Our redemption in Christ is twofold. Jesus not only died for our sins on the Cross of Calvary, His blood was also shed so you and I might live free from sickness and disease. If you believe that God laid your iniquities on Jesus for your salvation, then you should also be able to believe that God laid sickness and disease on Him so you could be healed.
Isaiah chapter 53 holds the key to both our spiritual and physical redemption.
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.
In the Hebrew language, the fourth verse reads, “Surely he hath borne our sicknesses, and carried our pains….” In verse 10 of Isaiah 53, the King James Version reads, “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief….” The word grief comes from the Hebrew word for “sick.” In the Hebrew, this verse literally says, “He has made Him sick.”
Christians don’t have a problem believing Isaiah 53:6, “…the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” But many can’t believe the rest of the redemptive plan, which we saw in verse 4: “…he hath borne our sicknesses, and carried our pains….”
The purpose of Jesus bearing our sins was so we might be free from spiritual death and eternal separation from God. The purpose of His bearing sickness and disease was so we might be free from infirmities. If you believe that God laid your iniquities on Jesus for your salvation, then you should also be able to believe that God laid sickness and disease on Him so you could be healed.
Satan is the author of sickness, not God, but he lies to people and makes them think that has God put sickness on them. Or he tries to make them think that God is using sickness to teach them something. I’d just as soon hear a donkey bray at midnight in a tin barn than to hear people talk this way! God does not need the devil to teach you anything!
This type of thinking makes me angry. You see, thinking like this almost cost me my life. When I was on the bed of sickness as a 15 and a 16-year-old Baptist boy, this is what people told me. I didn’t learn anything. Instead, I became bitter and almost turned against God.
Later, after I was healed and went into the ministry, I learned that if I spent time teaching people about the “double cure”—that Jesus not only died for the remission of our sins but also for the healing of our bodies—I could change their wrong thinking. And when people saw that it was God’s will for them to be healed, it was easy for them to receive what was rightfully theirs.
Let’s discuss why people sometimes lose their healing after they’ve received it. I’ve had people say to me that they felt perfectly well for a period of time after I laid hands on them. Then, all the symptoms came back, and they were worse than they before.
This is a simple problem to address. The reason people lose their healing is because they were healed through another’s faith. Sometimes folks receive healing through a special manifestation of the Holy Spirit, such as through a word of knowledge or the gifts of healing, for example. But when they get back home, they’re on their own; they’re operating on their own faith.
When I began to question certain people who lost their healing, I found out that as soon as the symptoms started coming back on them, they said, “Well, I thought I was healed, but I guess I’m not anymore.”
Because they didn’t know how to resist the devil, they took all of their symptoms back. At the first sign of a symptom, they wavered in faith and believed the symptom over the truth of God’s Word. Then they probably said something, such as, “Well, I thought I was healed, but I guess I wasn’t.”
You see, you have to stand your ground against the devil. At the first sign that a symptom is trying to come back on you, tell the devil, “No, you’re not putting that back on me. I’m healed.” Then quote First Peter 2:24, Matthew 8:17, and Isaiah 53:4–5. Remind the devil of what the Word says.
Unfortunately, instead of rising up and meeting the devil with the Word of God and commanding his power to be broken, many people yield to him. Why? Because they don’t have a foundation of God’s Word in their lives.
They’re depending on others to carry them with their faith and prayers, and that will only work temporarily. To receive permanently, you must use your own faith.
When you know the power and authority of the Name of Jesus and that you have a biblical right to that Name, the devil won’t have any power over you. Then when symptoms try to come back on you, you won’t be filled with fear. You’ll just simply laugh at the devil and say, “Satan, Jesus whipped you more than two thousand years ago. Now leave my body!” And he’ll have to leave.
You can’t maintain your healing if it has come as a result of another person’s faith or through the gifts of the Spirit, unless your faith is developed in the Word of God. But beating the devil is as simple as standing your ground and resisting him. He doesn’t have any choice but to flee (James 4:7)!
Build Strong Faith Through the Word
Faith begins where the will of God is known. Rest assured that God wants you well. Healing promises are found throughout the Old and New Testaments. Following are a few scriptures to build your faith where healing is concerned.
- Exodus 15:26 (KJV)> “…I am the Lord that healeth thee.”
- Psalm 91:10 (NIV): “…no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent….”
- Deuteronomy 33:25 (NIV): “…your strength will equal your days.”
- Psalm 73:26 (KJV): “…God is the strength of my heart….”
- Psalm 146:8 (AMP): “The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down….”
- Galatians 3:13 (KJV): “Christ hath redeemed me from the curse of the law….”
- Malachi 4:2 (NIV): “But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings….”
- Romans 8:11 (KJV): “…the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead…shall also quicken your mortal bodies….”
- Luke 10:19 (KJV): “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
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Rev. Hagin served in Christian ministry for nearly 70 years and was known as the "father of the modern faith movement." His teachings and books are filled with vivid stories that show God's power and truth working in his life and the lives of others.
Rev. Hagin was born on Aug. 20, 1917, in McKinney, Texas, a son of the late Lillie Viola Drake Hagin and Jess Hagin.
Rev. Hagin was sickly as a child, suffering from a deformed heart and an incurable blood disease. He was not expected to live and became bedfast at age 15. In April 1933 during a dramatic conversion experience, he reported dying three times in 10 minutes, each time seeing the horrors of hell and then returning to life.
In August of 1934, Rev. Hagin was miraculously healed, raised off a deathbed by the power of God and the revelation of faith in God's Word. Two years later, he preached his first sermon as pastor of a small community church in Roland, Texas.
In 1937, Rev. Hagin was baptized in the Holy Spirit and began ministering in Pentecostal churches. During the next 12 years he pastored five churches in Texas: in the cities of Tom Bean, Farmersville (twice), Talco, Greggton, and Van. In 1949, he began an itinerant ministry as a Bible teacher and evangelist.
During the next 14 years, Jesus appeared to Rev. Hagin eight times in visions that changed the course of his ministry. In 1966, he moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he opened a ministry office. That same year, he taught for the first time on radio—on KSKY in Dallas. In 1967, he began a regular radio broadcast that continues today as Faith Seminar of the Air. Teaching by his son, Rev. Kenneth W. Hagin, is also heard on the program.
In 1968, Rev. Hagin published the first issues of The Word of Faith magazine, which now has a monthly circulation of more than 250,000. The publishing outreach he founded, Faith Library Publications, has circulated more than 65 million copies of books by Rev. Hagin, Rev. Hagin Jr., and several other authors worldwide. Faith Library Publications also has produced more than 9 million audio teaching tapes and CDs.
Other outreaches of Kenneth Hagin Ministries include RHEMA Praise, a weekly television broadcast hosted by Rev. and Mrs. Kenneth W. Hagin; RHEMA Correspondence Bible School; RHEMA Alumni Association; RHEMA Ministerial Association International; RHEMA Supportive Ministries Association; the RHEMA Prayer and Healing Center; and a prison ministry.
In 1974, Rev. Hagin founded RHEMA Bible Training Center USA and in 1976 moved the school and ministry offices to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, where they remain. To date, RHEMA Bible Training Center USA has 23,000 alumni, and RHEMA Bible Training Centers have opened in 13 other nations: Austria, Brazil, Colombia, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Romania, Samoa, Singapore, South Africa, and Thailand. Together, the 14 schools have more than 28,000 graduates worldwide.
RHEMA Bible Church, pastored by Rev. Hagin Jr., began holding services in October of 1985 on the RHEMA campus in Broken Arrow and has since grown to become a thriving congregation with more than 8,000 members.
Rev. Hagin's daughter and son-in-law, Pat Harrison and the late Doyle "Buddy" Harrison, founded Harrison House Publishers in 1975 and Faith Christian Fellowship International Church in 1977. Both organizations are based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Until shortly before his death in September 2003, Rev. Hagin continued to travel and teach throughout the United States and into Canada conducting All Faiths' Crusades and other special meetings.