“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Is. 53:5, NIV).
Is there faith in your heart to believe in the message of the cross? You must believe—for in the cross, there is healing and wholeness for you.
The cross is God’s plan and His provision to provide fully for fallen, hurting humanity—the whole person. Westerners like to break us up into little parts—body, soul and spirit—but Jesus’ ministry touches the whole man.
There is nothing fancy or glitzy about Jesus. Isaiah says there was nothing beautiful or majestic about His appearance. He was despised and rejected by men and unrecognized for who He was—the Savior of the world!
As Jesus drew nearer and nearer to the cross, the Bible says that despite all the miraculous signs Jesus had done, most of the people still didn’t believe in Him. Their eyes were blinded, their hearts were hard and they couldn’t turn to the One who could heal them!
Eyes were being opened, crippled arms straightened, children raised from the dead and legions of demons being driven out, and yet most of the people who saw these things still did not see. They still did not believe! That can’t be you.
There’s no benefit, no life, unless we believe and appropriate all of Isaiah 53. Surely, he said, surely He took our infirmities on the cross. Absolutely, surely, when He was hanging there with His hands nailed and His feet pierced, He carried the burden of our sicknesses, our pains and our diseases. Every disease, every infirmity, every traumatic thing done, every birth defect, every heart disease, every blood disease, every form of cancer, every burn—He carried the burden of it all.
You must believe! He carried the weight of those things. Why would we want to carry it one moment longer? How dare we say, “This is my burden to bear,” and belittle what Jesus did on the cross?
Don’t miss Jesus. Don’t miss what He has done for you. Let the cross bring complete wholeness to your broken body, soul and spirit, and be made whole.
He said, “It is finished.” Your work is simply to believe and appropriate the message of the cross in your life.
A prayer of faith: Father, take Your Word and make it real to me. Give me the revelation of what Jesus bore on the cross for my wholeness and my healing. I declare that by Your wounds, I am healed. I declare that by the cross, I am made whole. I ask Your peace to come over me now, and I release my burdens into Your hands. In Jesus’ name, amen.
©2012 SGM Publishing
Kathy Gray is co-pastor of World Revival Church in Kansas City. Gray is an author and dynamic speaker who has served in the ministry for over 30 years.
