation
of power that is against something – against the sin in your life, against the
sickness in your body, against any evil spirit or fear that torment your mind
or spirit. This power is given to a man who has Christ. It is not a power we
possess by ourselves or within ourselves. It is not resident within the
individual. This power is in every person who has Christ, but it is in an
accelerated form in a Minister of the Gospel who is fully committed to Him.
“Sickness is torment: it
is the devil's oppression. It is a frontal attack of Satan against the Kingdom
of Heaven. Really, Satan isn't striking at you or me. He is striking against
God. But Christ, in His power, comes to deliver us. Healing is God's counter
attack against Satan.” - Commentary on Matthew
JESUS CHRIST healed the sick and
suffering because of God’s LOVE for mankind. His mercy, grace and compassion
drove Him to go beyond human endurance to heal multitudes everywhere He went
and to demonstrate God’s intense love for His creation!
It was also, I repeat, to destroy
the works of the Devil who had brought such devastation and chaos
through his diabolical attack on mankind, who were made in the image of God!
Christ’s intense desire to heal the SICK and
to cast out devils was a foretaste for Satan of his total DEMISE when Jesus
would CRUSH his head on Golgotha’s Cross! The Bible says: “And I will put
enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her SEED; It (the
seed of the woman) shall bruise (crush) thy head, and thou shalt
bruise His heel.” (Gen.3: 15)
God foreordained the enmity between snakes
and humans and between Satan’s followers and Christ the SEED of the woman, and
in due time Christ would crush Satan’s head by His vicarious death on the
cross. The bruising of His heel was His death, which would only be a bruise
because He would rise from the dead, victorious over death, Hades and the
grave!
THE SERPENT’S
HEAD IS CRUSHED!
As a young
minister, I used to preach that Satan and his demons were joyful around the
cross thinking they had achieved a victory, but after studying the power of
Jesus’ blood for more than fifty years, I preach a different message now!
There were not many demons around the CROSS
when the spikes were driven into Christ’s hands and feet (Greek word for hand includes wrist). Most of them left when Jesus
was brutally scourged by Roman soldiers wielding razor-sharp cat-of-nine-tails
whips in Pilate’s Judgment Hall. I believe that when those demons saw the
life-giving and death-dealing BLOOD of Jesus Christ being shed, they screamed
in terror and fled.
And finally, if Satan was still near the
cross, when he heard Christ shout ‘It is finished’, he trembled in
fear and he shook with delirium tremens as he slouched his way to a cave
somewhere to lick his chops!
Satan knew the Holy Scriptures: “Without the shedding of blood there is no
remission.” (Heb.9:22); “It is the
blood that maketh atonement for the soul.” (Lev.17:11): “When I see the Blood I will pass over
you,” (Ex.12: 13). He had no doubt heard John the Baptist declare: “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away
the sins of the world.” (John 1: 29).
The only thing that SATAN respects and fears
is the Life-giving, death-dealing Blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, that
was slain in our stead to purchase our eternal Redemption.
Come back with me to the time of Moses
and the first Passover night. Moses had given Pharaoh the Word of God on nine
specific occasions to: “Let My people
go!”
The Emperor of Egypt, who is a type of
Satan and had used the ‘children of Israel’ as slaves, was stubborn and would
not obey. By God’s command, nine different plagues had devastated Egypt, yet
Pharaoh refused to obey the Lord’s command but when the blood of the innocent
lambs was shed he obeyed! The Holy Scripture says:
“For I will pass
through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the
land of Egypt…And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where
you are: and when I see the BLOOD, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you
to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
“And Pharaoh rose
up in the night, he and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was
a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.
And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up and get you
forth, from among my people, both you and the children of Israel; and go, serve
the Lord, as you said.” (Ex.12: 12-13, 30-31
IT IS FINSHED; IT IS FULFILLED; IT IS PAID!
The Blood of Jesus Christ has devastated
Satan and taken from him the power to hold in bondage any child of God. St.
Paul understood that great fact. He declared:
“Forasmuch then as the children are
partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same;
that through DEATH, He might DESTROY him that had the power of death,
that is the DEVIL: And DELIVER them who through fear of death
were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (Heb.2: 14, 15)
The Prophet Isaiah spoke of Him: “But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our PEACE was upon Him; and with His stripes we are HEALED.” (Is.53: 5)
Concerning Isaiah’ prophecy St. Peter
said: “Who His Own Self BARE our Sins in His Own Body ON THE TREE that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by
whose stripes we were HEALED.” (1
Peter 2: 24).
The Bible is its own best interpreter and
St. Matthew confirms Isaiah’s prophecy concerning Christ: “When the even was
come, they brought unto Him many that were possessed with devils: and He cast
out the spirits with His Word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken
by Isaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities and BARE
our sicknesses.” (Matt.8: 16, 17)
JESUS GOD’S
PASCAL LAMB!
Our Lord
suffered, bled and died as God’s Pascal Lamb. He bore our sins and carried our
pains in His own Body. He was in perfect health yet He was wounded and bruised
to pay for our sicknesses and He shed His precious blood to meet the demands
of Divine Justice to pay for our sins. St. Paul makes this so clear
in his letter to the Church at Corinth:
“The
cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the Communion of the Blood of Christ?
The bread which we break, is it not the Communion of the body of Christ?”
(1 Cor.10: 16)
At 9:00 AM on the Great Day of Atonement
the 14th of Abib 33AD, Israel’s High Priest tied the paschal lamb,
which had been examined for three days by Jewish officials, to the altar in the
Temple at Jerusalem. At that moment God’s Paschal Lamb, Jesus of Nazareth, who
had been examined for three years by God and man, was nailed to the Cross on
Golgotha’s Hill.
Israel’s paschal lamb and God’s Paschal
Lamb both waited for death. At noon, darkness covered the entire area and an
earthquake shook the ground. At 3:00 PM,
Israeli’s High Priest climbed the steps to the holy altar and laid his hands on
the head of the paschal lamb transferring to it the sins of the nation of
Israel and slaughtered it.
At that moment Almighty God, Earth’s Great
High Priest, rent the vail in the temple and left the Holy of Holies. Standing
on Golgotha, He placed His hands on the Head of His Paschal Lamb, transferring
to Him the sins of the entire world, past, present and future.
Jesus Christ shouted His Victory Cry, “IT
IS FINISHED” and prayed, “Father into Thine Hands I Commend My
Spirit!”
The Great transaction had been
made. While God the Father was judging His Son for the sins of the world, the
Holy Spirit was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. St. Paul makes that
abundantly clear:
“To
wit (that is) that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not
imputing their trespasses unto them: and hath committed unto us the word of
reconciliation.” (2 Cor. 5:19)
While Jesus Christ was carrying the
enormous load of SIN and God the Father was judging His SON on our behalf, the
Holy Spirit was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself! What A Saviour
and what a glorious Salvation!
Just before Jesus died on the cross, He
cried out, “It is finished.” (John
19:30). Jesus spoke in Greek, using the word ‘tetelestai’! The word tetelestai
is taken from the Greek verb teleo which
has three essential meanings: to finish something, to bring something to
an end; to fulfill something; and to pay that which is owed.
He had finished His work and
completed His mission. He had brought to an end Satan’s domination of the human
race, who would believe on Christ. He had fulfilled every O.T. prophetic
Scripture about the coming Messiah. And
He had paid for our Eternal Salvation, which includes forgiving all our sins
and healing all our infirmities!
Divine Healing
was God’s Will during Old Testament times. It was God’s will during Christ’s
earthly Ministry. It was God’s will in the Early Church. It is God’s will today
and until the end of time!
If it isn’t, then Jesus must have
disappointed His Father in Heaven, yet He said that He did all things to please
Him and on two occasions our Heavenly spoke publicly: “This is My Beloved Son, in Whom
I am well pleased.”
Some Evangelicals are worse than
the Pharisees, whom they criticize! The Bible states: “Jesus asked: Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? And He took him and
he healed him and let him go.” (Luke 14:3, 4).
The Pharisees believed in healing, but not
on the Sabbath: “And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation,
because that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath Day, and said unto the people. There
are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed,
and not on the Sabbath day.” (Luke 13: 14)
Some Evangelicals and Jehovah’s Witnesses
say: “No,
we don’t believe in healing. We won’t come to Jesus and don’t want to be
anointed with oil in His name!
ONE
AND ONLY ONE TRUE GOD!
The Athanasius
Creed states: “The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten. The Son is
of the Father alone, not made nor created but begotten – the Holy Spirit is of
the Father and of the Son, neither made nor created, nor begotten, but
proceeding!
There is only
One True God, eternally existing in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit! In the Divine Economy of God there is
no room for counterfeits or manufactured, man-made-gods! The very first of the
Ten Commandments, written by the Finger of God in two tables of stone, says: “Thou
shalt have no other gods beside Me.” (Exodus 20: 3)
St. Paul stated: “For Christ sent me
not to baptize, but to preach the gospel; not with wisdom of words, lest the
cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness; BUT UNTO US which are saved it is the power
of God.” (1 Cor. 1:17, 18)
“…We know that
an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but One. For
though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or earth, (as there be gods many and lords many) BUT
TO US (Christians) there is but ONE GOD, the Father, of Whom
are all things, and we in Him; and One Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom are all
things, and we by Him.” (1 Cor.8: 4-6)
The Word of God states that if the pagan
want to believe in their man-made, pretend gods, that is their business. We
cannot partake of their folly. We, who are believers in Christ have only one
God - the True God - Who is our Lord, Creator, Father and God!
We do not, cannot and will not embrace
the demonic, false teachings of pagan religions! We embrace only the Word of
God, the Holy Bible and Jesus Christ God’s Son, Who was incarnated (God
in human flesh), suffered, bled and died for our sins and rose again,
victorious over death, hell and the grave!
“Now unto Him
that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you from falling, and to
present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. To
the Only Wise God our Saviour, be glory and Majesty, Dominion and Power, both
now and ever. Amen.” (Jude 24, 25)
Jesus said: “Be ye healed” and St.
Peter stated: “Jesus Christ maketh thee whole.” My dear friend, I say to you: “Receive ye the gift of the Holy
Ghost and be well. In Jesus’ name!” Amen.
