HEALTH IN THE GOSPEL by M. E. Olsen

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Oct 20, 1898

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 24, No. 42.

HEALTH IN THE GOSPEL

By M. E. Olsen

The Gospel of Jesus Christ meets fallen, sinful man at all points, and works out in him a complete transformation. It ministers to his every want. “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” “For in Him [Christ] dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him.” Col. 2:9, 10. “The Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Ps. 84:11.

These scriptures alone are sufficient assurance that God will bestow the blessing of physical health upon His people, for, aside from the hope of eternal life, what thing is more desirable during our short life in this-world, or more necessary in order to render acceptable worship unto the Creator, and be successful in winning other souls to Christ? The apostle John must have considered health in the light of a valuable blessing, else he would not have written to the beloved Gaius, “I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”

How has this blessing of health been brought within the reach of sinful men?—It comes to us the same as all other blessings, through the sacrifice of Christ. Sin brought disease and death into the world; but the blood of a crucified Saviour, poured out on Calvary’s cross, has fully redeemed us from the bondage of sin. And it is through the strength imparted by Christ that we are enabled to live in harmony with all God’s laws, both moral and physical, and enjoy as a result health of mind and body. This sublime truth is sung by the psalmist in the inspired strain: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits; who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; . . . who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” And James, writing of the uses of prayer, reminds his readers that health is one of the blessings that can be consistently prayed for, and gives particular instruction in reference to it. Another circumstance pointing to the fact that health is a vital part of the Gospel is that our Saviour while upon earth spent such a large portion of His time in the healing of the sick. When He returned to the Father, He left this work to be carried on by His followers, saying to them, “As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you.” Therefore we can not but conclude that it is the will of our Lord Jesus Christ to do to-day in and through His people the very same works which He did Himself while here in the flesh. The people, then, which has the whole Gospel for this time, will have a message for the world which includes health of body as well as health of mind,—which will enable men to glorify God in their bodies and in their spirits, which are God’s.

It has been the purpose in this short article simply to call attention to the fact that prominent among these blessings which God stands ready to bestow on His people is that of superior bodily health. In future articles we shall endeavor to point out some of the conditions upon which the promises may be claimed, showing how we may intelligently co-operate with God in the work of perfect restoration which is to be wrought out in the lives of every individual Christian.

Let us take up this study prayerfully, asking God Himself to be our teacher, and resolving to walk in all the light that He may give us. We are living in perilous times; still more trying scenes await us; therefore we need every ray of light, every element of spiritual power, every jot of physical strength, that the Lord has in store for us. Each and every man needs to know from actual experience what it means to have the fulness of Jesus Christ,

M. E. OLSEN.