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Chapter 12: The Firstfruits of Redemption
Reason number 12 we are sure that it is God’s will for all of us to be healed is because of
the firstfruits of the Redemption.
Another way of saying it is “the earnest of our inheritance.”
We are now in the heart of redemption, in the heart of Christianity and healing, because healing
is part and parcel of it. Healing is right in the middle of it. All you have to do is look at Jesus’
ministry. If the will of God was really the way some people try to portray it, then Jesus would
rarely, if ever, have ministered healing to people—because it’s just not that important to God,
and because this physical body is not really what He’s interested in; He’s interested in the spirit.
But I seem to notice that Jesus had healing lines that lasted all day. They brought thousands of
people from all the surrounding towns, and He ministered to them from early to late. If you read
the full Gospel accounts, you see that healing was a big part of Jesus’ ministry. He spent a lot of
time talking about it, and He spent a lot of time ministering it. Do you know why? Because
everything He said and everything He did was a direct revelation of God’s will for humanity.
God never changes, and if that was His will then, it’s His will now. He hasn’t changed. The body
you have right now matters to God—now and in the future.
In 1 Corinthians 6:11, he talked about people being all kinds of things that are not good. “And
such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified…” Sometimes people try to say,
“I’m just an old sinner saved by grace.” No, you
were
. Don’t say you
are
a sinner. It’s
unscriptural, and it’s a bad confession.
Some say, “Well, I sinned yesterday.” Just because you did something one time doesn’t mean
you
are
one.
Coming back from a trip one time, I let one of the staff take the wheel on the airplane, and he
flew for just a few minutes. But he is not a pilot. You don’t want to load your family in the plane
with him and go somewhere across the country. Now, he could become a pilot if that’s what the
Lord led him to do, but just because he flew doesn’t mean he’s a pilot.
Just because you sinned doesn’t make you a sinner. It doesn’t mean that “a sinner” is who you
are in your spirit or that it’s your lifestyle. Before you were saved, you were. That’s what your
nature was, but not now.
Verse 11 says, “And such were,” underline the word “were” in your Bible if you haven’t already,
“such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name
of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” You are these things—not a sinner.
Continuing in verse 12, “All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things
are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. Meats,” or food, “for the
belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them.” Everything you see is
only here for a small amount of time; all of it is going to be gone.