Overview
Rev. Rico Magnelli presents “Forgiveness and Healing,” beginning with well, please turn to Psalm 103. The teaching draws from Psalm 103, Genesis 3, Luke 5, Luke 23:34 and applies these truths to faith, spiritual growth, and daily Christian living.
Transcript
Understanding Forgiveness and Healing
Well, please turn to Psalm 103. I want to talk about forgiveness and healing. Forgiveness is at the very core of all healing, because sin, sickness, and death entered into the world through Adam's disobedience. That's how it came in. So sin, sickness, and therefore death is a result of a separation with God. When man separated from God, that perfect harmonious state of God, man, and nature was interrupted, and then forgiveness became necessary. It wasn't necessary prior to Adam's disobedience. As a result, you might recall that the land was cursed, Genesis 3, 2017.
So this separation impacted nature, man's environment, and affected man's physical and mental well-being. Since we've been reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, we have the best of all possible outcomes in this life, given these conditions. And at the end of our life, we receive a new body and eternal life. But now forgiveness is so necessary, because it's so central to all healing. And in Psalm 103, we see this great truth in verse 3. It says, speaking of God, who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases. God forgives and He heals.
And so much of the challenges that we face come from a long line of man and his failure. And because of that, it's so important to know God's heart of love and mercy and willingness to forgive. And it's the basis of accessing His healing. Forgiveness is like an extension of love. It's like my arm is attached to my body. Forgiveness is attached to love. It's like an extension of it. Look at Luke 5, please. Luke chapter 5. In Luke chapter 5 is a wonderful record where Jesus Christ ministers to a man who was taken of the palsy.
In Luke chapter 5, in verse 15, it says, but so much the more went there a fame abroad of Him, speaking about Jesus Christ after He had healed. And great multitudes came together to hear and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. And look at the order here. The first thing was to do was to hear, then to be healed of their infirmities. To hear what? Hear the word of God. That is so important to the healing process, is really listening to that word with our heart, opening our heart to God.
The Biblical Foundation
And He withdrew Himself into the wilderness and prayed. He certainly had a lot of success, but He needed to get quiet with the Father to continue what God had called Him to do. Verse 17, and it came to pass on a certain day as He was teaching that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by which were come out of every town of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem, and the power of the Lord was present to heal them. The power of the Lord was present.
Jesus Christ was on the scene and He was carrying God's heart to the people. And it came from the teaching of the word. And behold, men brought in a bed, a man which was taken with a palsy, and this could be someone that was partially paralyzed. And they sought means to bring Him in and to lay Him before Him. So they wanted this man to see Jesus. And when they could not find by what way they might bring Him in because of the multitude, it was so crowded, they went upon the housetop.
And they had openings in the housetop that you could uncover to let air in and so forth. And that's how they're going to let this man down. They went upon the housetop and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the mist before Jesus. You got to picture this. He's doing a meeting in a crowded house and somebody uncovers the roof and lowers this man down. This man was not concerned about what other people thought of him. He knew that if he had come to Jesus, he could receive the healing.
And his compatriots, his individuals that carried him believed as well because look at what it says. And when he, Jesus, saw their faith, it wasn't just his, it was their faith. And faith is to believe God. They believed God in this situation. He said unto him, man, thy sins are forgiven thee. What an interesting thing to say to somebody. There must have been something in this man's background that needed to be resolved, an issue that he needed deliverance from. He needed to hear those words that he was forgiven. And the religious leaders did not appreciate this.
Examples and Spiritual Lessons
And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason saying, who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone? Well, Jesus Christ was the agent of God's will. He was carrying out the will of God. God wanted this man forgiven. In fact, God wants everyone forgiven, but not everyone's ready to receive that forgiveness. So what happened? But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, what reason ye in your hearts, whether it is easier to say thy sins be forgiven thee or to say rise up and walk? What a question.
See, all sickness directly stems from Adam's disobedience and the sin nature passed on to all men. The land was affected. The land was cursed. Man's environment. That's right. Our own personal sins may or may not directly contribute directly to our ill health. But in this situation, this individual needed to hear those words from Jesus Christ that he was forgiven. The key is opening our heart to God when it comes to healing. Personally, opening our heart to God. Well, this man certainly did. Verse 24, but that you may know that the son of man has power upon earth to forgive sins.
He said unto the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, arise and take up thy couch and go into thine house. And he immediately, he arose up before them and took up that whereon he lay and departed to his own house, glorifying God. And they were all amazed and they glorified God and were filled with fear or respect saying, we have seen strange things today. Look at first Corinthians chapter 11. This man had some sin consciousness that he needed to be resolved for him. And that was the key to this man's healing. Remember, there was no sin.
There was no sickness. There was no death in that perfect harmony with God, man, and nature in the original paradise. But after that, forgiveness needed to be brought in. Here in first Corinthians, the Corinthian church were having trouble with condemnation and it was affecting their physical health. And Paul very lovingly helps them and teaches them that they should rely on what God did through Jesus Christ.
Faith in Action
And in first Corinthians chapter 11, in verse 27, it says, wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. What he's talking about is communion. What he's talking about is communion, the bread and the wine. And they're representative of the blood and the body of Christ. And when an individual eats and drinks physical food and a beverage, that beverage and that food actually becomes part of them. They assimilated into their body.
And the point clearly here is that we should assimilate into our souls the accomplished work of Christ. Because our identity, our union, if you will, in Christ is memorialized in this communion. And it releases us from self-judgment and condemnation. And that's exactly what was happening to the Corinthians. That shall be guilty means that they're bringing the guilt upon themselves. Keep reading. But let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. That word examine means to prove. And it always has a positive outcome.
In other words, we're not to prove God's word and it results in a negative like I am less than what the Word of God says. This word always means proving with a positive outcome. We are to prove this word. And who are we to eat to prove it to? Ourself. Let a man examine or prove himself. So let him eat of the bread and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworldly eateth and drinketh damnation, which is the word judgment. And he eats and drinks judgment to himself.
Again, he's bringing condemnation because he is not drinking and eating the accomplished work of Christ. It's not a completed reality and therefore he's not assimilating that truth into his very soul. He's still subjecting himself to condemnation and criticism when Jesus Christ at the cross accomplished it all. We have been forgiven. Not discerning the Lord's body. That individual has not figured it out that Jesus Christ's work has already been completed. For this cause, Paul says, many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep. That means they've fallen asleep prematurely. For if we would judge ourselves we should not be judged.
Walking in Love and Confidence
But when we are judged, we are chastened to the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world. That word chastened means to bring up like a child, to train. God is trying to train us and to teach us not to fall into the condemnation that the world gets because the world has to accept Christ. You and I have already accepted Christ. So we're not in the same boat, if you will.
God is always trying to work with us as his children to train us up, to teach us, to educate us, if you will, that we've already been forgiven in Christ Jesus. So we don't have to fall into the condemnation of the world. Spectacular. We must forgive ourselves and others to see healing. It's almost as if we walk in a state of forgiveness on a consistent basis. Look at Ephesians chapter one, please. In Ephesians chapter one, God tells us this in verse three.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath, past tense, blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, before even Lucifer tried to overthrow God, that we should be holy and without blame before him. We are holy. We are sanctified before God in his presence. Then the words in love should really be part of verse five.
It should read, in love having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will. It was God's good pleasure to place us where he placed us in Christ Jesus, to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he had made us accepted in the beloved. We are accepted in Jesus Christ in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. That forgiveness is so important for us to walk in, not only toward ourselves but towards other people.
Applying the Teaching in Daily Life
And it is love that is the very motivation for that forgiveness. Look at Ephesians chapter two. It says, and you have be quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. This is talking about the born-again believer before they're born again. Where in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air that now worketh in the children of disobedience.
Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past and the loss of our flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature the children of wrath even as others. That was where we were headed. But God who is rich in mercy for his great love were with he loved us even when we were dead in sins have quickened us together with Christ by grace he are saved and have raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. God put us there through his love.
He first loved us and forgave us in Christ. Because he loves he forgives and because he loves he heals. Let me ask you a question. If you can receive love, if you say yes I can receive love that means you can be healed. If you can give love you can heal someone else.
Jesus Christ said on the cross after being beaten and tortured for hour upon hour and being humiliated and maligned the most unjust action ever committed on this earth because he was the only sinless man ever to live and he said in Luke 23 34 father forgive them for they know not what they do. That's a great thing to consider and remember father forgive them for they know not what they do and it's in this forgiveness we bring wholeness to ourselves and then we bring wholeness to people because we love God we love ourselves and we love each other.
A Life Shaped by God’s Word
It says in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 32 and be ye kind one to another forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children and walk in love as Christ also hath loved us. Love and forgiveness are key ingredients to healing. Healing of the body, healing of the mind, healing of the whole person and that's something that we want to do.
We want to walk in that kind of love and forgiveness and receive that healing wholeness to our hearts and lives and bodies and then we want to share that with other people and I'll tell you I don't know of anybody who says oh I don't need more love I've got enough thank you very much. We all need it and we all need that forgiveness. So what a great thing for us to continue to develop and share one with another that we never stay in a state of antagonism or bitterness or anger.
Those things do happen at times but we never stay there because forgiveness is the key to healing.
Key Takeaways
- I want to talk about forgiveness and healing.
- Forgiveness is at the very core of all healing, because sin, sickness, and death entered into the world through Adam's disobedience.
- So sin, sickness, and therefore death is a result of a separation with God.
- When man separated from God, that perfect harmonious state of God, man, and nature was interrupted, and then forgiveness became necessary.
- As a result, you might recall that the land was cursed, Genesis 3, 2017.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the main message of “Forgiveness and Healing”?
Rev. Rico Magnelli presents “Forgiveness and Healing,” beginning with well, please turn to Psalm 103. The teaching draws from Psalm 103, Genesis 3, Luke 5, Luke 23:34 and applies these truths to faith, spiritual growth, and daily Christian living.
Which scriptures are central to this teaching?
The teaching draws especially from Psalm 103, Genesis 3, Luke 5, Luke 23:34.
How can believers apply this teaching?
As a result, you might recall that the land was cursed, Genesis 3, 2017.
Scripture References
Psalm 103; Genesis 3; Luke 5; Luke 23:34
This text was prepared from the teaching audio or source document. Please verify scripture references against your own Bible.
