Everyone on earth has a body like the body of the one who was made from the dust of the earth. And everyone in heaven has a body like the body of the one who came from heaven.
– 1 Corinthians 15:45
The Garden of Eden must have been quite a place.
And indeed it was. We read in Genesis — the first book of the Bible — that it was a paradise filled with beautiful trees, gardens, rivers, and animals. God created Adam (the first man) to care for it, and later brought forth Eve, his wife, to complete the equation. There was no crime, violence, unemployment, or any of the other unpleasant realities of our modern existence. And the pair communed with their Creator in a place free of pain, sickness … and even death. From the very beginning God created the world with one purpose in mind: to share his glory in covenantal relationship with humanity.
But soon everything changed. Adam and Eve’s disobedience through eating from the garden’s forbidden tree led to their permanent eviction from Eden. And ever since, human existence has involved toil, conflict, illness, and mortality. It’s a price we’re still paying to this day.
Just how far has Adam and Eve’s sin taken us from that place of perfect health?
Recent data reveals that the United States is a world-leader in health care costs. In 2022, spending reached $4.5 trillion, an average of about $13,500 per person. And with millions of Baby Boomers each year reaching retirement age, America’s need for medical services will only grow.
It’s obvious that our nation — as well as the rest of the world — is in desperate need of healing. That’s why it’s a good thing that God sent us a Great Physician in the form of his own Son, Jesus Christ.
We read in the New Testament how Jesus, with only a touch or even a word, healed lepers, the blind, and the paralyzed. He even resurrected a man and young child from death: all incredible miracles that proved him to be God among us.
But Christ’s healings were much more than physical. They had (and still have) eternal, spiritual significance. In our 21st century culture that worships vitality and outward appearance, Christ sees our real condition like an X-ray of our souls. And truth be told, he knows that we all hurt in one way or another through the wounds and fractures suffered amidst everyday life.
Christ-followers aren’t exempt from physical illness and death because that wonderous reality disappeared with Adam and Eve. However, we do have the promise of perfect health and happiness once we reach our eternal home with the Father. And it all starts with believing in Jesus and asking for a change of heart, mind, and soul. The prescription for true health is our simple faith in Him.
“Daughter, your faith has healed you,” Jesus told one hope-filled woman. “Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
It’s just what the Doctor ordered.
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