Biblical Authority and Supremacy

Let’s begin with a key Biblical foundation and build our case from there.  The first bedrock question that must be asked is “Do you believe that the Bible is the authoritative Word of God?”  And, “Will you agree to examine what the Word says, and to listen to even if a preacher, a denomination, or a ministry tells you something different?”  In other words, who is your source of authority—Scripture or what you’ve been taught?  In Psalm 119:89 it says, “For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.”  Before we can build a Biblical foundation for healing birth defect, we must come face to face with the question, “Will we believe that Scripture is true, and that it is THE truth to stand on?” 

We must have as a foundation that the Word of the Lord is solid ground.  2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”  So if we truly understand that Scripture is given by inspiration of God and that it is true, and has been forever settled in heaven, we can build the rest of our case from here.

Position Over Experience

On the heels of this question, we must get to the place of believing and trusting the Bible over and above what we see with our eyes.  When what we see in the natural world contradicts what God says in the Bible, how will we respond? 

Let us not be so proud as to elevate our experiences over the Word of God.  We must remember that we are the created and God is the creator.  These are His words we are using upon which to base our beliefs—not man’s experience.  (Also see Truth vs. Fact)

Prayer of Agreement/Ask Anything

We have examined the Biblical authority, and determined that our experience must bow to the truth of God’s Word.  Now we must learn what and how God tells us to pray.  Matthew 18:19 says, “Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in Heaven.”  The word “agree” is a Greek word, ‘symphoneo,’ which means to ‘agree as in one accord.’  The word “touching” is a Greek word, ’peri,’ which means ‘concerning.’  The word “anything” in the original Greek language, ‘pas pragma,’ means literally—‘any thing’.  It’s not rocket science.  When God says “anything,” he means, well, “ANYTHING.”

This verse simply says that when two people on earth agree upon anything that their Father in Heaven will do it.  You may be thinking, ”What if the thing I am agreeing upon is not God’s will?”  Well God won’t bring about something in opposition to his will just because two believers pray in agreement.  So the next logical question becomes, “How do you know that healing is indeed God’s will?”  

1 John 5:14-15 says, “And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, he hears us.  And if we know that He hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.”  In order to use this verse as a Biblical foundation for the healing of birth defect you must be convinced of the will of God in regards to healing disease.

Is Healing God’s Will?

James 5:13-16 reveals God’s will concerning sickness and disease.  Remember, syndromes and birth defect are medically defined as diseases. 

“Is any among you afflicted?  Let him pray.  Is any merry?  Let him sing psalms.  Is any sick among you?  Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:  And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.  Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”  James 5:13-16

The word “healed” in this verse means to ‘cure’ and ‘to make whole.’  It is the same word used in the gospels when Jesus healed the centurion’s servant and the woman who had the issue of blood.  This very word is used thirty times in the New Testament when Jesus or his disciples healed bodies that were sick and diseased.

God’s will for healing is throughout the Bible.  Look at Psalm 103:2-3:  “Bless the Lord, oh my soul and forget none of His benefits, who forgives all of our iniquities and heals all of our diseases.”  God refers to Himself as Jehova Rapha, ‘The God who Heals, cures and repairs.”  See Psalm 107:20, "I sent my Word and healed you and delivered you from your destructions.”  In Proverbs 3:8 it talks about how God and His word bring health and healing to your body and bones.  In Malachi 4:2 It says that those who fear the Lord will partake of healing in their bodies.  In Jeremiah 30 and 33 God makes known His desires for health and strength in physical bodies. Our God's will for physical healing is a part of who He is.  It is His nature and character to fix the broken, safe the lost and restore health.

As we have seen, the Old Testament God’s will was for His people to be free from all manner of sickness and disease.  In Deuteronomy 28 the blessings for obedience to the Lord included such things as favor, prosperity and good health.  On the flip side of this, there were curses for disobedience to the Lord.  In Deuteronomy 28:61 it says that every manner of sickness (‘cholly, disease, sickness, grief’) would come upon you should you choose to disobey God’s commandments and laws.  These sicknesses and diseases were called curses in the Old Testament of the Bible.

But then Jesus came.  And a new covenant was established.

Romans 9:31 says, “But the people of Israel who pursued the Law as a way of righteousness hath not attained their goal.”  Galatians 3:13 says, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, ’cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree’.

God’s will for healing is also found in Jesus and his life on earth.  In the Word of God it says that, “Jesus is the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15).  Jesus says, “If you know me then you know the Father”  (John 14:7).  Jesus said that He only did what the Father told him to do.  He even said that if you have seen him you have seen the Father  (John 14:9).

So if Jesus only does what the Father does, the next logical question is, “What did Jesus do?”  “Jesus went about all the cities and all the villages teaching in their synogogues preaching the gospel of the Kingdom healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people”  (Matthew 9:35).  The Word does not say Jesus healed all manner of disease except those things that involved chromosomes, or except what the leading medical experts said was not curable.  He healed all manner of sickness and disease among the people.  Period.

In Matthew 6, Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray.  As believers, it is our model for prayer as well.  Jesus told us to pray to have the Father’s will on earth. The Father’s will is “as it is in Heaven.”  In Heaven there is no lack and certainly no disease.  Therefore, we pray as Jesus taught us, that there be no sickness nor disease, on earth as it is in heaven.

Now we must address the identity of the one oppressed by birth defect or chromosomal conditions such as down syndrome.  It is essential that we separate the identity of the person diagnosed with the birth defect from the disease itself.  In other words, we don’t say, “That cancer person, “ and accept that as their identity.  We must look at this the same way with genetic defect.  Just like we are taught by Jesus to love the sinner but hate the sin, we somehow must balance the tension of loving and celebrating the child, but not the diagnosis by which they are plagued.  We fight cancer as a trespasser, and we evict it from the body of the child—just as we should with genetic issues.  The genetic diagnosis is not part of the child’s identity, therefore it is possible—and even essential—to love the child and rebuke the diagnosis, and refuse to accept it as part of the child’s identity. 

Now we turn to the Moses passage which some use as a Biblical basis to justify defect.  In Exodus 4, “Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind?  Is it not I, the Lord?  Some believe that this is the foundation upon which to state that God causes birth defect.  But again, it's critical to remember that in the Old Covenant, God was speaking and revealing Himself "in many portions" (Hebrews. 1:1), which means His self-revelation as the one who creates all people (including those with birth-defects) was not the complete revelation of Himself.  "But in these last days, God has spoken to us in the Son... who is the express image of the Father." (Hebrews. 1:2-3)  Jesus healed everyone who was brought to Him even when they were born with defect and disease.  So in Jesus God reveals Himself as the healer of all disease, including birth-defects, and it Jesus is whom we must fix our eyes upon to run our race of faith.

In Hebrews 1:3 it says that Jesus is the express image of God.  He never taught anyone that they must live with a disease. Instead he spent his life on earth healing all manner of sickness and disease. Remember, even though birth defects such as down syndrome affect the entire body including the brain, it is still a disease.  It is a pernicious disease disguised by the enemy and accepted by the church as a “gift from God.”  It is anything but—the marks of down syndrome are lack, deficiency, sickness, and malady.  Those are the marks of the enemy who comes to steal, kill and destroy, not of the God who comes to give us life and that in abundance  (John 10:10).

Speak to the Mountain

This brings us to another Biblical Basis for healing birth defect.  In Matthew 21:21, it says, “Jesus replied, ‘Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.’ 22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”  We simply say to the mountain of genetic disorder that it must leave in the name of Jesus.

The Whipping Post

The bedrock of the Strength of Samson Ministries is the work that Jesus accomplished at the whipping post on his journey to the cross.  Though the other Biblical foundations we have mentioned for healing birth defects are truth and undeniable in their proof of God’s will concerning birth defect, it is the fact that the Word of God reveals that healing for all manner of disease has already been accomplished.  It is a finished work.  Let’s examine this in detail.

Isaiah 53 is about Jesus.  This chapter in the Bible describes what Jesus does regarding sin and sickness and disease.  It describes in detail the reasons that he came to earth.  The original Hebrew words used from the original writing of the Book of Isaiah are in parenthesis.  {Remember that birth defect is by definition a “lack or deficiency of something necessary for adequacy in form or function.”  “Syndrome” is by definition “a disease or disorder that involves a particular abnormality or condition.”

Isaiah 53:  “Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?  2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  4 Surely he hath borne (‘nasa’-bare, take, carry, carry away) our griefs (‘choily’-sickness,disease ), and carried (‘cabal’-carry, bear) our sorrows (‘makob’-sorrow, pain, as in physical pain, grief): yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  5 But he was wounded (‘chalal’-profane, defile, break, wounded) for our transgressions (‘pesha’-transgression, trespass, sin, rebellion), he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace (‘shalom’-peace, welfare, prosperity, health) was upon him; and with his stripes (‘chabbuwrah’- stripe, hurt, wounds, blueness-the marks of strokes on the skin) we are healed (‘rapha’-heal, physician, cure, repaired).  6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.  7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.  8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation?  For he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.  9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.  10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul (‘nephesh’-soul, life, body, mind, heart, will) an offering for sin (‘asham’-trespass offering, sin offering, trespass, sin), he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.  11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear (‘cabal’-carry, bear) their iniquities (‘avon’- iniquity, punishment, fault, sin).  12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare (‘nasa’-bear, lift, take, carry away) the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

It is absolutely clear that the same word used for what Jesus did for sin, is the word used for what he did with sickness and disease.  It is critical that we see and understand this.  Jesus died for our sins once and for all—and we are saved if we receive it even 2,000 years later.  It is the same with sickness and disease.  He bore the stripes on his back once and for all—and we are healed if we receive it even 2,000 years later.

Luke 22:37 says, “For I say unto you, for this is written must yet be accomplished in me, and he was numbered among the transgressors, for the things concerning me have an end.”  Jesus was quoting Isaiah.  It is sobering to know that Jesus knew what would happen to his body and how it would affect mankind’s eternal and temporal destinies.

1 Peter 2:24 says, “He himself bare our sins in his own body on the tree and that we being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness, by whose stripes you were healed”  (‘iaomai’-heal, make whole).  This same word, “healed,” is the exact word used to describe what Jesus did for the woman with the issue of blood in Mark 5:29.  It is the same word used to describe Jesus healing all diseases in Luke 6:17.  This word “healed” mentioned in 1 Peter 2:24 is used to describe physical healing 26 times in the New Testament.  It refers to what was done once and for all at the whipping post when Jesus bore the stripes on his back.  That act paid for all manner of sickness and disease.  Jesus does not have to die on the cross again for my sins now any more than he has to bear stripes on his back for my sickness now.  Both were already accomplished.

The Believer’s Authority

After we understand what the Bible says about healing, that Jesus already paid for our complete and total healing, and the he wants us to receive it, we must now understand who we are in Christ.  We simply must come to terms with the truth of who we are, what is in us, and the authority that we carry to do Christ’s work. 

1 John 4:17 says, “As he is so are we in this world.”  And John 14:12 say, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do.”  And Luke 9 says, “Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.”

We are not encouraged to lay hands on the sick and heal as Jesus healed, we are commanded to lay hands on the sick and the Word says they will recover (Mark 16:18).  We must also command the enemy to return what he has stolen, and he must obey because “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world  (1 John 4:4).

God gave earth to man."  The heavens are the Lord's, but the earth he has given to man" (Psalm 115:16).  Genesis 1:26 says that we are to rule and have dominion over all the earth. It is our responsibility to change what is contrary to our Creator 's will.  He taught us to pray His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven (Matthew 6:10).  How is this accomplished?  His will is performed through his children who are the Body of Christ. We don't cry out to the heavens for our Savior to show up and fix things gone awry.  His presence is in us and therefore his power is in us. (see Acts 1:8 & John 14:23).  "Don't you know that you yourselves are God 's temple and that God's temple dwells in your midst?" (1Corinthians 3:16). He has given us the power to right what is wrong concerning many things including birth defect.

In Old Testament times, wherever the arc of the covenant resided, life flourished. Why? The spirit of the living God was in that place.  Where the Believer goes, the Spirit of the Living God goes. Why then is birth defect embraced by the church?  It is because they believe they can do nothing to change it.  This belief is contrary to who the Bible says the Believer is. The very life that raised Christ from the dead indwells every believer.  Why are most Believers seemingly powerless?  The reason is simply a lack of understanding.

We have the authority of Christ, we have the command of Christ, and we have the name of Christ.  We must use these in bringing about healing from genetic defect. A call to identity is being sounded through out the earth from the SOS Ministries to every Believer. It is time for the bride of Christ to be radiant and take on the image of her king." (Romans 8:29) 

The whole earth has awaited for this day!  

Closing Argument

"By the stripes of Jesus we were healed" (1 peter 2:24).  "All the promises of God are in Him ‘Yes’ and in Him ‘amen’ unto the Glory of God by us."  The New Testament word for “promise” is 'egaggelia' which translates into 'a message or promise.’  The definition for "promise" in the Merriam Webster Dictionary is "a statement telling someone that you will definitely do something, or that something will definitely happen in the future."  There is no question here.  God said it, it is a promise.  It is definite.  The Bible is the Word of God.  That Word is true and the truth trumps whatever facts we may face.  We have the mind of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:16), and His authority, and His name. We lay hands on the sick and they recover.  By the stripes of Jesus' back, all manner of sickness and disease was healed.  Therefore, we command the devil's attacks on the bodies of those suffering from disease to cease and desist, and the enemy must obey.  As it is written, "At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth." (Philippians 2:10)  So we say to all sickness, disease, lack, defect, imperfect chromosomes, "LEAVE, in Jesus' name!"  We lay hands and command the body to line up with the Word of God and to be made perfect.