Introduction:
Our theme for today’s sermon is Jesus has power over sickness. God created man in His own image and likeness and knows everything there is to know about him. The only person who can deal with what has gone wrong with His creation is the Creator. He is all powerful and capable of dealing with every problem that mars His creation. When God appeared to Moses in the burning bush Moses asked for His name. He revealed His name as “I Am”. The full revelation of His name was made by Jesus when He used “I Am” to refer to Himself. In the Scriptures “I Am” always refers to God and gives us a revelation of Who He is. At the burning bush God revealed several miracles to Moses to prove to Pharaoh that “I Am” had sent him. One of them was His power to heal leprosy. When Moses put his hand under his cloak and brought it out it became leprous and when he repeated the process his hand was healed. Leprosy was the most dreaded disease in those times and this miracle was to confirm that God had power to heal every sickness and disease. When the Israelites left Egypt, there was not a sick person among them confirming God’s word “I am the LORD, your healer.
Step One: Death is the result of sin
a) Sin leads to spiritual death
Death is the result of sin for “the wages of sin is death”. When Adam disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden he died spiritually. Man is spirit, he possesses a soul and lives in a body. A person who is spiritually dead is separated from God, his life source, and thereby can no longer live a godly life. His life is now controlled by the flesh which is a mindset that acts contrary to the Word of God.
b) Spiritual death gives the flesh control
Spiritual death gives the flesh control over the body. Without the life of God, a person’s mind, emotions and will are no longer under God’s control.
c) The flesh leads to ungodly behaviour
Living according to the flesh leads to ungodly behaviour and actions. Without the life of God, the body begins to die and this gradual process of decay leads to physical death. This gradual process of decay is referred to as sickness and disease.
Illustration:
Jesus Christ has power over sickness because He is the resurrection and the life. Under normal conditions when a healthy person touched a leper he became unclean. But in the case of Jesus when He touched a leper, the leper was cleansed. Jesus brings life and healing to a sick person. When Jesus was in Peter’s home, He was told that Peter’s mother in law had high fever and could not get out of bed. She received His life when Jesus touched her and was healed without Jesus saying a word. She was not only healed but she received strength and was immediately able to serve Jesus and those who were with Him.
Application:
Jesus came to serve and give His life a ransom for many. He paid the penalty for sin and died to give us life so that we can serve Him by serving others.
Step Two: Jesus has power over sickness
a) Jesus has power to forgive sin
Christ has power over sickness and disease since He has power to forgive sin. When Christ died on the Cross He paid the penalty for sin and opened the way to divine healing by giving believers eternal life through a new, holy and perfect spirit.
b) Jesus gives power to renew our mind
Christ gives us a new holy and perfect spirit to enable us deal with a mindset that for many years relied on self and acted contrary to the will of God. With our renewed mindset we can work out what Christ has worked in us by His grace by behaving and acting in accordance with the Word of God.
c) The renewed mind brings life to the body
The renewed mindset agrees with what the spirit of God says and brings life to the body.
Illustration:
Spiritual death leads to mental and emotional problems as a person acts contrary to the will and Word of God. The mental and emotional state of a person not only directly affects his health but leads to behaviour that indirectly affects his health. Many activities such as drug and alcohol addiction are related to the mental and emotional state of a person. With a renewed mind God is able to deal with many health problems as we live in accordance with His Words. A renewed mind will lead to a righteous way of life and enable us avoid the effects of an unrighteous way of life.
Application:
Christ has made us righteous with His righteousness so that we can live righteous lives. Let us honour what Christ has done for us by working out what He has already worked in us by His grace.
Step Three: The delegated authority of Christ
a) The use of His Name
Jesus distinguished Himself from all others by His authority and He has delegated His authority to His disciples. He has given the disciples the use of His name. In His name every spiritual weapon is made available and by faith we access His grace to live a victorious life. He is the One who gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
b) The use of His Word
We cannot use the name of Jesus Christ if we do not know Him and we cannot know Him if we do not know His word. Just as Jesus lived and ministered in the power and authority of the Word, so also must we live and minister in the power and authority of His word. His promises are contained in His Words. When our hope is in Him He will renew our strength and we will experience His power. We will soar on wings like eagles. We need to see and accept ourselves as the people the word of God says we are.
c) He has given us His spirit
He has also given us His Spirit. The Word and the Spirit work together. It is the Spirit that gives life to His words.
Illustration:
Many Christians today put their faith in the Word or the Spirit. The Word without the spirit and the spirit without the word cannot fulfil God’s purpose. Today we encounter many people who claim to be spirit filled but do not know the word or who claim to know the word but are not spirit filled. For an effective ministry we need to know the word and be filled with the spirit. It is not enough to know that with His stripes you are healed, you also need the spirit to manifest that healing in your situation. Let us know that we are spirit beings and that we are to walk in the spirit as we apply the Word of God to every area of our lives.
Application:
The Scriptures declare that out of the heart are the issues of life. The heart refers to the spirit and the word and the spirit gives life.
Conclusion:
Satan’s main purpose and desire is to prevent God from being glorified. This is because whenever God is not glorified in a person’s life, in a Church, in a city or in the world as a whole, Satan has in that degree accomplished his objective. The devil came to steal, to kill and to destroy. He enjoys making human beings and human society as miserable as possible. He uses wars, poverty, oppression, sickness, racism, tribalism, greed and similar evils that do not bring glory to God. This is why Jesus came to seek and save the lost and wherever He went He destroyed the works of the devil. Christ has been destroying the works of the devil in many people but there still remains a great number to be saved. He has given us power and authority to extend His activity into the lives of the many people who have not heard the good news.
Personal Response:
Let us exercise the authority and power of Christ through His word in the power of the Holy Spirit to His glory. Let us today testify that Christ has power over sickness and that we are healed by His stripes to the praise and glory of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
