Divine Health?

 

I preached a message today on divine health, and I thought it would be a good place to begin as I return here. It is good to be back writing.

There are two common extremes I often hear. One says a believer can never be sick because salvation has brought healing. The other insists that salvation is only for the soul and has nothing to do with the body. But the real question is not what we think. It is what Scripture actually teaches.

God created man and gave him dominion over the earth. At creation, the earth was subject to man. This is why Adam could name the animals, because he exercised authority over creation.

The command to subdue carries the idea of dominion. Man functioned as God’s representative on the earth, and creation responded to him.

At this point, man was not subject to death. Death was not part of the order of existence. For death to occur, man had to step outside God’s command (Genesis 2:17; Genesis 3:22).

Because death was absent, sickness also had no place. Sickness is a byproduct of a world under death.

When man fell, the primary consequence was death. This death wasn’t just spiritual, as has been echoed over the years; it is also physical (Romans 5:12). After the fall, death became part of human experience. Mortality entered, and with it came the gradual breakdown of the human body, making it vulnerable to sickness and decay.

The fall did not only affect man. It also affected the earth. The ground was cursed. Man was sent out of his original domain into a world now under corruption and under the influence of the devil. This is why Scripture talks about a new earth that will emerge at the end of the age, when the earth will also be redeemed (2 Peter 3:13).

This is the tension we live in.

We are redeemed people in a fallen world.
We are saved, yet still living in a corrupted creation.

From this, we understand clearly where sickness comes from.

Sickness is a consequence of a fallen world (Genesis 3:16–19).

Humanity is no longer immortal and is subject to death, disasters, and sickness as part of life in a broken creation.

If Christ has redeemed us, yet we still live in a world where sickness exists, how should believers properly understand and relate to sickness and health?

Let's continue next week. Blessed?

Yours in Christ, 

Olufemi Ibitoye