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God is a Healer. He revealed Himself as Jehovah-Rapha, meaning "The Lord who heals" (Ex 15:26). He has never changed. His power is still the same. What is impossible for man or medicine is possible with God! God's power to heal was manifested to the highest degree through Jesus during His earthly ministry. Jesus healed all kinds of diseases, and all who touched Him were made whole. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever" (Heb 13:8). On the Cross He carried away our sins and our sicknesses (Isa 53:4,5; Mt 8:16,17). We are cleansed by His blood and healed by His wounds. The Holy Spirit has bestowed on the Church the gifts of healing (1 Cor 12:9,28). They are in operation. But our bodies are mortal. We are still subject to death (1 Cor 15:26). The total redemption of our bodies is still in the future (Rom 8:23). Until the day comes when there will be no more pain and sorrow, we may be subject to physical ailments common to man (Rev 21:4). When a Christian believer becomes sick, he must resort to prayer. He must seek the help of the elders in the Church to offer the prayer of faith for him. And he must search himself to find if he had sinned. Whatever medical help is available may be accepted. Under normal circumstances he will be healed (Js 5:14-16). But there are times when God does not choose to heal. The Bible tells of several saints who walked uprightly before Him but were still sick. Paul had to carry on with the thorn in his "flesh." God promised him sufficient grace (2 Cor 12:7-10). Timothy had his weak stomach (1 Tim 5:23). Epaphroditus was sick unto death (Phil 2:25-27). Prophet Elisha, who worked so many miracles, died of a disease (2 Ki 13:14). History abounds with examples of godly folks who were not healed. Fanny Crosby (1823-1915), an American poetess, became blind when she was six weeks old and remained so till death, but she gave us over 8000 hymns, one of which is Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! All good gifts come from God. He is not the author of sickness. But He uses it as a rod of chastisement or for some mysterious purpose we cannot explain. He is Sovereign. Ultimately all things, seemingly good or bad, work together for the good of His children (Rom 8:28). Healing or no healing, God is God! His grace is sufficient in our grief!
Jesus can heal ALL, saved and unsaved alike, according to His will. In Genesis 2:17 God told Adam: "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Adam died spiritually immediately, he began to die physically (began to age) and he would one day die eternally. Romans 5:12 "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:" Romans 5:13 " (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law." Romans 5:14 "Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come." From the above verses and biblical principle we can see that death is universal and punitive. All have sinned "in Adam" who was the federal head or representative of the entire human race. Thank God because of Christ's death, burial and resurrection that death is swallowed up in victory. (1 Corinthians 15:51-58). One day, some day all true believers will receive a glorified, immortal body "like unto" Christ's. Psalms 116:15 " Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints."
Because Christ hasn't returned yet to fully redeem and restore both mankind and the earth. When we become Christians, we are crucified with Christ, our sins are forgiven, the Holy Spirit comes to reside in us, and we are given the ability to have a personal and intimate relationship with Christ. But we aren't perfect yet. We still battle our flesh, we still sin, and because of the curse, we still get sick and die. The death rate is still 100% even though Christ has forgiven our sins. The concern I have is how you ask why do "good" Christians still die with disease. All of us are equally born sinners, and none of us are good. When we accept Christ, all of us are equally forgiven, and equally loved in the eyes of the Lord. We are righteous not because of anything we do, but because Christ IS our righteousness. Salvation is a gift, and not something we earn or maintain by good works. Your question has an underlying implication that "good" Christians don't deserve to die of disease. We need to remember that our hope, our joy, and our peace that surpasses comprehension has nothing to do with this world - but it's all based in what is to come in the future. We will still suffer now. We will undergo persecution, we may die for our faith. Look at all the Apostles - all but John were martyred for their faith. Don't fall into the trap of thinking that because you behave morally that you are owed anything. I don't believe Christ is concerned so much with our health as He is with His glory. If by my sickness I can bring Christ more glory than by my health, then knowing that my sickness is temporary, I should consider it joy to suffer for Christ. This doesn't mean I should seek out suffering, but it does mean that we need to keep the proper perspective about our temporary lives here. What is important is Christ and Him glorified. The moment we take the focus off Christ and put it on ourselves, which is what this question does - we need to realize we've taken a misstep somewhere.
God didn't say we would have happy trouble free lives. Each trial we face is an opportunity to over come our weakness through his strength and glorify our Lord and King. If every thing is rosy and great we become complacent and our witness never increases. Our trials work to strengthen reliance on God.
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