Becoming Imitators of God

Our Healing

Our scripture this morning is taken from the book of Ephesians. We are memorizing this verse together – I would like to recite it together. Last week we learned

Ephesians 5:1 Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children;

and walk in love just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us,

an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. (NASB)

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father – we long to become imitators of you. But Lord – we recognize our need to be healed – we are a bent and broken people. Mend us O Lord. Use my words today to open all of us to your wonder working power. Amen

The call to be “Imitators of God?”

Two weeks ago we introduced this 4 part series (which thanks to last weeks storm has become a three week series) with the first letter of an acronym – V-HIM. Anyone remember what VHIM stood for? And that stood for a Vision of HIM. My premise was that if we are going to be imitators of God, we need to become like little children who watch and study what their parents do so that they can be like them. We need to have a Vision of our father if we are going to imitate him.

Vision – It is our call / It is do-able

This week we will look at the H – which our need for healing. Next week we will address the importance of being intentional about this – the “I” and we will look the Means for becoming imitators of God. How have other saints done it over the past 2000 years.

Centrality of Healing in God’s Plan

As we look at the role of divine healing in our lives, I need to lay some foundation.

To start with, we have to understand that healing is a part of God’s nature just like love is. The apostle John told us that God is love.[i] But God has said that he is health / healing wholeness. He even included it in his name.

"If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you." [ii]

The Hebrew ties “The Lord” or Jehovah with Raphah - Jehovah raphah – God the healer. By his very nature – God is the Great Physician / the Great Healer

In the New Testament, the stories of Jesus' healing make up over one-third of the Gospels.

Jesus name which most of you know is the Hebrew name Joshua. When he walked the earth, no one called him Jesus – they all called him Joshua. And the name Joshua – means God saves. Remember when the angel spoke to Joseph:

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.[iii]

Jesus’ name – means that God saves. And this too was one of the essential calls in His life.

But did you know that the same word that is used in the Greek New Testament for “save” is used for the word “heal” or “make whole”. The word is used 86 times to mean “save” or “saved” and 18 times to mean “heal” or “make whole”.

Here are some scriptures that all are using the same word.

And they went and woke him up, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!" [iv].

you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. [v]

People brought all their sick to him and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.[vi]
The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. [vii]

Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live."[viii]

Salvation and healing always go together in the scriptures. There are countless times in the Old Testament where these are linked. And no one can read the New Testament without coming away with the idea that Jesus was all about healing people. And that is consistent with God’s purposes here on earth. There is much more to Jesus’ mission than just getting us to heaven. Isaiah describes the crucifixion as not only bringing salvation but “by his stripes we are healed.”[ix]

Think with me a minute. What was Jesus mission here on earth? What would you say? Jesus began is ministry in his home town and read from Isaiah 61:1-2. If you have a Bible, turn with me to Isaiah 61 verses 1 and 2. Listen how Jesus described his ministry:

Is 61:1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,

(Luke translates this as “give sight to the blind”)

to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor[x]

What do we think about when we think of healing. Most of us think of physical healing. Healing from this nagging cough or cold. Or healing from Cancer. But Jesus’ ministry of healing is much broader than that. Physical healing is very important and played a major role in Jesus’ ministry. But very often physical healing is a means that God uses to get at some of the deeper forms of healing. In our lives, Barbara was healed of cancer 30 years ago. But that healing was preceded by Jesus ministry of inner of healing. Some day, I would love to have her share her story with you.

Jesus ministry encompassed four types of healing. We see this both in the Is 61 passage which defines his ministry and in the record of his life as recorded in the gospels.

Types of Healing

Physical Healing – Healing of the Body – giving sight to the blind
Spiritual Healing – Healing of the Spirit / Salvation / Forgiveness of Sins – This is the gospel to the poor / Sometimes this is called “Healing us for what we have done”
Inner Healing – Healing from past hurts/wounds – sometimes called Healing of the Memories – binding up the broken hearted. / Sometimes this is called “Healing us for what has been done to us.”
Healing from demonic oppression – his countless encounters with demons and subsequent deliverance – proclaim freedom for the captives.

God’s healing of the beloved

Paul said that we were to be imitators of God – “as beloved children.” If we are to become imitators of God – we must first recognize that we are beloved children. I cannot emphasize how important divine healing is to achieve this.

The simplest and most profound truth of all of scripture is that we are beloved children of our father in heaven. EVERYTHING begins there.

Karl Barth was one of the most brilliant theologians of the twentieth century. He even made the cover of Time Magazine for his work in Christian theology. A reporter once asked Dr. Barth if he could summarize what he had said in one of his books on theology. Dr. Barth thought for a moment and then said: "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so."

This truth is so basic and we know it so well. But do we? Do we really know that we are God’s beloved child? Or are we like the teen-ager who says to their parents – “yah – yah I know you luv me.” When our youngest daughter was a teen-ager, she once said to me, “You just love me because you have to.” I was deeply struck by that. Could it be true? Sometimes we think God loves us – but because He has to. To know that we are God’s beloved child, means to know that He is fond of us. God does not just love us – He is fond of you. He takes pleasure in you. That is a little harder for us to accept. Can you accept that God the Father is fond of you? We know it up here – but do we know down here?

It really isn’t so strange that so many struggle with this. Because we all have events in our histories that scream at us – “God doesn’t love you.”

They can be times of our own failures and sins. And the whisper is saying – “God would never call you a be-loved child.” “How can God love you when you do such and such?” Some of us are caught up in habitual sins that will not let us be be-loved. We need God’s spiritual healing if we are ever going to become “imitators of God.” Some of you men are captivated by pornography. “How can God call me be-loved when I do such things?” You need the healing power of Jesus.

Some of you are “Sleepless in Westfield” because of worries and fears that will not let you sleep. No amount of Bible study or church meetings will get rid of this. We need Spiritual healing. Have you ever seen a child sleep? Do remember that great Rockwell painting “Freedom from Fear.” (see below). Set during WWII as two parents tuck their children in holding a newspapers with headlines depicting the horrors of war. If we knew we were the beloved of our heavenly Father like those children, we would sleep deeply.

But it is just what we have done that can prevent us from knowing that we are beloved children. What has been done to us can also shout at us. How could God allow this to happen to me if I was God’s beloved child. Broken relationships. Physical and sexual abuse. Loss of a loved one. Loss of a child. Is it possible to know that I am God’s beloved child – when my child has been taken away? Until we know that God was with us during those times, we will never be able to embrace the truth that we are His beloved child. That is the essence of inner healing.

Remember the famous poem “Footprints”[xi] That poem captures inner healing at its best. Our lives a full of times when we only see one set of foot prints in the sand. And we ask Jesus – “Where were you then?” Inner healing begins when we see that He was carrying us during those times. These are the areas where we need inner healing or healing of our memories.

Barbara and I have begun working in the area of inner healing over the last couple years. Inner healing is simply bringing Jesus into every hurtful memory. It is very simple but very powerful. We have seen people who have experienced unimaginable hurt. And what is so amazing, is that when we get a Vision of HIM with us during those time – the healing begins.

Next week we will look at how we can begin this process. Today as we prepare for Communion, we can take the first step. God wants to heal. Jehovah Rapha (my healer) is His name. Jesus/Joshua name means God saves and heals. As you meet Him in the bread and the wine this morning, begin the process by asking Him to begin the process of healing you so that you can fully know that you are God’s beloved.

Let’s pray.