October 30
“…By His wounds you are healed.” (1Peter 2:24)
We were once broken. Shattered. Twisted. Beaten down.
Now we are healed. Whole.
The very essence of healing, in the Scriptures, is a return to wholeness. Sickness. Disease. Mental illness. Anxiety. These are all conditions that are not part of the original design of humanity.
We were created whole by our Creator. To be whole. Full of life. Full of health.
But sin opened the doorway to everything that opposes health and life – and we live in a world that is deeply impacted by the effects of sin.
This is why, when Jesus came, healing was such a huge part of His earthly ministry… Reaching out to touch the physically, mentally, and spiritually broken and making them whole again. It is a hallmark of His ministry.
Because it is a hallmark of the Heart of God.
Matthew reminds us of this in his inspired summary of Jesus’ ministry with the sick, hurting, and demon-possessed. Our Lord came “to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: ‘He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.’” (Matthew 8:17)
Jesus came to the broken, the cursed, the afflicted… and did what God desires to do… make us whole again.
The best description of “salvation” is not forgiven or pardoned – it is “whole.”
This is tremendous news for those of us who have received Jesus and what He has done. He took our “our griefs and carried our sorrows… upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace (shalom!) and by His wounds we are healed.” (Is. 53:4-5)
Two things about this prophetic verse from Isaiah…
One) Jesus came to take not only our sins but everything that our sinful condition had produced in our lives. That condition is best described as brokenness. Unrest. Malady. His death procured instantaneous relief from ALL that sin had brought into our lives. He carried it all. It all died with Him.
Two) Christ’s work, in our behalf, secured a new condition for us. Peace! The Hebrew word is “shalom” – and shalom means many wonderful things all at once. It is best defined as “wholeness.” It is the wholeness that takes away our malady, our unrest, and brings us into the wonder of peace!
Because of Jesus… we, who were all “shalomless,” now have shalom. Wholeness.
This is what Peter is saying in our verse for the day. He is reminding us of our new condition bought through the sacrifice of Jesus… shalom. Healing. Health. And the peace that comes from knowing that our Lord has made all the provision necessary for us to BE whole in this life!
But as in all of God’s provisions for us, nothing is automatically applied. We have to access His provisions by our faith.
Faith is the eyes to “see” what God has graciously given us… and the hands to reach out and take what Christ has provided through His immense sacrificial love.
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