4 Types of Healing in the Christian Faith

I was angered and distraught as I read an article detailing how a group of people who claimed to believe in God’s healing power withheld insulin from a young diabetic girl. Regrettably, but predictably, she died as they “prayed and sang” over her. 

This is an extreme example of delusion, of course. However, it reminds me that we (especially as people who believe in God) should be careful how we view healing.  Here are 4 ways that healing can be viewed from a Biblical and practical perspective. 

1. Miraculous 

Indeed, God can perform miracles of healing as exemplified in many parts of the Bible. In their beliefs on miraculous healing today, modern Christians range anywhere from extreme Cessationism (there are no miraculous healings anymore) to extreme Continuationism (everything should be miraculously healed). 

I do not subscribe to either extreme but fall somewhere in the middle. I believe God can and does still heal today but I know He does not always (see Paul’s thorn in the flesh in 2 Corinthians 12: 7-10, Trophimus in 2 Timothy 4:20 and Timothy in 1 Timothy 5:23 for examples).

2. Natural

There is a story told of a man stuck on the roof of his house while a flood envelops the neighbourhood. He prays to God to deliver him. 

Later on, a woman in a boat comes along and offers him safety but he refuses because he is relying on God. After this, a helicopter drops a rope ladder down to him but he declines the rescue because he is relying on God alone.  

When the man finally drowns and goes to heaven, he is angry with God for not delivering him from the flood. God replies that He gave the man multiple forms of rescue and the man refused them all.  

God also designs our bodies to heal themselves with the proper cooperation on our part. We seek to live in a healthy manner, we get a cast if we break a bone and we definitely take insulin if we have diabetes. In my case, I take medications designed to bring my brain back closer to where it should be naturally. Even Paul advised Timothy to take medicine (in this case, a little wine) for his many ailments (1 Timothy 5:23). 

Don’t refuse God’s help in the form of medicine and healthcare.

3. Final

The great hope of the Christian is that they will one day be with Jesus fully and completely, in what we call heaven. The Scriptures tells us that in that place and time, 

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:4

Here is the ultimate cure; what one songwriter called ‘the final healing’. We  look forward to this day with great hope. 

4. Recovery

Before I wrap this up though, I want to share one more iteration of healing that I have come to find. Some call it “recovery” or “ongoing healing”. This form of healing is especially for those of us with chronic illnesses where there is no complete cure in this life.

Recovery is “a journey toward a meaningful life” despite not being symptom free. Research (*see the Sanctuary course) says it involves:

> Hope in the future

> A positive sense of identity

> Personal responsibility

> Education 

> Engaging in community 

For me, I most often find these things through my faith in Jesus. 

So, take heart. Like the Apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 12), a person who is not fully cured from their chronic illness (or "thorn in the flesh") can still live a meaningful and beautiful life that impacts others for good. We can live in victory despite not being free of all symptoms.

Whatever type of healing we find in this life, let us be careful not to judge those who find it in a different way. Jehovah Rapha (the LORD who heals) brings that healing in more than one form.

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*Note: this article was inspired by a course I’m taking on the intersection of mental health and faith called the Sanctuary Course. 

Driven from Eden

Recently, I’ve been reading a wonderful daily devotional book written by Hebrew scholar, Chad Bird. In each short devotional, he expounds on a specific Hebrew word in the Old Testament and shows how it connects to Jesus Christ in the Greek New Testament. The interplay between the Old and New Testaments is fascinating. 

In this brief article, I want to share one of Bird’s insights into the Hebrew word for “drive out” found in Genesis 3:24:

“He (God) drove out the man (Adam), and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.”

Adam and Eve expelled from Paradise
By Gustave Dore, 1865

Bird comments: “The Hebrew word for “drive out” is garash. You don’t smile and politely ask someone to leave when you garash them. You kick ‘em in the pants. You shove them out, push them away…”

When Adam and Even rebelled in Eden and ate their way to “the knowledge of good and evil”, God knew He had to do something. While God may have been upset with the first couple, His real reason for “driving” them out was to prevent them from eating of the Tree of Life and living forever in a cursed state. God had better plans for blessing. 

Here is Bird again:

“How surprising, then, that when Mark wrote about the temptation of Jesus, he chose a Greek word that’s the counterpart to garash. He said, “The Spirit immediately drove (Jesus) out into the wilderness.” (Mark 1:12).

Indeed, the Greek verb that Mark chose, ekballo, is used to translate garash in the Greek version of Genesis 3:24. Why? It’s Mark’s subtle way of telling us that Jesus is Adam #2. He’s come to relive Adam’s expulsion, to be driven east of the Jordan. 

There he will be tempted but resist, succeed where Adam #1 failed, and finally return us to the good graces of the Father...” 

This is a beautiful picture of how Jesus has come to redeem us from Adam’s rebellious consequences. Jesus lived a perfect life, died a violent death and rose again from the grave to reverse the Edenic catastrophe. When we turn to the cross of Christ, another “Tree of Life”, we are restored to God. 

In John 6:37, Jesus says, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” 

The Greek word for “cast out” is ekballo, the same word as garash in Genesis 3:24. Once cast out of Eden for our own protection, we are now brought back to God, through Jesus, never to be cast out again!