THE NEW MAN:
WE have learned that the dominant forces in the universe are spiritual. They manifest themselves in the physical. It has been hard for us to realize that man-the real man-is a spirit and manifests himself through his physical body. The body is a temporal home in which man lives, but man is in the class with God. We have never realized clearly that disease and sickness head up in our spirits. The mind is not cognizant of them until the body is affected and the senses have communicated the fact to the brain. Back behind all this, however, that disease had fastened itself upon the spirit before it was communicated to the body. It took me a long time to see this ; but as I dealt with sick folks I found that as I opened the Word to them their spirits accepted the Word, their minds endorsed it, and instantly their bodies were delivered.
Then I could see that diseases were spiritual things, I could understand Is. 53:4,5: “Surely he hath borne our sicknesses and carried our pains ; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. He was wounded for our transgression; he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we were healed.” (Marginal reading of Revised Version). When we speak of cancer, it is a physical thing. But our diseases are all spiritual just as our sins are spiritual; and they were laid upon Jesus.
Sin is a Spiritual Thing. It may manifest itself in a physical act, but behind the physical act is the spirit that directed it. All that was laid on Jesus. When physical disease manifests itself in the believer’s body, the believer knows that that disease was borne by Jesus. He knows that disease has been put upon him by the adversary, so he rebels against the adversary’s putting the disease on him which Jesus has borne. He commands it to leave him in the name of Jesus. The disease has to go because it is there by the will of the adversary. The believer says, “Demon, in Jesus’ Name, leave my body.” And when the demon leaves, he takes the disease with him. Someone says, “Mr. Kenyon, that isn’t sense.”
I know. We are not dealing with Sense Knowledge. We are dealing with spiritual realities. These spiritual things are just as real as sense things. 1 Cor. 6:19,20: “Or know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have from God? and ye are not your own; for ye were bought with a price; glorify God therefore in your body. You remember in Phil. 1:20 that God is magnified in our bodies, glorified in our bodies. “So now also Christ shall be magnified in my body.” These bodies of ours cannot glorify Him, nor magnify Him when they are full of disease. But when they are clean and shine with the presence of the Spirit, the Father is glorified. I f the Church takes her place, there will no longer be any sickness in it.
Today sickness runs rampant in the church. When we recognize that we have God in us, that it is God Who is at work within us, willing and working His own good pleasure, we know that disease cannot lay its hand upon us. We are immune to colds and fevers.
No disease can fasten itself upon us or our loved ones, because we have “all authority” over them in Jesus’ Name. We are clothed with God’s ability.
GOD’S ABILITY:
Luke 24:49: “Tarry in Jerusalem until ye be clothed with power from on high.” That means to be clothed with God’s ability. This is ability to deal with disease.
It is ability to deal with demons.
It is ability to deal with circumstances.
Isn’t it thrilling that we common men and women have such uncommon ability from God.
I want you to notice another remarkable thing. 2 Cor. 5:17: “Wherefore, if any man is in Christ, there is a new creation (or a new species) : the old things are passed away ; behold they are become new. And all these things are of God who has reconciled us unto himself.” We are a new species-a God-created species. God’s Life has performed a miracle. God’s Love Nature has been imparted to us. It has driven out the “old nature.” The “old things” have passed away. The old self has been displaced by a New Self, born of God. The old things of hatred, jealousy, bitterness, cursing, and all the other vile habits that we have cultivated have passed away. New habits are being formed in this New Creation.
The Life of God is gaining the ascendancy where Spiritual Death held sway. God’s Nature. which is Love, is displacing the unpleasant traits of the old nature. We love where we once hated. We reign as kings where we once served as slaves. Wonderful, isn’t it? Clothed with God’s ability, we live a dominant victorious life in Christ.
From: The Two Kinds of Life by E. W. Kenyon