While ministering a couple of weekends ago, I shared the following quote from F.F. Bosworth’s Christ the Healer.
“When God puts a promise in the past tense,
He thus authorizes and expects us to do the same.”
I then shared these scriptures.
“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows:
yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised
for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace
was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:4-5
“That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias
the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities,
and bare our sicknesses.”
Matthew 8:17
“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.”
1 Peter 2:24
Just for “funzies” (is that a real word?) I have a quick challenge using these scriptures that will take you back to your high school freshman English class days. (If this is too difficult, please consult your child or grandchild.) In the scriptures listed above, count the number of times a word is shared in the past tense. HINT – a word used in the past tense signifies that an action or event has already happened. So, back to the challenge. Is it once? Nope. Twice? Double nope. How many did you find?
Here is the purpose for writing this post. From what we read in the Isaiah, Matthew, and 1 Peter passages, God is telling us that our healing is PAST tense. It is not an “in the sweet by and by” or “when we all get to heaven” event. The “hath” and other in-the-past indicators show us that in the eyes of heaven, the shed blood on Calvary’s cross provided the once-and-for-all “it is finished” (John 19:30) for our healing. Our healing is declared done, complete, and finalized.
With great boldness and authority, we are to join in with God’s declaration and expectation. We are to continually (not a once and done) make known (voice aloud) our declaration and expectation (God’s Word) to the lying, deceitful devil and also our bodies. With confidence, we firmly stand on and announce God’s promise that we were and are (not going to be) the healed of the Lord.
Nothing says this truth better than these words from the David Ingles classic song “I Am Healed” – “…First Peter Two Twenty-Four says we were, And if we were, then I am. I am healed, I am whole. From the top of my head to the soles to the tip of my toes.” (Better yet, click on the link and enjoy the whole song – “I Am Healed”.)
