Celebrate!Sample

Healing—Part 1 One of the most basic truths of Scripture is that God reaches to us, offering His life to transform all aspects of our lives. Salvation is God’s rescue of the entire person, and healing is His complete repair of that person. This text emphasizes God’s healing work. The Hebrew word rapha' means “to cure, repair, mend, restore to health.” The main reference of rapha' is to physical healing, though it may also be used in relation to the healing of a soul (Ps. 41:4) and the healing of a broken heart (Ps. 147:3). Some have attempted to limit God’s healing power to the spirit or soul, but Exodus 15:26 speaks of physical maladies and their divine cure. The first mention of rapha' in the Bible (Gen. 20:17) refers unquestionably to the cure of a physical condition, as in to healing from leprosy and boils (Lev. 13:18; 14:3). Therefore, Scripture affirms and we believe and receive it: “I am the Lord your Physician.”