There is an insidious belief in many Christian circles that says God is really interested in healing the soul and both didn’t and doesn’t prioritize bodily healing.  Consider such verses as Isaiah 40:7-8, which says, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” A glance at this verse clearly juxtaposes the idea that God’s word lasts forever, but that all of mankind dies. It isn’t a far jump from there to say that because the physical body is going to wither anyway, God doesn’t really care about or prioritize it. What He really cares about is soul transformation, and values it far above and beyond bodily healing. Furthermore, some people go so far as to say that death doesn’t exist and that because the spirit is undying that when the body dies it isn’t really death, just a transition from one state to another.  I can see where people come from regarding this, but the belief is inherently flawed—these are all nice-sounding but inaccurate ideas that foster an unhealthy fascination with death.

One of the main problems with beliefs such as those above is that they promote an unhealthy attitude and understanding toward physical healing, raising the dead, and abundant life and immortality. As a result, healing has typically not been very successful in the greater Church as a whole, resurrections from the dead are uncommon, and immortality is nearly unheard of.

Consider that Jesus, in John 10:10, made a very radical distinction for the people of his day. Stating clearly that “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full,” Jesus was telling the people of his day, all of whom believed that Satan worked for God and that all death ultimately came from God, that the two were in opposition to one another. He further clarified that He, Jesus, came to bring life that was so abundant that it could not be counted. The word in that passage that is translated as “full life” or “life more abundantly” is the word perissos which basically means exceedingly and surpassing far more than is needed. Jesus wasn’t mincing words or skimping on the details when he explained that He and Satan were in opposition, the one promoting death and the other promoting life—not just a little life, but far more life than could be necessary in any given situation.

Healing is quite simply a manifestation of life. Raising the dead is likewise a manifestation of that same life, and immortality, abundant life, and divine health are all words to describe this life that is overflowing such that death cannot begin to have a hold. This means that not only can one’s body not get sick, but it will not grow old or see disease, illness, or decay in any form. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 says, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” These verses show us that even those who are dead will be raised back to life in bodies at some point. This heaven-when-we-die reality is only a temporary state because God has no intention of keeping us there exclusively anyway.

The only way we can accept the idea that God doesn’t place importance on our physical bodies is if we teach what the Church has taught for the past thousand years or so. And while most sensible people might assume that would be a good thing to do, the fact is that the early Church Fathers didn’t actually hold such beliefs. It was actually a false teaching that not only crept into the church over time, but gradually took hold and overthrew the previous more-accurate beliefs about God, judgment, heaven, and hell. A great (and short) book to read for more on this subject is The Question of Hell by Richard K. Murray, available free on his website thegoodnessofgod.com (http://www.thegoodnessofgod.com/books/)

If we look at what Jesus said quite plainly about our physical bodies, it becomes impossible to believe that God holds no value in our corporeal form. Jesus said in John 11:25-26, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me *will never die*. Do you believe this? (emphasis mine)” In John 6:48-51 he perplexed the people when he said, “I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” Keep in mind that when read in context, Jesus was comparing physical death in this passage, not spiritual death. He states quite clearly here that we can eat and not die. Sickness, infirmity, weakness, disease—all of these things are manifestations of death in our bodies. It is impossible for us to have death actively working within us and for us to simultaneously live forever.

The TRUE gospel is a gospel where Jesus came to destroy the power of death. We quote it all the time in John 3:16, but don’t seem to realize what we are saying. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” That word “perish” there means “to die.” God loves us so much that Jesus came so that those of us who believe in Him would literally never die. That is the true message of the gospel. Once the power of death was defeated, we no longer have a date with death and can live forever because of what Jesus has done.+

It is impossible to not-die and have eternal life if the means by which we gain eternal life is by dying and going to heaven after we die. Jesus wasn’t talking about spiritual death when he spoke to the people because he already knew that our spirits are eternal and cannot die—he spoke of physical death. Yet, while Jesus actively healed people from their injuries and diseases, we welcome death and even teach people that it is a transition into a “greater glory” with God. If you have failed to fully receive the working power of the blood of Jesus in your life then yes, after you die God is gracious and has a holding place for you, but no, you did not actually receive the fullness of the gospel that Jesus purchased because His gospel is one where you don’t die. Remember that in John 14:6 Jesus said that he was the way to the Father, not death.

God is rapidly driving the Body of Christ into a head-on collision with this revelation. As this happens, we have three options: attempt to halt the car even though the brakes have been cut, grab the steering wheel and attempt to veer aside, which will only end up in a crash, or simply watch with eyes wide open as God steers us into the most amazing depths of His goodness, mercy, and grace. Are you up for the ride? Because ready or not, here God comes!