Healing and Your Covenant
Gen 15:17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.
Gen 15:18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
God made a covenant with Abram. It was a threefold covenant covering poverty, sickness and the second death (eternal separation from God). The contents of the covenant can be most clearly seen in Deuteronomy 28. The covenant contained both blessings for keeping it’s requirements and curses for failing to do so. Listed with the curses are the following:
Deu 28:21 The LORD will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess.
Deu 28:22 The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish.
Deu 28:27 The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured.
Deu 28:28 The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind.
Deu 28:35 The LORD will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.
Deu 28:59 the LORD will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses.
Deu 28:60 He will bring upon you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will cling to you.
Deu 28:61 The LORD will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed.
Unfortunately the King James Bible leaves the impression that God is the source of these illnesses. A more accurate translation of the Hebrew would be that He allows, or does not actively prevent, sickness from afflicting you. Another proof that the Abrahamic covenant contains healing can be seen in the deliverance of the woman at the synagogue with the spirit of infirmity.
Luke 13:16 And ought not this woman, BEING A DAUGHTER OF ABRAHAM, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?
Jesus said she had a right to healing because of her covenant. Jesus himself was included in this covenant as His mother Mary was also a daughter of Abraham. He was the first-born son of Mary and His adoptive father Joseph who was also a child of Abraham. We know from Galatians that Jesus even had a special claim to this covenant.
Gal 3:16 The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ.
How do we fit into this covenant? We have a second covenant with Jesus who has the original Abrahamic covenant with God. The church is "the bride of Christ". Marriage is a covenant. The two become one. They are known as one couple, share the same name and have access to each other's resources. They can act in each other's stead. The Bible says they become one flesh. The Bible also says we become one spirit with the Lord (1 cor 6:17).
Now, you and I have broken the Abrahamic covenant by sinning against God. We deserve the curses of the covenant as the penalty for breaking it. But Jesus never broke it.
Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
All the blessings legally belonged to Him. He deserved none of the curses, yet He was beaten and murdered and willingly descended into Hell.
John 10:17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again.
John 10:18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."
Mat 26:53 Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?
Our covenant with Jesus gave Him the legal right to take the curses we deserved and give us the blessings that were coming to Him.
Gal 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
Gal 3:14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Why does it say "through faith"? Because the only requirement of our covenant with Jesus is that we believe that He is our risen savior.
Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Rom 10:11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
We have a better covenant founded on better promises. Jesus is the only child of Abraham to fully keep the covenant and we have a covenant with Him. The covenant we are part of is a covenant between God the Father and God the Son. Neither partaker of this covenant can ever fail!
The stripes that tore Jesus’ flesh were placed there so that your flesh would never be ravaged by sickness.
1 Pet 2:24 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 ye were healed.
Jesus' body was broken that yours might be healed. Jesus died so that you could live. He took your sin to give you His righteousness. He went to Hell so that you could go to Heaven. Everything He lost, you gained. Thank God for the covenant!