It was never God’s intention for mankind to be sick. Sickness was not part of God’s creation and it will not be part of God’s new creation. Sickness is a result of man kinds sin and the fall, although it should be pointed out that sickness is not necessarily a result of God punishing an individual (John 9v2-3). There is no sickness in heaven. We look forward to the day when all who are now or have been sick will be healed in heaven (Rev 22).
However, we do not have to wait till we get to heaven to be healed. Throughout the Bible there is account after account of God healing the sick. For example in the Old Testament Elijah and Elisha healed the sick and raised the dead (1 and 2 Kings). Moses saw many miracles in his lifetime (Exodus). In the ministry of Jesus He saw the blind, deaf, lame, leprous and crippled healed. In fact He did so many miracles that “If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” (John 21v25).
God can still heal the sick today because a) Jesus is the “same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb 13v8); b) it is His nature to heal, “I am the LORD, who heals you” (Ex 15v26) and c) no where in the scriptures does it say that God has or will take this healing ministry from the church.
We believe that healing is now available to all because of what Jesus did on the cross. As part of the atonement, the blood of Jesus was shed, not just so that we could have our sins forgiven but also that we could be healed in our bodies. Isaiah 53v4-5 says “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 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.”
Healing is available to all because of what Jesus did on the cross. All believers of Jesus can also be used to heal the sick (Mark 16). The book of Acts gives account after account of God healing the sick. All we need is faith. James says “And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well” (5v15).
Although we believe it is the will of God to heal everyone, in our experience not everyone that is prayed for is healed. This could be for a number of reasons: a) lack of faith in the person praying (Heb 11v6) b) lack of faith in the sick person (Mark 6v5) c) sin that can hinder a miracle (1 Corin 11v30 d) a time delay between being prayed for and the manifestation of healing (Luke 17v14).
In some cases though, we do not know the reason. We should continue to trust God and pray for the sick anyway, and trust that God is in control of all things and that one day we will know the answers to things which can be difficult for us to understand now.
The ministry of healing is for those in the church (James 5), however it is also a huge part of evangelism, as the healing of the sick is a confirmation of the gospel message (Mark 16)