Our Responsibilities Are to Believe and Obey
ICS Daily Devotions
Mark 16:17-18 (NKJV) And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
It is God’s will for all believers to minister to the lost by preaching the gospel and ministering to them through the power of the Holy Spirit. As we do this, we must minister from a solid theological conviction grounded in Scripture.
Firstly, we need to know that Christ has redeemed us from our sin and the curse of the law.
Galatians 3:13 (NKJV) Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),
Jesus was bruised for our iniquities, and with His bruise we were healed.
Isaiah 53:5 (NKJV) But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
Bruised means beaten and broken, and stripes mean a black and blue mark—a bruise. In other words, the mark is left as a result of being beaten. The same bruise was for both our sins and sicknesses. When Jesus was beaten, blood was shed, and bruises were inflicted on His body.
1 Peter 2:24 (NKJV) Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness – by whose stripes you were healed.
Stripes, in Greek, mean a blow mark. A blow mark is the result of being beaten. With His stripes we were healed.
Secondly, sickness is not from God.
Psalm 107:20 (NKJV) He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions.
John 1:14 (NKJV) And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jesus is the exact image of the Heavenly Father, and He came to do the Father’s will. He does nothing of His own. He will do and say whatever He sees the Father do and say. He came to reveal the Heavenly Father to us.
John 1:18 (NKJV) No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
There is a progressive revelation of God in the Bible. Jesus came to reveal and also declare to us who God is.
Acts 10:38 (NKJV) How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
Therefore, our job is simply to believe the Word, share the Word with others, lay hands on the sick, tune into the prompting of the Holy Spirit, pray in faith, and let God do the rest!
Reflection: What stops you from sharing the gospel with others or ministering to them through the power of the Holy Spirit? How do these theological convictions motivate you?
Sermon Series：Jesus Ministers Through His Body After the Resurrection
