WHY I BELIEVE IN DIVINE HEALING!
by Pastor Max Solbrekken, D.D.
It is only natural for God
to heal, because He is the fountainhead of health and life. Divine healing emanates and flows from Him
because He exudes love, peace, health and Eternal Life!
Like the warm rays emitted by the sun,
fall on those exposed to its radiance, so it is with those who draw near to
God! They become automatic recipients of
His grace, mercy, love, peace, forgiveness and health! Our Heavenly Father daily showers His
children with loving kindness and tender mercies (Psalm 103:16).
And since fear brings torment and disunity between God and man and disharmony among men, God's love restores the harmony within the entire human being; spirit, soul and body! As the healing process changes the recipient's attitude toward his Maker, the spin-off effect touches those around him, bringing harmony out of discord.
Jesus is our peace, therefore, we walk in healing and health. When the fear, torment, unrest and uncertainty is gone, the healing process starts functioning in the believer's life! As we believe God's Word and appropriate His promises for ourselves, we recognize His power actively operating, bringing healing to ourselves and others!
St. Paul stated, "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation
in the knowledge of Him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened: that
ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory
of His inheritance in the saints,
"And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this world, but also in that which is to come". (Eph. 1:17-21)
HIS POWER WORKING IN US!
How may we have these miracles? By allowing His power to operate in us: "Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us". (Eph. 3:20)
The key to God's power is to invite the Blessed Holy Spirit
into our lives, to work in us mightily, according to His will! Praise the Lord! And since the joy of the
Lord is our strength, Divine Healing continues to flow, as
we serve Him with gladness!
God is against sickness
because God is good, and sickness is the exact opposite of that which is good. It
is an evil, destructive force which tears down God's perfect work!
Sickness is a blight and a scourge on humanity and a direct result of Adam's transgression and disobedience to Almighty God! Sickness and disease is incipient death which is a slow form of demise or death on the installment plan, because with sin came fear, torment, sickness, disease and death!
"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 broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord." (Luke 4:18-19)
Then, He went out to the poor, sinful, sick and needy and made
them free, by the almighty power of the Holy Spirit! The Bible says, "And
Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people".
(Matt. 9: 35-36)
EVERYTHING THAT GOD MADE WAS GOOD
When God created the heavens and the earth and everything that was created, He put His stamp of approval on His handiwork by declaring it all "good"!
Adam was created in the very image and likeness of God and He is not sick! In Him, there is no blemish, frailty, weakness, disease or death! He is ageless, timeless, unchanging and the very epitome of perfection in every area of His Triune being - Father, Son and Holy Spirit!
In Him is perfect soundness, perfect goodness, perfect purity, perfect love, perfect peace, perfect righteousness and perfect health!
Adam was made by the hand of God, out of the dust that He had previously spoken into existence - out of nothing. Out of nothing! bereshith bara (heb.)– ex nihilo (gr.) God created the worlds out of nothing. He made the atoms - the building blocks of the universe, out of nothing! And He still specializes in doing the impossible! Hallelujah!
He is the world's only
healer! And since He is the healer,
it isn't difficult for Him to heal us all!
Our Creator God made us in the first place, so it is not hard for Him to
heal us and make us well!
The Bible states, "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him: male and female created He them". (Gen. 1:26-27). "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life: and man became a living soul". (Gen. 2:7)
A study of the original Hebrew texts teaches us how important we really are to Almighty God. The word man is 'adahm' which literally means "the blood of God". The word image is 'damoot' and denotes "an exact duplication in kind".
The Hebrew word for dust is 'afar' which means "minute particles" and the word ground is taken from the Hebrew 'adahmah' which has the literal meaning "the totality of all that God is".
"And God said Let us (Elohim-the triune God) make the blood of God (man) an exact duplication in kind (in our image) of ourselves." God took of Himself to make man. He took of His own life (the life is in the blood), that is why we are so precious to Him! This of course, is only a ‘figure-of-speech’ since God is Spirit and has no blood!
He made us triune (spirit, soul and body) just like Himself. He is Father, Son and Holy Spirit! We were created "an exact duplication in kind" of God. He made man out of minute particles (dust) of the totality of all that God is (ground). Science has recently discovered that everything is made out of minute particles, exactly as the original Hebrew stated!
There was nothing here in the begining, so God took of Himself to make everything that now exists! For God is all in all! Without Him, there would be nothing and if He decided to take His hand off this world, we would cease to exist!
ONLY IN HIM IS THERE LIFE FOR TIME AND ETERNITY!
That is why St. Paul stated, "For in Him we live, and move, and have our being". (Acts 17:28). God took of Himself to make the earth, but He took of His own Blood (life) to make man!
That is why God "will
destroy them that destroy (corrupt) the earth". (Rev. 11:18). And why
He is angry with those who worship mere men!
And that is why God will judge those who worship the earth, instead of
worshipping Him and His Son Jesus Christ, who died for the sins of the world in
order to purchase our redemption!
Christ's victory over Satan has purchased our liberty from the Evil
one, for time and eternity!
The Bible emphatically declares: “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)
Christ’s victory and
Satan’s defeat spells our liberty!
MAY GOD DELIVER EVERYONE FROM GAIA-MOTHER EARTH WORSHIP!
Those who do not turn from the occult New Age Movement and their deceptive teachings, will discover - possibly too late - that they have been deceived, and are in fact, worshipping Lucifer (Satan) who is the architect of Goddess and Mother Earth-GAIA worship!
There are those who say that the earth has a soul and we must
worship the earth. This is
sacrilegious and blasphemous!
St. Paul warns of the terrible judgment of God upon those who worship created beings or creatures rather than the Living God and His Son Jesus Christ. (Rom 1:18-26). Moses wrote, "And the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (nephish); and man became a living soul". (Gen. 2:7)
The word nephish means "spirit". God breathed His own eternal Spirit into Adam! That is why St. Paul speaks of the "law of God after the inward man", referring to our conscience. (Rom. 7:22). And the Bible speaks of God placing "eternity in our hearts" (Ecc. 3:11), again alluding to our God given conscience!
WHY DID JESUS HAVE TO DIE?
What was the real reason for sending His Son to die on the cross? St. Paul calls Jesus Christ, "the second Adam" and "the last Adam". "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
"And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. The first man is of the earth earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven." (1 Cor. 15:22,45,47)
The first Adam (blood of God) disobeyed, betrayed His trust and sold out to God's enemy (Satan), plunging the entire human race into sin, death and destruction! That is why God had to send His own Son, to become the second Adam (blood of God), to shed His perfect and precious blood (not contaminated by sin, because He was born of a virgin - without a natural father).
So that He might meet the righteous demands of Divine Justice in Heaven to pay for the accumulated sins of mankind against Almighty God beginning with the high treason of Adam in the Garden of Eden. And to destroy the kingdom of darkness, which was holding in bondage children of men, who were created in the image of God!
The Bible says: “How God anointed Jesus of
Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing GOOD, and
healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him.”
(Acts 10:38)
WHEN JESUS CHRIST DIED ON THE CROSS, HE SHED EVERY DROP OF HIS PRECIOUS AND HOLY BLOOD TO SAVE, FORGIVE, HEAL AND DELIVER US FROM ALL THE POWERS OF THE EVIL ONE!
Let me repeat: "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)
"Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was
against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing
it to His cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a shew
of them openly, triumphing over them in it." (Col. 2:14-15)
"But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Phil. 2:7-11)
St. John wrote, "For
this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of
the devil." (1 John 3:8)
After God had made Adam in His own image, He was very pleased. The Bible states: "And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold it was very good." (Gen. 1:31). Evidently, Adam was a perfect specimen! God made him according to His own will; perfect in all respects. And he was perfectly healthy; spiritually, mentally and physically!
Adam had everything he could ask for. A beautiful young wife, a good job with full
fringe benefits, perfect health and no bills to pay! And perfect fellowship with his Creator, and
a guarantee that if he kept some simple rules, he could stay in this idyllic place
forever!
Into this beautiful picture entered the world’s greatest Liar, Deceiver and Thief – Satan himself! And after his subtle con job had beguiled Eve, the entire human race was enslaved, and hell bound! Eve was the first to disobey God and her sin soon contaminated Adam. He was a quick study, and also transgressed against the Almighty. Apparently, he understood the gravity of the situation, but didn't want to lose his wife! (Gen.2:17)
WHAT A TRAGEDY: SIN ENTERED INTO THE WORLD!
Their act of disobedience, rebellion and high treason soon infected their son Cain who became the world's first murderer! And since that infamous day in the Garden of Eden, the human race has been contaminated with SIN. And the results have been disastrous - bringing guilt, condemnation, fear, doubt, sickness, disease and death upon the entire human race!
But the GOOD NEWS is that God foresaw it all and had prepared
a way of escape for fallen man.
Through Jesus Christ His Son, Almighty God made a way for mankind to be
reconciled and restored to fellowship and communion with Himself!
The Bible says: "Therefore being justified by faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
"For when we were yet
without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one
die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God
commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us.
"Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we
shall be saved from wrath through Him.
For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of
His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
“And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom we have now received the atonement. Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for
that all have sinned:
"For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." (Rom. 5:1, 6-12, 19)
IN DYING THOU SHALT DIE!
"And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and keep it".
God warned Adam, "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest
freely eat. But of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the
day that thou eatest of it thou shalt surely die". (Gen. 2:15-17)
The original Hebrew says, "For in the day that thou eatest of it, in dying thou shalt die". In other words, the death process would immediately begin in their bodies and they would eventually die! From that day until this, death has reigned supreme over the human race. Everyone eventually dies, and the process of death works from the day an infant is born until he finally expires!
I believe that the reason Adam and Eve
began to die was two-fold: Sin had entered into their hearts bringing
spiritual death, and they were driven out of the Garden and
could no longer partake of the fruit from the ‘tree of life’. The ‘Tree of
Life’ represented Jesus!
The reason that they were
driven out was because of God’s grace. If they would have been able to stay in
the Garden of Eden in their sinful state, they would have continued eating of
the fruit from the ‘Tree of Life’ and would have been eternally lost, like Satan!
The Bible says: “So He (God) drove out
the man; and He placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cher’u-bims, and a
flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.”
(Gen.3: 24)
CHRIST CONQUERED ALL FOR US!
The Good News is that Jesus Christ - the Second Adam - overcame sin, death and the grave for us, when He conquered Satan by shedding His pure and perfect BLOOD for our total freedom from the curse of sin and the Law that we had broken!
Through His vicarious death for us on Golgotha, Jesus Christ met the righteous demands of the Divine Justice in the Courts of Heaven, to pay for the sins of all mankind from Adam unto the coming of Christ! His free gift is offered to all who will receive Him as Lord and Saviour!
Some years ago, I was
invited by Dr. Roy LeReiche who was
at that time the president of the Alberta
College of Physicians & Surgeons, to sit on a panel with the President
of Canada’s Chiropractors, the President of the Alberta Psychologists and a
Medical Doctor who was also a Mega Vitamin Scientist!
I represented the Church
and God’s healing power though faith in the death and resurrection of God’s
eternal Son Jesus Christ!
We had a very lively discussion indeed, as several medical doctors made very derogatory remarks about the chiropractors. At one point in the heated exchange and name calling, the president of Canada’s Chiropractors shot back, “Don’t you call me a quack after what your surgeons did to my wife. They almost killed her in an operation”.
The president of Alberta’s Psychologists was also treated to a give and take, not too professional debate. And the medical doctor who was a mega vitamin scientist was more or less ignored or ridiculed.
When it was my turn, I was pleasantly surprised. Not one doctor complained about our ministry or faith in God for divine healing.
A leading medical doctor asked, “Rev. Max Solbrekken, why
didn’t God create a world in which we doctors would not have to shovel bushel
loads of pills into our patients?” It was a great question and a most
opportune time to testify for my Lord!
I answered, “But Doctor, God did create such a
world. When God placed Adam and Eve in
the Garden of Eden, there was no sickness, pain, suffering, death or sorrow for
there was no sin there. There were no
drugstores, hospitals, wheelchairs, iron lungs or graveyards in the Garden of
Eden because there was NO SIN there!
“When Satan tempted Adam and Eve and they fell for his lies,
sin entered into the world and with sin came guilt, fear, sickness, disease,
death and sorrow!”
“And if we in the Church have more compassion and seek God for more of His power to heal the sick, and if you in the medical
profession do your best and seek to find better ways to help the sick and
suffering, together we will help a lot of people. And when Jesus returns to
earth. He will solve all our problems!”
They gave me a good applause. Canada’s Chiropractic
president later approached me, saying that his wife had been healed watching
our TV program on CFCN Calgary. And a young doctor, who later became my
personal physician, shared with me that his father who had been an alcoholic had
attended our crusade and given his life to Christ!
All honour and glory be unto our Lord
Jesus Christ for His goodness to the children of men! Amen.
